Who wouldn’t want to bring a must-have upgrade to their car? Well, good news these days there is an upgrade for pretty much any car and budget.
If you were wondering what Apple CarPlay then here is the answer: a system that mirrors the most used apps on your phone directly into the head unit display. This gives users access to maps, music apps and with the help of Siri, you will be able to make calls and send text messages without being distracted.
Android users have something similar and it’s called Android Auto.
Now here is a look at the cheapest head units that feature Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
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Dual DMCPA79BT – 79.57
Key features :
- 7″ LCD display
- 800 x 480 resolution
- 50×4 watts
- 7 band EQ
- Built-in Bluetooth for music streaming and hands-free calling
- 1 amp USB charging and playback port
- Rearview camera input
- Aux input
- Steering wheel control compatible
This unit This an affordable Apple CarPlay and claims to be easy to install you just need some basic wiring knowledge. You won’t be disappointed with the design and responsiveness of the touch screen. The main interface can be a little laggy and might experience random freezes but once you’re in CarPlay or Android Auto it’s smooth and works great. The display has a shiny finish which might contribute to excessive glare from the sun. Even at its lowest, darkest backlight setting, the LCD brightness is blindingly and distractingly bright at night or early in the morning!
The infrared receiver for remote is wired and needs to be adhered to the dash.
No warranty seems to be offered for this device.
Sound Storm Laboratories DD988ACP – 82.99
- 6.75″ LCD display
- 800 x 480 resolution
- 80×4 watts
- 10 band EQ
- RGB Key illumination
- Built-in Bluetooth for music streaming and hands-free calling
- Dual USB port
- 1 amp USB charging and playback port
- Rearview camera input
- Aux input
- Steering wheel control compatible
Features a 6.75 inch display with a shiny finish but bright enough to beat the glares of the sunny days.
The user interface is easy to use, the navigation between screens and functions is non-interruptive to your listening, the overall simplicity of the deck, and the responsiveness of its touch screen places it in a class that decks with considerably higher price tags with equal or fewer features.
There are quite a few subtle, and obvious features of this unit that makes it an attention-getter:
The higher power output of this deck is a feature that enables you to utilize this deck with fewer amplification devices for your front speaker configuration (short of Audiophile considerations), and the equalizer is more refined, with a generous range of audio control.
A backup camera can be added but is not included. Image quality is awesome for backup cameras, if you are buying one it make sense to spend a little more for a higher resolution model with this screen.
Sound quality will be equal to the factory system but will suffer without an external amp, especially if you have power-hungry premium speakers.
POWER ACOUSTIK CP-650 – 99.99
- 6.5″ LCD display
- 800 x 480 resolution
- 14×4 watts
- 14 band EQ
- RGB Key illumination
- Built-in Bluetooth for music streaming and hands-free calling
- Front panel USB charging and playback port
- Rearview camera input
- Aux input
- Steering wheel control compatible
Jensen CAR68
- 6.8″ LCD display
- 800 x 480 resolution
- 50×4 watts
- 8 band EQ
- RGB Key illumination
- Built-in Bluetooth for music streaming and hands-free calling
- Dual USB input (1.5A fast charging smart phone input / 1A charging media input)
- Dual camera input
- Steering wheel control compatible
The screen is bright and vibrant, and overall the interface is intuitive. It is a 100% capacitive touch screen interface. The buttons on the left (power, volume controls, etc..) are touch sensitive. The touch screen isn’t super accurate or responsive like you would expect. Also, the glossy screen is highly reflective which could be an issue in certain conditions.
The sound quality its average. It doesn’t really bring the music to life and it will begin distort heavily at about 70% volume on most of the stock speakers.
When you will power it for the first time you will notice that the software has some bugs and it would be a great idea to update the firmware before hitting the road.
For the most part, it’s a pretty basic multimedia car stereo. The highlight of the system is the Apple CarPlay \ Android Auto features.
BOSS Audio Systems BE7ACP
- 7″ LCD display
- 800 x 480 resolution
- 80×4 watts
- 10 band EQ
- RGB Key illumination
- Built-in Bluetooth for music streaming and hands-free calling
- Dual USB input (1.5A fast charging smart phone input / 1.5A media input)
- SD port
- Dual camera input
- Aux input
- Steering wheel control compatible
