k_park

I read through the forum posts. Has there been a consensus as to the ideal head unit for the Droid phones?

Thanks!
Krista

crashrandall

I recently shopped out this unit for my boss:
JVC KD-R810 (kdr810) - Sonic Electronix
It works very nicely by Bluetooth or USB in his F-150, and I would buy the same unit for myself if I were in the market for a car stereo. (Mine has an ipod adapter, and I still keep my music on an 80gb ipod classic)

droblyer

I second the jvc line. I have the 900 and all functions work flawless with my droid x, including bluetooth calls and streaming.

binary visions

I picked up this one:

Sony Xplod MEX-BT2800 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com



I am happy with it. No problems with Bluetooth, all music controls work from the faceplate... Works great!

Napalm

I posted this thread awhile back.

dx-car-headunit-bluetooth

Course nobody responded. But I have the JVC dual DIN unit. It works great. During the 2.2 update I had to wipe the phone and later clear out the Headunits memory for BT devices.

But after that it works great.. meanwhile BT streaming works as well, tunes or pandora. I don't use it but I tried it. next thing I keep meaning to try. USB cable with phone set to mass storage.

However it has 2 ports, and I have the rear port setup with a 16gb memory stick. Works great and reads fast and it stays in the glove box. You would never know it was there.

DroidXCase

I use a chinese Eonon Double Din unit. $200 on ebay, comes with DVD playback, MP3, GPS, TV, Bluetooth, 2 SD card slots, etc etc etc. The only thing I can think of that it does not have is a built in computer. Its an ok unit, its not very intuitive and the screen is no where near the quality of the Dx but it links upto my phone and plays Radiotime and Pandora for me. GPS works ok but takes forever to input addresses unlike the Dx. I was using the GPS on it before I built my Droid x case with vehicle mount. Now I use it because the GPS gives live traffic reports.

hofiveo

Kenwood Excelon 9960, SMS support. Love this combo.

Napalm

I have never heard of that eonon before and now I know why. Sadly I bet money its built along side a Pioneer or something.

Speaking of which, I have use some of the pioneer BT units (DVD, touchscreen) they work pretty well too. I highly suggest getting something designed in the last 1 year or 2 at most. Not getting a bargain basement clearance unit. If you are going for BT comparability, simply because there have been changes to the BT functionality over the last 2 years.

Like I said before I liked the JVC approach because they rig it so you can remove the BT module when you want to. And the rear USB port kicks azz.

DroidXCase

Well my car is an 02 so we wanted that authentic look thats why we went for it. It was not easy to fit, my boyfriend had to cut out the dash slightly so that it would work and there is a bit of gap at the sides. Its a Toyota so the double din is not to US standards. Anyway, it looks completely stock, the nav unit is frustrating but thats just the free chinese nav unit anyway. I could install any NAV software that supports Windows CE, but thats too much bother anyway now that I got a phone that will do the same thing.

My unit is $300 brand new, the closest name brand unit is $600 with those features. You have to ask is this $600 unit twice as nice? To me the answer is no.

Last edited by DroidXCase; November 22nd, 2010 at 03:28 PM.

Napalm

I didn't even look at or want touchscreen or nav with mine.

I bought the JVC for the sound quality and then connectivity. eitherway, most newer BT devices work well with the DX.

heelsbigc

I use a pioneer premier DEH-P700BT. Works flawlessly with my x.

markcjr

I have a droid with the current update 2.2 i believe, and my can accept/make calls via bluetooth, but I can't sync my phone numbers or play pandora via bluetooth. Anyone have any advice?

glockman

Stick with an iPod for playing music in your vehicle. Smartphones, as good as they are, simply don't amplify your music enough to sound decent through components (even with a decent music player like PowerAmp). With an iPod, you can buy a head unit that is iPod ready, meaning there is a proprietary hook up and not connection via auxiliary cable. There is no proprietary hook ups for any smartphone. The advantage of this iPod ready connection is that there is better "lossless" sound coming through your speakers. Generally speaking, compressed audio such as mp3 is already a lossy format, so you should seek to minimize that loss by sticking with an iPod. The sound is noticeably better.

MyTjSux

I disagree i stopped using my Ipod because of the board on PowerAMP.....i notice much better output from my dX on PowerAMP...which is by far the best music app ive found

Bel1al

Hi everyone,
So how about a september 2011 update? best head unit for Droid X???

puya

Go to the Pioneer website a look for the App radio 2 they are developing Android app support in their units.

Since Sept 2011 what other units have you heard from?

stiby78

Hi,
I purchased the single din parrot head unit RKI8400 which has radio and digitial media (no old school optical support) into a Skoda Fabia.

I use my android phone for directions (google nav), music (spotify), phone calls as well as reading text messages to me as I drive along. Now the Parrot provides 1 features which is not available in the factory fitted Sony in my S-Max and that is auto switching to the bluetooth device when audio plays.

So for example: I am listening to a particular radio station, MP3 on sd-card/usb stick or even an old iPod and the phone wants to give directions or read a text to me. When the phone starts sending audio the parrot unit switches over automatically to the bluetooth audio and afterwards switches back.

So I can have the music nice and loud and not miss a turning or message not just calls.

If other units listed here do this please let me know I think its an overlooked features which can turn your phone into a great car companion.