NOTE: This has been our experience installing product customers have asked us to install. None of our vendors manufacture them, therefore, we have none to recommend.
Since early 2022, there has been a fast-growing number of very inexpensive, OEM-style, radio replacements offered online with a promise of easy install. You might be lucky enough to find that unicorn; the one that is all it promises to be, however, we have installed many of these over the last few years and our experience leads us to this very long and increasingly necessary write up. It has become a far more common request to install these radios with consistent disappointments.
We have experienced many issues with this overseas, “Android” radio replacement of many different brands for many different vehicles. They are cool looking and they have a lot of sought-after features. In the last year, they are the first thing you see if you google a certain vehicle along with “radio”. You will see nothing but these very cool looking radio and screen replacements to give you a larger screen that is not just your radio but controls many other features. When it’s a full radio swap, we typically notice the user interface is not very user friendly BUT if you mostly stay in Apple CarPlay or Android Auto it might not matter. Navigating through the menus is difficult and makes no sense for our American brains and what we are used to. “Android” does not mean it functions like your tablet or phone, it’s just Android-based and the interface is something different all-together. For example, if you insist on changing the clock every spring and fall, or want to adjust anything in the settings by the time you find it, you won’t remember how you got there. If it is a screen swap only, which is common for a lot of BMWs, Audis, Mercedes vehicles, the interface won’t be an issue but see below as to what often is the issue for those screen swaps as well as many of the full radio swaps.
YOUR POCKET: As for install, it’s a crap shoot that mostly turns ugly for the customer and is incredibly frustrating for us. If all product and correct parts are included, as well as installation instructions, the install should not take longer than 3-4 hours, maybe 5 hours for a few odd ones. The biggest issue to date revolves mostly around the installation instructions. Why would that matter if it’s all plug and play? Because, this is not a product made for American installers and not all of these are plug and play even when it is advertised to be. They may have a yellow RCA plug on one side but the pre-out it plugs into is RED. That is a very basic illustration. It could be they include plugs for several different trim models or years of a general vehicle manufacturer and model but don’t mark which plug is used for what specific year or model or feature. To date myself, it’s like playing “Operation” but the buzz that causes you anxiety is more like, “will this cause a code I can’t get rid of and it will have to go to the dealership?” or “is this going to blow fuses, wreak havoc on the data system?”. We are taking a chance by plugging in one that is incorrect and then causing data issues in the new product or in the vehicle itself because the pins in those plugs look to be positioned the same, but are not actually for the same thing. Plug and play does not mean one plug and you’re done. Often, if the vehicle is 2003 and newer, there are multiple plus of different sizes and the newer the vehicle brings more plugs, different sizes, colors and functions.
MURPHY and HIS LAW LIVES IN SCREEN SWAPS, TOO: Let’s say it is all plug and play and it is easy to see which plug goes where and everything is functioning well in testing there is still a hidden issue; one that has been common as of late. Recently, we had this experience on 2 different vehicles; one was a BMW and one was an Audi. It is these 2 vehicles that prompted this essay. Both were screen swaps only. The install was going very smoothly on each; even without complete instructions we could slowly figure it all out. Two different things happened with these vehicles.
First, for the BMW screen replacement. We did the swap and tested it and it looked beautiful, worked very well (user instructions were included but not installation instructions). We stopped testing and started putting it all back together. The adapter plug provided to fit between the main factory data cable and the new screen was a straight in plug. By the way, the main factory plug was the communications plug for everything factory that displayed on the original screen and needed to plug into the new screen so the customer could still use factory audio features, change settings, see vehicle information, use his backup camera. This straight in plug was too deep to allow the new screen to fit flush in the dash. It needed a sideways, right-angle plug. Their video showed that style plug but that was not what was included. It is not our responsibility to review every moment of the video or go through every drawing in instructions to verify everything is as it should be. Even if we did, we don’t know what is on the factory side until we pull everything out so we still don’t know if the parts are correct for the factory side of things.
SUB PAR TECH SUPPORT: As usual, “tech support” was overseas and no phone number was provided. We sent an email and when we returned the next morning, their effortless response was to make sure we used the “other” adapter plug, which we already had and it still wasn’t the right one. We had to wait again until the very next morning for them to respond with something REALLY scary which was to FILE DOWN THE FACTORY PLUG and provided adapter and make it fit. (Keep in mind, we scheduled this for a day only. We had other jobs needing to be done and needing to use the garage space. However, with some vehicles, you don’t just start the engine without everything plugged in without fearing some strange engine code will pop up we might not be able to clear without a visit to that dealership and a charge to us or the customer.) They even sent a video of this which meant they had experienced this issue before and still advertised this product as one that would work for the vehicle. This is not something you want to do; EVER. This was the plug for all factory communication of any audio and information settings to the new screen. This could have been a very costly mistake and we were shocked they recommended that. We wouldn’t do what was “recommended” so the customer decided in the end to leave that unplugged and they would go without the factory features temporarily until the correct plug was sent.
SIDE NOTE: We actually do want to be able to provide a worthy referral to our customers because we understand that the traditional radios from Alpine, Kenwood, Sony and Pioneer are not keeping up with this trend of swapping out entire panels of a dash with a larger screen and all audio, air and data features. Some radios simply cannot be changed out either with those traditional radios because to do so requires a complete redesign of the dash. Many of those vehicles not only rely on the radio to be swapped but entire air controls (which is done the traditional way for some vehicles) and vehicle data features.
NOW TO THE AUDI: Because of this, we were looking forward to the Audi screen swap because the link the customer sent us revealed it was American owned with actual, live tech support by phone. We even verified this by calling the phone number provided before we made the appointment for the customer. We spoke with someone that seemed happy to discuss the product. We had advised the customer of previous experiences and issues but he had a positive feeling about this product and we were eager to see if it was better than all the rest.
We installed the screen swap, tested it and it looked and functioned very well. We finished the install, no issues. Tested again and no issues. Powered the vehicle off and the screen would not power off. Understand, this had plugs only and all plugs fit a factory plug. It was truly plug and play. The difficulty and time was disassembling the dash and fitting a larger screen in place of the factory screen. There was nothing we could have done to cause the constant power of the screen. There were no loose wires to connect to; all plug and play.
We figured it was a setting, a dipswitch, something odd. We called tech support on Thursday afternoon and by Friday afternoon we were still having the same issue with power and with tech support. We would call them, they took our info and would only text us back, usually hours later. In the end, it was our conclusion this was not an American company but a front for some overseas company. The vehicle was still here the following Monday, a full 20 working hours and ended up being an 8-hour labor charge for the customer and the issue was in fact some odd setting issue. Mind you, it was a default setting they should have been able to direct us to immediately with the symptom we were experiencing. Honestly, we were incredibly disappointed and even felt guilty for how much labor we charged but the time spent is the time charged. Each time we called and texted with tech support, sitting in the vehicle and testing their newest “try this”, added up a lot on the clock. It was frustrating for us all and incredibly unfair for the customer. This was a product that was advertised perfectly and appeared to truly be different from all others and it was simply a different version of the same low quality, half-baked idea of some company from which no one can actually get reliable assistance.
For the AUDIOPHILES out there, you will not appreciate the sound quality. These types of radios are “feature rich”, the things you see and touch but they put no focus on the sound quality. Even the ones that say they have 4 or 5 volt pre outs, we have tested and found different pre outs will have different voltage and even at different volume levels. This means it might sound better but only at specific volumes. If you are wondering how to know if it is a good sound quality radio replacement; there is no real way to know that because these companies tend to be loose with their information.
Quality brands like Kenwood Excelon, across the board has 5 volt pre outs on every single radio in the Excelon line. Even the cheap and basic single din radios have that. Typically, seeing a radio with 4 or 5 volt pre outs is a good indication of other good sound quality features, but often these radios do not list anything for sound quality. If they don’t list it, then I can say with 99.9% confidence that it is not a good sound quality radio. What does this mean? If you have a full factory audio system, probably not much. You might actually experience better quality if you can find the sound settings in the menu, that is. Remember, the menu is typically difficult to use. But then, you’re also not an audiophile if it’s all factory. If you have a vehicle that you want to upgrade the speakers, add an amplifier or 2, yes it may be an improvement but not as it should be. You will most likely have a radio rated around 1.5 – 2 volts. This decreases the power and efficiency of what the amplifier(s) can generate. If you had those same upgraded speakers and amplifier(s) in a different vehicle with a genuine 4 or 5 volt radio, you will notice a huge difference in sound quality. Basically, if you add one of these radio replacements and want really good sound quality you will need to treat it like you still have the factory radio in there and add some kind of signal summing device, DSP, etc., to nix that new radio’s sound features. You can use something as basic as an Audio Control LC7i, a Rockford Fosgate DSR1, JL Audio TwK and FiX or use an amplifier with DSP built in such as JL Audio’s VXi line of amplifiers.
What does this all mean? So far, due to many repeat experiences we can only say, DON’T believe the reviews; they are fake. We have 30+ years of experience installing product; ours or someone else’s. If you want to bet on a unicorn this is what you should know. IF, again IF, all the installation instructions are included AND they are complete and correct the install SHOULD take 3-4 hours, maybe 5 for some European vehicles. We have NEVER experienced included, complete and correct installation instructions except once, perhaps. That’s me being optimistic and humble and allowing for false memory. So many times, a 3-4 hour install becomes a 6-8 hour install because of this; and even then sometimes it’s still not up to par or completely done.
Many also claim, “there are no instructions, but there is a video!”. This has been just as much of a failure. Typically, the video is on a different vehicle or edited out leaving you with questions. You might have discovered one that is good and you might get lucky, however, as of yet, we have never seen it happen. Ever. We have installed a lot of these since they busted out on google a few years ago. This is up to you but you have been warned of the issues and again, time spent is time charged.
Exclusions, please: If you have found one that had none of these issues, we would love to know what brand and model and what vehicle it was for. We will simply take note and do some research for future customers…but PLEASE don’t take it as an invitation to criticize this article. This is for information purposes only based solely on our everyday experiences, if that’s worth anything. Thanks for reading!
WE RECOMMEND: We advise customers to contact us on any product they plan to purchase and want us to install. It is important to us that you have a positive view of this industry. We do not want you to waste your time or ours because you chose the wrong product due to not having the proper connections, size or for whatever reason it may be. If you bring us the wrong product or installation part, that is taking more time for us and delaying the next appointment we have scheduled as well as costing you more money. Our schedule is full 95% of the time so we do not want to prolong an install or to “milk” the clock.