My take on the Nex4000.
Ok so here it is a very unbias review because quite honestly...I love Pioneer! But for the life of me...I don't understand a lot of what Pioneer does! With this head unit...no exception! A lot of hype of brought over this "new" head unit...but hmmmmm...well read below.
1.) The new user interface...visually very hoaky...very cluttered now. Too many "blocks" if you ask me. Color...mostly gone. All white for much of the text including the clock. You can't change this...last years model was better. Background pictures and animated backgrounds...again very limited and you still can't upload your own animated gif for a background! Simple...but yet Pioneer still hasn't allowed you to do it...why? No idea.
2. HD Radio...no more blending option...so if you have a weak HD station...expect it to pop in and out of analog to digital mode on its own. Last years model had an over-ride...this new NEX can't do it. Bummer...step back for HD radio. Also no visual antenna or signal meter to let you know how weak or strong the signal is...last years model had it. Again bummer.
3. Bass Boost...had it right up to now on just about every Pioneer Model...the new NEX models...nope...gone. Sucks cause this was an easy way to add a little punch quickly to your music if it was lacking on a particular song. Sure you have the graphic equalizer...but who really wants to go through 2 submenus to get to it...just to bring up the bass a little? The bass boost was easier and was dedicated to the sub out channel only....cleaner. Also could of been added to a favorite for quick easy access...not anymore...see #6 below.
4. The graphic equalizer...excellent they increased the bands but Pioneer is still lacking on the higher end. The bands in the middle were increased which honestly those bands will not need much altering at all. Flat is where you want it. The higher and lower bands is where the environment of cars/trucks lack because of the general layout of a car or truck. Pioneer has done pretty well in the lower frequency range...but the higher needs help. Frequency bands should be adjustable at 6,000, 8000, 10Khz, 12khz, 14khz and 16khz. The eq also had a glitch on my NEX4000. When you selected the screen...it would get you into the eq....but you wouldn't be able to adjust anything...there was a 1 second pause then the screen would go full screen and you would be able to make adjustments...hated the screen pause/glitch.
5. 2 screens that do the same thing! The subwoofer adjustment screen and the crossover adjustment screen go to the same page. Why? who knows...makes zero sense.
6. The Favorites quick star key is now buried and to make it more difficult to use...Pioneer decided you will have to go right then left haha. Serious...this favorite quick key access was awesome up until this year. It was right on the main level...click it and boom right into your favorite presets. Not anymore. Now you click on the upper right side to get into the system settings. Next all the way over to the left side to click on the star icon to bring up the screen. Only now you can click on your favorite quick settings that are no longer so quick at all. Try doing this while driving...I know...nit picky...but hey that extra screen and going full right side screen...then left side screen just keeps your eyes off the road longer!
7. The head unit for the price they are selling it at ($700 msrp) should really come with Navigation. You would pay about the same price for your cell phone if you bought it outright... your cell comes with navigation. If Pioneer isn't going to do this...at least build the navigation into the radio and allow the users to pay a subscription for it. For me...for a lousy $20 or so a month...I would pay for it to have navigation.
8.) Connecting to your phone cables and options. All I can say is...either have this work, or not work...don't half azz it like it is now. I mean if I pay $65 or more for a connectivity kit to have my phone be able to talk to the receiver I would expect ALL of my phone to work on it...not just some basic things. Mainly again...the navigation. Whats the point of hooking my phone up if I can't use my navigation from my phone on my head unit?
For me a lot of my "nit picking" is actually pretty validated. I mean who wants to have a pleasant experience while driving and listing to their radio? Or who wants to be fumbling around menus and windows trying to find and tweak settings while driving? Not me! I don't know if the new software engineers were sitting and creating all of this and not really remembering...hey this is going into a car/truck where people will be driving!
I just hope that by this time next year a lot of these bugs will be worked out and the interfaced tweaked! If it were up to me....I would GIVE OPTIONS!!! Allow the users to setup the head unit like they would like it...Allow up to 31 bands of equalization or as little as say 5. Have it be a "professional/competition or a standard/basic" option for the eq. All the options or settings are firmware/software...it doesn't cost anything extra or take up more physical space to give us more options. There are no physical extra resistors or capacitors or chips that need to be added. Shoot if they really wanted to...they could use the same exact "box" and just change the firmware/software and boom...brand new double-dinn head unit.
Allow us to be able to upload our own jpegs for a background (pioneer allows this now) and ALSO ALLOW US TO UPLOAD SMALL ANIMATED GIF backgrounds.
Bring back the bass boost and put it into the Subwoofer Setting screen where it should be. Differentiate the subwoofer screen from the crossover screen.
Bring back color options for the text being displayed on the radio. If I want plain white...great...but at least give me the options to change it to whatever color or theme I want.
Ok so there is my review. Bottom line...it is a new head unit...but honestly, when comparing this to last years AVH-8500BHS that it replaced,...I don't see any changes at all that were increased with the NEX4000 with the exception of the equalizer which the 4000 added a few bands to it. Other then that...options were only taken away...not added. The whole hype of NEX (Networked Entertainment eXperience) to me was simply a marketing gimick to get people to be like...huh...what...oh wow...awesome new head unit. When in reality it is just the same head unit as last years with a clunkier user interface and a few more bands on the eq and less features. (If you don't believe me... go out and compare the 2 models). I actually returned my NEX4000 after encountering all the issues/bugs/limitations and got the AVH-8500BHS because it offered more. I figured might as well wait another year or 2 to see if Pioneer actually does something new and worth it to spend $550+ for a new head unit.
Ok so here it is a very unbias review because quite honestly...I love Pioneer! But for the life of me...I don't understand a lot of what Pioneer does! With this head unit...no exception! A lot of hype of brought over this "new" head unit...but hmmmmm...well read below.
1.) The new user interface...visually very hoaky...very cluttered now. Too many "blocks" if you ask me. Color...mostly gone. All white for much of the text including the clock. You can't change this...last years model was better. Background pictures and animated backgrounds...again very limited and you still can't upload your own animated gif for a background! Simple...but yet Pioneer still hasn't allowed you to do it...why? No idea.
2. HD Radio...no more blending option...so if you have a weak HD station...expect it to pop in and out of analog to digital mode on its own. Last years model had an over-ride...this new NEX can't do it. Bummer...step back for HD radio. Also no visual antenna or signal meter to let you know how weak or strong the signal is...last years model had it. Again bummer.
3. Bass Boost...had it right up to now on just about every Pioneer Model...the new NEX models...nope...gone. Sucks cause this was an easy way to add a little punch quickly to your music if it was lacking on a particular song. Sure you have the graphic equalizer...but who really wants to go through 2 submenus to get to it...just to bring up the bass a little? The bass boost was easier and was dedicated to the sub out channel only....cleaner. Also could of been added to a favorite for quick easy access...not anymore...see #6 below.
4. The graphic equalizer...excellent they increased the bands but Pioneer is still lacking on the higher end. The bands in the middle were increased which honestly those bands will not need much altering at all. Flat is where you want it. The higher and lower bands is where the environment of cars/trucks lack because of the general layout of a car or truck. Pioneer has done pretty well in the lower frequency range...but the higher needs help. Frequency bands should be adjustable at 6,000, 8000, 10Khz, 12khz, 14khz and 16khz. The eq also had a glitch on my NEX4000. When you selected the screen...it would get you into the eq....but you wouldn't be able to adjust anything...there was a 1 second pause then the screen would go full screen and you would be able to make adjustments...hated the screen pause/glitch.
5. 2 screens that do the same thing! The subwoofer adjustment screen and the crossover adjustment screen go to the same page. Why? who knows...makes zero sense.
6. The Favorites quick star key is now buried and to make it more difficult to use...Pioneer decided you will have to go right then left haha. Serious...this favorite quick key access was awesome up until this year. It was right on the main level...click it and boom right into your favorite presets. Not anymore. Now you click on the upper right side to get into the system settings. Next all the way over to the left side to click on the star icon to bring up the screen. Only now you can click on your favorite quick settings that are no longer so quick at all. Try doing this while driving...I know...nit picky...but hey that extra screen and going full right side screen...then left side screen just keeps your eyes off the road longer!
7. The head unit for the price they are selling it at ($700 msrp) should really come with Navigation. You would pay about the same price for your cell phone if you bought it outright... your cell comes with navigation. If Pioneer isn't going to do this...at least build the navigation into the radio and allow the users to pay a subscription for it. For me...for a lousy $20 or so a month...I would pay for it to have navigation.
8.) Connecting to your phone cables and options. All I can say is...either have this work, or not work...don't half azz it like it is now. I mean if I pay $65 or more for a connectivity kit to have my phone be able to talk to the receiver I would expect ALL of my phone to work on it...not just some basic things. Mainly again...the navigation. Whats the point of hooking my phone up if I can't use my navigation from my phone on my head unit?
For me a lot of my "nit picking" is actually pretty validated. I mean who wants to have a pleasant experience while driving and listing to their radio? Or who wants to be fumbling around menus and windows trying to find and tweak settings while driving? Not me! I don't know if the new software engineers were sitting and creating all of this and not really remembering...hey this is going into a car/truck where people will be driving!
I just hope that by this time next year a lot of these bugs will be worked out and the interfaced tweaked! If it were up to me....I would GIVE OPTIONS!!! Allow the users to setup the head unit like they would like it...Allow up to 31 bands of equalization or as little as say 5. Have it be a "professional/competition or a standard/basic" option for the eq. All the options or settings are firmware/software...it doesn't cost anything extra or take up more physical space to give us more options. There are no physical extra resistors or capacitors or chips that need to be added. Shoot if they really wanted to...they could use the same exact "box" and just change the firmware/software and boom...brand new double-dinn head unit.
Allow us to be able to upload our own jpegs for a background (pioneer allows this now) and ALSO ALLOW US TO UPLOAD SMALL ANIMATED GIF backgrounds.
Bring back the bass boost and put it into the Subwoofer Setting screen where it should be. Differentiate the subwoofer screen from the crossover screen.
Bring back color options for the text being displayed on the radio. If I want plain white...great...but at least give me the options to change it to whatever color or theme I want.
Ok so there is my review. Bottom line...it is a new head unit...but honestly, when comparing this to last years AVH-8500BHS that it replaced,...I don't see any changes at all that were increased with the NEX4000 with the exception of the equalizer which the 4000 added a few bands to it. Other then that...options were only taken away...not added. The whole hype of NEX (Networked Entertainment eXperience) to me was simply a marketing gimick to get people to be like...huh...what...oh wow...awesome new head unit. When in reality it is just the same head unit as last years with a clunkier user interface and a few more bands on the eq and less features. (If you don't believe me... go out and compare the 2 models). I actually returned my NEX4000 after encountering all the issues/bugs/limitations and got the AVH-8500BHS because it offered more. I figured might as well wait another year or 2 to see if Pioneer actually does something new and worth it to spend $550+ for a new head unit.
