I need some buying advice please. I only have budget of up to £160 (ideally no more than about £110) to buy a double-din car stereo head unit to work with my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone. Here are my requirements:
All this raises a few question that I can't seem to answer by looking at product details and instruction manuals, I hope someone can help / advise. The key query here is, do some of these devices or similar offer better support for playback control of Android music or driving mode apps when connected via USB audio?
a. At the same time as playing music or radio, I need to use my phone for navigation (using google maps).
b. Ideally I would like the head unit microphone and speaker to handle voice calls and respond and listen to me when using "OK Google" voice recognition on my phone. (I understand the initial "OK Google" activation of voice recognition will need to use the microphone on the phone).
c. I intend to play music stored on my phone (flac or mp3) through the head unit and stream Amazon Prime Music or Google Play Music from my phone, so I can then use voice recognition on the phone to find albums and songs by artist or genre. Having started playback, I'd then like to to use the head unit to pause, play and skip songs ("playback control").
d. I'll probably also want to browse albums held on the phone or and SD Card or USB stick directly from the head unit.
e. For the best quality audio and for simplicity I'd like to connect and charge the phone via USB so the DAC on the head unit is used instead of on the phone.
I have been looking at these stereos (double-din size): Sony WXGT90BT, Sony wx-900BT, Pioneer FH-X840DAB, JVC KW-R520, Kenwood DPX-5000T, Kenwood DPX-7000DAB.b. Ideally I would like the head unit microphone and speaker to handle voice calls and respond and listen to me when using "OK Google" voice recognition on my phone. (I understand the initial "OK Google" activation of voice recognition will need to use the microphone on the phone).
c. I intend to play music stored on my phone (flac or mp3) through the head unit and stream Amazon Prime Music or Google Play Music from my phone, so I can then use voice recognition on the phone to find albums and songs by artist or genre. Having started playback, I'd then like to to use the head unit to pause, play and skip songs ("playback control").
d. I'll probably also want to browse albums held on the phone or and SD Card or USB stick directly from the head unit.
e. For the best quality audio and for simplicity I'd like to connect and charge the phone via USB so the DAC on the head unit is used instead of on the phone.
All this raises a few question that I can't seem to answer by looking at product details and instruction manuals, I hope someone can help / advise. The key query here is, do some of these devices or similar offer better support for playback control of Android music or driving mode apps when connected via USB audio?
As far as I'm aware, they all allow playback control. No problem if the head unit is merely playing a local file. But:
1. What happens if you are playing music through an app on the phone (Amazon Music app, Google Play Music, Spotify, or (ideally) the Android Auto app playing music via one of its supported music apps)? The stereos all seem to offer playback control for music apps, but does it work when you are using a navigation app, so the music app is playing in the background?
2. The instructions for Pioneer FH-X840DAB say it needs to be connected via Bluetooth to android to allow for control of music apps. Does the music actually still get streamed through USB to the head unit DAC, or does app control only work on this model work if the music is streamed via Bluetooth? Do any of the other stereos or similar allow app control when connected via USB?
3. Has anyone used the "Car Tunes Music Player Pro" app? Can any of these head-units control that app?
4. The Kenwood head units allow charging at 1.5A. Most of the others specify 1A - does anyone know if this is enough to allow the phone to charge whilst navigating and playing music? The Pioneer, doesn't specify its USB charging output (i hope its not 500mA) does anyone know?
One final question, does anyone know if any of these head units or similar display full tag information (artist, genre, song title) rather than just the filename. I understand some head units don't support this very well for Android phones.
1. What happens if you are playing music through an app on the phone (Amazon Music app, Google Play Music, Spotify, or (ideally) the Android Auto app playing music via one of its supported music apps)? The stereos all seem to offer playback control for music apps, but does it work when you are using a navigation app, so the music app is playing in the background?
2. The instructions for Pioneer FH-X840DAB say it needs to be connected via Bluetooth to android to allow for control of music apps. Does the music actually still get streamed through USB to the head unit DAC, or does app control only work on this model work if the music is streamed via Bluetooth? Do any of the other stereos or similar allow app control when connected via USB?
3. Has anyone used the "Car Tunes Music Player Pro" app? Can any of these head-units control that app?
4. The Kenwood head units allow charging at 1.5A. Most of the others specify 1A - does anyone know if this is enough to allow the phone to charge whilst navigating and playing music? The Pioneer, doesn't specify its USB charging output (i hope its not 500mA) does anyone know?
One final question, does anyone know if any of these head units or similar display full tag information (artist, genre, song title) rather than just the filename. I understand some head units don't support this very well for Android phones.
