Kenwood HU FYI before you buy!

spearfish25

I bought a Kenwood 6960 in April and have been going round and round with Kenwood regarding my iPhone connecting to the unit automatically when I get in the car. About 80% of the time, my phone and the car will NOT pair automatically for hands-free calling. These times I have to manually make them pair. The other 20% of the time, they pair immediately and it works great.

I've emailed Kenwood about 6 times regarding this issue. I've tried other phones with similar results and I've even exchanged the HU for another just in case it was a hardware problem. The inconsistent pairing continues.

Every email I've sent Kenwood gets a different reply. Hell, sometimes they even reply with the wrong response that was meant for a completely different customer and issue.

Today I received the reply that the 6960 is NOT guaranteed by Kenwood to auto-connect with the iPhone for hands-free calling. They state that it is assumed it must be manually paired. This, frankly, is a load of bull$hit. But if you look on their website at their bluetooth compatibility chart, the row that says "Phone Connection from KENWOOD Bluetooth Model" has a line through it. Almost EVERY phone combination you try has this same line through the yes/no box. I finally found a handful of phones that actually say 'yes' or 'no'.

So before you buy Kenwood, realize they are too f'ing stupid to figure out how to make a HU and phone pair when they are near each other. I bought the 6960 because of the Garmin nav and traffic. Had I been able to do it again, I'd try a Pioneer. F U Kenwood!

Attached Images

	Kenwood Bluetooth Chart.jpg (188.0 KB, 32 views)
	Screen shot 2010-06-10 at 4.19.24 PM.png (52.8 KB, 9 views)

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

xiven

mine syncs 9 out of 10 times but I have a 3G though. guess i'll find out soon how well the 4 works

sig11

Yep. I've had no problems with my 9140 and my 3GS. Have you got OS 3.1.3 on the iPhone? Current firmware on the 6960?

WICKED_GRIN

One of the reasons why I went with Pioneer this time……….Customer Support/Relations and the frequency Pioneer updates their software. Certain Installer wannabes push certain products in this forum without any formal technical/engineering background and when a problem like yours arises their opinions are silent.


Kenwood double din Problems

spearfish25

Yeah, everything is up to date.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

Liquid_G

haha we get it dude... you dont like Kenwood..

And no one has ever had any issue with Pioneer HU's right? And why does Pioneer have to update its software so often?

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Liquid_G

spearfish.. so when you manually pair it, you have to make the phone search for the HU again or vice versa? have you tried maybe just turning on/off bluetooth on the phone?

Also is your phone "visible" via bluetooth searches?

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chuckd05

Im hoping the new pioneer avic x920bt works with the iphone 4... next week Im getting two new gadgets I just hope they like each other

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AK370Z

wow.. that's crazy! Sorry spear you had to deal with this. I have yet to manually pair my iphone 3G with my DNX6140. It automatically synced every time!

Thanks for warning anyone who's planning on buying 6960!

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sig11

I want to point out that from a quick glance on the first page only 6 of 20 of those are people complaining of failures/problems other than installation and forgetting their passcode.

Search - FixYa.com
7 of 10 are problems on the first page for 'pioneer double din'

Sorry. I'll go back on topic.


Have you tried calling them, spearfish? I had a problem with my old as the hills single din excelon and spoke to someone who was able to quickly diagnose my problem.

Maybe when they release the 2010 firmware the issue will be resolved. ;/

WICKED_GRIN

I think the top 2 double din HU are Kenwood and Pioneer! Why does Microsoft update operating systems? Are you still using Windows 95??

WICKED_GRIN

The Kenwood double din problems website was posted as a helpful tool…………wasn’t posted as to bash Kenwood!

spearfish25

I'll try a phone call as the email responses that Kenwood sends feel like three-liners and they they think the conversation is over.

Yes, I have to go into the menus of the HU or phone to manually make them pair. The phone is visible and the HU finds it automatically sometimes...just not consistently.

Why does Pioneer release frequent updates? Because these are complex software oriented devices that all have bugs. I'd much prefer a brand who releases frequent updates rather than one who does so on an annual basis. I didn't realize that kenwood turns a blind eye to obvious software glitches and makes people sit for up to 12 months for a possible fix.

Given this is my second unit, it seems clear that the 6960 needs a Bluetooth update.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

Liquid_G

that sucks.. any chance the phone is the issue?

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spearfish25

I've tried other phones with similar results. Also, my phone always connected to the stock Bose bluetooth system without ever having a similar problem.

I'll just buy the iPhone 4G and see what disasters that will hold with the Kenwood instead. My guess is Kenwood will release an update for the 3G and then say the 4G isn't supported.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z