appradio vs parrot asteroid
 

Hey guys do in about to get a new headunit to replace the the bose in my z and was stuck between the parrot asteroid and appradio. Can any one comment on the pros and cons of each one?

I can't comment on appradio, but the parrot smart is a really slick unit. I use my voice and steering wheel controls to communicate to the parrot a lot. You can toggle between music sources (bluetooth, tuner, usb, sd, or any other music app you install) by the mode button on the swc. Music voice search is pretty badass when you have like 1000+ songs on a usb stick. You can mute the radio and pause the music playing on your usb/sd by taping anywhere on the screen with your finger. Google maps and youtube can be had, but you have to root the device which is a simple two click procedure). You can have two cameras connected (1 usb and 1 regular rear view that uses a 12v wire).

Car manufacturers are rolling out with google and Apple CarPlay on vehicles this year (it's available on the 2015 Mercedes c300) and going forward. I think the parrot smart is an excellent option to keep your car from going dated.

Can anyone else chime in? I'm also looking at the Appradio 3, but really want some user feedback before pulling the trigger.

Thx

I've got a ton of experience with Pioneer's Appradio 2, 3 and now 4. All I can say is, it's probably not for you. While they look pretty in the dash, without a compatible phone connected through a mess of required extra cables it is pretty much an AM/FM radio with Bluetooth and a touchscreen. Literally all of it's features run off of your phone. If you've got an iPhone 5 or 6, more bad news is that those cables and adapters you'll need to make it work will run you almost another 80 bucks. My opinion is to go with the Asteroid Smart. That's what I have in my Z and I love it. They have an SD card slot that is used primary for the map data, but if you're not using the GPS you can swap that out for one that you can throw some movies and music onto. You can also run a regular old usb cable out to use your iPhone on, or a 3.5mm aux cable as well. The easiest differentiating factor between the two though is that the Asteroid Smart has built in native GPS software, while the Appradio uses a GPS app on your phone and requires mobile data usage.

Check out the Rydeen dva6 offered at crutchfield.com. Rydeen DVA6 Android™ multimedia receiver at Crutchfield.com

It looks pretty promising.

Thx for your feedback Aescen. I ended up ordering the Appradio 3 a couple days after my post. I really like the looks and how well it matches the interior of my car. IMO it looks like it could have come that way from the factory. I knew they get you on the back end with the extra cable kits. I believe I need one for the steering wheel controls and one for my phone (Android).

One of the things I like is the ability to have GPS (even though it's phone based) at a fraction of the cost of the HU's that have their own GPS. I picked up a factory refurbished unit for $270 shipped, so if I end up not liking it I can probably sell it for around what I have in it. My Z is a second car and will only see limited use half the year. I really don't need it to do much more than look good and play music, everything extra is just that.

I plan on installing it in the Spring along with a growing stock pile of parts.

I have personally been looking into installing a Rydeen in my suv for the features it provides aso with the functionality of FLAC playback with PowerAmp. I like it more than the parrot android head unit which seems dated to me.

This looks pretty good. Not sure I like the price, but I do like the WiFi option. I have an OBDII WiFi adapter in my car and would like to be able to run the OBD Link app to view the real time information with the Google app. The only other unit I've seen that is close to this one is the Pumpkin unit. I wish I knew more about either one.

Here is the Pumpkin unit I referred too. I'm not sure on the quality of the Pumpkin unit. I'd like to see one in person.

Pumpkin Android 4.4 Kitkat Car Stereo Double Din 6.2 inch In Dash GPS Navigation System at autopumpkin.com @ AutoPumpkin