Pioneer SPHDA120 APPRADIO4/Apple Carplay

What customers say about Pioneer SPHDA120 APPRADIO4/Apple Carplay?

1. 14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

   
   Sounds great and brings modern infotainment technology into an earlier generation car, December 9, 2014

   By 

   Aarno –

   This review is from: Pioneer SPHDA120 APPRADIO4/Apple Carplay (Electronics)

   Very clever way to bring modern infotainment technology into an earlier generation car. It’s fairly intuitive. Having spent a few days with it now, I have figured out it’s basic functions and got Carplay to work seamlessly – all without referencing the manual. There is still some room for improvement in terms of software stability, but it works reasonably well (as to be expected with tech these days) and it sounds great too! I look forward to Pioneer’s firmware updates. Overall, I’m very happy with it. It’s a good value product, especially compared to the option of upgrading the car! I love my SAAB and would never want to part with it. Pioneer has given it a new lease on life! 🙂 My only gripes include: expensive list of extras needed to integrate with iPhone and remainder of OEM Bose car audio system; no auto-dimming feature or ability to integrate with dash lighting controls; screen is low resolution (think iPad minus 60 percent); screen is completely illegible in direct sunlight (which is rare) even with an anti-glare screen protector; Siri hands-free still a work-in-progress, although this might be an iOS issue for improvement.

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2. 14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

   
   Tomorrow’s smartphone interface today!, November 29, 2014

   By 

   Stuart Berman (Grand Rapids, MI United States) –
   
     

   Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Pioneer SPHDA120 APPRADIO4/Apple Carplay (Electronics)

   Incredible value and awesome way to modernize your car. I installed this as a replacement for the OEM radio and CD player in my 2008 smart car. I love the sound and it brings the OEM «premium sound» speakers to life including a powered subwoofer. The radio is far more sensitive that the stock radio and it features RDS to provide info for FM stations. The BlueTooth handsfree calling works well, but the best feature is the new Apple CarPlay feature that goes great with newer iPhones.

   Here is one example how it changes the driving experience and makes it safer using CarPlay

   AppRadio 4 indicates you have a new text message

   Without taking my eyes off the road: «Hello Siri»
   Siri: «Yes?»
   Me: «Read new messages»
   Siri: [reads new message]
   Me: «Reply: [and speak response]
   Siri: repeats message
   Me:»Send»

   A few things that are not obvious:
   1) Does not support both CarPlay and AppRadio mode without switching (CarPlay is far superior but limited app support right now)
   2) Only supports three BlueTooth profiles (remembers 3 devices)
   3) The aux port is not a simple audio port, it also carries composite video, and I haven’t been able to get simple audio only to work using a miniplug cable.

   Make sure you also order the Pioneer CD-MC20 microphone for auto EQ and time delay adjustments. My family couldn’t believe the quality of sound coming out of my car after the upgrade.

   Here is a great video from Pioneer on the power of CarPlay and iPhone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2ozgQJid8

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3. 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

   
   Nice to have Carplay now, January 8, 2015

   By 

   Pro «Shopper» –

   This review is from: Pioneer SPHDA120 APPRADIO4/Apple Carplay (Electronics)

   I installed this in my car and it so far has been a pleasure to use most of the times. I know there are some bugs but overall I am pretty happy with Carplay. Siri works for simple requests but sometimes she gets confused with requests. I’m able to have hands free navigation input and text message input. Apple will be improving software constantly so I m not worried about the minor issues. The speakerphone and music sounds great using my stock speakers. The rear camera guides are great. I was able to adjust the lines perfectly to my car and camera angle. The glare was pretty bad so I put an anti glare film on it and now I can see the screen in full sun. The photos attached were before the anti glare film was applied. I look forward to more developers making there apps carplay friendly.

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