Android double din unit for Audi A3 8P (2009)

[DrumSHoTS]

Hello,

My second post in a short time...

Possessor of a A3 Sportback 8P 2.0l TDI of 2009, for which I have neither GPS nor Bluetooth (that it is of the AD2P or simply for the telephone communications), I wish to replace my current car radio by a system that embarkes all, Android type to get more multimedia features and Bluetooth phone (I currently have a Audi Concert 3 double DIN).

I do not want Audi original mount that adds the additional box to get the bluetooth, expensive to bring this one feature. I do not want a kit Fiscon or Dension either.

I have spotted these different items, do you have any feedback or experience with this type of material?

- http://xtrons.com/pb78aa3p-android-8...a3-s3-rs3.html
- https://www.eonon.com/Android-Car-GP...titasking.html
- https://www.autopumpkin.com/car-dvd-...vd-player.html
- http://www.ownice.com/Pro_Car DVD%... S3_438.html

Do you have returns? Which brand would be the strongest? The most effective? The most stable? Do you have other models to propose to me?

I do not know which model to buy, I have to check what subwoofer I have in the back.

On the Xtrons website it is mentioned:
"This head unit is compatible with your car's original BOSE system; you just have to connect the amplifier control cable in the ISO wiring harness with the amplifier control cable in the RCA cable.
Please note that if your vehicle has no BOSE system, but it has the audio port, you need to ask a professional technician to make some modifications of the wires connection; otherwise, your rear amplifier speakers will NOT have sound."

There is information about it here and about this subwoofer problem :
https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread.../#post-3284371

I am looking for more information before deciding.

Thank you in advance.

See you soon.

 

[NHN]

Erisin androud 8 double din works well, mostly pnp.

Pumpkin & xtrons I wouldnt touch tbh.

 

[DrumSHoTS]

Thanks for your answer.

Pumpkin and Xtrons, there are problems with these brands?

 

[NHN]

Xtrons from experience with clients, not as good & pumpkin I dont like what I've read in reviews & I'm kinda open minded about reviews, but saw more negative than good.

Your choice, but currently testing erisin & its quite good tbh.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

I have an Erisin unit in my 2006 S3 and it works very well.
No Bose speaker issues and it plugs straight in, no additional cables required.

 

[DrumSHoTS]

So Erisin seems to be the best choice? what are the known issues with other brands?

I'm still browsing the information about the subwoofer, I do not know yet if I have a bose system or not, but it seems that the connection of this subwoofer is a recurring problem on the A3 equipped with Android car radios.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

If you have Bose there will be a badge on the speakers in the front door cards indicating that they are Bose.
Your sub (if fitted) is behind the carpeted side panel in the left of the boot. Turn your bass and volume up and put your hand in this area, you will feel it.

 

[NHN]

No

So Erisin seems to be the best choice? what are the known issues with other brands?

I'm still browsing the information about the subwoofer, I do not know yet if I have a bose system or not, but it seems that the connection of this subwoofer is a recurring problem on the A3 equipped with Android car radios.

No issues with erisin & sub.

 

[ch1z64]

I have an Erisin unit in my 2006 S3 and it works very well.
No Bose speaker issues and it plugs straight in, no additional cables required.

What's the model number for your one , as I am thinking off taken Rns-e mk2 out off my S3

 

[Daveyonthemove]

What's the model number for your one , as I am thinking off taken Rns-e mk2 out off my S3

I've just tried looking through my Ebay history to find the unit, but I bought it almost a year ago and it won't allow me to click on the link to it.
It isn't listed as an 'Erisin', it was listed as Android 8.0 for Audi A3, so I will have to try and look on my laptop later tonight.
I have put links to it on this forum in the past, so if you have the patience to search for it you may find it before I get home from work and remember to look.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

What's the model number for your one , as I am thinking off taken Rns-e mk2 out off my S3

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-Androi...h=item283a72f39d:g:DxcAAOSw9EJZrl7r:rk:4:pf:0

 

[ab1702]

All these units are the same regardless of the make, that make and model number is just made up from the company selling it.
If it’s for example android 8 Octo core, then if you get it from erisin, xtrons, pumpkin or any other name they are all the same units just with a different name on the box. They more or less can all do the same thing, they can all use the same software, use the same apps etc etc. I would personally go with one that has the best support which in my experience is xtrons. They ship from England and accept returns to England and are good at responding to messages. When I had one from erisin before that then it was shipped from China and they replied to messages from China so one message per day and I had to return it to China.

Oh and also just to add, what xtrons say about needing to modify the harness if you haven’t got Bose is wrong. With all these units if you connect everything properly that comes in the box then everything will work as it should do.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

I disagree with you on this one.
I have seen plenty of posts about Xtrons issues with Bose systems and many people have had to buy extra hardware to sort it.
The Erinis unit that I have linked to above is sold from a UK buyer, dispatched from the UK and has UK online support (answers during regular UK working hours). It worked straight of the box with my Bose system, no issues what-so-ever.

If I had any issues with the above unit, or the seller then I would warn people NOT to buy one, but I am happily recommending it because I have had it for almost a year without any problems.
It is used to stream Spotify, navigate with Waze or Google maps and run scan tools such as OBD Eleven or Torque, among other less used applications.
Bear in mind that the above unit is more expensive than most Xtrons and Pumpkin units, so maybe the extra cost is due to better hardware which in turn has resulted in a reliable head unit?

 

[ab1702]

Those issues were on the older units.
I’ve got Bose and an android 8 unit from xtrons and it works perfect and I’ve not bought anything extra to make Bose work properly.
Honestly all the units are pretty much all the same internals and yours is no different to any other android 8. I could put everything that’s built into your device and everything you’ve put onto it onto my device if I wanted to and vice versa.
If you’ve got English support for it aswell then happy days.
Erisin, Xtrons and Pumpkin are just resellers that put their name on the box. As I say any unit that is running the same android version is pretty much the same unit.

 

[Mrlilywhite]

Just jumping in here to ask what unit I should be looking at for my a3 that doesn't have a Bose system? Looking to replace my rnse unit that has broken.

 

[abmat]

any unit you want. It’ll just need the correct harness adapter.

 

[Mrlilywhite]

any unit you want. It’ll just need the correct harness adapter.

Will the xtrons come with the necessary harness adapter? From what is said on their website, "Please note that if your vehicle has no BOSE system, but it has the audio port, you need to ask a professional technician to make some modifications of the wires connection; otherwise, your rear amplifier speakers will NOT have sound" What mods need doing to connect a non bose system to the xtrons?

 

[ab1702]

Will the xtrons come with the necessary harness adapter? From what is said on their website, "Please note that if your vehicle has no BOSE system, but it has the audio port, you need to ask a professional technician to make some modifications of the wires connection; otherwise, your rear amplifier speakers will NOT have sound" What mods need doing to connect a non bose system to the xtrons?

It’ll work straight out of the box, I don’t know why xtrons say that on their adverts but it will definitely come with everything you need without having to modify anything

 

[Nick_db]

This has helped me massively!
I want to replace Symphony HU in my 2007 S3 and I looked at an Android Auto Sony unit in Halfords, the fella there said that I should never replace the unit in my Audi as the sound quality will be awful and nothing will ever work correctly again! It was very off-putting TBH and I've not considered a new stereo for quite a while.
Am I correct in assuming the poor quality / humming issues can be solved by using Gound Loop Isolators if the problem occurs?
I'll probably look at purchasing one of these units above. So, as there are a few folks on here that use them can I ask what are they like to use on a daily basis? I want to use DAB and wondered if they are easy to stream music to from my phone and make calls from?
My car does currently have Bluetooth factory installed and I wanted to know how this would be affected too?

 

[Daveyonthemove]

Lots of questions, but I'll do my best...
DAB is ok. Some stations like BBC R1 etc are very clear and have a strong signal. I prefer Absolute Radio, and in my are it drops out a lot. To the point that I no longer use the DAB side of the radio and use the app instead.

Yes, it will allow you to stream music but why bother? You can put the same apps on these headunits that you can have on your mobile. I have Spotify installed on my headunit and have an 'offline' playlist stored on it for areas of poor signal, but with my phone providing a hotspot I stream music when I want to. The quality is better than sending it over Bluetooth.

You can still use the built in BT module in the car, but you will only have voice control. I never had any success with it in mine, so I use the 'Hey Google' voice control function instead and tell it to call who I need to speak to, and it works more often that not. The microphone works ok, but it's not brilliant quality.

I've never had the humming/whining so I can't answer that one.

On a daily basis they work fine. Boot up time is very quick from standby, apps run well and you can easily have Waze/Google maps giving you directions whilst playing music from whatever source you prefer and retaining steering controls for volume and skipping tracks.
I don't regret getting mine, it's always up to date with maps and traffic info and can be customised to look and behave how you want in most circumstances.

 

[Nick_db]

Lots of questions, but I'll do my best...
DAB is ok. Some stations like BBC R1 etc are very clear and have a strong signal. I prefer Absolute Radio, and in my are it drops out a lot. To the point that I no longer use the DAB side of the radio and use the app instead.

Yes, it will allow you to stream music but why bother? You can put the same apps on these headunits that you can have on your mobile. I have Spotify installed on my headunit and have an 'offline' playlist stored on it for areas of poor signal, but with my phone providing a hotspot I stream music when I want to. The quality is better than sending it over Bluetooth.

You can still use the built in BT module in the car, but you will only have voice control. I never had any success with it in mine, so I use the 'Hey Google' voice control function instead and tell it to call who I need to speak to, and it works more often that not. The microphone works ok, but it's not brilliant quality.

I've never had the humming/whining so I can't answer that one.

On a daily basis they work fine. Boot up time is very quick from standby, apps run well and you can easily have Waze/Google maps giving you directions whilst playing music from whatever source you prefer and retaining steering controls for volume and skipping tracks.
I don't regret getting mine, it's always up to date with maps and traffic info and can be customised to look and behave how you want in most circumstances.

Thanks for the insight Davey, I currently use Apple Music on my Android phone so can put my music offline on the unit.
So I take it that you use a wi-fi hotspot to get all the data onto the the HU, do you need that hotspot running all the time to run things like navigation?
Sorry for throwing more questions at you after you've proven so helpful.

 

[Daveyonthemove]

No problem, it's fine.
Yes, Apple music will work on the Headunit as it is an available app.
No, you don't have to use the hotspot on your device if you don't want to, but for up to date traffic info etc, it is worth doing and won't use any more data than your phone would doing the same thing.

If you prefer, you can download 'offline maps' of areas you use alot on your house wifi (if you can park within range) as well as your music and never have to use mobile data, but I have 30GB a month allowance so it's not a worry for me.

 

[abmat]

I just went for a CarPlay unit. Luckily I have unlimited data so I can use Apple Music and stream stuff one google maps for navigation.