Best Android Auto Head Unit Car Stereos For 2022

Smartphone integration is a big reason to upgrade the head unit in your car, and you don’t even have to buy a new car to enjoy it. It’s easy to send text messages, find your way around, and do other things using voice commands. To fit a wide range of cars, companies that make aftermarket car audio systems have started making head units that work with Android Auto, which came out in 2015.

Head units from JVC, Pioneer, Sony, and others have features like satellite radio, HD Radio, USB port inputs, CD and DVD players, pre-amps, built-in GPS navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, and wireless Android Auto connectivity. You can get a bigger screen when you get a new Android Auto head unit. Some modern audio system units may even have features that your factory stereo didn’t have, like gauges for engine performance or the ability to install a backup camera.

With so many choices, it can be hard to find the best Android head unit for your car. We talked to the experts at Crutchfield to help us decide what to do. Since it opened in 1974, Crutchfield has helped more than 6 million customers improve the sound in their cars.

How We Chose The Best Android Auto Head Unit

For our list, we took into account the most common car radio sizes, which are single DIN and double DIN. Professional recommendations from Crutchfield, customer feedback, and ratings from well-known shopping sites were all used to choose these items.

Use the “Find What Fits” tool on Crutchfield to find out which stereo will work in your car before you go shopping. Using the make, model, and year of your car as a starting point, you can find speakers, head units that work with Android Auto, and more that work with your car.

3 Things To Look For In A New Android Auto Head Unit

• Double DIN or single-DIN: Double-DIN and single DIN are the two most common head sizes. Both single and double DIN stereo holes have two by 8 inches. A double-DIN replacement will allow you to add smarts to your entertainment system. This Android Auto device only has one DIN port and does not immediately rule out the possibility of using your Android phone to link with your automobile via Android Auto.
• Types of receivers:  You can choose from different head units, each with its features. Discs are getting harder and harder to put down. You can enjoy physical and digital content simultaneously with a DVD receiver. A digital multimedia receiver doesn’t need an optical drive to play music and videos. Most of these devices, however, have touch screens.
• Features: You’ll get more for your money than just Android phone integration. If you want to use your phone more naturally, try a capacitive touchscreen instead of a resistive one. Many models have pre-outs for more than just HD and satellite radio tuners. Look for a device that can talk wirelessly through Bluetooth and the Android Auto app for the best ease.

Even if your car stereo only has a single DIN slot, there’s no reason why it can’t have a big touchscreen. The Alpine Halo9 iLX-F309 is a “head unit” because it has a 9-inch floating screen and a 2-inch car head unit. This Android device has a rear USB port, an aux port, an HDMI port, and Bluetooth. It also has a lot of height and angle adjustments. This single DIN head unit has Android Auto built in, so you can use your voice to get to Google Maps, text messages, phone calls, and the weather.

The Pioneer DMH-WT8600NEX is the largest aftermarket Android Auto head unit stereo. For this digital entertainment player, optical discs are ditched for a capacitive touchscreen that hovers over a single DIN dash unit in the vehicle. Also included in this price of $1,155 is a wireless Android Auto system with HD Radio, Bluetooth, and compatibility with a range of digital audio formats like AAC, FLAC, MP3, and WMA.

What’s the use of having a CD player and discs? It’s not the Alpine ILX-W650 Android head unit. If space is at a premium in your dashboard, this unit is a good option because it doesn’t include an optical drive. The ILX-W650 has front and rear camera inputs and six-channel preamp outputs in addition to the normal Android car stereo connectivity. If you’d like even more power, you can add Alpine’s power pack amplifier, which delivers an additional 50 watts RMS across four channels.

What is a car stereo head unit with Android that costs $1,300? Kenwood has made the Excelon DNX997XR. The Garmin GPS navigation system comes with three years of free updates, which makes it a great value for the money. Passengers can also use Bluetooth to control Pandora from an Android phone or tablet. This double DIN head unit also has a capacitive touchscreen with a 720p, 6.75-inch screen, Bluetooth, and an HD Radio tuner.

The Pioneer AVH-W4500NEX is one of the best Android car stereos, and it’s also our pick for the best wireless Android Auto DVD head unit. It can show engine performance readouts and do a lot of other useful things. Also, this Double DIN head unit is perfect for most people who love CDs and want to play them. With Android Auto, you can use both the CD and DVD drives at the same time.

Before You Buy

Depending on where you buy an Android car stereo, it may or may not come with free installation. Best Buy gives you a factory-installed look for $100, and if it doesn’t work, you don’t lose any functionality. You will have to pay for any extra parts on top of the basic labour price.

You can install your own head unit if you buy adapters for the wire harness that are already made. With the connectors that Scosche and Amazon sell, you don’t have to cut and solder into the OEM wiring. You can also buy adapters to make sure you don’t miss out on things like OnStar, steering wheel controls, and door chimes. Depending on how hard it is, from a few dollars to several hundred. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a YouTube video that shows you how to use your Android head unit stereo model in your car.

If you don’t have the time or energy to do all the research yourself, you can buy an Android Auto radio from Crutchfield instead. Crutchfield is known for making installations as easy as they can be. Every head unit and speaker Crutchfield sells comes with a kit with everything you need to install it yourself, right down to the connectors and trim pieces.

If you install your own Android head unit, you won’t have to give up your steering wheel radio controls, backup camera, or any other factory features. But you have to pay for it. In addition to the cost of your head unit, you should spend between $300 and $500 on the necessary harnesses and data controllers. Older cars are cheaper in terms of how much it costs to install. If you buy the installation kit for the Pioneer AVH-W4500NEX for a 2008 Ford Ranger, you may save $50.

Adam “J.R.” Stoffel, a training manager at Crutchfield who has worked there since 1996, says, “You can get a very modern radio experience in your car with a smartphone connection.”

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Written for Roadshow by Timothy Seppala and originally published earlier.