Exactly

I'm holding out for either the Apple Carplay update for my 2017, wishful thinking, or the T10 or T11 :P

It's good to see improvement. I''ll definitely keep my eye on this once more reviews come out.

SIDE NOTE: I ordered their led light kit for $66. Wanted to directly compare these to the ARC Lightleds I already have. The rear hatch ones are great. Center light fits like crap. The button fell apart in my hand during install. Didn't even waste my time on the front ones. Left my ARC lights in there.

Review: Junk, but super cheap. If you go this route, be very very careful with install.

Not really sure its a rule of thumb. More of a choice at this point. These units (all of them) are not quality consumer products. They are cool depending on your individual needs. Bluetooth quality is shit across the board. Hardware failures occur regularly. Audio quality is what it is. Think of these as car tablets because that is what they are. Android tablets that interface to cars easily. I would argue that it should come down to what your needs are and where you are willing to compromise with your money. Brand loyalty? @&^# no. I would rather choose something that is functional in my life rather than running over the cliff based on notion thats its the only way to go. Jeep guys been saying the same thing for years.

I had one. Used it normally for awhile. Changed the firmware several times. Did a couple of hardware mods. Setup Tasker and some other apps to do things no regular car headunit would. I like this aspect of it. Not the quality but the flexibility. Having Google maps, youtube, web browser, etc built into the dash is awesome because it means I'm not streaming over bluetooth or hogging up my phone with Android Auto running. Having unlimited cellular data to tether is definitely a big reason why this works for me.

Your typical aftermarket headunits, while offering good to great audio fidelity, often have really shitty interfaces and are stupid expensive. Why the hell does a android auto headunit from a name brand need to cost so much? These are often touted as budget units too. Even with good quality control and nice components why do they opt for low res displays and clunky designs (looking at Alpine). Frustrating as all hell in my opinion because someone could definitely do better but its a hard business to be profitable in. Hence overpriced name brand vs lower cost chinese.

The aftermarket headunit scheme needs a massive shakeup. While these chinese units arent quite it, its still a sign of things to come. Carputers, tablet/phone interfaces, and mainstreamed OS on units are going to be the norm. I myself am a firm believer that the future of most of our tech will become UCD's ( universal computing devices). Its all ready happening from several directions.

The point of my response to the "everything is made in China" comment was that the no name Android units are more often than not, junk. They often have more issues than it's worth to the general consumer, and as such it's a rule of thumb to stay away from them versus the big brands. Most consumers want something that works well out of the box, and a no name headunit isn't it.

The topic about how the name brands are behind in innovation and capability is another thing entirely, and I agree with you. I'm all in for a full blown computer in my vehicle but as you said, no one reputable has stepped up to the plate to provide that as an affordable turnkey solution, yet.

I sincerely hope I am wrong and the unit is in the realm of reasonable/affordable. One can dream...

I just recently purchased the T9 unit after also having purchased the T8.

The T8, for me, has been a good unit. I didn't ever use car play or android auto so I can't comment on that.

What I didn't like about the t8 was primarily the weak microphone capability. I wanted to use it to keep it very hands free and it limited my capability to do that. However, I was able to work around that mostly by modifying the gui interface with other software launcher and shortcuts to what I wanted it to do.

As someone else mentioned on here, if you are use to using Android and can "work with it" then the unit mostly does what it advertises. If you are pretty illiterate with working with electronics and all you want out of a head unit is music, then it probably isn't your cup of tea.

Will keep you posted on T9 once I get it.

@Andason when you get it can you download and run CPU Z or a similar app to check what processor and SoC it has.

Ita being sold as the T9 but allwinner doesnt even list the T9 on their website so I cant find specs, I'm curious if this is just the T8 with more ram

Hi. I will check.

From what I have found so far, maybe it is: CPU: Allwinner Octa Core TS9, Coretex-A9 - 1.8GHz(X4)

be careful of no-name brands that come out of nowhere and the shills that accompany these products. I don't care if its made in china, india or the USA.

Big name companies like alpine, pioneer, and kenwood, have their reputations at stake when they release products, so they tend to thoroughly test a product before releasing to the market.

Chinese manufacturing companies that produce products for these big name companies typically have a QC division/unit that is forced upon them by their parent/contract company and those products are good to go.

MOST chinese companies that aren't contracted with big parent companies, don't have any quality control associated with their products. The end user is their quality control department.

I would not consider being a end user, beta tester as a form of quality control.

I'm not shitting on their products, just know what you are buying by asking yourself: "Is the product I'm buying the best product at that price point?".....and purchase accordingly.

The T9 has SPDIF audio out. None of those name brand ones do that I can find. That plus CarPlay is all I need for a perfect head unit. I know very few of us have a desire for SPDIF, but I just wanted to reiterate for manufacturers that it is HUGE for some of us.

Who uses SPDIF audio out in a vehicle? I mean honestly you use that for hi fidelity audio in a home theater or surround sound system not in car audio. If it is true fiber it is easily breakable when routing and if it is the plastic style fiber they get brittle and can crack pretty fast in vehicle applications as there is not protection from heat/cold cycles. If RCA is shielded properly and ran right it has the same audio fidelity as SPDIF. CAT6 is another way to go and would be a better route than SPDIF as well.

As an aside you can add makeup to the pig doesn't change the fact it is a pig. Adding SPDIF to the T9 doesn't change the fact it is a Chinese knock off that has no QA/QC or anything standing behind it like Alpine or Pioneer. If the processor they use can't drive it then it doesn't matter that they added it.

Also big named manufacturers don't need gimicky crap to sell their systems because they test properly and have standards for install to go by for best results.

RCA is analog and SPDIF is digital. It’s a matter of being converted from analog to digital multiple times vs once by a high quality processor. I’ve tested SPDIF vs RCA to my Helix DSP and the sound quality difference is very notable, the noise floor is at least 5-10db lower.

Adding SPDIF to an Android head unit lets you bypass any crap Bluetooth or DAC it comes with, making it a game changer. I think you should do some research into DSPs and DAC/ADC conversions because comparing RCA to SPDIF like you did makes zero sense.

any guinea pigs get this unit yet?

This almost looks just like the new unit that’s going in the 2020 model.