So it looks like the CTHome T9 head unit is out, waiting for reviews.
- Thread starter zonzin
- Start date
Ideally, yes. But the options for head units for the 4runner are awful. Small screens. Dead space to the left and right (or useless buttons around it).
I bought Pioneer’s very pricey, best NEX unit about 2 years ago for my 3rd gen, and it can’t go more than an hour without freezing and rebooting now. It’s been progressively been getting worse since about a year. So I’m not sold on them being better quality, just a name. All the aftermarket options look awful in the dash and have embarrassing resolution and contrast for costing as much as an iPhone.
zonzin
Member
Yeah I couldn't put that in my rig, looks like someone stuck a table to the dash with suction cups. Fuggly.
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TangentAudio
New member
ugh, dust under the screen again in the 2nd video
mrblah
Senior Member
They should advertise it in the specs as an actual speck...lol
Android T9
With Entune each update seems to remove apps and functionality. This unit will still play music from radio and music and videos from a hard drive. It will function just fine as a stand alone for everything your factory radio does now with the exception of XM radio. Yes it might lose updates but Entune will too. Auto updates can be turned off and it will function just fine as a stand alone head unit. I believe this unit could very well outlast the time of ownership of my 5th gen. Just create a Google account especially for the headunit as this unit will not receive security patches. You can share your purchased apps from your main account without creating security problems.
I use it to play music and navigate. It is way better than Entune, just hope it holds up. I've had factory radios go bad, so not too worried about this unit.
With Entune each update seems to remove apps and functionality. This unit will still play music from radio and music and videos from a hard drive. It will function just fine as a stand alone for everything your factory radio does now with the exception of XM radio. Yes it might lose updates but Entune will too. Auto updates can be turned off and it will function just fine as a stand alone head unit. I believe this unit could very well outlast the time of ownership of my 5th gen. Just create a Google account especially for the headunit as this unit will not receive security patches. You can share your purchased apps from your main account without creating security problems.
I use it to play music and navigate. It is way better than Entune, just hope it holds up. I've had factory radios go bad, so not too worried about this unit.
Bellarunner
New member
Love how this unit looks. I see the unit shows 2014-present in terms of fitting. I imagine this will not fit a 2010 limited with JBL. Any idea of if this would work in the 2010-2013 Limited. If not what do you feel is the next best option for HU upgrade.
Thanks
Thanks
also interested in what's needed for this. i'd buy the 2020 but dont see myself spending 2500 on a head unit...
Blu42
Member
I politely disagree with this entirely. I use several android devices that are 7+ years old. This includes phones and tablets. No problems keeping apps updated. There are certainly apps that will not run on certain Android builds but even then most of the common ones will continue to be available. Side loading is always an option. Android is incredibly flexible.
IF you were using an Android head unit you wouldn't be using the very limited Android Auto app anyways. Most google apps are functional through a backend framework called Google Play Services. Even with that, there are opensource APIs now available that offer similar functionality for Google apps.
The real issue comes down to optimization of apps and system resources. Obviously older hardware will have less available RAM and processing power. If one knows what they are doing there are even ways around that.
Plenty of reasons to hate these units but this is definitely not one of them. Don't compare apples to hot sauce.
I got mine installed last night. First impression, typical Chinese crap. Looks great but zero instructions and crap fit. After tinkering and modifying the top retention clips a bit, I was able to get a decent fit. All of the factory clips and harnesses fit perfectly although a couple of the harnesses that came with the HU don't fit into the head unit because of the retention clips. Took some playing to get those to fit. I just shoved the TV antenna and GPS on top of the HU, didn't bother sticking them anywhere. I ran the sim chip dongle and usb extension into the glove box using the access panel on the back.
The stock HU does have a fan on the side and this one is passively cooled. It gets quite warm to the touch under normal operation so hopefully it doesn't overheat and die. I've played with it a bit and if it stands up to the Las Vegas heat, I think it will be a great replacement for the absolutely awful stock HU.
I've used android auto, spotify and really any other apps that I've thrown at it. Netflix does not work because netflix doesn't work on android devices that aren't google certified (whatever that means). You should be able to sideload the app but I haven't tried.
I tried to use automate to turn on tether on my phone when it connects to the HU with bluetooth but I didn't like the way that turned out so I got a sim chip and popped it in. Didn't work right away, I had to press the reset button on the front of the HU. That reset button functions as a restart button. A restart brought the sim chip online and I was disappointed with the signal (2 bars when I had 4 on my cell phone). I enabled roaming and it immediately matched what I had on my phone.
All in all, pretty happy. I was really worried about the glare which looks horrible in pics but hasn't been a problem when plugged in.
The HU doesn't turn off completely each time you turn the runner off. The tablet goes to sleep and picks up where you left off. The only way to restart and see the boot screen is to press the reset button on the front.
I've made a couple calls and the mic quality seems decent. As good as the stock mic which I've never really been a fan of. I do have a roof rack so I do get more wind noise than most.
I played with a bluetooth OBD2 sensor and torque app, pretty cool. I bought the wifi version which was dumb, I should have gotten the BT version so I'm just borrowing a friend's for now.
If you like to tinker and you don't like the other T4R head unit options, go for it. If you want something that is absolutely perfect out of the box, wait for a "real" company to offer something. Happy to answer any questions if you are thinking about getting one.
Questions:
Anyone know what app to use to get the TV antenna to work? I didn't see any tv tuner apps on the play store.
How can I replace the icons on the bottom of the main screen with my own? I didn't see a way to do that.
The stock HU does have a fan on the side and this one is passively cooled. It gets quite warm to the touch under normal operation so hopefully it doesn't overheat and die. I've played with it a bit and if it stands up to the Las Vegas heat, I think it will be a great replacement for the absolutely awful stock HU.
I've used android auto, spotify and really any other apps that I've thrown at it. Netflix does not work because netflix doesn't work on android devices that aren't google certified (whatever that means). You should be able to sideload the app but I haven't tried.
I tried to use automate to turn on tether on my phone when it connects to the HU with bluetooth but I didn't like the way that turned out so I got a sim chip and popped it in. Didn't work right away, I had to press the reset button on the front of the HU. That reset button functions as a restart button. A restart brought the sim chip online and I was disappointed with the signal (2 bars when I had 4 on my cell phone). I enabled roaming and it immediately matched what I had on my phone.
All in all, pretty happy. I was really worried about the glare which looks horrible in pics but hasn't been a problem when plugged in.
The HU doesn't turn off completely each time you turn the runner off. The tablet goes to sleep and picks up where you left off. The only way to restart and see the boot screen is to press the reset button on the front.
I've made a couple calls and the mic quality seems decent. As good as the stock mic which I've never really been a fan of. I do have a roof rack so I do get more wind noise than most.
I played with a bluetooth OBD2 sensor and torque app, pretty cool. I bought the wifi version which was dumb, I should have gotten the BT version so I'm just borrowing a friend's for now.
If you like to tinker and you don't like the other T4R head unit options, go for it. If you want something that is absolutely perfect out of the box, wait for a "real" company to offer something. Happy to answer any questions if you are thinking about getting one.
Questions:
Anyone know what app to use to get the TV antenna to work? I didn't see any tv tuner apps on the play store.
How can I replace the icons on the bottom of the main screen with my own? I didn't see a way to do that.
Compromised4Runner
New member
I challenge you to get the YouTube and maps app running on a mytouch3g or equivalent. Then we can run this back.
Blu42
Member
I use Android still on a HP touchpad and that didn't even come with Android. Check out XDA Developers if your not familiar with it yet. There is even a whole section dedicated to updating and modifying Android head units on XDA.
While you may not get Android 9.0 on that mytouch you could probably still get it updated enough to function.Again, to stay on topic, my point was more or less that we should hate these things for the appropriate reasons. So many more justifiable things to pick on with these units. Hardware would crap out long before the OS was ever an issue anyways.
Compromised4Runner
New member
I use Android still on a HP touchpad and that didn't even come with Android. Check out XDA Developers if your not familiar with it yet. There is even a whole section dedicated to updating and modifying Android head units on XDA.
Again, to stay on topic, my point was more or less that we should hate these things for the appropriate reasons. So many more justifiable things to pick on with these units. Hardware would crap out long before the OS was ever an issue anyways.
Not sure how to take this. Been a member of xda since 2010. This is an apples to oranges comparison. Touchpad had a rather unique following. And was able to have kit Kat on it stable. Which is currently supported. Play devices/store/youtube/etc functions fine. This hu/tablet (forgot the real model name already) doesn't have an entry on xda. This Will not get that community love and support. If the hardware doesn't die in 7 years, the cool features everyone likes will.
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