Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I was so pumped for this product when I first saw the announcement for it a little over a month ago. Now that I have it and have spent the past 3 days using it I can safely say it has been a huge letdown. I really wanted it to work as well, I tried my hardest to see past all the issues, but there are so many and they interfere so heavily with the usability I couldn't. For that reason I'm returning it. I'll detail the specifics individually further down.
First, the idea itself was a great one. One I am convinced would have worked if it were not for the buggy software and the slow interface. It feels as if the product was rushed to market before it was thoroughly tested and tweaked. The line between great product and horrid one is thin here and this one missed the mark for myself. Also, I didn't count off for this as I was fully aware of it going in, but am posting it as an FYI to future less informed buyers. This product turns into a mediocre radio without an iPhone 4. It has no other input and will be a waste of $400 if you don't have one or don't plan on keeping yours for a while once you get the radio. I can't stress this enough, without an iPhone this radio is a few steps from useless.
Install & setup:
This was par for the course as far as any radio is concerned. I mounted the GPS antenna on the dash and the mic by my sun-visor. More than enough cable for both tasks. I am unsure if I could have gotten the GPS antenna to my back window, but it would have been tight. All other items installed like you would expect any aftermarket radio.
Hardware:
The fit and finish of the actual hardware is good. The microphone and GPS antenna look and feel like they are quality items and will last a while. As noted before the cable length for both was ample for installing on the dash/sun-visor. I can't say if I could have gotten the antenna to my back window, but it would have been tight if I had tried. The multitouch screen feels like an iPhone on the surface, although the software on the device causes issues with usability that will be detailed below. My screen had a single dead pixel that stuck out like a sore thumb when the screen was all black or displaying a dark color. The "home" button and volume buttons from a hardware perspective felt quality. The iPhone connection cable is unnecessarily thick and heavy. Although it feels like it will last it is too cumbersome to be comfortably used. As noted before there are no inputs for anything other than an iPhone and as discussed in other reviews only a single set of RCA outs. I did not degrade the rating for this as I knew this before I bought it.
Software/Processor:
This is where the unit really fails. It is extremely slow and the software is buggy. Several times (4-5) in the 3 days I have used it the unit has completely frozen, would not respond to any input what-so-ever. The only fix for this was to shut my car off for several seconds and start it back up. The software is also very, very slow. It takes 45 seconds to even become responsive after my car is turned on. When switching between screens there is a lag of between 5 to 30 seconds. It gets frustrating when you press a button several times after no response only to have 3-4 clicks register at the same time 4-5 seconds later, this happens quite a bit when changing volume. This appears to be a combination of the software and a slower processor than is needed. I am unsure if a more efficient software update could solve this issue as it is so bad now.
Radio:
The radio performed as you would expect. All was decently peppy except changing between bands. This took 10-15 seconds a band, there are 3 FM bands and 2 AM bands. So going from FM1 to AM1 can take 45 seconds as you press band, wait 15 seconds, press it again, wait 15 more and so on. Programming favorite stations was very easy, however the autoprogram button was right by the band switch button. I twice wiped out my presets after I hit this as it goes without confirmation if you touch it.
iPod:
This functioned well. The only major annoyance here was having to use arrows to scroll through songs/artists. The familiar slide your finger to scroll as you would on the iPhone was not here. The lag in the device between hitting the down arrow and seeing it moved often caused me to scroll past the artist/song I was looking for.
Phone/Bluetooth:
I never got in the phone app directly after the first few times. As hitting the phone button on the radio stops any music from playing before you dial, and once you do press this button you have to exit the radio app and relaunch the music app from your iPhone. For instance, if I'm listening to pandora and hit the "Home" button, pandora continues to play as expected, but once I press phone, before I have even decided who to dial the music stops, so it is silent until I find the contact and dial them, hang up, exit the app, and relaunch pandora. The workaround is to use your phone to scroll through your contacts and dial. This pauses the music only when you start the actual call, and resumes it as soon as it is over. The phone interface is also very slow. You have to use a button to scroll through contacts one page at a time, which takes 4-5 seconds to switch pages. I ended up using the phone to place every call after trying it through the actual radio. The bluetooth works OK. Most everyone I talked to asked me if I was on speakerphone as they could hear ample amounts of background noise. Also every call I placed that was over 8-9 minutes developed a serious echo, sometimes with a 1-2 second lag. I speculate this was due to the processor falling behind but am unsure.
Individual apps:
Next I'll go over individual apps. This was the most exciting thing about the radio as it makes it ever expanding as more apps come to support it. One needs to remember that the radio doesn't really run any apps, it just offers a second display for, and a way of interacting with, apps on your iPhone. Most of the complaints about the apps have to do with the responsiveness of the radio, not really the app as when I used them without the radio, all the interface challenges went away. The phone plays more of a critical role in controlling the radio than I hoped. Things such as switching apps, entering a destination in the GPS, or looking in your ohone book without killing the music has to be done on the phone. Also the reviewer that noted you can't use more than one app at once was partially mistaken. For instance I can start pandora music, then switch to motionx drive and the pandora music still plays, but to do anything other than change the track, I have to close motionx and open pandora from the phone itself.
Pioneer App Radio App - This appears to be more of a "proof of concept" app than anything useful. First the vehicle has to be in park to use it. It allows you to access your iPhone calendar, Photo's, Google maps, as well as launch the supported apps on the device. There is really no use I could find for it, doing all the mentioned was much faster and easier using the iPhone. The reviewer who said this app must be running was mistaken. All supported apps can be launched directly from the iphone without ever using it.
Pandora - This is probably the most polished app currently available on the device. I had very little issues with this app, other than the slowness of the interface.
MotionX Drive - This app is handy, but the radio offers little more than a remote display for the GPS. The only functions you can do on the radio are resizing and changing the orientation on the map (using buttons, not multi-touch like on the iPhone). All other input had to be done via the phone, a fact that could arguably be more dangerous than using the radio. No multitouch moving or resizing of the map as in other apps. There was little difference noted in position accusation time between the phone being plugged in and not. For that reason I am unsure if the GPS antenna was helping much. Although skies were clear, it could have shown its usefulness during an overcast day.
INRIX Traffic - A pretty useful app, it supports multi touch and moving of the map as it does on the iphone. Although extreme slowness was noted here as well.
Netflix/Hulu - Both worked as you would expect if you plugged your phone into a monitor. The radio only acts as a remote monitor for viewing video, all control is on the phone for both apps. The vehicle has to be in park to use them.
rdio - Did not use, can't offer review.
In conclusion the idea was solid and I feel could still be a good one. However, the software and performance issues were too much for me to overcome right now. I would strongly caution anyone who was thinking about buying this. That was the reason for the long review I did is had I known all the above, I would not have bought the radio.
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Pioneer SPH-DA01 AppRadio 6.1-Inch In-Dash Double-Din AV Receiver for iPod and iPhone
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