CarlinKit Ai Box CarPlay Android 13.0 for Wired CarPlay and Touchscreen Cars, Support YouTube/Netflix/TikTok/Google Play, Built-in 4G Net, 8-Core 8+128G

Ok

I've been using mine for over a year now this thing has been an absolute lifesaver for my 2019 Toyota Camry that did not have Android auto it had Apple play but no Android Auto. Absolute unit of AI box for my car

I tried a few of these boxes and this is the best one. I have connected with 4G through T-Mobile and it works great. Smooth video and transitions. Split screen is great. If you have a good screen be sure to adjust the video settings to a higher level. I think it comes about mid-range by default.

Purchased August 17th, 2024. ("Prime Day" sale.) It worked as it should in my 2019 Ford Ranger when I first received it. I added a T-mobile SIM card and that, too, worked exactly as it should. On first boot, notified me that an update was available, which I immediately installed. For a couple of weeks, it did exactly what I it's supposed to do. I could use internet and GPS on my head unit without needing to start a hotspot on my phone, and I still had access to wireless CarPlay (through the CarlinKit unit) if I wanted to use my phone instead. I also set the unit to allow for hotspotting every time I started my truck so my daughter could always use her (wifi only) tablet while we're on the road. Then little things started going wrong. First, the auto-hotspot feature got flaky and I had to consistently, manually, start the hotspot from the headunit. (Annoying, but not a deal breaker.) Then the internet stopped consistently working. Sometimes it would still work, but sometimes the unit would report a strong LTE connection, but Waze and Spotify and YouTube Music all only worked in offline mode. Then, a few days ago, less than a month after purchasing, the unit stopped projecting to my head unit. It's a brick now - it hasn't worked in days and my truck doesn't even know that there's a "CarPlay" device connected. Using the same cable that the CarlinKit is connected with, I tried my iPhone - CarPlay still works from there. That means that both the cable and the head unit are still working the way they should. Definitely regretting this purchase right now...

This is a next generation "Magic Box" multimedia adaptor. The first generation of these came out in early 2023 and were notoriously laggy. In particular, the wired to wireless Android auto and Carplay conversion often had audio lags of three to four seconds. The multimedia, Youtube and Netflix functions were spotty at best, often presenting pixelated and choppy videos. This new generation runs on a newer version of Android (13) and appears to have a faster processor. There is still some lag in the wireless AA/CP conversion but not as bad as with the older devices. Its a manageable 1-2 seconds now and really only noticeable when you try to control the audio track from your phone. The multimedia options are improved as well with movement between apps and videos being much more responsive. There are still occasional artifacts in videos but that may well be due to my mobile device connection and not the convertor. Overall, this is a vastly improved device and is available at a lower price than the 2023 version.