Moopy62
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2017
- Threads
- 14
- Messages
- 59
- Reaction score
- 22
- Location
- 19475
- Vehicle(s)
- 2018 civic sport hatchback
- Thread starter
- #1
In the U.S. Civic HB Sport owners that elect to go for a manual cannot get upgraded features including the more advanced head unit. The basic unit is just past barely functioning and I have often cited that my aftermarket $69 JVC head unit was better than this truly disappointing head unit that somehow Honda thought was anywhere near ready to put in a car. All that said we 2018 Civic owners face an uphill battle when it comes to aftermarket head units. Still no Metra harness adapter and a severe lack of adaptable head units so when I saw multiple reviews of the Phoenix Android I got excited to get one but that excitement quickly has been flushed right down a circling vortex of frustration and disappointment.
After ordering I received the unit (DHL) within 5 or 6 days with lots of tracking notifications - pretty good. I unboxed the unit already knowing that there was going to be an absence of helpful documentation. "Thats OK" I think since I feel I'm not a complete idiot with this kinda of stuff.
Install went fairly smooth (JDMPanda does a pretty decent review for install that helped). At least Honda's dash design makes this a pretty simple process . After a couple hours the unit was in and I powered it up.
Okay - now is the time for a little disclosure. I'm a Windows guy and Apple/ Iphone (8) guy. My experience with Android is my wife's Samsung tablet and I have always found it less than "friendly" I recognize that its a familiarity thing and I have just been lazy in getting totally proficient in the Android environment. But Hey - how hard could this be ? My objective was simple knowing that an Iphone-to-Android was going to be less than ideal. I wanted a head unit that perform the basic 5 - ideally...
1. Be hands free for phone. Push a button and say "Call So and So" and it accesses my phone's contacts (Nope to Honda)
2. I can easily switch between often used features/apps ( ideally via steering wheel controls) to see and select songs easily (Spotify, Amazon, Itunes playlists ect).
3. I can hear navigation while listening to radio or any other app (Can't do that with Honda)
4. I can hear (or see) my text ( I know that's a loaded one) - and verbally respond
5. I retain my backup camera without having to install and aftermarket unit
Anything else "cool" this unit could provide would just be gravy.
So here we are at start up- there are a lot of pre-loaded apps, many of which I either wont need/use or I have no idea what they do. That's OK for now - I am concentrating on my basic 5.
#1 Ok - phone. Were is the phone app. Oh - that's the one labeled "Bluetooth" So where is the bluetooth app? Oh - that's the one labeled "A2DP". So how do I setup a BT connection? With neither of these apps. My bad - I get the BT connection between the phone and head. Great. Lets make a phone call. Press my steering wheel "mic" button. That only Mutes sound. Huh? Is there a mic button on the BT (phone) app? Nope. How do I find and call a contact? I have to press Contacts button and scroll thru a couple hundred contacts? Huh!? No hands free dialing unless I use "Hey Siri". It works but not reliably and the mic delay is terrible. This Sucks!
#2 So I figure the solution to #1 is simply remapping steering wheel functions. I test how they work. Let press "Source". Yup - it jumps between Radio, Video , Music (storage), AV-In, and TV. Of these I only need Radio and possibly Music. What I want is to scroll through the apps/functions I use.
Scroll to Phone app? Nope
Scroll to Bluetooth source? Nope.
But I am sure this is maybe a simple SW mapping issue. Lets fix this problem. I try "wheel key" setup . Nope. I try and look everywhere. It seems that you can't map/select functions on the SW. (I ended up reading somewhere on Civicx that indeed this is hard coded in the CAN?). I cannot select default Sourses nor can I map the mic to the SW mic button. This is beginning to not look good.
Already disappointed and frustrated I move on. So before getting to the rest of my basic needs list I am sitting in my driveway and now comes the time to test some built-in apps, more fully configure the unit, and download other apps. I play with the Launcher app. Cool. I set up the UI and make it default on startup. Nope. I play and play - it just doesn't seem to retain default settings and crashes often. It turns out that, through this whole ordeal, this seems to be a common theme with either this head unit and/or Android. Buggy, crashes, non-sticky settings. Unstable or just downright crappy apps. It's so bad that I can honestly say that a significant issue behind this whole thing is crappy instability- I honestly don't know if it lies with the Phoenix or with Android in general. I end up doing a factory reset and start over. Finally got a Launcher to work and stay working.
This brought up a much larger question. How easily does my unit connect to data. In my driveway it see's and connects to my home wifi network easily enough but before going mobile I have to use the "EZConnect" app if I want to use my Iphone hotspot and it turns out its not very "EZ" or intuitive. Most every time I leave the car I have to re-establish hotspot wifi - its tedious and it impacts the ease at which apps like Spotify can be used. No wifi - no Spotify or many other apps for that matter. But I think I get now that this probably was an unrealistic expectation based on my ignorance. I simply thought (and hoped) that by connecting my phone that it would supply the necessary data via LTE. It doesn't maybe this is another excuse for Carplay dongle- but I know this too has limitations?
Now I try experimenting with the mysterious A2DP app. It seems this is my BT connection to my Iphone that will give me the ability to play my Itune playlist. I start up my music app and miraculously music is playing! I skip forward to the next song and.... it crashes. Multiple tries and multiple crashes. It seems hopeless so I go to the play store and download several other similar apps and invest yet more time. I have NO IDEA what I am looking at. Some provide a little bit of help in setup but I manage to get none working. I research and now its beginning to feel like I need to go to the College of Android to get anything friggin' working - its not what I wanted. I go back to the default app that seems to show absolutely no information but song, no list, no nothing and it seems to have no "settings" to change anything. I give up.
#3 - Navigation. I did get it to work with Google maps and its pretty good when its working BUT - again - it seems the phone's wifi hotspot must be connected in order to hear directions, otherwise its just running GPS and "dings" when an up coming turn is coming. I also have yet to find a way for the unit to diminish sounds playing (radio, song,etc) while nav voice comes on. A setting? Maybe but this unit is so full of menu's or hidden methods (to me and my non-android butt) that I couldn't find out how.
#4 - text stuff was a wish but not happening as far as I can tell. Maybe a case for the aftermarket CarPlay dongle?
#5 - Backup camera. It works! Yay!
Overall this unit just isn't for me. I wanted to love it. I wanted it to function for my basic 5. It just doesn't. It requires waaaay more effort than I wanted to put in. I still do not understand how this thing is sold as "hands free". The apparent lack of an easy access (mic button) is a deal breaker. I am sure that the Android techo-geek crowd likes the unit since I have seen some reviews but, overall, I don't think it's meant for the average Joe.
As I said above, I am not an Android guy so if anyone out there has some advice as to how either rectify functional issues or point out errors I am receptive. I want to be both fair and accurate.
(UPDATE) I got the Apple Carplay dongle. First I had to download the apk for the head unit. No problem in theory except for the fact that the unit google apps simply did not work. Wifi signal great. Tried multiple wifi locations (including phone hotspot) which indicated strong connection but after 1.5 hrs just had to factory reset the unit (again).
Plugged in dongle and viola- I had carplay! Hooray! Went back and hour later to go run some errands and guess what? Now a totally blank screen. Another 20 minutes of playing with setting and got the screen back. Will see how long that lasts.
ALSO- the USB stick still a huge horrible problem. Everytime I get in the car it requires me to wait several minutes then I have to rescan the library to see the music. Be prepared to do this every single time you get in the car. What bullshit.
(UPDATE 10-18) The Carplay dongle works but is low to load and the unit does not seem to (again) retain default settings. However, now when the phone is plugged in and I am listening to the radio then get a text is just stops the radio. No choice. Got to exit again and re-start the radio.
After ordering I received the unit (DHL) within 5 or 6 days with lots of tracking notifications - pretty good. I unboxed the unit already knowing that there was going to be an absence of helpful documentation. "Thats OK" I think since I feel I'm not a complete idiot with this kinda of stuff.
Install went fairly smooth (JDMPanda does a pretty decent review for install that helped). At least Honda's dash design makes this a pretty simple process . After a couple hours the unit was in and I powered it up.
Okay - now is the time for a little disclosure. I'm a Windows guy and Apple/ Iphone (8) guy. My experience with Android is my wife's Samsung tablet and I have always found it less than "friendly" I recognize that its a familiarity thing and I have just been lazy in getting totally proficient in the Android environment. But Hey - how hard could this be ? My objective was simple knowing that an Iphone-to-Android was going to be less than ideal. I wanted a head unit that perform the basic 5 - ideally...
1. Be hands free for phone. Push a button and say "Call So and So" and it accesses my phone's contacts (Nope to Honda)
2. I can easily switch between often used features/apps ( ideally via steering wheel controls) to see and select songs easily (Spotify, Amazon, Itunes playlists ect).
3. I can hear navigation while listening to radio or any other app (Can't do that with Honda)
4. I can hear (or see) my text ( I know that's a loaded one) - and verbally respond
5. I retain my backup camera without having to install and aftermarket unit
Anything else "cool" this unit could provide would just be gravy.
So here we are at start up- there are a lot of pre-loaded apps, many of which I either wont need/use or I have no idea what they do. That's OK for now - I am concentrating on my basic 5.
#1 Ok - phone. Were is the phone app. Oh - that's the one labeled "Bluetooth" So where is the bluetooth app? Oh - that's the one labeled "A2DP". So how do I setup a BT connection? With neither of these apps. My bad - I get the BT connection between the phone and head. Great. Lets make a phone call. Press my steering wheel "mic" button. That only Mutes sound. Huh? Is there a mic button on the BT (phone) app? Nope. How do I find and call a contact? I have to press Contacts button and scroll thru a couple hundred contacts? Huh!? No hands free dialing unless I use "Hey Siri". It works but not reliably and the mic delay is terrible. This Sucks!
#2 So I figure the solution to #1 is simply remapping steering wheel functions. I test how they work. Let press "Source". Yup - it jumps between Radio, Video , Music (storage), AV-In, and TV. Of these I only need Radio and possibly Music. What I want is to scroll through the apps/functions I use.
Scroll to Phone app? Nope
Scroll to Bluetooth source? Nope.
But I am sure this is maybe a simple SW mapping issue. Lets fix this problem. I try "wheel key" setup . Nope. I try and look everywhere. It seems that you can't map/select functions on the SW. (I ended up reading somewhere on Civicx that indeed this is hard coded in the CAN?). I cannot select default Sourses nor can I map the mic to the SW mic button. This is beginning to not look good.
Already disappointed and frustrated I move on. So before getting to the rest of my basic needs list I am sitting in my driveway and now comes the time to test some built-in apps, more fully configure the unit, and download other apps. I play with the Launcher app. Cool. I set up the UI and make it default on startup. Nope. I play and play - it just doesn't seem to retain default settings and crashes often. It turns out that, through this whole ordeal, this seems to be a common theme with either this head unit and/or Android. Buggy, crashes, non-sticky settings. Unstable or just downright crappy apps. It's so bad that I can honestly say that a significant issue behind this whole thing is crappy instability- I honestly don't know if it lies with the Phoenix or with Android in general. I end up doing a factory reset and start over. Finally got a Launcher to work and stay working.
This brought up a much larger question. How easily does my unit connect to data. In my driveway it see's and connects to my home wifi network easily enough but before going mobile I have to use the "EZConnect" app if I want to use my Iphone hotspot and it turns out its not very "EZ" or intuitive. Most every time I leave the car I have to re-establish hotspot wifi - its tedious and it impacts the ease at which apps like Spotify can be used. No wifi - no Spotify or many other apps for that matter. But I think I get now that this probably was an unrealistic expectation based on my ignorance. I simply thought (and hoped) that by connecting my phone that it would supply the necessary data via LTE. It doesn't maybe this is another excuse for Carplay dongle- but I know this too has limitations?
Now I try experimenting with the mysterious A2DP app. It seems this is my BT connection to my Iphone that will give me the ability to play my Itune playlist. I start up my music app and miraculously music is playing! I skip forward to the next song and.... it crashes. Multiple tries and multiple crashes. It seems hopeless so I go to the play store and download several other similar apps and invest yet more time. I have NO IDEA what I am looking at. Some provide a little bit of help in setup but I manage to get none working. I research and now its beginning to feel like I need to go to the College of Android to get anything friggin' working - its not what I wanted. I go back to the default app that seems to show absolutely no information but song, no list, no nothing and it seems to have no "settings" to change anything. I give up.
#3 - Navigation. I did get it to work with Google maps and its pretty good when its working BUT - again - it seems the phone's wifi hotspot must be connected in order to hear directions, otherwise its just running GPS and "dings" when an up coming turn is coming. I also have yet to find a way for the unit to diminish sounds playing (radio, song,etc) while nav voice comes on. A setting? Maybe but this unit is so full of menu's or hidden methods (to me and my non-android butt) that I couldn't find out how.
#4 - text stuff was a wish but not happening as far as I can tell. Maybe a case for the aftermarket CarPlay dongle?
#5 - Backup camera. It works! Yay!
Overall this unit just isn't for me. I wanted to love it. I wanted it to function for my basic 5. It just doesn't. It requires waaaay more effort than I wanted to put in. I still do not understand how this thing is sold as "hands free". The apparent lack of an easy access (mic button) is a deal breaker. I am sure that the Android techo-geek crowd likes the unit since I have seen some reviews but, overall, I don't think it's meant for the average Joe.
As I said above, I am not an Android guy so if anyone out there has some advice as to how either rectify functional issues or point out errors I am receptive. I want to be both fair and accurate.
(UPDATE) I got the Apple Carplay dongle. First I had to download the apk for the head unit. No problem in theory except for the fact that the unit google apps simply did not work. Wifi signal great. Tried multiple wifi locations (including phone hotspot) which indicated strong connection but after 1.5 hrs just had to factory reset the unit (again).
Plugged in dongle and viola- I had carplay! Hooray! Went back and hour later to go run some errands and guess what? Now a totally blank screen. Another 20 minutes of playing with setting and got the screen back. Will see how long that lasts.
ALSO- the USB stick still a huge horrible problem. Everytime I get in the car it requires me to wait several minutes then I have to rescan the library to see the music. Be prepared to do this every single time you get in the car. What bullshit.
(UPDATE 10-18) The Carplay dongle works but is low to load and the unit does not seem to (again) retain default settings. However, now when the phone is plugged in and I am listening to the radio then get a text is just stops the radio. No choice. Got to exit again and re-start the radio.
Sponsored
Last edited: