9" Aftermarket Android Head Unit (Feature Overview / Installation)

[jayzon831]

You can get brand name HU's for less.

Except no brand name companies make a 9 inch touch unit. ( that i know of)

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[Amilapk]

Hi

I recently installed an aftermarket 9" android head unit and was asked to do a review / overview of features. The price was $325 after shipping from China. The device works with all existing features in the 10th gen civic and adds some other features:

• Backup camera - all angles available, also has trajectory lines that follow steering wheel movement
• Lane watch - Can be disabled in the settings
• Bluetooth - works with both Iphone and android-based phones. Downloads your contact list.
• GPS antenna - Can use pretty much any GPS app from the play store. If you want to use ones that also require data (Waze, Google Maps) then you either have to tether your phone or download the offline maps to the device
• Wifi - Works great with tethering
• 2 USB ports - one routes to the OEM USB input, the other one goes behind your dash to the glove box. I keep a 1TB external hard drive connected with all my music / videos etc.
• Steering wheel controls - Fully functional, can map any button to perform whatever function you would like. (The cruise control buttons are not able to be mapped however).
• EasyConnect - a phone mirroring app - works with both iphone and android-based devices. Also allows you to play music over wifi.
• Update: Apple CarPlay - possible through the purchase of this USB dongle.

System Specs:

• OS: Android 6.0.1
• 1 GB of DDR-3 RAM
• 16 gigabytes of ROM storage
• SD slot
• 2 USB ports
• CPU: A9, Quad Core 1.6GHz frequency
• Screen Resolution: 1024 x 600

I have had the unit installed for over a week. Overall I am very happy with it so far. It is a major upgrade from the LX head unit. Music quality is at least equal to that of the OEM headunit, however I am only using the stock speakers. I am not sure how well it would handle an AMP and aftermarket speakers. It does come with the connectors to hook up that equipment however. An equalizer is included and does a decent job, but there are plenty of other ones that on the play store.

I made a video showcasing everything that I could think of. I am not an audiophile, or a master reviewer for head units / sound systems so take it for what it's worth. I made the video by request to show what you can do with this head unit.



I am working on an installation video next. The install was relatively easy and took a little over an hour for me, but could easily be done in less time. The unit is basically plug and play, with the exception of having to connect 2 wires which are clearly labeled.

If you are interested in the head unit or have any questions let me know.

Link to head unit.

-----UPDATE-----

CarPlay / Android Auto is now able to be used on this head unit. You just have to purchase this dongle. Works like a champ!

Link to latest firmware for ZBox dongle

See this video on how to update ZBox firmware.

-----UPDATE 2 ----

Video showing how to use Apple CarPlay with this headunit (ZBox):

Hi, I'm from Sri Lanka. Recently bought the civic 1.5L turbo sedan from Japan. It didn't have the head unit. So I ordered one from China with 2GB ram and 32GB rom.
Can you please tell me how to get the reverse camera function fully. Installation done by an expert but, he couldn't figure it out how to get the reverse video. Finally 12v supply given and got the fish eye view. Then given 8v. Now having normal view, but sometimes views change it self which is annoying. He connected 3 or 4 wires together into ground. If can please send me the diagram of wiring for reverse camera. Head unit has the option to switch between views. Tell me how to get it working. Do I need to add an adapter. Thank you.
[email protected]

 

[Shankmeyster]

As said above the chinese units either don't work correctly or will fail. GL with getting it to work correctly.

 

[Slade]

I installed my Wa Unusual headunit yesterday and been playing around with it today. Coming from the base unit I'm impressed with the new unit. Here are some of my thoughts having played with it a while now.
Cons:
1.) Hondata/FlashPro does not like the headunit. The headunit's Bluetooth appears to be the reason as it appears to want to only connect to phones. I can see the FlashPro showing up, but never establishes a connection. This is disappointing since this was one to the main reasons I purchased the headunit so I could run apps like Hondata. Previously, I connected the FlashPro to an Android tablet (4.4) and it worked flawlessly. Edit: Fixed by matching passcodes for both FlashPro and headunit.
2.) Rearview camera image is very bad - not just image quality, but the way it's presented. In my opinion the picture is blown up too big. When you use the lines they aren't scaled correctly. The lines would work better if the image was smaller. Too bad you can't adjust the picture smaller, or scale the lines bigger.
3.) Climate control app keeps coming up. I use auto setting so I think that's why it comes up because the fans keep changing speed. I tried disabling the feature, but then another climate app takes it's place, and it's arguably worse than the Honda-like app.
4.) Resetting the headunit to factory settings removes stuff that takes effort to get back. Things like IGo don't reinstall. Luckly, if you look through the file system you can find a lot of the APKs in there (i.e. IGo).
5.) Would really like a way to change the Music shortcut to open another app. The Navi has the option to change what the default app is, but that's it. All the other shortcuts can't be remapped (that I've found). The default music app is terrible (does not shuffle folders!) so I downloaded another and it would be nice to map it to the icon on the homepage.
6.) Had to change Model to Honda Civic16 (or something like that) in order to stop no video when signaling a right turn. Even with the check off the use right camera was selected it kept coming up. After I made that change it stopped coming up. I don't even know if I picked the right model as I didn't see the Crider that people were mentioning for the Phoenix model. It works and the radio buttons work so I'm sure it's the correct model info.
7.) Screen gets blacked out with Polarized sunglasses. Had to buy non-polarized so I can see the screen. Screen contrast gets darker from the passenger side.
8.) Fuel app only shows liters/km. When I go into "Car Settings" app to change "speed unit" to miles it doesn't register the change. I've noticed a lot of settings in "Car Settings" don't actually let you change anything. Not sure if this is tied to something like the model type selection.

Pros:
1.) Sound quality is better than I anticipated. The back of the unit says 45x4 watts which I think is probably a stretch, but the amp does a good job. I've read about EQ settings in the stock unit that creates roll-off and stuff that I'm sure doesn't exist on the new unit, so that is a plus.
2.) Build quality in general is very good. Granted I didn't open the unit up, but from the outside, fit and finish is very good. Installation was perfect, and the matte finish matches the A/C unit. Only thing was the plastic shims that fit around the posts that line up the stereo to the dash were not included. Not a deal breaker as you can transfer the same ones off the old unit and they fit perfectly. In most of the videos I've seen, must people don't seem to use them and just install the stereo as is. I just wanted to make sure I didn't have too much play in those areas so I installed them.
3.) All the wireless features work flawlessly. The GPS works great, the Wifi works great, Bluetooth works other than the Hondata issue I'm having, and FM radio works great. Only issue is AM reception sucks compared to stock unit. I don't listen to a lot of radio in general, much less AM, so no big loss there.
4.) Screen is very nice. Resolution is adequate for both text, graphics, and video. I'm impressed with the video playback, 1080p looks crisp. Angles are good, no weird contrast changes at extreme angles. Touch controls are spot-on perfect. Already got a speck of dust behind the screen but no biggy.
5.) I think the unit is a quad-core (Allwinner T3). I know it has 2GB RAM and 32GB storage. The unit is snappy. Even with a bunch of stuff loaded and constantly swapping between apps, the thing never acts any different than any other Android unit I've owned.
6.) Wiring was simple plug-and-play. E-Z. I ran the GPS up the dash underneath the instrument panel cover, ran the 2nd USB to the glovebox and forego the mic and amp cables (don't plan on using them). Only thing that sucked I'm blaming on labeling. For the backup camera I had two choices, "Camera In" and "Camera R".
I assumed Camera In was the rear camera and wasted too much time in the menus thinking it was a setting issue when it wasn't working (as others have gone through). I gave up on that and pulled the unit and swapped to "Camera R". That worked right away. So remember that the video labels don't necessarily mean what you might think.

 

[btonetbone]

I'm more then happy with my stock LX radio after my experience with one of those cheaply made direct from China android radios.

They are garbage and will fail and when they do you will NOT be able to successfully return it back for a refund no matter what the seller tells you

Radios and anything that transmitts is strictly prohibited item from being returned from the US through customs

That's not good news. Now that I have a unit that I can't get sound off because there's no way to connect it to the speakers , I was hoping a refund would be easy. They reassured me numerous times before purchase that it would work in the touring and can bypass amp. Argh

@WolfTrax17 and @justin85x - I was successfully able to return my radio to the Chinese dealer. It was expensive and a pain in the ass, but I recovered most of my original payment.

I wasn't happy with the Dasaita radio I had purchased; the FM radio reception was terrible and the screen wasn't very visible in the sunlight. So I contacted the seller through AliExpress and opened a refund request. After a whole bunch of back-and-forth, they agreed to refund my money. But they would only offer me a refund outside of the AliExpress channels. So I canceled my refund request (per their request) and sent it out via USPS. Once they received the radio, they said they would transfer me my original purchase price via PayPal. This seemed really sketchy to me, but I had paper trails of our conversations and was prepared to dispute the original charge with my credit card if I needed.

I packed up the radio and sent it out. Shipping via USPS from Atlanta to Guangzhou City, China cost me $100.90. And that was by far the cheapest option; DHL, UPS, and FedEx were all upwards of $200 if I recall.

The radio got held up in customs from May 28 through June 7. I was getting pretty nervous during that time, but it eventually made it through. The entire length of shipment was May 21 through June 9.

Today, they did indeed transfer me the full refund amount. But PayPal required a cut, so my refund was hit with a $17.11 fee.

Throw in about $10 for shipping supplies (because I was stupid and hadn't kept the original styrofoam), and returning this $400 radio cost me nearly $130.

Another odd thing to note: even though the purchase shipped to me from Hong Kong, Dasaita insisted that I return the radio to a location in China. My guess is that they have shipments coming directly from their factory, but can't accept returns there.

 

[Legato]

I’ve gotten lost in this thread. I can’t tell if people are regretting their Phoenix radio or not.

 

[btonetbone]

I’ve gotten lost in this thread. I can’t tell if people are regretting their Phoenix radio or not.

As one of the people who was unhappy, I think it's really hit or miss. It seems like most of the people coming from the base 5" headunit that comes on the LX are happy. Those of us (myself included) who had the 7" touchscreen headunit seem to have more mixed results.

If you are concerned you might not like it, I would definitely recommend buying domestic. My experience returning the radio to China cost more than I saved by buying from abroad. Buying domestic should make that easier, even if it's a few bucks more upfront.

 

[Shankmeyster]

I liked it up until the bluetooth started randomly not working and then the unit black screened when I launched it and then locked up after I restarted the car. Had to remove it just to get it to shut down.

 

[Slade]

Despite some jank, my overall experience is positive. My biggest issue right now is the FlashPro not connecting to my headunit. My phone connects to the headunit, and the FlashPro connects to another Android tablet, so I don't know why the headunit and FlashPro don't like to work together.

 

[FK7Hatch]

Despite some jank, my overall experience is positive. My biggest issue right now is the FlashPro not connecting to my headunit. My phone connects to the headunit, and the FlashPro connects to another Android tablet, so I don't know why the headunit and FlashPro don't like to work together.

It works but its janky.....
Turn on Bluetooth, connect to Flashpro from Bluetooth menu
Open Flashpro click thunderbolt, it will say enable bluetooth, select enable... open multi task and close flashpro
Open Flashpro click thunderbolt, select connect to flashpro
may need to try this a few times

 

[Slade]

It works but its janky.....
Turn on Bluetooth, connect to Flashpro from Bluetooth menu
Open Flashpro click thunderbolt, it will say enable bluetooth, select enable... open multi task and close flashpro
Open Flashpro click thunderbolt, select connect to flashpro
may need to try this a few times

My headunit doesn't have a typical Bluetooth setting where you would normally find it in "Connections". If I go to Bluetooth, it brings up the phone app where I can pair devices. When I try to pair the FlashPro it says it pairs but it never really does. I can see "FlashPro" when I scan for devices, but just won't pair. Since I can't pair it, hitting the lightning bolt in the Hondata app just sees my phone.

When you say I may need to try a few times, are you referring to first part? And do you have to go through this every time?

I went out to give it another solid go, but I'm convinced it will never connect unless I'm able to somehow access an actual Bluetooth option and not using the phone app. I'm certain if my connections had a Bluetooth option, I could connect from there. On my tablet when I use that to connect it works flawlessly.

 

[WolfTrax17]

My headunit doesn't have a typical Bluetooth setting where you would normally find it in "Connections". If I go to Bluetooth, it brings up the phone app where I can pair devices. When I try to pair the FlashPro it says it pairs but it never really does. I can see "FlashPro" when I scan for devices, but just won't pair. Since I can't pair it, hitting the lightning bolt in the Hondata app just sees my phone.

When you say I may need to try a few times, are you referring to first part? And do you have to go through this every time?

I went out to give it another solid go, but I'm convinced it will never connect unless I'm able to somehow access an actual Bluetooth option and not using the phone app. I'm certain if my connections had a Bluetooth option, I could connect from there. On my tablet when I use that to connect it works flawlessly.

If anyone wants to buy mine I have it listed in the classifieds section. Make me an offer

 

[Slade]

Researching online returns a number of similar issues involving Android 7.x and Bluetooth issues. It looks like resetting network settings might fix my problem. I'll reset and retest tonight. I hope that fixes my FlashPro issue.

 

[ebhaynz]

My friend and I buy a lot of Chinese "knockoffs" through websites like wish.com but they're usually stuff like smart bands, sunglasses, chromecasts, etc. They work "ok" especially when a smartband is $32 instead of buying a fitbit for $200+. A lot of the stuff we buy looks very stylish, works for awhile and then either breaks down or gets replaced with the next cool thing. Honestly, I'd love to change my Civic Si head unit but there's no way I'll go with a Chinese knockoff unless the buzz was out of this world and the reviews were 5 stars..and then I'd still be hesitant to pull the trigger!

 

[Slade]

Researching online returns a number of similar issues involving Android 7.x and Bluetooth issues. It looks like resetting network settings might fix my problem. I'll reset and retest tonight. I hope that fixes my FlashPro issue.

No luck on resetting network. Giving up on FlashPro connecting to this unit.

Edit: One other thing people say to try is match the headunit passcode with the device passcode.
My headunit is "1234" and the FlashPro is "0000" so I'm going to make those match and see if that helps.

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