⚠️ Warning: Aftermarket car head units may void your vehicle's warranty, cause compatibility issues, or lead to a GPS telling you to "turn left into the ocean." I take no responsibility for melted plastics, voided warranties, or GPS-induced existential crises. You install this stuff at your own risk.

Lately I have been interested in aftermarket head units as my car came without Carplay/Android Auto (but with OEM reverse camera) and I got tired of hooking my phone to the A/C vent when using navigation and wanted something better. There are a lot of things to take into account specially if you want to do it yourself and on the cheap. Below I'll list the parts and what you need to look out for.

Parts

  • A head unit (Hizpo S8 or similar)
  • A car (whatever you have, mine is a Hyundai from 2017)
  • A bezel or fascia or frame (if your car doesn't have a standard double din hole and you need the plastic piece to fit it into your car, like this one)
  • Aftermarket wire harness (probably mandatory)
  • A reversing camera (optional)

In my case I wanted to do it cheaply and bought everything from Aliexpress. If you live in the USA you can buy nearly everything on Crutchfield and it will require less guesswork.

For those anywhere else in the world, you will need to choose a head unit, there are Android and Linux ones, they come in all flavors and sizes, with all kind of functions like:

  • Wired/Wireless Carplay/Android Auto
  • AV Out (useful if you plan to add screens for rear passengers)
  • Rear view camera input (to install an aftermarket camera)
  • LTE
  • USB ports
  • DAB radio
  • TPMS (for tire pressure)
  • Canbus (for more advanced things)

All of them have common DSPs and amplifiers that will do the job and are indistinguishable from the OEM ones.

I would recommend buying one that has a QLED screen as they have the best price/quality ratio. Double check that the resolution and size of the screen make sense, 1024x600 is okayish for 7 inches but would look bad in 10". It also depends if you only care about navigation/music or plan to use it to watch shows or movies while you are in a traffic jam.

I have tested some Android ones, those from Aliexpress lie about their Android version and are outdated, however, you can install applications using the Play Store and they will work without the need of an external smartphone.

I haven't tested a Linux one yet but they are normally cheaper, screens are not bigger than 7" and you can't install applications. However, it seems that they work well, boot up fast and normally support Carplay/Android Auto (your phone will do the processing).

Will be continued in a later post.