I’m not a huge fan of the term ‘infotainment’, which these days is used largely in connection to the massive in car displays that now feature in modern vehicles, which control everything from music, sat-nav, heating controls, and much more besides. I’m not a fan. They’re distracting, not tactile or easy to operate on the move, and they’re not even that nice to look at. That being said, ‘infotainment’ does describe rather accurately the double-din head unit that now resides in the dashboard of my Kia Cee’d.
I was previously using a Pioneer AVIC F-930BT head unit in my car. This was a second hand acquisition installed back in 2022, and whilst it has generally been a reliable unit, out of date maps and some electrical gremlins meant it need attention. Initially, this was going to be a remove, overhaul, and refit kind of job. Then my brother sent me a link for a Android powered head-unit that he bought, and had quite good first impressions of. At £170 ish on eBay (substantially less that a new Pioneer sat-nav head unit) I took the plunge and bought one for myself.
I’ve explored Android powered head-units before, and as the name suggests, they’re basically in car tablet computers running on the Android operating system (similar units running Windows CE and Linux are also available). I looked at a few options around 2022 (including some helpful discussions with Liverpool based Iceboxauto), but mixed reviews from some (not the Iceboxauto units, they were getting great write ups) and lack of CD player on most meant I never took the plunge and stuck with the Pioneer unit. Then along came the Erisin ES8536U.
The Erisin unit is sold as a universal unit, but can be specified with either a universal ISO power lead or a Nissan specific lead, depending on what car you have (I recall a similar discussion with Iceboxauto on a unit they did at the time for Nissan but which they could also swap the cable for a standard ISO version). Obviously, I have a Kia, but despite that the head unit actually blend in rather well with the dashboard, with the chrome trim and matt black finish actually being very similar to both the car dash and aftermarket fascia panel. Note the presence of the CD/DVD player (a must for my requirements). Also, note the squint fascia fitment on the right. It’s a snug fit, but a bit of fettling has followed which has improved this a little.
First impressions are good. All of the key features work well. The unit runs Android 14 natively, with a good processor and 4GB of RAM giving great boot speeds and smooth operation (actually far better in that sense than the Pioneer). The radio is very sensitive on FM, with AM being OK (that may be partly down to the car’s antenna though as AM reception wasn’t brilliant with the stock head unit), though AM is largely a mute point these days as only BBC Radio 5 Live and a skeletal Talk Sport network are available these days. DAB+ is possible with a USB add-on unit, but I’ve opted not to take up that option as DAB+ sound quality is generally very poor.
There is a built in GPS system, which can run with many different apps. The head unit came pre-installed with iGO Navigation, which has a nice clean interface, and seems to work really well so far. The maps are reasonably up-to-date, and as the head unit has built in Wi-Fi and a 4G modem, it should be easy to update these in due course (something I’m yet to do). The iGO app can be used offline, and does work well without a network connection.
The sound quality so far is OK, but not fantastic. That’s certainly something the Pioneer did very well out the box without major adjustment, and the Erisin doesn’t seem to have quite as good a built in amplifier. There are a number of audio settings which can be adjusted, so hopefully when time allows, I’ll be able to tweak the audio to my liking. There is a built in digital sound processor (DSP), with multiple graphic equaliser settings, and whilst this does leverage the advantages of having effectively a computer in the dash running the audio, it does seem a little overkill to me. I have yet to find a menu which just gives the main options of bass, treble, fader (front / back audio levels, and balance (left / right audio levels).
I’ll wrap this article up for now, but no doubt given the myriad of Android head units out there, and the many other functions I’ve not mentioned in this article, there will be more posts to follow.
The Erisin head unit can be found on eBay. Erision 8-Core Android 14 64GB Double Din Car Stereo GPS DVD Player DAB+ CarPlay BT 5.0 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314551534019
Iceboxauto supply and install a variety of Android head units from there base in the Wirral, and can supply head unit via their website (https://www.iceboxauto.com) and also eBay for self-fitment for those not able to travel.