Wireless CarPlay Adapters

[mr-fix]

I installed something like this in 2013 Audi S6 C7 and will installing another one in 2012 Audi Q3 8U. Integration is not perfect but you get some cool features.
At this price point I would consider replacing the main unit with MIB2STD Discover Media by Technisat. CarPlay will be wired, but the integration is great.

 

[s29_myk]

Tested and compared couple of them. Here's the chart: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EMCOfEgc6PSrUTRv7o8LPsh3WMs2J6uXPPXKCg-_vHo/

And in my case battery life better when using wireless CarPlay compared to navigating with Google Maps without CarPlay. Display is off, GPS is off (car is passing though GPS position from its antenna). But still I'm using a MagSage holder/charger for convenience.

This is a really awesome list (appreciate this is a bit of a thread resurrection). Looking at your list it seems to me that the AilinkBox A7 would be a pretty good choice for quick booting and relatively quick. Would you recommend this as struggling to find any other good reviews! Thanks for any feedback! (I'll be running it on a MIB 2.5 if that makes any difference)

 

[mr-fix]

This is a really awesome list (appreciate this is a bit of a thread resurrection). Looking at your list it seems to me that the AilinkBox A7 would be a pretty good choice for quick booting and relatively quick. Would you recommend this as struggling to find any other good reviews! Thanks for any feedback! (I'll be running it on a MIB 2.5 if that makes any difference)

I just added the device to the list, but it's not completely tested yet. So it's too soon to recommend the device.
I found some bugs in it, right now I'm waiting for firmware update with fix. If they manage to fix the bugs, the device will look very promising.

 

[s29_myk]

I just added the device to the list, but it's not completely tested yet. So it's too soon to recommend the device.
I found some bugs in it, right now I'm waiting for firmware update with fix. If they manage to fix the bugs, the device will look very promising.

Out of what you've tested what would you say is the best device? I'm split between the A7 and Carlinkit 4.0 at the minute!

 

[mr-fix]

CarlinKit4.0 is in the mail right now, so I will test it out soon.
Previous 3.0 (both regular and mini) was OK.

 

[s29_myk]

CarlinKit4.0 is in the mail right now, so I will test it out soon.
Previous 3.0 (both regular and mini) was OK.

I’m not in any rush for it so I’ll wait for your views if that’s ok! Haha

 

[gixxerfool]

CarlinKit4.0 is in the mail right now, so I will test it out soon.
Previous 3.0 (both regular and mini) was OK.

I had a 4.0. Now, my experience is anecdotal, but I found the resolution and connection time worse than the 3.0. The only reason I went with the Carlinkit it was around $75 and for the price point I was willing to trade off some stuff. As it sits, I’m satisfied with it.

 

[bobloblawGTI]

CarlinKit4.0 is in the mail right now, so I will test it out soon.
Previous 3.0 (both regular and mini) was OK.

I had a 4.0. Now, my experience is anecdotal, but I found the resolution and connection time worse than the 3.0. The only reason I went with the Carlinkit it was around $75 and for the price point I was willing to trade off some stuff. As it sits, I’m satisfied with it.

Definitely hit or miss; my experience with the 4.0 has been totally opposite: faster boot up/connection time, and I'm able to run things at the lowest latency (300ms) and highest frame rate (60fps) with no stuttering or audio lag. Only downside is the steering wheel controls still don't seek on hold, but that's been the same with all Carlinkit models I've tested. Your mileage may vary, as they say!

 

[gixxerfool]

Definitely hit or miss; my experience with the 4.0 has been totally opposite: faster boot up/connection time, and I'm able to run things at the lowest latency (300ms) and highest frame rate (60fps) with no stuttering or audio lag. Only downside is the steering wheel controls still don't seek on hold, but that's been the same with all Carlinkit models I've tested. Your mileage may vary, as they say!

Damn. I was hoping for that in the 4.0. I didn’t even know the SWC did that. Maybe I will try another 4.0. As for now, I’m happy with it.

 

[JTM88]

Definitely hit or miss; my experience with the 4.0 has been totally opposite: faster boot up/connection time, and I'm able to run things at the lowest latency (300ms) and highest frame rate (60fps) with no stuttering or audio lag. Only downside is the steering wheel controls still don't seek on hold, but that's been the same with all Carlinkit models I've tested. Your mileage may vary, as they say!

What does lowering the latency do?

 

[bobloblawGTI]

What does lowering the latency do?

Lower latency = less lag between an action and a result. For wired CarPlay the results of an action (skipping a song, play/pause, etc.) are near-instant. At 300ms there's approximately a 2/3 of a second delay (600ms round trip) between the action and the output. This is as fast as the latency can be set for the Carlinkit unit, however it can also result in audio skipping if bandwidth is insufficient to buffer the audio stream (as would happen to me running the Carlinkit 2.0 and 3.0.) To overcome this, you can increase the latency to the point where it buffers sufficiently but less than is aggravatingly slow to respond (for example, at 1000ms latency, you're looking at a whole 2 seconds between an action and response.)

With the Carlinkit 4.0 I'm able to run at the fastest latency with no audio buffer issues, which is the ideal scenario and was not possible with the earlier versions (again, this seems to vary widely among users so I might just be lucky.) Really the only downside at this point is the battery drain; I want to retrofit the wireless charging cubby in someday, but for now I just use the adapter for short trips and plug in for anything longer than 30 mins or so.

 

[JTM88]

Lower latency = less lag between an action and a result. For wired CarPlay the results of an action (skipping a song, play/pause, etc.) are near-instant. At 300ms there's approximately a 2/3 of a second delay (600ms round trip) between the action and the output. This is as fast as the latency can be set for the Carlinkit unit, however it can also result in audio skipping if bandwidth is insufficient to buffer the audio stream (as would happen to me running the Carlinkit 2.0 and 3.0.) To overcome this, you can increase the latency to the point where it buffers sufficiently but less than is aggravatingly slow to respond (for example, at 1000ms latency, you're looking at a whole 2 seconds between an action and response.)

With the Carlinkit 4.0 I'm able to run at the fastest latency with no audio buffer issues, which is the ideal scenario and was not possible with the earlier versions (again, this seems to vary widely among users so I might just be lucky.) Really the only downside at this point is the battery drain; I want to retrofit the wireless charging cubby in someday, but for now I just use the adapter for short trips and plug in for anything longer than 30 mins or so.

That makes sense, I looked at the settings and was trying to figure out why there would be latency, but it is more like a buffer function.

 

[krvnked]

Lower latency = less lag between an action and a result. For wired CarPlay the results of an action (skipping a song, play/pause, etc.) are near-instant. At 300ms there's approximately a 2/3 of a second delay (600ms round trip) between the action and the output. This is as fast as the latency can be set for the Carlinkit unit, however it can also result in audio skipping if bandwidth is insufficient to buffer the audio stream (as would happen to me running the Carlinkit 2.0 and 3.0.) To overcome this, you can increase the latency to the point where it buffers sufficiently but less than is aggravatingly slow to respond (for example, at 1000ms latency, you're looking at a whole 2 seconds between an action and response.)

With the Carlinkit 4.0 I'm able to run at the fastest latency with no audio buffer issues, which is the ideal scenario and was not possible with the earlier versions (again, this seems to vary widely among users so I might just be lucky.) Really the only downside at this point is the battery drain; I want to retrofit the wireless charging cubby in someday, but for now I just use the adapter for short trips and plug in for anything longer than 30 mins or so.

View attachment 255854

the carlinkit adapter pictured drains the battery? are you sure? I have the same one and never knew or suspected

by the way, I bought the 3.0 (mini) and it seemed to work worse than my 2.0 so I returned it (plus it looked worse in our cars, the little white box versus the slim box one). then I updated my 2.0 with 192.168.50.2 and it works better than ever.

 

[bobloblawGTI]

the carlinkit adapter pictured drains the battery? are you sure? I have the same one and never knew or suspected

Phone battery, not car battery. At least with my iPhone 11 Pro I see much faster battery loss with wireless CarPlay vs. normal use.

 

[gixxerfool]

Phone battery, not car battery. At least with my iPhone 11 Pro I see much faster battery loss with wireless CarPlay vs. normal use.

I see this as well.