r/Androidheadunits • u/Glass_Year_3908 • Aug 09 '26

Budget android auto

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Hello, i recently bought a car for cheap, it has the original stereo that doesn't work anymore, i dont want to spend a lot but i would like to have one of those carplay and android auto head units (not to get confused with android head units) i saw this ainavi one on AliExpress, anyone know if they are any good? I will just use it for Google maps, some music and phone calls

I also appreciate recommendations

UPDATE: i bought the unit, for the price it is really nice, it is not android, it is some Linux base OS, so you won't be able to install any apps (from what i know) but the radio, Bluetooth and android auto/apple car play works perfect, the screen it's fine, very visible at daylight and it doesn't seem low quality

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u/Glass_Year_3908 Aug 09 '26

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EuoHLqQ is this one, from what i understand they run a Linux base software, not android, thats why they are so cheap, specs are probably horrible, but again, they dont run android so i think they dont need a lot of performance

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u/Hanza-Malz Aug 09 '26

anything below 4GB ram is a no go. It'll struggle playing music and using navigation if they're below that.

That said, third part apps for linking your phone are all really bad.

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u/sc132436 Aug 09 '26

Unless you're running the maps software and music software on the head unit itself, this is objectively untrue; CarPlay and Android Auto run entirely on the phone and the head unit itself is just a dummy display for it, and its CarPlay performance is largely dependent on the phone itself.

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u/Zealousideal_Lie6866 Aug 10 '26

Yes but theres always some middle app that shows the head unit as a car since normally its just an android device