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They're all good stereos. Personally I'd sacrifice the cd drive for nav, but that's personal preference. If it's a daily driver getting alot of use you may want to avoid the motorized screen. I've never gotten more than a year from one with regular use.
Those three have some significant differences in features as well as price. I would not choose the Alpine for the simple reason that the other two support wireless Android Auto while the Alpine only supports traditional wired Android Auto. Plugging in your phone every time can be quite an annoyance. The Alpine also supports only MP3 and WMA audio formats while the other two support hi-res FLAC and WAV files (the Kenwood also supports DSD). With sound quality as a requirement, that's a big factor.
Of the other two, it all comes down to which features are important and are they worth the price difference. Both will have similar sound quality output although the Kenwood has 5V output compared to 4V on the Pioneer. Pioneer still has the best FM tuner on the market (has been the leader since the SuperTuner IIID was released many years ago). Both have multi band equalizers along with crossover and filter control. To that the Kenwood adds time alignment although that may be overkill for most users. The Kenwood offers some unique options such as radar detector and dash camera connectivity. In general, I've found that Kenwood menus are more logically laid out and easier to navigate but that Pioneer has much better technical support should you ever need it.
Either one would be an excellent choice so it's up to you whether the Kenwood features are worth the extra $200.
Figure out the features that you have to get to make you happy. Then find the cheapest way to get those features in a decent quality brand. Then move up a level at a time until you hit features you don't want or a price that makes you uncomfortable. You'll probably end up being directed into a specific unit just by process of elimination.
Those three have some significant differences in features as well as price. I would not choose the Alpine for the simple reason that the other two support wireless Android Auto while the Alpine only supports traditional wired Android Auto. Plugging in your phone every time can be quite an annoyance.
I remember reading somewhere that the wireless android auto only works with cars that have built in wifi so most people can't use it anyway.
I remember reading somewhere that the wireless android auto only works with cars that have built in wifi so most people can't use it anyway.
Sort of... wireless Android Auto only works with WiFi because there's not enough bandwidth available with Bluetooth but it doesn't have to be a car's built-in WiFi and it doesn't even need to be connected to the internet. The head unit has its own WiFi which you connect your phone to and your phone provides the internet connection.
Eh, wireless Android Auto is not a feature I care about anyway.
For long trips, a wired Android Auto connection is necessary because of the battery draining of your phone. But it's still handy to be able to use AA without plugging in the phone on shorter trips like daily commuting.
So, I think this is what I am planning right now. I'll start with the Kenwood X998, Pioneer TS-M650Pro and Kicker tweeters that I have now, and add the Alpine DSP. Then add one sub, gradually building up to this:
Last edited by FCar2000TA; 05-13-2019 at 11:40 AM.
Sort of... wireless Android Auto only works with WiFi because there's not enough bandwidth available with Bluetooth but it doesn't have to be a car's built-in WiFi and it doesn't even need to be connected to the internet. The head unit has its own WiFi which you connect your phone to and your phone provides the internet connection.
o ok so you have to have a head unit with wifi then? Also heard it only works with certain phones or something weird. It intrigued me at first because I'm thinking about changing the head unit in my daily driver but seems like it may be much more of a hassle then regular android auto would be.
o ok so you have to have a head unit with wifi then? Also heard it only works with certain phones or something weird. It intrigued me at first because I'm thinking about changing the head unit in my daily driver but seems like it may be much more of a hassle then regular android auto would be.
Yes, you'll need both a WiFi enabled head unit - either one of those integrated systems in newer cars or an aftermarket unit like the Kenwood and Pioneer models mentioned earlier.
You also need a compatible phone. Originally that meant one of the Google Pixel or Nexus models running Android 8.1 Oreo. The release of Android 9.0 Pie extended that to any Android phone that could run that version. If you don't have the option of updating your phone through your provider, you may be able to install it as a custom ROM - check on xda-developers.com. I still use an older Galaxy S5 but Android Pie is available for it via open source Lineage OS (used to be called CyanogenMod).
I would not go to that trouble just to get wireless Android Auto (assuming you have the option of standard Android Auto) but it's something to consider if you were thinking about upgrading your stereo system anyway.
Yes, you'll need both a WiFi enabled head unit - either one of those integrated systems in newer cars or an aftermarket unit like the Kenwood and Pioneer models mentioned earlier.
You also need a compatible phone. Originally that meant one of the Google Pixel or Nexus models running Android 8.1 Oreo. The release of Android 9.0 Pie extended that to any Android phone that could run that version. If you don't have the option of updating your phone through your provider, you may be able to install it as a custom ROM - check on xda-developers.com. I still use an older Galaxy S5 but Android Pie is available for it via open source Lineage OS (used to be called CyanogenMod).
I would not go to that trouble just to get wireless Android Auto (assuming you have the option of standard Android Auto) but it's something to consider if you were thinking about upgrading your stereo system anyway.
O ok didnt realize there were headunits that came with wifi now. Its definitely a nice feature to have but i may wait a little bit to jump on the wireless android auto train until they have all the bugs worked out and the head units become cheaper.
When it comes to in-dash Android Auto systems, there are three big names that stand out: Alpine, Kenwood, and Pioneer. All three offer similar features and functionality, but there are some key differences that could make one brand a better choice for you than the others.
05-06-2019, 09:25 PM
