Car and Driver INTELLIDASH PRO Wireless Apple Carplay ONLY 7'' IPS Touchscreen with Bluetooth, SiriusXM, Siri Assistant. Dash Windshield Mounted

This does exactly what it says, and I recommend it.I have a 2011 Subaru Legacy with a factory nav system and a Harmon Karman sound system. To replace it with an updated head unit is expensive and I lose functions (like steering wheel controls and backup camera).Purchased this and have had it for a few weeks including a 20 hour road trip. I love it. It’s just what I was hoping for. I can connect sound directly from my phone into the car’s sound system and control it via CarPlay from the Intellidash.Big plus: keeps my eyes on the road and enables me to be safer, much less squinting at the phone and selecting stuff from small icons while driving.Downsides: the internal speaker quality is terrible, and that seems to be the default for the unit (I have to unplug the phone and replug it to play through the car’s speakers), and also for phone calls (which requires fiddling on the phone itself), rather than the car’s Bluetooth phone. Also, there’s no auto-dimming feature for driving at night, and that requires some work to dim the display so it doesn’t blind me at night.I opted to use the car’s CD slot to mount the device and keep it a bit out of sight and closer to my hands.Definitely recommend for what it is.UPDATE: Several months and many road trips later, I highly recommend it. This is the best money I’ve spent in a long time for entertainment and safety. I also figured out that if I leave the aux out of the Intellidash cable plugged into the aux in if my radio, I don’t need to plug in my phone to hear the sound through the car’s stereo. And because it’s wireless, I don’t even need to remove the phone from my pocket. I guess it’s not possible for the Intellidash instruction manual to detail what to do for every vehicle, but general guidance would have been helpful for how to set it up. The moral of the story: it’s worth it, but you’ll need to play around to find the ideal setup for your vehicle.

LAST UPDATE: After the firmware upgrade I'm satisfied with this device and am keeping it. There are still some bugs in the way calls are handled - if you are on a call and then get in the car, for example, it's hard to tell where your call has gone and how to get the audio through the car. This might be b/c the car is fighting with the Intellidash for the connection and it's a situation my car never handled well anyway pre-Intellidash, but much more clunky now. But anyway, I think that's something I can live with as it's not a common case. The whole process of getting in the car at home - phone is on home wifi, then connects to Intellidash wifi, and also connects to car bluetooth - it's a wonder the thing works at all.UPDATE #2: I had contacted support with a list of bugs and this weekend they sent me a new firmware version. After some challenge with the USB (needs FAT32 format), I was able to perform an upgrade. Device audio now seems to work properly with phone calls, and the device even retained my region and clock settings after a brief power off. I'll be testing it more today on a drive, but after a quick check yesterday things seem much improved and I may be keeping this device after all.UPDATE (after a week): I REALLY wanted this to work...but the device inability to handle phone calls properly along with the loss of settings at power off ended up being deal breakers in daily use. Even tried using a cable and turning off Bluetooth/wifi completely - still didn't handle calls right - the call audio came out the iPhone speaker. Was planning to return, but see update above. This device is a brilliant solution to the CarPlay problem for cars like mine where the head unit can't be replaced due to the controls being integrated with the touchscreen (the negative comments on other sites saying "just upgrade the head unit"...UGH)! If the MFR is watching and taking inputs, other stuff this needs besides the bug fixes:- Ambient light detection for option to auto-adjust screen brightness- Volume option to set voice/nav separately from musicThis is ALMOST awesome. Buggy, needs some work:- Doesn't remember settings unless it stays connected to live power. If your car turns off the 12VDC when you turn it off (as it rightfully should!), the device loses config/settings, although iPhone can still connect via CarPlay without reconfiguring. This is a design flaw - it should use non-volatile memory to store settings. Maybe a future version of this device will fix, but probably not fixable in software. (but see Update 2 above - may be fixed!) Clock keeps time but probably has a small battery for that. Settings lost include:-Region setting. Resets to Europe on power off. No clear impact for US users on this, just annoying.-FM Transmitter settings. If you use FM transmitter, the on/off state (and probably frequency) is lost at power loss. Workaround is to use Aux cable if your system supports.-Screen brightness settings. This is sort of a big one...have to mess with brightness each restart.- I can't tell that the screen sunrise/sunset settings do anything at all. Seems to run the same brightness all the time - there's also no config option to change the brightness settings separately for day vs evening. There is a simple brightness icon on the main menu...it behaves strangely too - the device starts up with one brightness level, then you can press the icon to switch to a dimmer mode, then if you press it again it switches to a much brighter mode, but a third press goes back to the dim/dark mode, not the power-on level. Not really sure what this button is supposed to do but it is a quick way to change brightness.- Calls don't work - you can call out, but no audio comes through speakers in carplay mode. This is a pretty fundamental flaw for something that is supposed to take over phone function. When a call is made through CarPlay, the call shows up on the Bluetooth call screen of the vehicle, not on the device (which apparently connects initially to iPhone via Bluetooth and then switches to WiFi). And then no speaker audio is heard, although at least one of the mics in the car is picking up on my end. (See update #2 - this may be resolved now.)- Wouldn't mind if it came with a USB-C to Lightning cable! It comes with a C-to-C only. Also, it should come with a right-angle aux cable in addition to the right angle power cable. It makes sense, right?- Included in the box is a QR code that doesn't work, and a link to a website that is faulty. But the support email address works and the folks were helpful, but no solutions offered to my issues yet (other than keep it connected to power all the time!) No new firmware available yet.Since this is a Gen 2 device, I'm hoping they are actively working on software!

I recently discovered the ultimate solution to bring modern technology into my aging car without the need to upgrade the entire radio system: an external CarPlay screen. Let me tell you, this device has completely revitalized my ride, giving it a much-needed upgrade and bringing it into the 21st century.First and foremost, the ease of installation was a pleasant surprise. I was a bit skeptical at first, but this external CarPlay screen seamlessly integrated with my existing car stereo system. Within minutes, I had it set up and ready to go. No need to deal with complicated wiring or extensive modifications – it was a hassle-free installation process.Once installed, the transformation was truly remarkable. This external CarPlay screen brought a whole new level of functionality to my car. With its vibrant display, intuitive interface, and seamless integration with my iPhone, I now have access to all the features and apps I could dream of. From music streaming to navigation, hands-free calling to voice commands, everything is just a tap or a voice prompt away.One of the most significant advantages of this external CarPlay screen is its ability to seamlessly blend in with my existing car interior. It looks like a factory-installed feature, and I love how it doesn't detract from the overall aesthetics of my car. The touchscreen is responsive and accurate, providing a smooth and intuitive user experience.Furthermore, this external CarPlay screen has greatly enhanced my driving safety. With its easy-to-read display and integration with Siri, I can keep my focus on the road while still accessing important information and functionalities. I can safely navigate through maps, make hands-free calls, and even send and receive text messages without ever taking my eyes off the road.