Opinions on Sony Head Unit

Euphemistic on 12/05/2019 - 06:34
Last edited 12/05/2019 - 09:54 by 1 other user

Has anyone had experience with a Sony XAVAX1000 or other Sony unit. Particularly how good the radio is?

My cheap Chinese all in one unit has died. Time to upgrade to Apple CarPlay. The unit above has CarPlay for a reasonable price. We listen to radio the most around town and the old head unit didn’t have good reception. I’m hoping a brand name unit might have a better tuner in it. I’m also hoping Bluetooth works better for phone calls, current one requires turning the volume up to around 30 which then blows you away when the call ends as typical volume is 10.

Also wondering if CarPlay navigation can be used while listening to the radio or other USB source. This unit must be plugged in to use CarPlay if that makes a difference. They it is in special at Supercheap Auto this weekend.

Thanks in advance.

Automotive

Comments

  • slknv on 12/05/2019 - 10:11

    I installed a sony xav-ax5000 in my wife's car, wouldn't recommend it.

    • Music on USBs - continuous errors where it locks up and refuses to play. Have tried it as reformatting fat32, various different usb drives, small and large capacity all have the same problem. Plus the music display is pretty poor, no album art displayed playing off USB.

    • using maps on carplay - can you believe there's no multi touch? You can't slide the map with a finger, and no pinch to zoom. You have to push various icons, then poke at on screen arrows to scroll and move the map. Maybe other non Sony products have the problem, unsure.

    But for your needs, the bluetooth works fine, radio reception (FM anyway) is fine. Yes can use radio, or USB (if it works, which is doesn't) while using carplay nav. Android auto works fine too.

    Speaking of cheap chinese units, I stuck a 10" xtrons in my 4WD and I prefer it to the ax5000.

    • Euphemistic on 12/05/2019 - 11:38

      Thanks. I hated the USB music interface the most. Hard to scroll, no shuffle, headers didn’t display well. I got up with it because it only gets used on longer trips when we run out of radio and it’s ok to listen to albums in alphabetical order then skip the occasional track.

  • DarthAntz on 12/05/2019 - 10:47

    what cheap chinese unit did you have and how long did it last?

    • Euphemistic on 12/05/2019 - 11:36
      +1

      Not sure if the brand, just a cheap one off eBay and it’s been going for a couple of years. It seems to be overheating. It started out going into a boot loop and showing an error message in Chinese on hot days. Would run for a few minutes and then go into the loop. Now it does it even on colder mornings.

      The biggest reason to replace it is the reverse camera doesn’t work either.

      • DarthAntz on 12/05/2019 - 12:38

        Thanks for this! I expect my similar chinese spec android headunit to last a similar life.

  • mskeggs on 12/05/2019 - 11:27

    I have a xav_651.
    Audio is very good, Bluetooth as good as can be expected. Radio is acceptable where I live with fringe reception. Integrated hands free is good.
    As a comment, the interface is very clunky compared to a phone or tablet.
    It came with the car, I don’t think I would buy one, as I gather they are expensive.

  • Cheeper on 12/05/2019 - 12:04
    +1

    Is your car a Toyota? In the past 15 yrs or so they have used whats called a dual diversity antenna system with a built in reception booster. It works well… BUT if you install an aftermarket head unit you must use a special adapter ($10? ebay) for the system to remain effective otherwise the reception on any aftermarket unit will be poor.
    I have a chinese headunit (Joying) in my Toyota SUV for the past 5yrs+ and it is brilliant, far better in every feature than the JBL $800 upgrade unit we opted for in our other car when we bought it. Radio reception without the adapter was average but with it on it is amazing.
    Most head units are chinese made so even with the chinese named units quality can range from bad to the best, it is not about $$$s.

    • Euphemistic on 12/05/2019 - 12:22
      +1

      No. It’s a Nissan, but i did connect the power to the antenna booster. When it was first installed the radio was ok, but deteriorated after about 12 months.

      • Cheeper on 08/07/2019 - 16:50

        After market antenna boosters are virtually useless. Usually just get increased static.. not much else.

  • MistaL on 14/05/2019 - 01:12

    I have a XAV-AX3000 which I believe is the same as the AX1000, except 3000 has AndroidAuto as well.

    Have used both AndroidAuto and CarPlay on it, AA really sucks, CarPlay I thought was quite neat, didn't have any issues playing Spotify + using Google Maps.

    USB is great, never had any issues, using a 32Gb Sandisk Facet with only MP3 files on it.

    Made quite a big difference to my car speakers compared to car stock headunit, with the equalizer also being configurable.

    Didn't have any issues with FM either but I am in metro Sydney for most part.

    Hope that helps!

    • Euphemistic on 14/05/2019 - 07:39

      Thanks. I bought the unit, based on the price compared to others. It was discounted, then stacked the $20 credit from super cheap and a gift card. Next- the install, a triple swap. Dead unit out of the Ute, unit with dodgy radio out of my wife’s car and into the Ute. New Sony into wife’s car.

      • MistaL on 14/05/2019 - 15:13

        I am bad with installs, so got an audio store to do it, best of luck with it!

        You can also manually configure the steering wheel buttons on the unit too

      • reubenb87 on 08/07/2019 - 13:38

        How did you go with it? Thinking of also getting the XAV-AX3000, but only need android auto.

        • Euphemistic on 08/07/2019 - 16:42

          So far so good. Easy enough to install, seems to work well. Still learning how it works really because it’s been in my wife’s car and I haven’t used it much except for radio and plugging in the phone once for GPS.

          On the other hand, The cheap android eBay unit I bought for my car works ok, but has crashed a few times and won’t turn off properly and has reset the settings a couple of times.

          • reubenb87 on 08/07/2019 - 16:56

            @Euphemistic: In my experience if it doesn't work in your wife's car you will know about it quickly :). Thanks for the response.

  • Euphemistic on 10/07/2019 - 19:59
    +2

    I got a good chance to use it today, 8hrs driving up the coast. Not that keen to be honest, not as versatile as the old cheapo unit, but more robust software.

    The good: The radio works well, picking up a signal well beyond what we had. It’s quick to tune between stations when searching too. Boots up quickly. Reverse camera is OK. Bluetooth seems to connect reliably and calls are easy to receive or make. Easy to set up for steering wheel controls. CarPlay worked well for google navigation.
    The not so good: if you have music on a USB stick then you can’t apple CarPlay as there is only one slot. Limited equalizer adjustment, but the sound is otherwise good. No search for USB music, works on folder hierarchy, to change artist back out of album, back it if artist, find a the new one. need to hit the button to scroll, no swipe. Might be better via phone control, but I don’t have music in my phone (maybe I should).

    • emblurr on 11/07/2019 - 11:33
      +1

      The next model up xav-ax5000 has has two usb cables. One for your phone, one for your usb stick. It's the main difference of the model.
      I put one in a few months ago. The USB music navigation is a shocker like others have said. Hopefully they one day do a good firmware update. Everything else works fine with it, radio, bluetooth, rear camera.

      I use Android Auto. The Waze app can't scroll to other hazards. Though Android Auto is getting a major update pretty soon.

      Overall i'm happy with it.

      • Euphemistic on 11/07/2019 - 13:28

        Wish if known about the extra USB thing. Still, the sound is good and the number of times we will really need navigation nd USB music will be fairly few.

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