Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
It was the fastest AI Box to boot into the same launcher menu as its rounder brother. Yet I found it had average wireless performance in its MultiPlay app for CarPlay and Android Auto. Most cars, if they support wired CarPlay, probably also support Android Auto (or vice versa, depending on how you roll). Obviously, not all dongles do that. The OttoCast U2-X does, and at a reasonable price. It's nice to have a dongle that supports both if you have a family that crosses the mobile OS streams. It includes a 12-inch USB-A to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-C cable. The U2-X is rated for any vehicle with wired CarPlay from 2016 on, but not for BMWs or Sony aftermarket head units. We also provide OEM service if you want to sell your own branded wireless Carplay adapter products.
The advantage of using a wireless dongle that uses AUTOKIT UI is that it can boot up much faster. This is because the images for the boot-up menu screen are pre-rendered and it does not need to be generated every time it boots up, which saves a bunch of time and this optimisation gets you into the dongle’s boot menu much faster. So this is certainly not the advertised 5.8GHz (UNII-3) band which isn’t much of a problem though. Apple isn’t specific on which band to use. They do however recommend Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) on 80MHz wide channels (VHT80), resulting in a maximum link speed of 867mbps. They also mandate the WMM Quality of Service mechanism for improved VoIP latency and screen reaction times. The Carlinkit 2.0 adapter’s access point offers neither despite the built-in Realtek Wi-Fi chipset (RTL8822BS) supporting both. Some outdated Realtek driver may limit the hardware’s capabilities. It’s priced second highest out of our finalists, so this makes it harder to recommend this AI Box, unless you’re looking for dual Bluetooth support, more RAM and storage, support for casting and better wireless options thanks to its Zlink5 app. 4. Ottocast Picasou 2 CarPlay AI Box Once CarPlay has launched, everything runs as you would expect from this new wireless CarPlay dongle. Audio lag is going to be the same as any other dongle, due to using Wi-Fi to stream the CarPlay audio, video and touch input to and from your wirelessly connected iPhone. I have read some people say the audio is improved on this particular dongle, but personally, I couldn’t notice any difference, and I have found the audio to be generally fine on all the dongles I have reviewed. Lexus: ES, LC, LS, NX, RC, RC F, UX, RX, ES Hybrid, IS, LC Convertible, LC Hybrid, LS Hybrid, NX Hybrid, RX Hybrid, UX HybridLike the Ultra, it offers dual Bluetooth support for both wireless remote and game controllers, and again, thanks to its optimisations, it was the fastest to boot into all of the 4 test apps including Spotify, Google Maps, Youtube and Netflix. All finalised supported wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. So I tested the time it took to pair and display each platform, testing their input and audio lag. Only a few finalists had USB-A ports, but neither offered wired CarPlay or Android Auto support. Each finalist used a variety of CarPlay and Android auto connectivity apps, from the more feature-rich Zlink5 app with support for split-screen mode in Android Auto and HD streaming options to more basic apps from MultiPlay, SpeedLink, and AutoKit, some of these offered the ability to choose your own custom home app icon in CarPlay.
Once the Carlinkit 4.0 is set up, it performs decently well. The main issue that you might have with it is that it can take a while to load and connect to your phone. It’s not abnormal for the device to take 10 seconds or longer to actually connect to your phone, which can be a little annoying. Image source: Christian de Looper for BGRI don’t really know what the Sound Quality setting is really all about. It however does not seem to have an impact on audio lagging and reliability in combination with the MIB2. CarPlay only supports 16-bit audio at 44.1 and 48kHz audio. Maybe only the first is advertised in case CD is selected. Telephony Before purchasing this carlinkit 3.0/ 4.0 dongle, please ensure that your vehicle is compatible with it. Your car must have a female USB-A port (not a USB port converted from a cigarette lighter) and support wired CarPlay. This dongle is not suitable for aftermarket Android car stereos.
Most AI Boxes came with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, with the exception of one finalist that came with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which earned an extra point as more RAM helps with multitasking between running apps. That was as expected but what I really wanted to see is how it worked with multiple phones previously paired, and to my surprise, it works perfectly. It starts off and gives a list of previous phones and you can choose from those. It then tries to connect and if the Bluetooth and wifi of that phone is active, it will start it off. The downside is that in most vehicles, to use CarPlay and Android Auto you have to physically plug your phone in every time. That means charging the phone when you may not want to. It means more wear and tear on the power port. If you’re limping along with an older iPhone, you probably know the Lightning port is not up to that much stress. I was at a point where it was entirely hit or miss if my phone would connect, no matter how much I changed lighting cables. But the interface of your phone, transposed to your dashboard screen? Now that is nice. So, if you’re like me, when you finally got a vehicle that supported CarPlay (for Apple iPhones) and/or Android Auto, you fell in love with it. On the home screen are apps to launch CarPlay or Android Auto, plus others such as Google Maps. Pretty much any app available in the Google Play store or that you can sideload is an option—they even ship with a few of the non-Google-Play apps available on the device. You’ll need to log into individual apps and keep them up-to-date, like on your phone. If you prefer to mirror your phone to the dashboard (or your TV), you select the Phone Cast app and activate screen mirroring on your phone—it should work like a charm with iOS.
In the box you get a paper instruction manual, there is the T-Box Plus itself, a USB-A to USB-C power cable, and a USB-C to C cable for modern CarPlay ports in the car. Once it’s actually connected, however, it seemed to perform extremely well. I was actually surprised how responsive and reactive CarPlay was to touch, and I never had any dropouts after initial connectivity. That could be because the device relies on a dual 2.4GHz and 5GHz connection for improved connectivity. The connection seemed almost like a wired one in terms of responsiveness, and actually faster than most other CarPlay Wireless connections I’ve used. Conclusions Then I found out about wireless CarPlay dongles. They plug into your car's smart USB-A or USB-C port. Normally, whichever smartphone plugs into it will then display on the screen. The wireless dongle is a go-between; it connects your smartphone to the dashboard via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. So you can get in the car and start rolling—no need to plug in.
Installation is fairly simple. It is no harder than plugging the adapter into the USB port of a CarPlay enabled head unit and pairing the iPhone to it via Bluetooth. Wi-Fi credentials are exchanged transparently over which future connections are magically established whenever the paired iPhone gets close to the running car. I then score each of their launcher software. These varied between basic dated-looking menus, with floating sub-menu buttons, to more modern designs with large functional widget panels. It has great Wi-Fi specs, so expect great wireless performance in its rather basic MultiPlay app. It was the third fastest to boot into its main launcher menu, but it was the second slowest out of the 11 finalists to boot into wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. Land-rover: Range Rover, Range Rover Discovery, Range Rover Discovery Sport, Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar, Defender
Product Specs:
Once plugged into the USB-A port of my Volkswagen Golf, the CarLinkit 2.0 dongle sprang into life and displayed its connection menu. From this point onwards I was navigating in familiar territory. This is because the software used is exactly the same as the previous generation of software. This makes sense for compatibility – one firmware to rule them all. So if you are coming from a first-generation of the dongle, don’t think this dongle’s software or compatibility will be any different with this second-generation, the improvements can be found elsewhere, most likely with speed and stability, thanks to the internal hardware changes that’s been made. Selecting your system’s existing CarPlay menu option displays the dongle menu This Carlinkit 3.0, or U2W Plus dongle, uses the newer optimised U2W-AUTOKIT UI, which is visually noticeable by its red UI, a slightly different menu screen, and the addition of some customisable launch settings from the boot menu. The Advantages of U2W-AUTOKIT To use Android Auto, for once, you don’t need an app, but it does require phones to run Android 11 or higher. The Wireless Android Auto feature must be activated in the Android Auto app. Then when the interface for the U2-X appears on the dash, you must double-tap an icon on the lower left. That is not at all clear on the interface and I wouldn’t have copped to it had I not found it in the manual. Cliquez sur le nom Bluetooth du produit sur l'iPhone,puis les informations de couplage s'affichent sur l'iPhone, cliquez sur "Utiliser CarPlay". Le Bluetooth se connecte avec succès et le wifi se connecte automatiquement.
Great Deal 
New Comment