I bought this as a gift for my… I bought this as a gift for my boyfriend's upcoming birthday in October. He has a 2015 Kia Optima, but it doesn't have any sort of smart screen at all. He's wanted one so badly, in fact he's looked at other cars just to have this feature. I've considered getting a third party one installed for him, but the unit itself that we looked at was over $500, not including installation. I couldn't justify that amount, especially since we aren't sure how long he will have the vehicle. I saw an ad on instagram for a similar product and gasped because I didn't know such a thing existed! An "external" car play unit? For 1/4 the price?? What could be better! I never buy off of social media ads but this one looked trust worthy. The size was especially appealing because not only is it technically bigger, but I love how it isn't as tall. My boyfriend's dash is pretty high as it is, so this lower profile unit will be perfect to not obstruct his vision too much.

Let's start off by saying that for a… Let's start off by saying that for a fairly inexpensive device, this one delivers. I drive a 2008 Jeep Wrangler with a softtop year-round, so I didn't want to sink upwards of $1000 into an in-dash receiver with carplay. So these jumped out at me as an acceptable compromise. I get CarPlay, which is all I wanted, and a nice wide display. The display is crisp and clear, making the device readable at a glance while driving allowing you to focus on driving.

Drop shipping scam 99% sure this is a drop shipping scam. (The definition: A drop shipping scam is performed using a cheap and easily marketable product, creating advertisements that embellish the quality and capabilities of the product, and then selling the product through online stores at an inflated price.) There are TONS of units that are exactly the same as the CarPlayBox, that are much cheaper (Like, $50 to $100 cheaper) on Amazon (Search PODOFO, XGODY etc) and you'll see they have the same photos and models as CarPlayBox. Just search their product images via Google lens and you'll see the wealth of options. Basically they're a middleman, charging you extra via having a semi-fancy website. I'm annoyed I fell for it, frankly. The product is fine, but not worth what I paid. If you want to return it, you'll have to do so directly to some dodgy address in China, so good luck with that. Shipping took forever, conveniently long enough that the return window had expired. What a coincidence.

I wanted to leave a quick update since… I wanted to leave a quick update since some folks in other reviews said they had issues after two weeks, etc. I can report for both of our cars, ZERO issues. None. They work just as they did the first day we purchased them :-). We were able to modify the grid lines for the backup cameras (lol - I noticed in the first pic I posted last month it looked like our car was going to float into the sky hahaha). All kidding aside, though, these are super legit units.

BIG LET DOWN AND FAILURE I was stoked to buy this and had high hopes it would be amazing. Forget customer support. No response to my emails. Imagine they wait out the 14 day warranty so you are stuck with it. Big let down and NO help from support. It constantly disconnects from Bluetooth. The software is not smooth and fluid like on your phone. The biggest problem!! The audio through your car speakers sounds horrible. Nothing but feedback and static, can’t enjoy any music. Tried the Aux cable and Bluetooth, FM transmitter. Either way nothing but horrible noise that can be heard through the music. Doesn’t matter Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music all get the same results. And yes I have have other Bluetooth FM transmitters that do not do this, they just don’t have a screen.