Carlinkit 4.0 is a device that supports wireless android auto and wireless apple carplay. And also it is the new version of carlinkit 3.0. Before I decide to use carlinkit 4. o. I make sure what’s the difference between carlinkit 3.0 VS carlinkit 4.0. Two months ago I start to use carlinkit 4.0. now share with you my opinion about user experience and the pros & cons.
Installation
The installation is very easy. All we have to do is plug in the USB cable to the device and the other end goes into the USB port in your vehicle as soon as you connect it. you have to wait about 15 or 20 seconds and the only requirement for this device to work in your vehicle has the factory wire carplay. So if you can connect your iPhone with a USB cable and you have wired carplay, then you can use this wireless adapter. The device is booting up and pairing your phone to it so it will automatically connect with your phone and in a couple of seconds, we should see the carplay interface on the display.
Performance
After we enter the carplay interface first one I want to say, the screen touch is working without any issues the second thing is the control knob control wheel also working as well. If I play music and the steering wheel for the next and previous buttons react pretty fast but still have some sound buffering so there’s a delay between the moment you press the button and the moment you actually hear the song, The fourth thing is voice assistant, so press and hold the button and without the button which triggers it with my voice are both perform very well.
The last thing is the connection range. If I take my phone with me out of the vehicle. stand in the back of the vehicle near my car. This is as far as I would keep the distance and still in working condition, then I resume the playback and it’s actually working.
Advanced Setting
When you are connected with carlinkit 4.0 and you go to your web browser and enter this IP address of the device you will have some advanced settings .you can see the serial number you can force update a firmware update and send some feedback if you have some issue or requests about the device.
What’s more? you have advanced settings, where you can turn on and off a couple of things you can adjust this start the delay so if the device is booting quicker than the main unit you have, you can have some synchronization issues, you can adjust the boot delay make the device actually a little bit slower I have it set to 6 seconds and it take it takes some time some time to boot up properly and be ready to connect.
Carlinkit 4.0 setting also have the GPS pass-through option which is one of my favorite feature in all of the wired-to-wireless adapters what this does is it takes the GPS position from the vehicle equipped with GPS satellite navigation and it’s passing it through via the carplay interface to my phone so when I’m connected with carplay and I’m using GPS navigation. For example, the position on the map over here is actually not the phone’s position but the vehicle’s position means that the internal GPS receiver in the phone is not used which preserves the battery and also it has the car’s GPS receiver has higher accuracy since the vehicle is not only relying on the GPS signal but also it takes the steering wheel input and vehicle speed to estimate current position if the GPS signal is low. So in this case, it can prolong the better battery life on your phone which is very important especially when you are using a wireless connection and you are not charging your phone but also it gives you higher accuracy of the GPS position.
Wireless Android Auto function
Carlinkit 4.0 is working correctly with android auto. The pairing procedure is very simple all you have to do is look for the device name on your Bluetooth list and connect with it. After 10 or 15 seconds you have access to the android auto interface. I’ve checked all of the features are working correctly as expected using apple carplay.
Summary
Pros:
- This small device first of all we have wireless android auto as well as wireless carplay which is a big deal for our users.
- The installation was very simple plug and play you don’t have to set up anything to start. The bootup time is very quick like 10 to 15 seconds.
- Carlinkit 4.0 can automatically resume the playback when you reconnect. For example, if you are going to leave the vehicle just for a minute maybe you are picking something up or you are paying for your petrol and you get back in the vehicle and start it again it will connect to your phone automatically. It will resume the playback which you left off when you shut down the vehicle a few minutes earlier.
- The device is very small so it will easily fit inside most of the storage compartments. The USB cable with the device is so short that you don’t have a one-meter-long cable that you have to tuck in somewhere.
Cons:
- First of all, some connection issues with the device. To keep it fair the connection issue happens very less. The solution to fix this issue just upgrade your carlinkit 4.0 with the latest firmware. So my advice is if the device in your vehicle is working don’t update it there’s no need to Upgrade it, just for a little bit worse case. There’s a simple rollback procedure that you can use from your phone by the advanced settings menu or with a USB stick if you have the latest firmware download on your drive.
- The color of carlinkit 4.0 is blue, it does not match the car’s interior but that’s not a huge deal since this device is going to be hidden away.
- The USB-C port of the device is pretty deep, you might have a problem with some third-party USB-C cables. But keep that in mind, two USB-C cables are provided in the box together. so that should not be an issue.
- If your vehicle is not supported by wired carplay it will not work for example if your car system supports android auto only this will not work.
Carlinkit 4.0 not work with you car? you have another option.
You can use CarlinKit A2A, which is a product to upgrade wired Android Auto to wireless Android Auto. Learn more from Carlinkit A2A full review.
Or use CarlinKit TBox series, which can upgrade wired Carplay to Android and support wireless carplay, wireless Android Auto connection. What's more, it can watch videos and download apps within Android
Conclusion
Carlinkit 4.0 both support wireless apple carplay and wireless android auto, compare with other dongles in features and price, it is still an ideal choice to buy it.
