Apple CarPlay and Android Auto For Your Old Car! APHQUA Touchscreen Car Stereo REVIEW

You know, if you have a car that is 10 years old or even older, then you probably don’t have a touchscreen car stereo with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto support. Don’t worry, you don’t have to buy a new car for that. You can separately buy a car stereo with touchscreen, like this one. It is called APHQUA.

The main features of this car stereo are 7-inch IPS touch screen, a power via the car cigarette lighter, iPhone and Android wireless connection, Bluetooth music and Bluetooth calls support, USB port to charge your mobile device.

By the way, there is even a rearview camera in the package for easy parking and safe reversing.

As you can see, there are many functions in this car stereo, and we will check them all in this article.

Unboxing

On the front of the box, we can see how the car stereo looks like, its main features and company logo.

Inside the box, there is a touch screen, the first bracket with suction mount, and the second bracket with adhesive tape, car charger, 3.5mm audio cable, user manual, rear view camera, and a long cable for its connection.

Design

So, let’s take a closer look at the touchscreen car stereo.

As I already said, it has a diagonal of 7-inches. There are bezels around the screen, but they are not very big.

We can see APHQUA logo below the screen, and the microphone on the left side. By the way, there is Apple Siri, Android and Google Voice control support.

The power button and reset key are located at the top.

On the left side of the car stereo, there is the second mic, TF card slot, a slot for connection rearview camera, 3.5mm audio port, USB port and DC power port.

On the back, we can see the mount holes and 2W speaker.

So, the car stereo looks very good, and I like its size because it doesn’t take up much space on the dashboard. By the way, you can also attach the car stereo to the windshield. We will talk about installation a little later.

As for the rearview camera, it is very compact. The dimensions are only 23 by 23 by 23 mm.

The manufacturer says it is waterproof.

The camera is installed with two bolts or adhesive tape to the rear window or next to the license plate.

Car Stereo Installation

Talking about car stereo installation, as I already said, there is a mount with suction cup and adhesive tape.

I think the mount with suction cup is better, because it also has 360 degrees adjustable arm.

You can install a car stereo to the dashboard or a windshield. I chose a dashboard because I have a dash cam on the windshield.

Finally, you need to connect a power cable to the car stereo and cigarette lighter power supply.

That’s all!

Functions

Now, let’s talk about the functions of the car stereo. The home screen looks like this.

There is USB, TF card, Bluetooth music, Phone, AirPlay, FM Transmission, Dimmer and Settings.

In the settings menu, we can change a language; choose FM frequency for connection with car audio, and library with password.

In this menu, we can choose the app for connection with iPhone and Android devices, turn on/off beep sound, change the rear view camera from normal to mirror, enable or disable reversing sound, and restore factory settings.

The next menu is the display settings, where you can change the brightness, contrast, saturation, etc

Finally, we can see the firmware version.

By the way, you can change the volume of car stereo on the main screen. There are also several wallpapers available for the home screen.

Link the Car Speaker

APHQUA touchscreen car stereo has a built-in speaker, but it is only 2W.

If you want to connect a car stereo to the car audio, you can use AUX port or FM transmission. I don’t have AUX in my car, so let’s try to connect to FM.

First, go to the settings on the car stereo, and find the FM frequency. After that, you need to adjust your car audio to the same FM frequency.

That’s all!

Bluetooth music

Now, you need to connect a smartphone to the car stereo. If you only need Bluetooth music and Bluetooth calls, just take your smartphone, go to Bluetooth settings, and connect to device called CP701-BT.

Now, you can play music on mobile device, and it will play on the car stereo through your car audio.

Let’s compare the sound from the build-in speaker of the car stereo, and the sound from the car audio.

Bluetooth calls

When somebody calls on your smartphone, you will see the incoming call on the screen of the car stereo. You can take a call or reject it.

You can also synchronize the phone book from your smartphone with car stereo, and make phone calls. It’s really convenient.

Car Play and Android Auto

As I already said, APHQUA touchscreen car stereo supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I have the iPhone, so I will show you how to connect it to the car stereo.

First, you can use a USB cable. You just need to plug the cable into the smartphone and USB port of the car stereo. It will automatically enter the CarPlay Interface.

If you have used CarPlay before, then you are familiar with main functions, such as phone, music, messages, calendar, settings, etc.

I want to check the phone calls and maps. You can make phone calls from the car stereo. Just open the Phone, and choose a contact to call.

As for the map, it is loaded pretty fast. By the way, the touch screen is very responsive. You can use Apple Maps, Google Apps or any other. You just need to install the app on your iPhone, and then it will be available in the CarPlay.

If you want to exit the CarPlay, then just click on CarHome icon.

Screen Mirroring

You can also use a screen mirroring function, when the content from your iPhone or Android device is projected on the car screen.

Please note, that the touch screen of the car stereo doesn’t work in this case.

Camera Quality

Finally, we can check the rearview camera quality. I have already installed it next to the license plate and connected to the car stereo.

You should also know that the video from the camera is not recorded.

Overall, the video quality is good for safe reversing or parking.

Conclusion

So, I really like the new touchscreen car stereo from APHQUA. First, it is very easy to install on the dashboard or even windshield. It is powered by the cigarette lighter, so you don’t have to disassemble your car to install the car stereo.

There is also a good quality rearview camera in the package for safe reversing and parking.

The display is not very big – it is only 7-inches, but it is a good quality. It has HD resolution and IPS panel. The touch response is very good.

As for the functions, first, you can play a music or even a video from TF card or USB flash drive.

You can also connect a smartphone via Bluetooth for Bluetooth music and Bluetooth calls.

Finally, there is Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support with all their functions, such as calls, messages, music, maps, etc.

I think this is a must-have device for any car owner. My 16-year-old car got smarter with this touchscreen car stereo.

The price of $200 is very good for this device. By the way, there is also $30 OFF coupon on Amazon.