Does This Car Bluetooth Adapter Work?
Yes, but this car Bluetooth adapter for wireless CarPlay not perfect.
I don't often leave reviews. I just don't have time, but I feel compelled to leave a review for this item. I am often shocked that people will leave reviews when their item arrives damaged in shipping and post a poor review about the product, as if the seller has any control over how an item is handled in shipping. Unwise. So, with that said, my item arrived perfectly and on time. My review has nothing to do with this unrelated factor.
Setup: It is far from smooth. I'm a techie and it took me a few minutes to get this going. The instructions did not help at all. The short of it is you must watch for the message to drop down on your screen letting you know your vehicle's system has detected this box and quickly acknowledge it. In my case, if I did not do this, my audio system would not recognize this was plugged in. If you miss the pop up, unplug it and plug it back in to get the message. This should be documented.
Interface: Works as it should, but it is sluggish. I figured for the extra money it might be a bit smoother, but in all fairness I haven't tried another product to compare this to, so it might be quicker compared to the cheaper units. Just don't expect a snappy interface response.
Operation: Does exactly what it says and works as advertised. Add your Google account to the Play Store and download what you want. This car Bluetooth adapter works as expected. *BUT* after setting up Amazon Video and verifying operation I shut off my vehicle and then came back a couple hours later and I had to log into my Amazon account AGAIN to get it to work. I have not checked the settings, but I sure hope this is something I do not have to do each time I log into Amazon Video. I tried Discovery Plus and it installed and worked as expected, but I have not verified that it kept me logged in. I don't use Netflix, so I can't comment on that.
I use the hotspot off my phone for internet and the unit appears to remember the settings to connect to my phone. I would imagine this is a more cost effective solution as opposed to getting a dedicated SIM card for the unit, but in all fairness I have not researched this much. I already have hotspot service on my phone, so this was a natural solution for me.
Conclusion: This car Bluetooth adapter works as advertised, but it might have a couple quirks that quite honestly I would expect better considering this unit is at the higher price point for devices in this category. The videos do play well once you get them going and the unit detected my screen size and adjusted perfectly for that. I have not tried other units to compare, but if this unit requires me to log in each time to a service, I will be trying other devices as this would be a deal breaker for me.