Are you looking for a cheap Android car stereo?
We have some advice for you regarding the cheap Android car stereos and advice to help you decide if an affordable Android head unit is what you want.
Cheap
Cheap is relative and a cost compared to other items for sale. For a cheap Android car stereo, we suggest that inexpensive means less than $100. You can find many of these cheap Android car stereos in the sub $100 level on eBay. But will they meet your expectations, and are they good value for money?
Android
Android is the operating system that runs on all the Android headunits, including the cheapest. It wouldn’t be an Android headunit if it didn’t run Android apps. There is a lot of misdirection in the sub $100 – cheap Android car radio bracket. If the stereo does not run Android, it is not an Android head unit. If it is an Android auto car stereo, an MP5 player car stereo, or a WINCE car radio, they are not running Android.
Be wary of the cheap Android head unit listings that try to confuse and misdirect. Look for an Android version listed on the sales page. It may be a fake version, but an Android version must be documented to be classed as an Android headunit.
Slow
A cheap Android car radio will be slow, and that is to be expected. The lowest cost parts are used to make the most inexpensive Android car stereo or any of the cheapest. For a cheap Android car stereo, the parts that significantly impact cost are the processor and the RAM chips. Fewer RAM chips, older generation RAM can reduce costs, and cheaper and less complicated processors can reduce the parts cost considerably. But you end up with a very cheap Android car stereo that doesn’t perform to the modern expectations of an Android system.
Technology
The technology behind the cheap Android car stereo is from the year 2014. The processor design was groundbreaking, but technology and expectations have moved forward. Think about your phone. Would you be happy with a phone from 2014? It is the same analogy. The technology is outdated, with other limitations, we set out below.
Android Version
The Android version of the old technology can run on Android 4 and Android 6 with missing features. Features must be removed when later Android versions are installed for it to run. The processor and amount of RAM installed cannot support and run the later Android versions.
Fakery
Fakery can come in several guises. One fakery is employed to trick the system into showing a later version of Android than it is running. This is a great sales pitch; a cheap Android 10 car stereo looks more appealing than a cheap Android 4.4.4 car stereo. But only one will be correct and honest, and the other will be fake.
The other fakery employed to sell cheap Android car stereos is to mislead the system into showing an incorrect level of RAM. The most inexpensive RAM is 1 GB fitted, but after Android uses its share of the RAM, it leaves less than 800 MB for the apps. A fake will show 2 GB RAM installed, but only 1 GB RAM fitted. Misleading, dishonest, and fake are synonymous with cheap Android car radios.
Cheap Android Car Radio
The critical pitfalls of cheap Android car radios are;
- Slow to boot, slow to load apps, slow to react to inputs
- It has missing features, like a split screen, due to the cheap processor and the old Android version.
- Some apps may not load due to the low level of RAM
- The old version of Android may not work with many apps that need a modern Android version
- Google Maps is relatively processor and RAM-hungry because it is designed to run on flagship phones
- The Android version may be blocked from the play store or unable to update Play, and apps need sideloading to install
All Bad?
The cheap Android car stereos are not all bad. It would be best if you had reasonable expectations of what it can do and how well it can do. The cheap Android car radios will be slow to use, slow to boot up, and slow to react to button presses. These cheapo head units may not run the apps you expect them to, or if they do, it can be a slow and frustrating experience. They may not store as many apps as you expect and don’t have the features like split screen that you would assume they would have. Even the specification or Android version listed will be incorrect or misleading due to the fakery in the manufacturing or supply chain.
Reasonable Expectations
Think about your phone. Is it fast good enough to load and run google maps? Yes, then. Was your last phone also able to work, or was the phone before that? What about the phone that you had in 2014? Do you think it could work as well as your current phone? The cheapest Android car stereos will behave like a low-end Android phone from the year 2014. This is your reasonable expectation of the performance and characteristics of the cheapest Android car stereo.
8227L
Most, if not all, the cheapest Android car stereos are based on the 8227L_demo hardware. This cheap Android head unit is very popular. This is due to the low cost but most people with them end up searching for ways to improve the performance through a flash, fix the obsolete specifications and upgrade the version of Android.
Slightly less cheap Android car stereos
Have we given you a reasonable expectation for the cheapest Android car stereos? You could be thinking about spending a little bit more money. Does more money mean better specifications, better performance, and overall a better product?
Yes, generally the more you spend, the more you can get. More RAM, faster processors, and better customer support are all things that can improve with a bigger budget.
Bigger Budget
The next higher price bracket of the cheap Android car stereos will include better specifications leading to a faster, more fluid, and engaging performance. Less frustrating, quicker to boot up, faster to react to swipes, and apps load more snappily.
Limiting factors
One of the limiting factors of the cheap Android car stereos is the low level of RAM fitted. You can only break this RAM barrier with a more modern, greater-cored processor. These advanced processors support the increased level of RAM and run more quickly but are more expensive to produce.
QuadCores
While the 8227L-based cheapest Android car stereos are to be avoided they are built on quad-core technology. There are other quad-core, budget processors, with the same 2Gb limitations but are slightly quicker. There is still the fakery of the Android version, which although reports as an Android 10 car stereo, will be running a hacked version of Android 6 or Android 8 (including the terrible Android 8.1). Typical quad-cores in the next price bracket are the AllWinner T3p1 and the PX30. You still need to have reasonable expectations but the processor is just a little bit quicker. Everything else stays the same.
Cheapest Android car stereo
Suppose your heart is set on getting a cheap Android car stereo and many thousands of happy customers, ignoring all the criticisms and fakery concerns. Then look here for one on eBay and don’t have high expectations of its performance or any expectations.