There are some WindowsCE (WinCE) Windows Embedded Compact-based car head units. With very similar looks and features, these car stereos can often be confused with Android headunits, but they are very different devices.
WinCE
Windows CE can’t run Android apps; it doesn’t run Android, but it may be interesting to know what MCU processor and how much RAM they have fitted. We looked at one of the WinCE headunits to see what made it tick.
RAM
The RAM listed for the WinCE car stereo is 256Mb, a quarter of a 1Gb (a quarter of a gigabyte). This may seem impossible, but Windows CE needs less RAM to run its apps. It is fair to say that Android is very RAM-hungry, and current Android headunits need 4Gb to run smoothly.
You can’t upgrade the RAM in a WinCE headunit, and you are very limited in what it can do, as you can see in the 256Mb RAM that it can never be converted to run Android because of the total lack of RAM.
Processor
A typical Windows CE headunit processor is the MTK3360, which runs at 800Mhz. Even the poor 8227L, running at over 1.2 GHz, shows how underpowered (by Android standards) it is. WinCE doesn’t need as fast a processor as Android, but Android is much more advanced and modern, so this is expected. But it also shows that the Windows CE headunit can’t run Android because the processor is not up to the task.
Dual Core
The MTK3360 is a two-core (Dual Core) processor, an ancient technology. Even the worst Android headunits use a four-core (Quad-core) processor. This may be enough to run an ancient Windows CE operating system, but it can’t run Android. This is another reason a WinCE headunit couldn’t be adapted or flashed to run Android. The hardware is not powerful enough to run Android, let alone Android apps.
WinCE
WinCE is Windows CE, an old and obsolete operating system. There are no new apps for WinCE because Microsoft has abandoned it. No new apps for Wince, no updates, and it can’t be upgraded or flashed to run Android. Be very wary of buying a Wince car stereo. It may not do the apps that you think it will.