Back in 2009 I remember I got a Kenwood DNX5120 Double Din. It was really convenient, no need to pull out my phone to use the GPS, no need to burn CD’s for music; I could just plug in my flash drive and update the music and you could change the colors to match your cars dashboard lights. People were always asking about my stereo and would get surprised when I told them I installed it myself. After 7 years of using it the screen would turn a bluish tint and the only way to correct it is by slamming the with my first. Eventually I got tired of slamming the dashboard and decided to replace the stereo.
So when I was researching stereos I was surprised that the big names such as Kenwood and Pioneer didn’t have any Android based stereos. The only maker that had an Android platform stereo was by Parrot and Hu Fei. If you didn’t know Hu fei is the manufacture and there are many branding companies such as Pumpkin, Volsmart, and Joying that will rebrand it.
Or
Pumpkin Quad Core Double Din Stereo
I decided to go with the Pumpkin Quadcore Stereo for a few reasons:
- Runs on Android 5.1 compared to Parrot’s Android 2.3 (Few years old)
- Bigger ram. 1 GB vs 512 MB
- Faster processor speed: Quad Core 1.6 Ghz vs Texas Instruments 800 Mhz
- Has a volume nob. Trust me this is a nice convienent factor because you’ll be concentrated on the road and when Linkin Park hits the speakers at a volume level of 30, you can just reach out and touch the volume nob instead of looking to see where the volume icon is.
- Price is around $200 cheaper
Installation
The wiring was simple! All the colors matched up to my previous radio wiring harness I used so there was no issue or guessing needed. There was an issue with the GPS antenna installation. The plug would hit a metal frame in my Nissan Xterra. The only way around it was to either cut the frame or look for a right angle connector which luckily exist.
Right angle GPS Antenna for Pumpkin Stereo
The Fit
The stereo did fit into my dashboard. It was a little snug from on the sides with my Nissan Xterra. There was no noticeable gaps on top but the bottom there is a small gap on the bottom of the stereo.
Overall Impression
Pros:
- The screen is crisp and clear and has multi-touch feature.
- Bluetooth is easy to use and connects right away when I’m in the car. I can stream music through my phone or answer phone calls.
- No issue with voice calls through bluetooth
- Good radio reception.
- Installed the rear camera. It came in handy and works well.
- Compatible with Torque. Really nice if you want to see real time data on your car or trouble shooting codes.
- Solid Android Platform.
- The was able to install Google maps and Waze to use as my GPS. The provided GPS navigation works fine, I just prefer Google maps or Waze since they have live traffic information.
- Sound is good. Don’t notice a lost of quality compared to my Kenwood.
- Easily swap out SD cards to update my songs.
- Plays Youtube videos and check emails. Which you shouldn’t do if you’re driving.
Cons:
- WiFi connection to my router was sketchy. It’ll disconnect a lot. However it worked fine on my phone hotspot.
- Not the fastest boot time. Around 25 seconds but this does not bother me. I’m pretty patient.
- Not a standard double din. For me it was a little tight on the side with a gap on the bottom but I did not need to cut anything to make it fit.
Overall I do like my Pumpkin Android stereo and would recommend it to others.