Add Apple Carplay to your Car, Wirelessly – Carlinkit Review

Carlinkit Wireless CarPlay Retail Box on a table.

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Current testing methodology is v1.2

If you want to have Siri (or Android Auto) in your car, the Carlinkit is the best wireless Carplay solution

Wireless Apply CarPlay console on dashboard with a view of steering wheel looking forward out the window.

Carlinkit is on a roll with their wireless Apple Carplay devices and the Carlinkit 2.0 dashboard media console is no exception. This unit has been tested with iOS 14 and iOS 15.

UPDATE: Also check out our newer review on the CarPuride 9″ Carplay Display

My current car is a 2018 model. It feels like that is still a relatively recent model but sadly I’m missing Carplay. My wife’s car is newer and has Apple Carplay so the more I drove her car the more FOMO I experienced when I got back into mine.

Also Consider
WIreless CarPlay Adaptor

Carlinkit Wireless CarPlay Adaptor

If your car already has CarPlay built in then you can also opt for the Wireless CarPlay Adaptor which allows your iPhone to wirelessly connect your car’s CarPlay. This means no more having to plug your phone in when you get in the car to connect your iPhone to CarPlay. Priceless.

I have an Alexa Auto and it’s great. I can get news, ask for directions and set reminders with relative convenience.

What I can’t do is text message easily (Alexa only likes other people with Alexa…very selfish of her) or control my Spotify or Maps – google or apple.

Alexa Auto is awesome but the lack of a screen and the fact that my Apple iPhone doesn’t really want to play nice with other ecosystems makes it a good solution, not a great solution.

So, off on my normal quest, I went researching and identifying the perfect Apple Carplay solution for people without Apple Carplay.

What are your choices?

The available CarPlay options were pretty obvious:

  1. Buy a new car with Apple Carplay. That’s not a great option.
  2. Replace my car infotainment unit with an after factory one that supports Apple Carplay (and Android Auto)
  3. Find an aftermarket unit that would not require installation or any altering of my current car. I like to sell cars as close to how the came out of the factory as possible. Better for resale.

Option 1: was obviously out as I like the car I have. Option 2: was also out as there is only 1 aftermarket head unit for my car (Haval H9) and it requires serious installation and isn’t the perfect head unit once installed.

So, Option 3 it was.

Surprisingly, at this time, there are not a lot of these middle-market units. Either there is some proprietary middle ground that makes them a high-risk venture to product or people just don’t see the value.

Personally, I think they are probably quite sought after. There are so many cars out there with people wanting to add Apple Carplay to their cars (or Android Auto which this unit does too).

Carlinkit 2.0 Apple Carplay and Andriod Auto Console

Out of the box, you get all you need to get this up and running.

  • 12V car power supply with dual real USB ports
  • AUX Cable (3.5mm)
  • 7″ Console Screen
  • Adjustable windscreen bracket
  • Instruction booklet
Carlinkit Wireless Apple Carplay unit with accessories unboxed on table. Including screen, manual, charger and windscreen mounting arm.
All the things that come in the Carlinkit Wireless CarPlay Box.

Set Up

It’s easy to set up and connect. The included instructions booklet is average at best but it’s not rocket science and if you have any problems just ask me in the comments below and I’m happy to help out.

Once you have it set up it connects automatically from then on. Just start up the car and the unit powers up, automatically connects to your phone wirelessly via Bluetooth and CarPlay opens by default.

In the car, you’ll need to choose where to attach it best to your window or dashboard. For me, I put it next to the steering wheel closest to the door so it stayed away from my main console and dashboard buttons.

The power cable plugs into your 12v / Cigarette lighter and there is enough length on it that you could probably run it anywhere you need it to so that you can find a power source.

The unit has an FM Transmitter but ideally, you’ll connect it via the 3.5mm audio cable that comes in the kit. This will need somewhere in your car to plug in to – i.e. a aux-in plug.

How it works and sounds

This isn’t a middle ground, try-hard CarPlay knock off. The reason being that CarPlay is managed from your phone. The unit itself is really just a slave or client of your phone.

This means when CarPlay activates on the console screen it’s the real deal, from your phone.

All the settings and features are managed on your phone and all the Siri features work with the microphone and speaker built in to the unit.

Applications on the Carlinkit

So, I guess what I’m trying to say here is that it’s CarPlay. The real deal, just on an external screen.

The Carlinkit supports

  • Android Auto
  • Apple CarPlay
  • AirPlay (it’s a bit fiddly)
  • MirrorLink
  • FM Transmitter

and also has a range of inputs and outputs including:

  • USB
  • TF Card
  • AUX-In
Side view of the Carlinkit  Wireless CarPlay unit showing the inputs and outputs.
Side View of all the inputs and outputs

The audio formats it supports are many. This is relevant if you wanted to put in a TF Card or similar and just play music off it. The supported audioformats include:

  • MP3
  • WMA
  • AAC
  • AC3
  • OGG
  • FLAC
  • APE

So, does it work?

I can’t say anything other than that, I really like this thing. Its given me Apple CarPlay, in my car, without me needing to change my head unit, drill holes or damage the car at all.

Any shortfalls?

The only thing I really have to say that isn’t positive on this one is that the audio levels from the AUX out could be louder. It’s fine but I have to turn the stereo up a little bit to reach a level that’s ideal.

Also, when I’m stationary or the car is quiet and there is no music or other loud noises around I can hear a faint buzz/hum as if there is a bit of an earth buzz.

It’s not a big deal compared with the convenience of having this in the car.

Safety

I definitely feel like the experience of driving with this is much safer.

Being able to ask Siri to do things like open maps, play music and radio without touching anything is awesome.

When a text message comes in and CarPlay reads it to me and asks for a response is brilliant. On a recent road trip I had a lengthy exchange between my wife and I just using my voice and not need to read or press any buttons.

This is far better than trying to talk to Siri on just my phone on it’s holder or trying to get Amazon Alexa Auto to do the same (Surely it’s only a matter of time until Amazon launch an Alexa Auto with a screen?).

Carlinkit Apple CarPlay screen with Spotify open playing music

Summary

I feel no need to show you how CarPlay works. There are plenty of videos to show you how that all works.

The purpose of this post is really just to say if you’re looking for a device that allows you to get a Wireless Apply CarPlay solution in your car. This works.

Auto connects on start up, no lag or issues with speed and Siri will hear you when you speak.

Definitely recommend this as a non-destructive way to either modernise your car, or make up for the lack of manufacture installed CarPlay.

Any questions? Fire them in the comments below.

Carlinkit Wireless CarPlay Retail Box on a table.
Carlinkit Wireless CarPlay Kit
It just works. CarPlay in your car and no holes drilled
Wireless connection to phone works well
Screen resolution is good
You get options of both CarPlay and Android Auto
Audio Levels a bit low
Faint earth hum as a result of turning things up more

Endless hours of experimentation, professional work, and personal investment in Home Theatre, Hi-Fi, Smart Home Automation and Headphones have come to this.

Former owner of Headphones Canada, a high-end headphone specialty retailer.


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6 thoughts on “Add Apple Carplay to your Car, Wirelessly – Carlinkit Review”

    1. I’m my testing so far you have to connect the unit via the AUX. Your iphone or and android phone connects wirelessly but the connection to the car is via the 3.5mm aux.

  1. Hello everyone. I posted below about a problem on reddit I had with this unit, and now have a solution I thought I would share with anyone who looks at the comment on this page to improve the compatibility of this device.

    My problem was that the media playback was way to loud, and the unit only has one “master volume”. It left me with the choice of either having the music at a way to loud volume to hear the navigation menus, or normal music volume, but couldn’t hear the navigation.

    Since the documentation on the unit is very, very poor, I discovered how to manually set all the levels, using the password protected factory menu in settings.

    First of all, the password is 123456 to get into the menu. You can then go to audio, choose the audio streaming menu. under that menu, there are lots of settings. The four we care about are titled CarPlay (media, telephone, audio, other if i remember correctly.)

    I had to play around with them a bit, turned the media volume way down, and the telephone on maximum but I succeeded in getting the proper mix between my carlinkit and the media music volume.

    I have not played much with the other hidden functions of the unit, but I am sure there is more to explore now that we can unlock the factory menu.

    1. Thanks Richard! This is awesome. I have the opposite issue where media is too quiet. I’ll have a go at this today and report back on my success. Thanks again for sharing.

  2. Thanks to your review I purchased the unit and just received it today and got it going in my 2010 Honda Pilot SUV. The unit is great but for one issue, at default display (brightness/contrast/backlight) settings, my carplay screen and maps are way too bright and washed out so much that there is no apparent shading of the maps.

    To fix above, I have to switch the unit to night mode then the dark maps in carplay look pretty much perfect. However, I can no longer use the “Auto” dark mode setting in carplay because when it switches to light maps during the day they are unreadable. The only fix for this is to turn the display settings brightness all the way down to zero and the contrast all the way up to 10. Once you do that, carplay day mode looks perfect. HOWEVER, night mode is completely black and now has the opposite issue, too dark and no shading or contrast on dark maps.
    Anyone else have this issue? Hopefully a firmware update will resolve it.

  3. I’ve set up numerous wireless systems in cars and at home over the years and I’ve never have so many problems as I have with the Carlinkit CarPlay screen which in itself should be easy to Install/setup.

    It’s completely unreliable and I’d suggest it’s actually an UNSAFE addition to your driving experience. Unable to remain connected either wired or wirelessly, it would lose connection several times during a trip as short as 10km/20min, rendering it useless with a ‘black screen of death’ leaving the vehicle operator unable to navigate, compelling them to constantly pull over or run the risk of a vehicle accident whilst trying to reconnect whilst driving or revert to using maps on their phone!

    Out of the box, the device’s WiFi name did NOT even match the WiFi name as suggested in the accompanying instructions (perhaps this has something to do with its appalling unreliability). I was told by the manufacturer I must have changed its WiFi name. Really? I mean, why would I even consider doing this is beyond me. And then the wifi connection has always been non-existent, as in the wifi icon with a diagonal line through it non-existent!

    So I had to revert to the included instructions to troubleshoot but these are muddled and unclear and should really be thoroughly proofed by someone with a better understanding of English, particularly if they’re using English speaking reviewers to advertise and promote this useless device.

    I’ve sent numerous emails to the supplier. All reply’s were unhelpful and sometimes verging on rude. All their suggestions were ‘user error’. Several email exchanges latter, disappointed, and told a refund or return at sellers expense was out of the question I asked if at the very least they’d let me edit my original, early experience 3 star review to better reflect my very negative experience (FYI-I’d give it zero stars if possible). Again, I was met with belligerence, their reply “what review are you referring to?” So, after being asked to provide them with video evidence of their products failure (I supplied two) I was met with complete radio silence, even after follow up emails regarding their thoughts on my videos…crickets! Zero communication! Absolute radio silence!

    I accept buying something from China might involve some risk but given they tout themselves as a legitimate company
    and the review in your site I thought it worth the $300+.

    If I had to summarise this device in one word that word would be SCAM.

    Buyer beware!

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