rvsrf

Hi! I have installed new 10.25'' 1920x720 4 GB RAM / 64GB Android 10 in my 2010 Mercedes C-Class W204 equipped with a simple Audio 20.

I need to install the camera and make some adjustments, so I will post decent photos later 😉

Here is instructiona manual of this model.

I have a question that I have not found resolved. To listen to the sound of the Android, you must select the "Aux" option on our original radio. I didn't have to make any additional connections, that is, I didn't have to connect anything to the glove box's Aux socket. This unit allows you to configure the position of the Aux option in the original radio, so that the Android sound uses it directly without having to do it manually each time. However, in my Audio 20 I have no main menu and only the AUX option appears in a CD submenu. I have tried various row / column options without success. ilustrate where the AUX option is located.

I think that new Screen is not able to set Aux position 1 & Aux position 2 with Audio 20

B.R.

S-Prihadi

Dang, I am also on Audio 20. No navigation & no reverse camera. I also want to get this 10.25" and is now throwing lots of questions to DMP Car Design. They are based on Malaysia as a business and installer.
Their shipping is direct from Hong Kong to anywhere around the world. Hong Kong is closer to Shenzhen which is were the units are made for sure.
Where did you buy ur 10.25" from ? Under what brand ?

rvsrf

Road Top shipped from Czech Republic

S-Prihadi

I see, thanks.
So, have u contacted them and ask what is possibly wrong with your unit or programming or installation ?

==================

I been spending a few days trying to absorb all information on this Android 10.25".
What I found does worry me a great deal.

1st and foremost, there are so many online sellers-retailers ( aliexpress etc etc ) and then some with real brick and mortar shop which I prefer to deal with.
However, looking at 2018 video reviews which seems to be the starting time of when the 10.25" appears on the market, there is no guarantee that your choice of seller
in fact has the latest model with best compatibility and capability now today, compared to the older 2018 review. For example, locally I am offered by a seller to special order
the Android 10 version, but he confirmed split screen is not possible. Split screen as in opening two apps in one screen side by side.
DMP Car Design of Malaysia showed on their 10.25" Android 10 with 625 Snapdragon, split screen is possible.
I saw another local 10.25" seller offering Android 9 version, but with weaker CPU.

Its not like buying say a GoPro Hero8 cameras, all we need to do is find the lowest cost official seller ( warranty purpose ),
your genuine Hero8 will be 100% the same spec and software no matter where you buy them from.

This Android 10.25" can be ordered to its factory in many variations of hardware level.
The next worry is how good the software/OS that run these devices, not merely the Android 10 OS, but the other software which allows this tablet to act as
a car entertainment system, reverse camera viewer, video display for movies and etc etc.

The fear I have is not about loosing money on the purchase price if I ever get an inferior spec or pooer interface software, but the frustration I will have to go thru with the seller of the product
to get this device to work flawlessly ( assumed it is possible ) and maintaining my car original capability in the Android NTG mode.

The sellers/retailers themselves either does not 100% know technically his own product, or prefer to keep hush hush of any technical weakness compared to other sellers's product.
The OEM manufacturer/s could also be many different small factories.
Copy cat in China is a daily normal way of doing business and "seemingly the same" Android 10.25" could end up being very different in capabilities... just so the OEM save a few bucks.

So in short, unless you do your due dilligent properly and throw all the questions pertaining to the 10.25" hardware+software capability ,
you may end up getting something not up to your expectation.

For today , my research time line : I am NOT pleased with DMP Car Design technical reply this morning, its like I am communicating with a salesman and not the engineering.
Let see if they come up with answers to ALL of my technical questions tomorrow.

I can live without the Android 10.25", but if I get a "good" one, it will help with my Torque Apps use for the fun at the track or long distance trip and future extra engine/trans monitoring system I have in mind with extra sensors.
I need a big screen permanently mounted. I hate smartphone size screen and my 10" Samsung tablet is too big to mount securely and surely is not clean/OEM looking.
Complete entertainment in a car is not important for me, my current Audio 20 is fine for me.
Reverse camera and big screen Google Map are the other 2 factors which will make me happy.

I will try 4x4Canada https://4x4shop.ca/ if DMP does not have answers to my technical questions.

If say Samsung will make these 10.25" for cars and cost +50% extra, I will buy Samsung anyday.

Good luck on your fix.

Nicholi2007

I have been looking at this for some time.

I do share the same concerns. I have read about some selling an older version when newer units had become available. Caveat Emptor.

CMK Car Design sells 1.6GHZ 4GB, 64GB 8 core Qualcomm. Split screen too..

I've never purchased anything from him. He's higher than others but from what I see.

Nothing is going to beat Samsung. I am curious to see what processor is in the Qualcomm?

Please update when you've made a decision. Thanks.

S-Prihadi

Hi Nic,

Same 10.25" size.

https://www.ckmcardes********/c-clas...-w204-facelift

https://4x4shop.ca/product/mercedes-...creen/#buy-now
Play with the options and u can see different CPU and screen resolution

CKM as with most European, has VAT/sales tax in the listed price and can be removed when exported.
USA surely does not show tax, until you check out/buy as a local.
Canada I don't know but probably the same as USA.

I don't know why CKM shows a 1.6Ghz CPU. I have googled and can't find 8 core Qualcomm CPU with that spec.
.

Nicholi2007

Ok, I will check them out. It's not a necessity but it would be a nice to have. I'm also looking at upgrading the speakers.

Curious what your questions are and how the Canadian shop responds.

S-Prihadi

Hi Nic,

Let me explain what my head unit can do ( option level ), so you can understand better why I am asking all these questions.
- It is called 510 option, Audio 20.
- No Navigation, no GPS for sure.
- No DVD player capability, only music CD , 6 CD capacity
- No Reverse Camera
- Music from phone bluetooth - YES, capable
- Telephone handsfree via phone bluetooth to head unit - YES, capable
- Common radio only, no internet radio or whatever other radio.
- No internet capability
- 2 audio AUX at center console aka hand rest. 1 is USB , the other one is special connector and I got 3 adapter wires for it, one is USB, one is mini 3.5mm stereo jack and 1 is I think Apple Ipod connector




I have rear entertainment system DVD/CD. However I can't connect the audio signal to the front head unit. No special AUX menu in head unit for rear entertainment system audio channel.
So must use the provided wireless headphone (2) or use wired headphone.



Its like this video :

=====================================

WHAT ARE MY QUESTIONS ?

One of the curious questions I ask them is about this switch below. I call it NTG Master On-OFF

01. In the Android 10.25", there is a mode called NGT or some called it FACTORY MODE where you get to see what your old small display were showing.
So I asked, does this NTG Master ON-OFF only works in that Android NTG mode ? or it can also work in other modes.
This button is the ON-OFF, Volume and the forward-backward, what will they do in other than Android NTG mode ?

** In my current system, I can turn on the head unit without needing key inserted, let alone ACC1 key position.
In my speak, ACC2 is when all gauges warning lights will be shown. Crank is when you spin the engine to start.
ACC1 is where usually music system can then get power in most cars.
I have the push button start, but I don't like it and removed it. It is a novelty & useless for old fashion me who wanted 100% easy confirmation ACC1 and ACC2 key position.

02. Back to NTG Master ON-OFF.
So I asked, what happen when I am at NTG mode in Android 10.25" ( which means Android is running ), and then I press NTG Master ON-OFF ?..., which will be OFF command if in factory setting when head unit + display is active.

03. At what key stage will Android 10.25" turn itself automatically ON ? ACC1, ACC2 or only when engine is running ?
04. Let say Android 10.25" is OFF and key is not inserted, will pressing NTG Master ON-OFF switch ( in this case it will be ON command ) power up the Android 10.25" ?

Understand this, I hate using touch screen device when car is moving. It has no tactile feedback and my fingers of late is loosing sensitivity.
I never set sound system volume from my steering buttons, it is always the big NTG Master because it can't go wrong even without looking.
So NTG Master switch is very important for me and it is the simplest KILL button for my head unit .
In an Android environment, say tablet, to turn it OFF need long power button press and then confirm by touch on the icon ( samsung 10.1" Tab A 2019 tablet )...its a waste of time for someone leaving the car.

NOW THE BLUETOOTH QUESTION.
Since Torque Pro App is the main drive to get this Android 10.25" screen, that means bluetooth has to be dedicated to OBD2 sender bluetooth type.
So I asked, does my head unit type ( supposedly NTG 4.5 ) has bluetooth chip at the unit, or at the small display ? I know the Android 10.25" has its own bluetooth chip.
I wanted to know if I will eventually have 2 separate bluetooth system.
If I have 2 separate bluetooth system, that means Torque App gets Android 10.25" bluetooth and my phone for handsfree get bluetooth from my orginal head unit.
8 core Snapdragon 625 gets Bluetooth 4.1 and LBE which can connect to few devices at the same time ( with limitation ). BTW, this CPU is not new, I think 2016 ish.
https://www.androidauthority.com/and...ptions-844298/
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...tooth/23811675


REVERSE CAMERA
Since my car does not come with it and I will get aftermarket one from same seller of Android 10.25" to get maximum operational compatibility, I want to know what level of priority does the reverse camera get ?
What I expect is, no matter at what mode is the Android 10.25" is at, including when it is OFF, I expect it to power up and show the video feed of the reverse camera as priority 1 when ever gear in Reverse.
Being curious, I also asked : Can I turn on the reverse camera manually thru the Android menu, but gear is NOT in reverse ?
This is about safety issue at night when at traffic light stop or creeping slow traffic when in a crime infested area of my city.


ADDED BONUS
Since my rear entertainment system does not feed audio signal to the head unit due to no AUX MENU at head unit to allow that, I asked them if with this Android 10.25"
I can then get the car sound system to run the DVD video's audio signal ?

So I asked : What is the GB limit of the USB input of the 2 Android 10.25" ?
I was hoping it can detect up to 4TB, so I can on long voyage get rear passengers to watch remux 4K blue-ray from a HDD.
The Snapdragon 625 can playback HVEC H265 video file, I dont know if it can play HDR ,spec wrote at least it can do Dolby 5.1
https://www.qualcomm.com/media/docum...duct-brief.pdf

HOPING FOR
Since the Snapdragon is USB 3.0 ready, I hope the wires and all USB connectors provided are USB 3.0 and not USB2.0.
This is important when transferring big data to 10.25" unit. 32GB and up data size transfer on a USB2.0 is a nightmare...a very slow nightmare.



DMP request more time to reply to my questions. They are busy installing and only the installer/techie can reply to all these questions of mine.
Hope their unit can meet my expectation up to Chapter : HOPING FOR ...

aznmode

Are these guys (Carsara on aliexpress.com) allowed to use my pictures on their website?

Nicholi2007

It depends on that site's terms. You can send request to the website owner.

They may take it down. If they were in the USA, it would likely be far easier. Most U.S. sites have strict policies.

Unfortunately this is a problem with the WWW.

aznmode

I emailed them and they ended up removing the pictures.

On to another question....im still on v1 and besides using it for Android auto and music streaming i don't really use it much. How about you guys?

fgarcor

It happened the same to me and I got annoyed by the little bugs. At the end I bought an interface to do just that: wireless android auto. And I don't miss the old display at all.
​​​​​

Nicholi2007

Your welcome.

aznmode

Thanks!

aznmode

which wireless android auto did you buy?

fgarcor

I did buy from 2 different makers and each one has it own things (like with the displays....). I just have to mention that I have a W205, not a W204, so your experience may differ. I tested though a bit the first unit also on a friends X204 so I will add some of his experience.

* Carlinkit (because of their reputation with the little usb dongles and the firmware updates they provided)
PROs:
- Rotary knob was flawless. Super fast detecting every single click and scrolling through the menus.
- Initial Menu: it looks better integrated because it uses the logos for Carplay /Android Auto and other functions. If you are picky it says "Android" instead of "Android Auto".
- It is possible to update it (I did perform an update but it didn't help me with my issue: wireless android auto).
- OEM Microphone (one cable less to deploy).
- Option to select Android Auto using touchscreen or not. This improves the usability via rotary knob like: the one-line keyboard, or the zoom-in, zooom-out function on google maps when there is no touchscreen.
- Sound very good, loud no hissing. Only the AUX activation is needed but no extra wiring, that means it is wired insde. And only after connecting two cables (not stated in the manual delivered, found in another manual on their webpage).
- In theory the unit can be rebooted by long pressing the MUTE button on the steering wheel. That works for X204 but not for mine.
- Few option to configure the unit, jus the necessary: wireless or not, touchscreen or not, and not much more.
- The phone should be charged also while plugged on USB (1A) but I don't remember well how good it was.
- All the car keys can be pressed and the interface will switch automatically to the menu: NAVI, RADIO, etc. Even if the phone is plugged it will automatically switch the screen to the Android Auto without having to do anything else, except setting the Audio = AUX.
CONs:
- The support didn't know very well how to help me with sound issues, I had to find it myself through the documentation they have on their site, but they did their best.
- Sometimes there was a delay in picking up the audio from the mic what made it a bit useless. This issue was not seen on the X204. Fast detection.
- Although they claimed that wireless android auto was supported at the end it wasn't. I fought with this a lot !
- With wireless they used 2.4GHz wifi, instead of 5GHz (Android 11 will bring support for wireless android auto for all devices and it will use 5GHz).
- Hardware was a bit too old.
- It provided a third party to do Android Auto mirroring but in my case, although the video was properly mirrored I always got a message underneath like the display was not optimized or so that you cannot remove. Such a pity because you could watch everything from your phone.
- My colleague reported different GPS issues while using the interface. He is using the phone on the same place and the same phone. Maybe there is wrong configuration inside the interface to pull the GPS data from the interface instead of the phone....strange.
- It doesn't trigger Google Assistant by pressing "*" key. In theory it does it with Siri. I haven't tested it.

* JoyeAuto (because of their reputation, dedicated to only this hardware and providing online documenation and firmware)
PROs:
- It does work with wireless Android Auto. And once it is connected is very stable.
- It uses 5GHz wifi.
- It does provide many options to configure different settings, Bluetooth name, check the bluetooth devices, name, firmware update.
- It reacts to "Ok Google" keyword.
- Because it uses an external microphone it detects all the words quite good. Not perfect but quite good.
- Sound very good and loud: wired and wireless.
- I can charge my phone while plugged to USB. I have added on top a Y USB cable and the phone charges very nicely.
- Available documentation online.
CONs:
- It uses an external microphone. They claim that otherwise the Emergency microphone is used and that is no-go for security.
- Intial Menu: It is based on Text, no icons. A bit rubish and a lot of margin for improvement.
- Rotary wheel clicks are lost. If you scroll very quickly you reach less far than if you rotate slowly.
- Sound some times it has a short quirk for half second, like it has to rebuffer. It is not periodic, and it happens wired and wirelessly.
- No auto switching the display to Android Auto when the phone is plugged. You need to manually switch the display with long press of BACK key.
- To use the OEM menus you have to exit the Interface first, by long pressing again BACK key.
- Wireless Android Auto works 50% of the time. If you click at the right time when starting the car, then the pop up to connect wirelessly comes and everybody is happy. If it is too late, the interface is hanging and can only be recovered by plugging the phone.
- No option to disable touchscreen mode. Typing on the screen with a keyboard and a rotary wheel is a pain in the ***.
- It doesn't trigger Google Assistant by pressing "*" key. In theory it does it with Siri. I haven't tested it.
- No way to reset the interface if it hangs. I plugged out the usb to replug it on my phone and I got an error. I had this during a long drive and you have to stop the car for more than 5 minutes to let the interface lose the full power and then you can try again.
- Not many updates online. Despite the feedback there seems to be not many fixes or updates of the system.

There are other vendors like RoadTop that should be good, the interface looks good, about the usability I haven't found much. But I read that some people got the battery depleted. So I am not 100% sure.
Other good one should be naviplus, but the price is way too high. However I am sure that they deliver very good experience and it integrates as well with touchscreen (optional) (resistive not capacitive).
At the end I have returned the Carlinkit because I wanted to get wireles android auto.

All in all, the usage is very comfortable, you get to keep your oem display (no glaring issues, etc) and the integration effort is minimal. Besides there is no OEM solution of the 8.4" display, just for Audio 20 can be retrofitted, so for us is one of the few options left.

What are your thoughts?

wsc

1) Anyone know if iceboxauto sell the latest version? Click description here: https://www.iceboxauto.com/1025-gps-...-14-zf6322-rhd
It does say Octo-Core, Android 10.0, 64GB memory, 4GB RAM
So is it the same as this N600 here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32983378863.html ?

2) Are there anyone recommendations here for the latest model on Aliexpress?
3) If it has Android 10.0, is that legit, or can it be an older hardware version with just upgraded software?
4) Anyone here tried these 10.25 screens vs the CarPlay/Android Auto retrofit (e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000805740857.html) I know different products, but I guess more real life use. Do you tend to just use CarPlay/Android Auto, or are you using the native Android on the 10.25 screen?

benzdude

There is now a N600 PLUS 12.5 inch version
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000301076162.html

EDIT: Updated for W204.

wsc

Thanks yes I saw that, a little bit out my budget! (Or can't justify continuing to spend more on it). Thanks.
Any help on my other questions would be much appreciated.

fgarcor

I had the 10.25" v2 display, and I had the 9.33" display both running android 7. At the end, as aznmode said, I used mainly android auto and spotify. So I turned to the interface.

aznmode

Sounds like a good alternative for w205 or maybe a face-lift w204. I have pre face-lift w204 with NTG 4.0.

aznmode

Have a pic of the 9 inch? Seems thats more proportionate. Did you end up selling it?

fgarcor

Here you can find some pics and info. https://mbworld.org/forums/mbworld.o...d.php?t=735384
I didn't sell it, I was thinking maybe one day I can try rooting it and put magisk or so, but I don't have the time for it. The picture quality is much better than the v1 or v2, but it is still no 720p. And the image ratio is also very good, the outer size is the same as the oem one, it is just it has thinner bezel.

aznmode

the 9 inch looks good. Thanks for sharing.

scottyt

Hi everyone,

I have recently had a 10.25 android screen fitted to my c class 2015 (w205) I know this a w204 forum but I’m guessing the screens are all pretty much the same.

I have an audio issue where I can hear a fuzzy/whining sound at the start of songs and in between tracks changing. If I select Neural and Rev the car, the sound goes up and down with the revs. I was just wandering if anyone else has encountered this issue and how you solved it? Also if air con is on it can make it worse too.

also anyone have any perfect settings for the dsp (equaliser) and also did you change any settings on the original system??

any help be much appreciated
many thanks everyone.