ATOTO A5L 7inch Android Double DIN Car Stereo,Wireless CarPlay&Android Auto

This is my third Atoto head unit for my car, replacing a 4 year old F7 unit. That's not because they're bad units, it's just that I've noticed the technology keeps improving in head units and it's a cheap way to "freshen up" the dated feel of my old Corolla. I'll be reviewing this A5L in comparison to the old F7, as a point of reference.Connectivity: After 1 week, ZERO connectivity issues between the A5L and my Motorola phone, the microphone is more than acceptable as well for calls. The "2 second boot time," while technically true, is a little misleading. While the unit does boot to it's main screen in 2 seconds, it takes another 40 -45 seconds until Android Auto boots fully. I have not connected the A5L to WiFi for any OTA updates, so perhaps boot times have been optimized.Quality: This unit is nearly identical to my old F7 visually, a slight tweak to the "ATOTO" font is the only way you could tell it's different. The unit does have a good feel to it, and the screen colors appear bright and vibrant. No issues with the touchscreen, although I would have preferred a volume knob rather than a button but that's a small gripe. The sound quality is much better than my F7, and there's a robust EQ to fully customize your set up. There's actually multiple EQs in there, which could be confusing.Installation: I was a little bummed that ATOTO updated the wiring harness for this unit, as I was able to reuse my harness from my first ATOTO unit on my F7, which bascially made my F7 plug and play. So for the A5L I had to make a new harness, I chose to solder my wiring together, but it's easier and quicker to use some crimp connectors. ATOTO clearly labled each wire, making it easy enough for even a color-blind dude like myself to not screw it up. This is probably the part that deters most people, I swear it's not as bad as it may seem, just start with one wire and keep going. Again, I already had a double DIN installation kit but if you're coming from a stock stereo you may need to do some research into your application. There is some trial and error in getting the unit to fit flush in my car's dash, but it only took a couple of tries pulling out the front fascia of my dash and adjusting the position of the unit before I got to something I was satisfied with.Other observations: I also have a hard-wired backup camera on my car and sometimes my F7 unit would not connect and show a signal. When it did connect, the image was smooth and instantaneous. So far I've had zero connectivity issues with my A5L, but sometimes the signal is laggy. Also, the default screen on this unit is kind of useless to me, as it populates screens and apps that I don't care for and won't use. I'd prefer to have it boot directly to Android Auto. This may be something I can change in the settings or in an OTA update, but I haven't found it yet. I also don't care about AI so I have not used or tested that function.Overall, it's a tremendous value for the price, but not perfect. Boot times still leave something to be desired and the laggy backup camera is disappointing considering I know it's a software issue. I seriously doubt the Pioneer or Kenwood units that are 2 - 3x times the price are much better, there's simply too many variables in types of phones and applications to get this 100% perfect for every user, every time. I am more than pleased with unit.

Just picked up my second ATOTO, and they keep surprising me with their quality. The packaging is great, and the stereo feels like it can do just about anything. Running Android and syncing with my phone, it’s been exactly what I needed.The Torque OBD features are especially useful on my older truck. I was able to connect to wireless Android Auto right away, and Apple connections are supported too. It boots up almost instantly, connects to my phone automatically, and lets me pull codes and monitor vehicle metrics without interrupting my navigation or music.Shipping was fast, and the install was pretty straightforward. The wiring is clearly labeled, and it gives the dash a factory look. I highly recommend this stereo to anyone looking for a feature-packed upgrade.

This is my third ATOTO head unit. The last two worked well until I sold the vehicle. I chose ATOTO because it was reasonably priced and offered wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay. There was no other option at this price. The finished product looks good and sounds good, but if you're going to choose ATOTO, you must be familiar with how it works. It is an Android tablet that is shaped and adapted to work in a car. Functions such as a radio are an app rather being the sole function of the unit. It can be temperamental, but once set up, it works well and has some interesting features. One is the Torque app that when linked to an OBD2 adapter can link to onboard diagnostics and provide information on your vehicle's overall health and any trouble codes. Also, it can handle a back up camera and even a dash cam. If you have an amp, it is compatible with that as well. It also has a TPMS option but you must purchase a kit for that separately. Many apps from Google Play are compatible making the ATOTO stand out among competitors.Installation and setup, however, can be tricky. It fits perfectly into a double DIN opening, but that's the easy part. I installed the Axxess AXSWC Steering Wheel Control Interface to retain steering wheel controls on my 2004 Buick Lesabre. This required a contact with tech support from Axxess because the interface does not automatically detect an ATOTO head unit. It appears that it would have automatically detected a more mainstream brand, but not ATOTO. The solution was to tell the AXXESS interface that it was linking to a Pioneer head unit which was quick and easy. I had to program each steering wheel button to perform specific functions since it is not automatically detected. This was easy enough, but the directions were not clear. I also learned that the 3.5mm jack intended for steering wheel controls on the ATOTO doesn't work and that it was necessary to wire the AXXESS interface directly to the wiring harness supplied with the head unit. This was easy enough, but I only figured this out after a lot of googling. The end result is that the steering wheel controls now work, but it was not plug and play. I'm sure a professional could have done in a few hours what took me much longer.My first two ATOTO head units worked right out of the box, but this one had no sound. I contacted Amazon and they attempted to troubleshoot but that didn't work and they referred me directly to ATOTO. ATOTO was responsive and sent me a replacement in 3 days. The replacement worked perfectly and the installation is complete.I am pleased with the final product, but if I knew then what I know now, I might have chosen something else.

I mean technically it does everything they claim...BUT it is the most unusable car stereo I've ever encountered. This is simply a low cost and very low effort implementation of an android unit, with no thoughts given to actual usability.The UI is so bad it's laughable. For example, tap the Bluetooth music app, search and find a song, it plays... Great right! WRONG... As soon as you back out of that app, to the home screen or any other app, the music stops.Also the physical buttons are terrible to use while driving. They are right at the very edge of the unit so they are jammed right up snug against the dashboard edges.The fonts are tiny. No way to quickly glance for info while driving, the font is so small you really have to squint and find what you're looking for. I found a setting for the font size, sounds like a good solution! WRONG. It does increase font sizes, but nothing else changes so you end up with garbled and cut off text.It also has the silliest Bluetooth pairing... It wants so badly to latch onto the previously paired device... My wife was sitting in the vehicle with the radio OFF, and when I came outside and it starts automatically playing the metal I had been listening to earlier and blasted her ears out. It turned itself back on and latched onto my phone. Crazy stuff. I guess the designer thought that would be a good thing, not really sure why.I could go on, but this thing is not worth the price of the box they ship it in. Would certainly return it if it wasn't too late. Unfortunately it took me a while to get it installed and then I kept thinking all these maybe were just user error on my part, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt. No, it's just terrible.I find it mind boggling that some engineer looked at it and said "yep that's good, ship it".

Been close to 8 months and still working great. I had a few issues with connectivity. I contacted support and they were super helpful to help resolve them very quickly. I would definitely purchase again.