Aftermarket Tesla CarPlay and Android Auto Devices

[InfamousGeek]

Well, my Ownice device was supposed to arrive on May 17th but surprise! I got it today!

So here's my first impression:

I actually got two of them because I mistakenly ordered the T1 at first when I actually wanted the T3 so I placed a second order for the T3 figuring I could easily sell the T1 on marketplace or something. (cancelling an order on Aliexpress does not prove to be as easy as on Amazon...)

Physically the two devices are quite different, the T1 casing is carbon fibre printed and slim while the T3 is light blue and bulkier. I just tried them both while the car is in my garage and they work exactly the same way and they are both on the same firmware version.

First thing I noticed is how quick the T1's initial connection has been. Especially when using it without the hotspot connection, it's basically a two step operation. But most interestingly, the T1/T3 has a higher resolution than the Carlinkit. With the Carlinkit (on hi res setting) I get a 4x3 Carplay home screen while on the T1/T3, I get 5x4. The map in Waze is therefore more detailed.

The problem I mentioned before with Facetime Audio cutting of while using the Carlinkit is also non-existent on the T1/T3 devices. I'm under the impression that it's related to the hotspot feature of the Carlinkit. I still have to test the T1/T3 with hotspot enabled to see if the problem will reproduce but it's nice to have a solution. I don't think I really mind driving my car in offline mode.

I still have to test out the devices in driving conditions which I'm anxious to do tomorrow but so far I would say it seems quite promising.

Stay tuned!

 

[Mandingo]

Well, my Ownice device was supposed to arrive on May 17th but surprise! I got it today!

So here's my first impression:

I actually got two of them because I mistakenly ordered the T1 at first when I actually wanted the T3 so I placed a second order for the T3 figuring I could easily sell the T1 on marketplace or something. (cancelling an order on Aliexpress does not prove to be as easy as on Amazon...)

Physically the two devices are quite different, the T1 casing is carbon fibre printed and slim while the T3 is light blue and bulkier. I just tried them both while the car is in my garage and they work exactly the same way and they are both on the same firmware version.

First thing I noticed is how quick the T1's initial connection has been. Especially when using it without the hotspot connection, it's basically a two step operation. But most interestingly, the T1/T3 has a higher resolution than the Carlinkit. With the Carlinkit (on hi res setting) I get a 4x3 Carplay home screen while on the T1/T3, I get 5x4. The map in Waze is therefore more detailed.

The problem I mentioned before with Facetime Audio cutting of while using the Carlinkit is also non-existent on the T1/T3 devices. I'm under the impression that it's related to the hotspot feature of the Carlinkit. I still have to test the T1/T3 with hotspot enabled to see if the problem will reproduce but it's nice to have a solution. I don't think I really mind driving my car in offline mode.

I still have to test out the devices in driving conditions which I'm anxious to do tomorrow but so far I would say it seems quite promising.

Stay tuned!

This is great info thank you! My device is also arriving early (tomorrow) but I’m out of town for a few days so I won’t get a chance to test it until next week.

The faster startup is welcomed - not sure if you still have CarLinkit to compare but I’d be interested to see how much faster it starts.

The higher resolution sounds great too - does it make the screen refresh more sluggish though since it’s streaming more data every frame? Be great to have our cake and eat it too!

The other issue I am interested in is the occasions where the T2C gets its “panties in a bunch” where the autokit Wi-Fi is on but the browser is still asking for the phone to connect even though my iPhone appears to have already connected to CarPlay. This happens most often when reconnecting during the same day after leaving the car and requires me to cycle Bluetooth to fix.

Do you notice any difference in speed/function between T1 and T3?

Overall I am cautiously optimistic this unit could be a good upgrade from T2C - fingers crossed.

 

[InfamousGeek]

@Mandingo What I meant by the initial connection was the very first time I set it up. For some reason when I first configured the T2C it took a bit of fiddling around before I actually got to see the Carplay home screen appear. With the T1 as soon as I paired the phone and the car to the device, then went on the webpage, boom Carplay appeared right away.

The refresh of the screen is as good as the T2C. But I ran my test on a refreshed Model X which has a bigger screen and a faster GPU I believe. Could that be a factor to consider? I don't know. We'll know when someone tests it on an older car. Maybe @ricksli can weight it on this?

I will get back to you about your other questions as soon as I road test the devices more intensively and on a daily basis.

Oh and I tested the Airplay feature, it works fine but I played a Youtube video and for some reason it didn't use up the whole browser window area. I'm still debating wether I actually see a use for the Airplay feature.

 

[Mandingo]

Oh and I tested the Airplay feature, it works fine but I played a Youtube video and for some reason it didn't use up the whole browser window area. I'm still debating wether I actually see a use for the Airplay feature.

Try turning your iPhone 90 degrees - sometimes the landscape view works better when Airplaying YouTube content.

 

[timeshifter]

The other issue I am interested in is the occasions where the T2C gets its “panties in a bunch” where the autokit Wi-Fi is on but the browser is still asking for the phone to connect even though my iPhone appears to have already connected to CarPlay. This happens most often when reconnecting during the same day after leaving the car and requires me to cycle Bluetooth to fix.

Are you talking about where on screen it says "Waiting to connect" or "Waiting for connection"?

I get that every now and then and it seems like there is no fix, but to come back another day and it's fine.

 

[InfamousGeek]

Try turning your iPhone 90 degrees - sometimes the landscape view works better when Airplaying YouTube content.

Yes I did that, as it's the only way to get it to play full screen but still the videos would not quite use the full width of the browser window. There was an annoying black margin on each side (and top/bottom too but that's to be expected since the window is almost square).

 

[Mandingo]

Are you talking about where on screen it says "Waiting to connect" or "Waiting for connection"?

I get that every now and then and it seems like there is no fix, but to come back another day and it's fine.

It forgets my iPhone - the connection box is empty and doesn’t list my phone any more. It tells me to connect a phone. Only fix I found is to toggle Bluetooth on and off on my iPhone then the CarPlay sequence reconnects. Be interested to see if Ownice is more robust.

 

[ricksli]

I thought the Ownice looked better than the T2C, especially when I used Waze, but I wasn't certain...guess I was correct. I don't recall any negligible difference in screen response time, but it was probably 2 months or so between devices for me.

Hopefully @InfamousGeek will report have good results while driving with it to share with you as well. After using it a few weeks now, it never gets its "panties in a bunch". Once in a while, I have to reboot the Tesla to reset the browser, but that's something I experienced prior to using these devices anyway. As I've mentioned, I don't want to mess with my phone when I get in the car...and I never have to with this. If my Tesla's WiFi has turned off, I can just turn it back on or just tap my USB on/off switch and it reconnects quickly.

With the phone connected to Personal Hotspot while driving, I have not seen any degradation in performance/connection issues. The automation I setup to turn on my iPhone's Personal Hotspot every time it connects to CarPlay continues to work flawlessly. I set up the opposite to turn off the Personal Hotspot when CarPlay disconnects since I noticed it remaining connected at home.

Airplay mirroring is interesting, but the audio lags a bit. I guess it's good if you want video on the screen while driving but with sites like abettertesla I don't see much use for it myself.

 

[CDrury]

Are you talking about where on screen it says "Waiting to connect" or "Waiting for connection"?

I get that every now and then and it seems like there is no fix, but to come back another day and it's fine.

I have the same issue. If often connects flawlessly but if I stop for coffee it no longer connects and I have to try all kinds of things to get it to reconnect Inc repowering the device. This thing is sketchy.

 

[InfamousGeek]

Well, today I road tested the T3 on many short drives and every time I'm happy to report that it reconnected flawlessly, as long as I turned the Tesla wifi back on each time I was departing of course. It looks promising! I have yet to find a flaw in this product. Tomorrow I will test it on a long (1h+) drive on the highway.

 

[timeshifter]

@InfamousGeek are you using a hotspot or are you off the grid with the Ownice?

 

[InfamousGeek]

@InfamousGeek are you using a hotspot or are you off the grid with the Ownice?

So far I'm using it off the grid. Since I rely on Waze for driving directions and use the Spotify app through Carplay for music, I don't feel the need to have the car connected to the internet on its own. But I will definitely test it with the hotspot feature turned on eventually just to see how it goes.

 

[RyMY]

Ordered a T2C and used it for the first time yesterday. It’s horrible. I use my iPhone hotspot.

Constant disconnects, which does auto connect. It’s laggy. When in Waze, there is a huge delay compared to where my current position is. Screen going unresponsive to registering what I tapped on up to a minute later. Has anyone experience this?

I’m thinking of getting the Ownice to test.

 

[DayTrippin]

Did you update the firmware? I have 2 of them, one in my S and one in my 3, they both work great.

You can also adjust the resolution from HD if that is slowing it down. I would try that first. Even my wife who isn't a techie, really liked how well it worked.

I am using the phone as hotspot. Here is iPhone X (so not new) and mine is a 14 Pro Max. Both work well.

 

[RyMY]

Did you update the firmware? I have 2 of them, one in my S and one in my 3, they both work great.

You can also adjust the resolution from HD if that is slowing it down. I would try that first. Even my wife who isn't a techie, really liked how well it worked.

I am using the phone as hotspot. Here is iPhone X (so not new) and mine is a 14 Pro Max. Both work well.

Got 2 updates so far. Most recent is 4/10 update if I remember correctly. I do have it set to HD. I’ll try SD. I’m also on a 14PM. May test with a SIM card also.

 

[timeshifter]

Got 2 updates so far. Most recent is 4/10 update if I remember correctly. I do have it set to HD. I’ll try SD. I’m also on a 14PM. May test with a SIM card also.

May also want to try clearing the cache on your Tesla browser and even restarting the MCU on the Tesla (hold down both scroll wheels).

 

[Mandingo]

Got 2 updates so far. Most recent is 4/10 update if I remember correctly. I do have it set to HD. I’ll try SD. I’m also on a 14PM. May test with a SIM card also.

How old is your Tesla?

 

[pbcsd]

For those wondering what the difference between the Ownice T1 & T3 here is what the company had to say:

"T1 is cheaper, without brand logo, with ordinary craftsmanship, one power cord, and normal battery life T3 has stronger heat dissipation, comes with an Ownice brand gift box, two power cables, ultra long battery life, and more exquisite craftsmanship"

Battery life?! @ricksli can you confirm, does it come with a battery?

Can you link which vendor from Aliexpress you bought from? Lots of sketchy vendors there. Ordered what I thought was a T2C, but it was a much cheaper android device which costs more to ship back than I bought it for.

 

[ricksli]

Last time I put a link it was removed, but I bought mine from geekbuying.com. If you search item code 519881 it's the only one that comes up. I found a $10 coupon at the time bringing into to $94. There were other options to purchase elsewhere, but they were either much more expensive or confusing as there were "supposedly" different versions for various countries and I wasn't taking chances having recently battled an incorrect item received.

BTW, if you didn't get what you ordered from Alie, you can open a case. I actually won mine for the last item I ordered because they sent a different option than was in my cart...they don't make it easy by making filing/responding hard to find, but it's doable.

 

[pbcsd]

Last time I put a link it was removed, but I bought mine from geekbuying.com. If you search item code 519881 it's the only one that comes up. I found a $10 coupon at the time bringing into to $94. There were other options to purchase elsewhere, but they were either much more expensive or confusing as there were "supposedly" different versions for various countries and I wasn't taking chances having recently battled an incorrect item received.

BTW, if you didn't get what you ordered from Alie, you can open a case. I actually won mine for the last item I ordered because they sent a different option than was in my cart...they don't make it easy by making filing/responding hard to find, but it's doable.

Yeah, I've been dealing with them for 3 weeks now. It's a real pain in the arse and not really worth the CAD$40 I spent on the unit (which should have been the first sign it wasn't the real thing despite all the pictures).