I ordered the Joyeauto carplay and reverse camera and set them up last week. Here is what I personally feel after using it for 1 week
General - Price/Support
1) Currently their support system is somewhat broken due to situations owing to corona virus, half of the China is at halt, so honestly cannot blame them. So for now you are mostly on your own if you get into any trouble, the number given on their site is responding once a day.
2) I got it at a good price, both combined I paid almost 48% less that what the price is listed on AliExpress (I did bit of bargain + some benefits of being a Diamond Member) , my original intent was to go with Bimmertech MMI, but there was a huge price difference.
3) Delivery time as a bit of concern due to situation in China (product came from Hong Kong), and took little over 3 weeks to reach Philippines.
4) They shared with me the
X1 installation video, which acts as a guide only. The part for rear camera is not shown correctly and its not plug and play.
5) This unit gets pretty hot, to an extent that the velcro tape that I had used came out easily the next day
Installation
1) Pretty straight forward installation, the biggest challenge was to re-route the wires to glove-box. I am still not satisfied with the location (read through the section below on what I intend to do in later days).
2) I have re-wired the factory mic (I had one spare on FZD from my COMBOX retrofit) and connected it to the unit and it works well.
3) The odd part of the entire set up is the AUX connection, I have re-routed the wire through the rubber pad on central arm console and planning to change it later (read through my post).
Working Status
Sound Quality - 5 out of 10
Navigation - 9 out of 10
Other Apps - 6 out of 10 (I tried using Whatsapp and Calendar and it works well)
Display - 10 out of 10
Calls - 10 out of 10
Contacts - 8 out of 10
Rear View Camera - 4 out of 10
Video Playback - 10 out of 10 *
Overall - 7 out of 10
a) The Navigation sound is not working and as per the support and some other forum, you will have to increase it manually whilst the "waze is talking", this is same for Google Map and i guess its to do with the carplay system rather than the hardware
b) the rear view camera and the PDC appearance changes to a new look, the factory one looks much more better than this one. In my opinion the rear view camera for me was a waste of money. I have disabled the camera and using original PDC which i am much more happy with. Furthermore the rear view camera quality (of the trunk handle and switch) is not that great.
c) Phone Calls and Contacts - Calls are going thru my original system, even if I dial it using the carplay (which I love the most as the call quality of combo is better basis some of the forum posts). The only problem is the steering wheel control, when i press the call button, it dials the last number by default, instead of display the contact list.
d) *Video and other play back using usb is ok, I don't use them much but i tried playing a full HD movie and it worked well.
e) Sound quality is ok, but you will feel a huge difference if you immediately switch between Bluetooth/USB and Carplay, the bass element is very less on the AUX port. ** I realized that the best sound quality comes out of Car Radio and TV unit and not the USB/Bluetooth connections, so if i have to rate Carplay, its third in the list.
Here are some additional observations, I am mentioning them as its a good way around to manage some of the shortcomings of this unit, plus some have few rooms for improvements.
a) I can use original USB or Bluetooth to the play music, and it woks great, with original sound. At the same time when I switch to Carplay, the music app shows the same song details and switching to carplay doesn't effect the (pause) the song or change the song quality.
b) Weather I use Carplay or Original Phone app, my phone calls are all routed through original mic, so the call quality is super good
c) If I use original voice command and ask it to dial a number, the call details appear on the Carplay, but it does not start "SIRI"
d) If I use phone-button on the steering wheel, it only dials the last number, no phonebook is displayed, to display the phone-book you will have to use the phone app and then go to contacts.
e) Siri doesn't work without mic set up to this unit, default mic will not work like the way it works for phone.
f) if you plan to use original Bluetooth/usb for music and use other apps like whatsapp at the same time, it will not work and music will be paused and it takes quite a turn and twist to make it work again. The phone and Idrive will show music playing but you will not hear anything.
What I intend to do now and I need any expert view -
1) I want to move this unit to the rear end where the default CD changes is located (I don't have AMP or CD changer so the place is empty)
2) Run a 4 pin connector from Idrive to this unit - this is a simple one and all I need is a DuPont connector, crimper and wires.
3) I already have the Mic connection running to the rear end which I will connect to this unit (if i need to use Siri, rest everything is working via the COMBOX system like phone calls etc.)
4) Use the AUX input directly to the COMBOX, I know there are three wires going to COMBOXwhich I can connect directly to this unit.
5) Now my biggest concern is the LVDS cables, I have got a seller to help me with a custom LVDS cables of desired length. I have to run this from the back side of the Head unit to passenger side foot wall and then to the rear end (same path as mic wiring). Not sure though if the system will support this and LVDS signals might get lost which such a long wiring.
6) Though there is a wifi antenna integrated to the unit, I hope the signal can reach the front end of the car, I will try this before doing anything else. I may have to buy a wifi antenna and rewire it to the B pillar.
7) I don't intend to use USB feature, but I can also re-wire it and take it to the front end of the car (glove box) if required.
Let me know if anyone tried a similar setup with success or if there are any challenges that you all foresee. I will try and update this post with new observations, problems and solutions if any.