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Has anyone replaced their stock head unit with one of these tablet style head units? My GX doesn't have nav, bluetooth so thinking about upgrading the head unit for my son who drives the GX now.
Installation as far as putting it in is quite easy. The pain is getting it set up correctly. Some of the videos you see on YT of others don't quite apply. I've asked Phoenix this question with no response. I still can't get it to talk to any OBD-2 bluetooth/wifi connector, even the one they sell that I already had in hand, and I've tried at least 4 different ones. My phone talks to each one just fine.
Carplay requires the dongle, which then may or may not work depending on how it feels that day. Wired or wireless doesnt matter, but wireless likely won't connect at all until you force it to. Once it connects, music can lag, like there's no reception for the phone, but then unplugging the phone it'll play fine, so its the unit's fault. Other times, the unit will use carplay just fine.
My radio reception is terrible compared to what it was, some stations don't come in now, and the jack is completely seated in the unit. AC works just fine though, and it does look cool.
I used the Sure Swatch clear paintable sample film from Home Depot to dull down the reflective screen. Cut to fit.
I have the phoenix PX6 unit working with the Torque Lite app on a generic WIFI OBD2 dongle. The OBD2 app included with the Phoenix does not respond to anything so far. Bluetooth OBD2 dongles do not work with it. Most of the included apps are crude so I use Poweramp instead of the included music player app. A better launcher like Nova or Car Launcher Pro helps as well. Suggest that you also get the 2 year extended warranty from SquareTrade and keep your Lexus OEM info center screen and radio just in case. Otherwise it looks, sounds and works great. Useful for autonomous navigation apps in the mountain wilderness. Easycon app works well with my Galaxy S20. Steering wheel controls all work. Using adaptors I re-used the two Lexus radio antennas, GPS antenna and audio mic. PX6 mounted in GX470
I used the Sure Swatch clear paintable sample film from Home Depot to dull down the reflective screen. Cut to fit.
I have the phoenix PX6 unit working with the Torque Lite app on a generic WIFI OBD2 dongle. The OBD2 app included with the Phoenix does not respond to anything so far. Bluetooth OBD2 dongles do not work with it. Most of the included apps are crude so I use Poweramp instead of the included music player app. A better launcher like Nova or Car Launcher Pro helps as well. Suggest that you also get the 2 year extended warranty from SquareTrade and keep your Lexus OEM info center screen and radio just in case. Otherwise it looks, sounds and works great. Useful for autonomous navigation apps in the mountain wilderness. Easycon app works well with my Galaxy S20. Steering wheel controls all work. Using adaptors I re-used the two Lexus radio antennas, GPS antenna and audio mic. PX6 mounted in GX470
There’s still a fair amount of glare in that pic, it’s better but here in always sunny Texas it wouldn’t work for me. I wish I could eliminate it to a level similar to what I had on my uconnect Dodge/Jeep vehicles or even like the OEM factory GX screen. I just cannot believe this oversight by the Chinese engineers, they even have sun in China so it doesn’t make sense to make a GLOSSY screen for an automotive vehicle.
I have the same year you do, 2005, same setup and everything (No Nav or bluetooth). I do not have the Tesla-style tablet setup, I have the smaller 2-DIN setups, basically a 9" tablet turned sideways (landscape mode) to replace the radio section of the dash. I got mine from AliExpress at least 2 years ago, and there are several iterations now of what I purchased back then. The one I bought is no longer offered, as they likely have some other Chinese company making them, or they simply offer them under multiple vendor names, but here are a few examples of what I bought:
Not sure if there's more, but that's what I found with a quick look. The one I got, they sold a $20-30 adapter that made it simply plug and play. Bluetooth worked just fine, there was a GPS antenna hookup, and the stock antenna cable had a spot to be plugged into the back of the unit. There were two additional USB adapters that I now use for music, as you lose the CD player (and the cassette player, if you actually own any of those! LOL). Throw your music on an old iPod/USB stick/mp3 player and put it in the glove box, and you'll never miss the CD player. The wire can easily be fed into the glove box, so hiding everything is as simple as keeping all the wires behind the dash. Speaking of which, get yourself some dash panel removal tools (Amazon sells several cheap nylon/plastic/ABS sets that will work just fine).
These are similar to the Alpine head unit you posted, at half the price. My steering wheel controls still work (volume up/down, Mode changes between AM/FM/Bluetooth/USB/etc). Answering my phone when connected via bluetooth does NOT utilize the steering wheel controls, but the whole screen throws up the phone app and you have the option to answer/hang up via the touchscreen. I have no idea if the OBD stuff works, although it came with the app. I have the Toyota laptop software, so I don't even bother with anything else. The GPS program works okay, but I find it easier to download/use Google Maps. I use my phone as a hotspot, so I can run any data-using programs (Google Maps, Pandora, YouTube, podcast apps, etc) through the head unit.
The install took me about an hour, and most of that was re-watching install video as I was doing it, and taking my time to avoid breaking anything. One thing to remember (that I still haven't gone back in and fixed myself!) DON'T FORGET TO HOOK UP THE EMERGENCY FLASHERS AGAIN!
If I can, I'll try to snap a pic of what mine looks like in a bit and post it up for you. The version that you and I have is different in that all the HVAC controls will likely NOT work via ANY Android replacement unit - notice your Alpine doesn't mention this either. No matter, as our HVAC controls continue to work just fine as they aren't tied into a Navigation screen, and the end result ends up looking OEM enough that people who find out my GX is an '05 believe that Lexus came out with touchscreens like this in their vehicles way back then. It doesn't register that the screen is an aftermarket, and mine has an option to modify the start screen with the Lexus logo, so it really adds to the feeling that it's OEM.
10-26-20, 05:38 AM
Has anyone installed a tablet style head unit?
