toyotaman7

I have not asked them, but since I do not have issues, I did not look into updating it.

Why do you need to update the firmware?

whiteghost

As mentioned above and from my posts on here back in May 2022 it was too glitchy for my wife to use.

I would hope that after this amount of time there would be a more stable firmware out. 🤷🏻‍♂️

toyotaman7

I had few issues when I installed it few years ago and communicated with them though WhatsApp and that made new firmware and sent me few to test.

Those fixed the issues.

If you have issues let them know directly.

They can't fix something they don't know it's broken..

seadonu

It's also 2 times more expensive, I would be happy to see real review of both units from one person, but I don't think that gonna happen since nobody want to purchase both units

whiteghost

I'd be happy to test them out! I have a business in the automotive industry so I can take this vehicle apart very easily. The RoadTop device only took me about 45 minutes to 1 hour to install and have fully back together.

It's especially nice to have a well lit shop with air conditioning and also of the proper tools.

seadonu

If you will be able to purchase both devices and use them for couple days each - I'm sure that will be very helpful for most people in this thread

I just ordered roadtop just because it's cheaper, but If I had a good independent comparison I definitely would think about GROM option.
Or maybe they're exactly the same and grom just charging for customer support

BeatSonic

Can we join in on the fun?

Video about our kit: Product link: https://www.beatsonicusa.com/lexusca...droidauto.html

We would be happy to let you borrow ours for your comparison analysis so the community is well informed about the differences between the kits. We would also like to add that our kit is approved by Lexus USA and being offered at dealerships across the US.

seadonu

My RoadTop is on the way (ETA Feb 15). If both BeatSonic and GROM would agree to lend devices for testing, I could conduct a photo and video review on the RX350 2016 with 12.3 nav using CarPlay. I drive approximately 80 miles every day for my commute.

If somebody else were to conduct the review, I would be very interested in the following aspects:

• Wireless CarPlay: connection delay
• Microphone quality and noise reduction (I know there could be some adjustments in system menu)
• Music quality compared to aux/USB
• Aftermarket rear camera connection (I believe everyone will agree - OEM camera quality is poor)
• And the main question: which system has fewer lags/glitches/disconnects?

I drove a Chevy before, and there was perfect microphone quality as well as a rear camera; however, sometimes Google Maps showed an empty map, and a few times the phone didn't connect to the car until I deleted the phone from the car and reconnected it.

BeatSonic

Let us know once the candidate is chosen. We would be happy to send out kit over to a specified address.

seadonu

Would you consider borrowing the VT2 adapter for review?

lexnewbi

I installed the RoadTop a few weeks ago on 2017 Lexus RX450h. The system is fine. My first power up, the screen had a flicker on the last couple of rows. It seemed the background image was trying to peek through. I switch the DIP switches to the next option and flicker was gone. Had to tweak the system settings to lower the top limit a bit so it would not cut pixels.

Overall, the system does what I want. The audio quality is good, the phone calls are good, the map is good, it connects wirelessly every time. Screen display is good without stretched icons. Siri actually understands me and gives prompt directions. Installation was quite straightforward. The instructions were a little off in the english translation, but readable.

Drawbacks:
- Joystick is very difficult to control. Right to left is the easiest movement. But it is hard to move to the next icon. Tried different settings and their suggestions, but not much difference between them.
- Every now and then, the image switches to the factory system screen with a bluetooth phone not paired error. I had removed my bluetooth paring of the phone from the car's factory system before installation of RoadTop. Pressing down the menu gets it back to Car Play.
- Cannot hear the radio at the same time as direction guidance since the CarPlay uses AUX channel. So I have to choose either radio or directions by switching the audio mode from AUX to FM Radio.
- I have the larger screen set to auto change to the 360 cameras. The split screen just shows whatever button I pressed last from the factory system. It would be really nice to have navigation on the split screen, but impossible due to the 2 mode operation: CarPlay or factory system.

For $200 it was a good buy. Wanted to get BeatSonic, but their $750 price was excessive.

I placed the control unit at the foremost part of the console next to the passenger feet. Cables were long enough to reach there and easy to pull out if something needed reconfiguration.

Wireless CarPlay is very nice. I have a MagSafe holder from Mighty Mount that powers the phone while connected to CarPlay, so it does not drain the battery: https://www.themightymount.com/colle...pro-car-mounts

seadonu

Received my Roadtop CarPlay adapter and got it installed.

First of all, the Chinese manual is inaccurate. It says not to connect the joystick cable; however, it won't work in the RX350 without it. The joystick works far from perfectly - not surprising for me, as I've read a lot of reviews and posts here.

I contacted Chinese support, which is really helpful, and we tried different firmware versions to make the controls more adequate.

The good news is, if you have a 10" screen, they have firmware with mouse control which works fine, almost the same as the factory cursor.

The bad news is, it doesn't work on a 12" screen. After installation, I wasn't able to reach the right side of the screen; it goes a little further than the center of the display. Unfortunately, I flashed the default version back and will try to get used to that jumping joystick control. I hope the manufacturer will be able to port the firmware to 12" screens in the future.

I will make a full review after approximately a week of driving with it.

YVRRX350

Did anyone take Beatsonic up on the offer to review?

I've been waiting for some updates/reviews on these different units (Beatsonic/Grom/Roadtop/etc) before I order one.
I'd be interested in knowing what the hardware specs are for the units (Android OS ver, RAM/processor, etc).
As well, what is the second box for, with the Beatsonic one ? The others just seem to have the one unit.

thx

BeatSonic

If local to us in La Mirada CA, we are also happy to install/remove our kit without charge a for review. This is only for review purposes. If you are purchasing to keep, we will have to charge for install labor.

lexnewbi

I have had the RoadTop for a couple of months on 2017 RX450h with Nav. So far works OK, except for the following:

• Extremely difficult to move and select items with joystick
• Echo reported on calls by callers, even though I have tried different settings
• On a handful of occasions, when I switch to CarPlay, it just displays a Black screen on startup that last several minutes. The RoadTop settings screen shows up, but not the CarPlay screen.