I know this is kind of an old-school approach but another car I own has the ability to play mp3s directly off of a USB stick.
Is this feature retained with the 2023 RX models or is it going to be obsolete like a CD player?
There is only one USB A in the car and the rest are USB-C.

TIA.

 

Yes you can. Take a look at the Multimedia guide. I think the drive must be formatted as a fat32 drive for the car to recognize it. The USB-A port is the only port connected to the car entertainment system. All of the USB-C ports are for power only.

 

I use it all the time. The manual says its limited to a 32gb memory stick formatted FAT32 but I've seen people say it will recognize larger memory sticks. I bought a little mini stick so it wouldn't get knocked around going into the cubby. All my songs are done as FLAC files with album art and it works great. My one complaint is that voice recognition will not search the stick to play a requested song, it only does this for Apple Music or Amazon Music even if your selected source is USB. As DHill said, you have to plug the memory stick into the USB A data port.

 

Beautiful! Thanks everyone for your prompt responses.

 

I tried 16, 32,64 gig flash drives. It only recognized the 16G and 32 So I am ordering the old SanDisk 32 gig mini cruiser fit. The new cruiser ultra fit is made of all plastic. I am not buying that one.

 

You might try waiting for like 5 minutes for the system to load all of the folders. I went bonkers with my RX-500 and stuck a 128gb unit in the drive and I thought the same as the folders did not work. Then, the system showed all folders after around 5 mins and I was able to play any song I wanted, so it appears the system was busy reading the catalog of songs when you tried looking at the folders.

This stick I have has quite a few folders and they show up perfectly.

 

Here is my final update on testing different size flash drives. The 128, 256 did not work and I waited 10 minutes to load. The Samsung Fit Plus 64GB worked as soon as I plugged it in.
It is very small and perfect fit so you can use the compartment without the drive being in the way.

 

Just an update for those interested in large amounts of music on a flash drive and playing in their RX.
Today, I received a 256Gb flash drive identical to the one above except it was 256Gb (Amazon Day deal for $21!!).
The drive comes formatted in exFat. The RX did not recognize the drive because of the file format. I looked at the 128gb unit I had working already and realized it was formatted in the FAT32 format.
This is the key.. I downloaded a freeware software package (AOMEI Partition Assistant) the free version and re-formatted the 256Gb unit to FAT32.

I was able to copy all of my files on the new drive and they all played as expected. So, the key point is to change any flash media to FAT32 and it should work.

I didn't try a 1Tb drive, but that's toooooo much music in mp3 and FLAC formats. The track art for each mp3 or FLAC file works as well. The file must have the album art stored for it to show on the screen. Of course, there is software that can change the tags for any music file.

Just wanted to follow up.

 

Anybody know why the 2023 RX 350 does not play audio off USB? Even my old 2018 Toyota Corolla does!

 

https://www.lexusrx.net/104/using_us...ry_device.html says it does. I am pretty sure @Ulrick here on the forum has done so.

 

Thanks for the link.

Just to be sure, I reformatted and re-copied a few files, but it still doesn't play, even after an audio reset. No issues on my other vehicles, just the RX. The local dealer, Westside Lexus, is no help - they never call back!

No more Lexus for me!

 

I linked the USB music thread on your other post. Seems you should have added to that rather than start a new one.

 

Thanks - I found this thread: Is it possible to play mp3s from a USB flash drive on a 2023? - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion
I'll continue the conversation there to see if someone has any thoughts.

 

I have the same issue as the OP.

I have a 2018 Corolla where I play music off a USB drive. I stuck it into my wife's 2023 RX 250, and it didn't even recognize it.

I confirmed it SHOULD work (https://www.lexusrx.net/104/using_us...ry_device.html), but it doesn't.

Just for grins, I got another 32GB USB-A device, formatted for FAT32, put in about 10 MP3s, and confirmed it's not recognized by the RX, but works fine on my old 2018 Corolla. I reset the audio component (kept volume pressed for 10 seconds), but no sugar..

Any ideas? Hardware failure?

 

Next thing I would try is a different music file format to rule that out your music files being the issue since everything else sounds right. Years ago I ripped all my CDs with FLAC. It’s nice to have a lossless format if you can. MP3 is lossy.