We first saw Kenwood’s aftermarket CarPlay units at CES in January, and the company has now announced pricing as the two models start shipping to dealers. The catchily-named DDX9702S and DDX9902S retail at $900 and $950 respectively (but on Amazon for $750), and support Android Auto as well as CarPlay. Only the 9702S was on Kenwood’s website at the time of writing.
The two double-DIN DDX units are designed to be the center of a vehicle’s entertainment and information system. A large, 6.95-inch resistive touch display puts navigation, back-up camera view (camera required, sold separately), and a wealth of audio / video entertainment options at the driver’s fingertips. Each is equipped with Bluetooth technology to enable handsfree phone conversations as well as playback of streaming media from a Bluetooth-enabled phone or media device.
You also get built-in HD radio, HDMI input, DVD playback and support for Sirius satellite radio …
The units have a 6.95-inch VGA display with touch-panel control with variable key lighting. If you have an Android user in the household, Kenwood says both units allow switching between CarPlay and Android Auto without having to change any settings or reset the unit.
While more than 30 car manufacturers have announced that they will be offering CarPlay units in new models, only Ferrari and Corvette have yet shipped models equipped with the technology, meaning demand for aftermarket units is likely to be high. Pioneer and Alpine also offer aftermarket solutions.
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No , thank you. They gotta be kidding us. I could buy an iPhone 6 Plus at that price.
Obviously you have completely missed the point here. many states you would be ticketed for touching your phone.. in addition the UI is simpler and evokes hands free operation as much as possible.
Now if you said ” They gotta be kidding us with that UI from the 90’s ” i would say yes. the Kenwood’s UI looks like a bad Android tablet from days past!
I suspect a lot of people will put it in CarPlay mode and leave it there …
Isn’t the market for these devices slowly but surely sinking into non-existence?
I realize the automobile turnover rate is extremely slow, but most new cars cannot accept aftermarket control decks, as they manufacturer’s control deck is required for the vehicle to operate.
A Kenwood or a Pioneer can only be installed in older vehicles. Eventually, there won’t be enough of them left on the road to justify the product’s existence.
At this kind of price, it’s sitting in the ‘right age to support it and still justify that kind of cash on an upgrade’ range. You’re right that it’s a narrow band in relative terms, but is probably millions of cars in absolute terms.
ya maybe when cars will start having dummy terminals. I like my next unit and don’t really use carplay so much. it has its quirks but it is actually more capable then most phones stand alone. the true reality is that although the aftermarket is narrow these manufactures still OEM for auto makers. the UI’s change and so do other factors but they are in cars in one form or another.
Any news about wireless Carplay?
Will be a while, I think.
Wireless CarPlay has been added to iOS9 and will be available in the Fall of 2015. Just a couple months away!
Will be supported then, when it will actually be available in units is another matter.
Not all CarPlay head units will be able to support wireless since they do not have wifi. Pioneer has already stated that all of their current units will not support it when ios9 comes out. I don’t see anything listed in this unit about wifi support so I’m guessing this will be hard wired as well.
I can’t imagine anyone buying these until wireless is sorted.
Why cant they just make it capacitive :(
Is it really that much more expensive to add it
ooof.. $900 to get CarPlay? Much better value to look at Pioneer or even Alpine for CarPlay functionality
When you pay the extra $50 for the premium version, all you get is AptX support for Bluetooth (which I, personally, can’t tell the difference during music playback). That and slightly higher voltage, and some frequency additions. If you’re not an audiophile, there is absolutely no need to spend the extra $50 – and if you ask me, the Pioneer offerings for $200 less seem to be just as good.
And no iPhones support AptX (without a dongle), so even less of a reason.
On the flip side, if you’re spending $700 on a head unit, which is likely only a fraction of a system upgrade for many, why WOULDN’T you spend the extra $50 for double the warranty period (to 2 years), an extra volt in the pre-outs (which does matter), and a more advanced EQ and crossover?
$50 for just the increased warranty alone is a great deal. At that difference at this price point, it is absolutely silly to get the cheaper model.
Kenwood makes a nice unit, but this (and the Pioneer units before it) are missing the point.
When we have ubiquitous high speed wireless data, there is no need for HDRadio, Sirius/XM, USB, blah, blah, blah… Even AM/FM radios are rendered moot, though an argument could be made that AM/FM receivers should should still be in cars for public safety reasons.
The “winner” of the CarPlay head unit race will be the manufacture that can deliver a reasonably priced device with a bright, highres, capacitive touch screen that ONLY does CarPlay (and/or Android Auto). At WWDC 2015 Apple indicated that developers will soon be able to write Apps that can control head unit functions. Presumably this means audio adjustments and radio control. If that is the case, then no head unit maker needs to be concerned with creating a UI for their device (which are almost universally bad). They can focus in on building hardware, and let the design professionals handle the interface.
These comments are surprising me…I would love to get my hands on one of these now. Considering that factory navigation is usually a $2000-3000 option on a new car, I think $750 to update your old (possibly “classic”) car with one modern unit sounds like a damn good deal. Navigation, phone, and music in one clean unit. If you’re a car enthusiast, you definitely don’t want a bunch of devices hanging off your dash/windscreen and wires all over the place going into a cigarette lighter socket that has a huge splitter coming out of it. Back in the day, Pioneer headunits with less features than this were $2000-3000.
SKEUMORPHICALICIOUS!!