Those standalone units take what feels like a full minute to boot up though when you turn on the car. I looked into the Tesla ones, and they have tiny 9-10” screens that are meant to be mounted behind the steering wheel -as a touch screen-. At that point you’re better off using an iPad or a Galaxy tab.
Well to be fair, integrated Android Auto units take ages to boot up as well. Plus you still have to pick something to play, which also takes time.
And to be even more fair, these units are just Android or Linux computers, so of course they’re not going to be much different than putting a tablet in a car. You upgrade/augment your stereo because you don’t want to deal with the hassle of having a tablet in your car. Heat is a major issue because tablets have batteries. No such issue with a standalone.
If you want music immediately, there’s still the trusty old FM dial. HD Radio stations are rare, but if you have some in your city they tend to be commercial-free and play better music. Or you can always just pop in a MP3 CD if your car can still play them, and have 100+ songs to play at any moment without any effort.
Those standalone units take what feels like a full minute to boot up though when you turn on the car. I looked into the Tesla ones, and they have tiny 9-10” screens that are meant to be mounted behind the steering wheel -as a touch screen-. At that point you’re better off using an iPad or a Galaxy tab.
Well to be fair, integrated Android Auto units take ages to boot up as well. Plus you still have to pick something to play, which also takes time.
And to be even more fair, these units are just Android or Linux computers, so of course they’re not going to be much different than putting a tablet in a car. You upgrade/augment your stereo because you don’t want to deal with the hassle of having a tablet in your car. Heat is a major issue because tablets have batteries. No such issue with a standalone.
If you want music immediately, there’s still the trusty old FM dial. HD Radio stations are rare, but if you have some in your city they tend to be commercial-free and play better music. Or you can always just pop in a MP3 CD if your car can still play them, and have 100+ songs to play at any moment without any effort.