Been a bit impressed by the firmware support. Just updated to the one released in July and it added an audio delay option where originally it seemed like the audio was like a second behind the track on the timer, and now it will start the track but make the track time go back a second to compensate (or a time offset of your choosing). Also see an option audio stream mode option between CD (44100) and DVD (48000). Think the force display option is new too.
@@CarPlayLife yeah one would think lol. Idk it’s silly especially with a wireless charger literally right next to the port you usually have to plug into.
@@mad4tar77 very quick, it’s pretty rare that I am waiting for it to load. Think the car activates it pretty much as I get in since that’s when the USB port turns on.
Absolutely fab, thank you bud, I’ve been watching loads of vids and couldn’t find one that was as tiny, affordable and impressive as this until now. £45 is a steal as you say; I’m away to change the head unit of my 2011 VW T5.1 and the difference between wired and wireless CarPlay was over £120 between the two aftermarket units. I was about to just put up with the cable but this wee chap will fix that! Thanks for your in depth reviews 👌🏽
Is this your favorite CarPlay dongle of any size? I’ve been pretty happy with my carlinkit iii but found myself needing another for a new car. My number one priority is solid CarPlay experience- Android auto is a plus for my spare phone but not strictly required. Small would be great but again not at the cost of the best experience. And lastly what’s your current favorite AI box? 😊 I’m tempted…
The one I use the most is this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hrY0F01hJAI.html Ai box is this one for shear grunt ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-I7X-qJr0Vuc.htmlsi=ddUHPt0SuMlbcwjt
@@CarPlayLife Received it today; plugged it in and no issues so far. Definitely faster boot-up time compared to my Carlinkit 5.0 2air I've been using for the past year, and takes up less space.
Awesome! Hope it continues to deliver. Question: what car brand, year and model are you using this with? Incase anyone else is looking with the same setup
@@CarPlayLife After my first few drives in my 2023 Ford Maverick hybrid truck, I'm impressed. It takes a while for the vehicle's display to fully load (Ford cheeped out with an older Microsoft Sync system, Sync3 I believe) but right about the time it's fully loaded, the Sunweyer CarPlay presents itself. So the boot up time for the Sunweyer is maybe a second longer than the vehicle's own system. This means that there's almost no delay when getting into my truck and going for a drive. For a wireless CarPlay adapter, this is the fastest I've seen. Phone calls work great, and the responsiveness is as fast as wired: skipping songs, navigating maps and the UI. This is "the one" so far... and not bad for $40.
Which version should I use for my 2012 Jeep wrangler jku? I have a iPhone 14 Pro or will the one you linked first work? I am using an aftermarket stereo
All links go to the same product but in different regions it might display differently if you’re accessing the link outside that region. So only click on the region you live in to see the correct one.
Thanks for the thorough review! Big fan of your channel and website and have multiple adapters based on your reviews. This one boots much faster than carlinkit 5.0 but the GPS pass through feature doesn’t seem to work even after the firmware updates (currently updated to the 20240507). I tested it by turning my phone around and seeing the same rotations on the CarPlay map. There’s also active GPS icon on iPhone status. Carlinkit’s passthrough works flawlessly. Not sure if it’s car-brand specific issue (I’m running UConnect 3.0)
That’s an interesting insight. I did wonder if GPS passthrough was legit or just a tacked on dropdown that didn’t do anything. I always wanted to know a good way of testing this feature and what you said could make a good test for this feature. So when you’re turning the phone are you moving forward in the car at the time? Does the GPS icon not display when using the CarlinKit? If you mean the arrow beside the time, that’s more location tracking (which could also be WiFi/data location) than GPS I thought ?🤔
@CarPlayLife yes, when you first get in the car and boot up carplay, while parked, if you hold your iPhone in hand and turn it around and carplay map also rotates, it would apply the GPS is from the phone. I usually test in an indoor garage where iphone GPS reception would be weak (car GPS also uses wheel turning sensor as input). I think there are several kinds of arrow icons on iphone - blue, solid gray, and hollow gray. Blue means active GPS usage. Would be interesting to see your "phone turning test" result!
So I tried the turn test and my maps didn't rotate when the device was turned. I tried Apple Maps and Google Maps. Apple was rock solid when turned, and on Google Maps it continuously swayed side to side by a few degrees and continued to sway in the same direction when the phone was turned. So it feels GPS was using the aerial in my Golf via Pass through. I also went into settings > privacy & security > location services > system services > satellite connection > Off and navigation remained ok in both maps apps as if it wasn't using the phone. I'll need to test this with GPS pass off on the adapter and with other adapters that doesn't have passthrough to be sure this setting turns off satellite connection in apps.
@@CarPlayLife thank you for following up! I tried replicating your test too and using a Carlinkit 5.0, which supports GPS passthrough, when I rotated my phone google maps turned too. In Apple Maps, the map doesn’t turn when phone is rotated. I think your satellite connection test is the best way to verify, and Sunweyer indeed has GPS passthrough
Thanks for your awesome reviews of carplay/aa dongles. I would like to buy Ottocast MX but now I consider to buy Sunweyer but I have doubts about support from Sunweyer. I have Skoda Octavia 4 (2020) and with Carlinkit 4.0 was a year when they finally fix my issue with connection. Now I have call and music switch delay (about 10 seconds) which is super annoying. Also I have doubt about Sunweyer dongle size and cooling. What do you think?
I wouldn’t worry about size and cooling. I did 2hrs with navigation and it didn’t hiccup once. As for support as long as you try it as soon as it arrives and return it within its Amazon return window you shouldn’t have any any reason to contact them in the first instance. With Skoda being a VAG vehicle and it works in my 2014 Golf then I would think it would work fine. But you never can assume these days with tech.
Okay so I’ve seen many of your reviews but the question still remains.. What is your Top #1 pick for Carplay basic, reliable, casting not required, longevity, closest to hardwire as possible with little to no lag/delays. My next purchase is in your hands 😅
There’s a new class of chips starting to come out and this might be the first that’s landed in my hands. Right now this one felt the closest to native. It’s been fairly reliable, a few hiccups here and there but it’s no different to any other adapter that falls over now and then. If you can get this at its low sale price, it’s a cracking deal and worth a try with your system.
If your car has a GPS antenna the adapter will use that instead of GPS via the phone. Some in-car nav will also use the wheel direction to more accurately place the direction of travel more accurately. So you can stow phone in pocket/bags away from windscreen and still get a good GPS signal for app navigation.
It’s just three ways to deal with how the adapter works with your car system. So if default doesn’t work you would try the others until it does. It doesn’t enhance the audio.
This just turns wired CarPlay into wireless CarPlay so you need a wired CarPlay system. There’s no adapter that can turn a non CD CarPlay system into a CarPlay enabled one.
Mate thank you for this excellent review. Do you know if it still doesn’t support multi users? Both my wife and I have iPhones. And if not, can you recommend a similar form factor device that supports multiple users? Mind you my vehicle already has wired applecar play and android auto. I’m just hoping to convert it to a wireless set up.
There aren’t that many that do support it and none do it that well. CarlinKit 5.0 or Cuarko CarPlay adapter offer some kinda of multi user support. There’s others that offer a one button disconnect option, and I have a new video on one out next week.
Has anyone noticed a much longer start up / connection time after updating to the latest firmware (the one that allows you to select CD or DVD audio stream)?
@@CarPlayLife The latest update does sound better to me compared to the original it shipped with. Will be sticking with the latest due to this. Appreciate the reply.
Great review. Is there any reason to choose this adapter over the MSXTTLY U2C-AIR 2.0 adapter (which works great for me so far; I just need CarPlay) except the slight price difference?
If it works for you, you don’t need to upgrade . You’ll get a slight decrease in boot time and gps pass through support, but the main one would be how much smoother frame rate it has. Also keep an eye out for this Fridays video 👀
Thanks for this nice review. Is this “the one” to get if I only care about CarPlay? My wife and I both use iPhones, so Android auto isn’t something I’m concerned with.
It’s say it’s very much up there yes. As long as it works out the box and you don’t need to configure it to make it work. If it doesn’t, you can just send it back.
@@CarPlayLife Got to love overnight shipping, just got it, installed it, updated for the GPS passthrough, seems to be working like a charm in my ‘22 Subaru.
Either CarlinKit 4.0 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qsSFCDMMvR4.htmlsi=MF7XKiNOmi_6l_TG, Ottocast u2-x Pro ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nZHFpZEvuVU.htmlsi=UqM0gx2BxgBWDr2t
Great review with all the info i was looking for .... purchased at a great price and just set up ... everything working seamlessly maps/calls ... however for some reason im missing audio from spotify , it shows that its playing but im getting no audio ... any ideas on what might be the issue? Thanks
Thanks for watching and I’m glad you’re enjoying it. It’s a great adapter. I think it’s Spotify. I get that a lot on desktop version of the app but never with CarPlay. Maybe check in the app it’s not streaming elsewhere and worst case force close the app on the phone and relaunch it on CarPlay. See if that works. It works ok here with Spotify.
@CarPlayLife thanks for the reply , it seems to be an issue with the unit in my van (peugeot boxer) for some reason it forces the bluetooth on the unit to only commect for calls and audio seems to switch itself off every time I switch it back on via the head unit and my handset... I'm completely stumped and have tried everything to no avail 😢, such a shame as this dongle is excellent and exactly what I've been looking for
It depends on the car and port you plug it into. Rarely do CarPlay/AA ports remain powered after the car ignition is off and locked. Some may stay powered for a few minutes but never are they on forever, unless intervened with to make them so. I’ve never had an issue in my golf. The usb powers off after ignition is off n
Pass through just means it can use your car gps (if it has one) instead of your phone. Sometimes it offers a better signal in nav apps and you can keep your phone out of sight and still have a solid gps connection for navigation. Otherwise it will still work and just take gps from your phone instead.
Great review. Is there any you suggest that can easily switch between Android auto and carplay? Have been testing AAwireless, but I'm having issues geting it to connect with Carplay in my Subaru Ascent
I am looking at the CarAiBox and EKIY 2024 mini CarPlay adapters on Aliexpress is there any way to tell looking at the listed specs if they’ll be any good or not? I need the shortest stick format possible. I have seen some that are flat on top of the USB port but again I am unsure if they’ll be any good as I can’t find any RU-vid demos of any of these.
Going by their config menu I’d say it isn’t using CarlinKit. It feels like they have used their own as I mentioned lack of GPS support and they had it added within a week. It could have been they were always adding it in before I mentioned it but I thought that was good to see them reacting on demand (if it was).
It s not bad but that 2-3 seconds delay when changing tracks from Spotify it’s annoying me the most, happened the same with Carlink 5.0. Is there any wireless adapter which solves that lag? Using Mib 2 on 2019 Polo Gti. Thanks!
Sadly not. This is just how laggy wifi is over BT. It is how these work and can't really be that much improved unless the adapter has a media delay settings (like on the carlinkit) which might reduce it slightly but not by much when compared to wired.
Bought this one for my jeep renegade my2018 and Iphone. It doesnt auto reconnect. I keep resetting the thing. First connection ok, then ko. Sometimes it auto reconnects. I would like to ask you, for your understanding, may the presence of an apple airtag in my pocket have some effect on the connection ? Same question for OBD2 adapter BLE. When it doesnt connect, the phone thinks it is instead, because the wifi is grayed out and if I click it, it says that doing so will disconnect from carplay, but I am not seeing that carplay on the screen! Should I try another one (which one? Carlinkit 5 air? ) or just give up?
I would say there’s a number of BT devices present in the car that’s fighting for your phones connection. It might be a coin toss as to what’s going to connect and pair first out of the tag, ODB and the wireless adapter. Perhaps try taking all out of the car for a few days and see if that improves things. Then you will know what the issue is. Also you could try adding a startup delay in the config menu on the adapter so it fires up a little later than the system. It then might improve the reliability of the connection.
Thank you, will experiment a little more with your advices and report back. The delay thing seems promising. And also lower bt devices in car (which I need anyway)
Reporting in. I started blank again, but setup startup delay to 30s and force show to yes. This way the things seems to be fixed with finally a reliable connection. I also factored in again the airtag and the obd app, still no problem with the connection. Will try some more everyday usage and report back, so far so good. So for fca cars with uconnect 7" from 2018 era, we need startup delay 30s (could try with less delay maybe)
@@MrGasPro Glad to hear the delay worked out for you. 30s is a lot so you could try shaving it off by 10s each time until it becomes less impactful. Thanks for sharing your discovery, I am sure it will help others, so thanks for that. :)
There’s currently no way to do that yet in the config. For me it didn’t need changing really. There is only a display mode option but that isn’t resolution
Nice review, thank you as usual, do you suggest I purchase it when I have Ottocast U2 Air? Does it worthwhile to get it for faster booting ? or U2-Air is still enought for me. I have Audio Stutter issue sometimes , althought put audio to channel 2 in Ottocast app (dongle config). Did you hear any Audio Stutter issue with this dongle?
Thanks for watching. I would say this is better than the Air as it gives you slightly faster connection speed, the air is about 1s slower, but you get GPS passthrough and ability to run Android auto if you share with others needing that platform also. Plus it just feels smoother. No audio stutter for me on this one, and that’s using an iPhone 15 pro. Buy from Amazon and try it out. You can send back if you think it isn’t much of an improvement over your Air.
Hi Tony Purchased this Adapter using your UK link But it's so annoying as i need to connect every time I get in the car Which defeats the object not using a USBC cable ..😮i
OK thanks for sharing, I kind of expected it to be an Android Auto issue.. From my experience in the Golf system, this adapter did ask to select AAuto instead of MirrorLink on first connection, but after that though it would auto-connect without any interaction. So you say you need to unplug and reconnect the adapter every time? This sounds more like the adapter's compatibility with your car system, have you tried any other wireless adapters? You can try playing with the delayed start option in the config menu to see if that helps at all, otherwise, I suggest sending a support ticket and their engineers might be able to apply a fix in a future update. If it is not resolved before your return window I suggest returning it and trying again in a few months or try another adapter, such as the Cuarko I reviewed for Android Auto here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2wBoFg0StOA.html
The MSXTTLY boot time was 15s and the Sunweyer is 17s. So the MSX is a little faster, the adapter is longer if space is tight for you. As the Sunweyer is a 2in1 it isn’t the fastest when compared to exclusive CarPlay only adapters like the MSX
I bought it and loving it so far but I dont seem to be able to change the name of the device and it shows as sunweyerdungle in my car, any way to change the name of the device?
Glad you're enjoying it. I don't think that's possible to change the device name, but it could be added in a future update if enough people send them a request for it.
@denislara4343 it will auto-connect and display CP or AA, but it also depends on your car system and how it interacts with it, each make and model can behave differently.
I did a round up last year here 👉🏻 Top 5 Best Wireless Apple CarPlay Adapters 2023 | Which Wireless CarPlay Dongle Should You Buy? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XOzgJwpGZNI.html But I hope to do an update soon as it’s all changed around in 2024
Most cars that have wired CarPlay or wired Android auto and any iPhone running iOS 9 or later or iPhone 5 or later and Androids running OS 11 or later.
Please just let us know when you test a dongle that starts up quickly and CONSISTENTLY works without much lag etc etc etc… I cannot believe in this day and age that “they” manufacture and promote/sell dongles that just don’t function as they should. I’ve spent many $’s on 5 dongles and it’s crazy the number of times I’ve had to unplug and reconnect just to get them to function without freezing etc etc etc 🙈😳🤬
So are you using it with a MIB2,2.5 or 3.0 system? Seeing as 3.0 has wireless CarPlay already I’m assuming 2 or 2.5? Mine is a retro fit 2.5 and I don’t seem to have the same issues as you. Maybe check to see if it has any updates available. See if that improves the compatibility issues you’re facing.
With the GPS Paasthrough now in the latest update, would you consider this an upgrade over carlinkit 5.0? I am have the carlinkit 5.0 and considering to upgrade.
Yea it would be an upgrade but only a slight one. This one missed out on the feature rich config of the CarlinKit. So if your car system is picky on what connects to it the CarlinKit might be better in that regard. But in terms of speed this one is faster than the 5.0 in boot to wireless.
Thanks for that. I decided to buy it and see how it goes. Hopefully that it’s a bit snappier than Carlinkit 5.0 and that the gps passthrough works well
@@CarPlayLife Thank you Sir! What do you think is currently the best Wireless Carplay adapter for apple carplay? Price doesnt matter. They are so many brands like Ottocast, Carlinkit, Sunweyer, MSXTTLY and so many more. Of all the adapters on the market, which do you think is the best? (car: Mercedes c-class from 2019) Speed, low delay, music quality and fast response time are very important for me.
I have mine in a 2018 Ram 3500 and works great except, when turning off the truck, the dongle will stay connected even after I go in the house. I have to manually disconnect it. Any ideas what to do?
@@CarPlayLife Thank you. Every time the dongle tries to start up a get on my screen" Please connect sunweyer dongle 2504". Is this normal? Sometimes its take 30-40 sec and sometimes it can take up to 2-3 min to connect and 1 or 2 times it wont connect at all. Best Regards. Magnus
That’s not right. It Must be an issue with your car system. What brand, model and year of car are you using it with? Connect and view the up config menu and sent a support ticket with the info.
These offered 60fps. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9eOmNsN6Td4.htmlsi=IxgA52nnj-WDaUoQ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pO3ecnNttCg.htmlsi=ZuudrrOLgCPM14zd Oddly the MMB 5.0 and possibly 4.0 isn’t 60fps as they changed their architecture of chip inside to one that’s shared with a lot of other brands. There are others that offer 60fps but with an fps counter app installed it actually was still 30fps.
Hey! Theres a new smaller usb-c version on Amazon. Do you know….is it an different maybe better dongle or just the same replaced by usb-c? Greetings from Germany Great video btw.
Did I understand that correctly? I’ll not be able to use it on my new Volvo xc40? It uses an Android based system which supports Apple CarPlay simply via cable. If it's meant to be…which one would you recommend? Cheers Denis
@@CarPlayLife Hello, thanks for the quick response 👍 Don’t know for sure, i only install via the available google PlayStore. Do you mean moving/installing apps from usb (APK file)? Btw. the carsystem using its own build-in Wifi/internet connection..if it’s important.
I’m not sure how Android automotive works with CarPlay. It might work with just a wireless CarPlay adapter and not need to be one that works with an Android OS.
Almost all CarPlay adapter universally have low ratings. Carlinkit 5 is about 3.1 stars and ottocast u2-X pro is 3.9. The reason I bring up both is because I have both of them and they are working fine (not great) in my use (used to actively use u2-X then switched to Carlinkit).
