[Android Head-Units] Scotsman828:
Eonon GA-8173 for (2004-2008) Ford F-150

Android 7.1.2

Model: PX3 (1024x600 O)

MCU: MTCD_WWW_V2.59_1

CPU: RK3188 A9 Quad Core

Memory: Samsung 2Gig

The Good: Eonon shipped it to me quickly (3 days)! Unit was new and all parts were in the box. Good looking unit, the screen is very nice, with enough brightness to see it clearly during the day. Colors are not over or under saturated. Graphics are sharp and screen has good uniformity. The outer controls work and are tight fitting, no loose knobs. The DVD works good, didn't test on the road yet for skipping. Plug-n-play wiring harness with CANBUS, (although my truck doesn't have steering wheel controls, so I eliminated it).

The Bad: The Eonon firmware was trying to cook the radio, within a few minutes the heatsink on the back was very hot and the smell it was putting of was bad. I've had this happen to cellphones before when a developer would use kernal that either was way overclocked or it just wasn't properly suited to my phone. The Eonon firmware was nice as far as UI's go, but not cutting edge. And had a few problems like the WIFI constantly disconnecting. I couldn't get a quick response from Eonon on Facebook because it was the weekend, so I downloaded another firmware which was Android 7.1.2 (sorry forget the name of the developer) everything worked and it was nice but was using the old Launcher from the Android 6 units. Downloaded Malaysk ROM and installed. Haven't customized it to my liking yet. Radio, Media Player, Music, bluetooth, and WiFi all work. Still need to put it through it's paces.

The Ugly: The sound, flat frequency response. Nothing I have done with the stock EQ helps this unit sound good. No crisp highs and no punchy lows. My old Eonon G2104 WinCE unit puts this thing to shame. The G2104 had an excellent DAC and amp. Apparently Eonon either skimped on this unit or their Firmware did some damage to the unit. Whenever bass comes through the speakers it has a background buzz like my speakers are blown. I believe they either used a cheap DAC or cheap Capacitors in the amp. I may buy two 2 Channel amps and use the Pre-Amp outs to see if it solves my sound problem. It's a shame that a unit with such potential has let me down after I got such excellent service from the WinCE unit. Does anyone know if the PX5 units have made any improvement to audio quality?

Lastly, for any of you guys that have a Android unit with the 90 degree GPS plug. My unit suddenly started buzzing, I finally tracked it down to that plug. There is a little threaded cap in the back of the GPS plug. It allows the antenna lead to be soldered onto the center probe. What happens when the GPS plug is attached to the radio tightly, that probe pushes back into the plug just enough to touch that rear cap causing it to ground out. I simply put a small piece of plastic under that cap to prevent it from grounding. Buzzing gone.

If this unit cannot be salvaged I may end up going back to a WinCE unit, Soundstream has a dual screen unit that has caught my eye. Or I may go with the Android Tablet setup. (But with that setup, I loose backup camera and over-the-air local radio) Decisions, decisions?