[Android Head-Units] Croak:
I just installed an ATOTO A6Y2721PRB-G, just released on Amazon. I've been using a 2017 model ATOTO A6Y2721P head unit since December, and was pretty happy with. It had a few issues, some addressed with firmware updates, some just due to the design, but for the most part, it was a solid unit considering the sub-$200 I paid for it.

But like any good XDA member, I'm a gadget junkie, so when ATOTO released their new 2018 model, with gesture controls, I had to feed the monkey.

Comparing it to the 2017 model, here's a few things of note:

Display: New model has a nice, bright, high contrast IPS display, old model had an equally bright TFT display, but colors were more washed-out, and not nearly as much contrast. There's also a LOT less parallax with the new unit, as the touch layer is much closer to the display. The display improvements alone made me feel like the upgrade was worth it.

Controls: My old unit was a touch-only display, something I regretted even with steering wheel controls. The new A6Y has 6 clicky, tactile physical buttons on the bottom, along with support for steering wheel controls, and gesture controls (more on this below).

Audio: The new unit is touted as having a newer, higher output, higher quality Toshiba preamp, and I believe them, SQ is improved to my ears. Still lacking in the adjustability department, it has the same EQ presets, same limited subwoofer control, loudness, etc as the old unit. Would really like to see crossover adjustments and better sub control, at the very least.

Firmware: The new unit has the latest 9.4.1 AICE, which fixes one of my major issues with the old unit, the FM radio firing up at high volume when the vehicle was started. This firmware is available for the older A6 models too, but you have to do some digging to find it, it doesn't auto-update.

Performance: The A6Y is using the same quad-core MediaTek SoC as the older units, and still comes with 2Gb RAM/32Gb storage. But they've tweaked something on the board, or are using faster RAM, because the new unit does app installs much faster, and seems more responsive when multi-tasking. On the old unit, after downloading, it could take several minutes to finish installing a larger app or update (like Maps or Waze), now it's a matter of seconds.

WiFI: WiFi performance is hugely improved in the new unit, much stronger signal from my home router in my usual parking place. This could be the new "high performance" antenna they include, or it could just be a better radio. Where I used to get about 10-20mbps at best (often lower than that) in my driveway with the same antenna mounting location I now see in excess of 50mbps. They're also using a new radio that supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, which is nice.

Bluetooth: Unit still has two Bluetooth radios, one for phone pairing and music streaming, the other for data (OBD2, TPMS, tethering, etc). But the main Bluetooth radio is now BT 5.0 with aptX support.

Front panel: Besides having physical buttons, the A6Y comes with a front-panel AUX input, an easier to access microSD card slot, and in the case of the non-gesture model, a front panel USB A connector (for a total of 4 USB ports)

Gesture controls: These actually work! No sh*t. They are responsive and can be toggled on and off individually, or totally disabled, and each gesture can be mapped to a wide range of things, from media controls to launching apps to adjusting brightness or changing EQ presets. Some of the gestures are a bit sensitive and can be trigger by things like moving your hand from the shifter to the wheel...I simply disabled the two worst offenders (hand down, hand up), and use the twirl clockwise/counterclockwise for volume up and down, the palm push/pull for track forward/back, and the triple-wave for pause/play. They're actually useful (even with SWC) addictive, and a great party trick.

Rear Panel: Layout is different, and better IMHO, and the new unit uses quality, color-coded quick-connectors instead of threaded coax connectors for WiFi and Bluetooth antenna, which is a nice touch.

Chassis: The new unit is over an inch shorter front-to-back, which is gonna make mounting a lot easier. I didn't have to fight to make room inside my dash for my CANBUS and SWC adapters and the various cables and wires coming out of the back of the unit like I did with the old unit. The face dimensions are also a perfect fit for most US double-DIN mounting kits, and still comes with a trim ring to help with the larger Euro-style double-DIN openings.

Wiring: This one almost cost me my new unit, amp and speakers. Both units use the same connector type, but the pin-out is totally different on each, so you can't simply use the old harness with the new unit, or you'll be feeding 12V to things that don't want 12V! They do have a yellow warning label on top of the chassis, but I totally missed it until seconds before I was going to plug it in to the old harness.

All in all, I'm pretty impressed with the progress ATOTO made with the new unit. Build quality is good, packaging is good, features are solid, pricing is reasonable, support is responsive as could be expected, and the display is extremely nice now.

Still needs a better SoC, a more recent version of Android (it uses 6.0), and their default apps need a lot of aesthetic and usability work. Even with another launcher, you're still stuck with the ATOTO FM app, but since I never listen to FM radio, that tremendously ugly app and widget is a non-issue for me, but it will be for many.

Here's a long, rambling unboxing/first look at my unit, with a side-by-side comparison of the old and new units at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9ec9puE-XM&t=830s