[Android Head-Units] chevycam94:
After looking around for a while, I began to see a pattern. 95% of the listings I could find stated that their headunit runs on Android 9, or even 10. One was so bold as to claim Android 10.1. Seriously? 10.1 doesn't even EXIST!

I noticed this when I bought my first Android headunit.

Android 10 headunit

After powering it on, and seeing the settings menu, I noticed it didn't look anything like Android 10. Ok, so you can make a custom theme, cool, maybe they did that here. But I was still curious, so I installed an app that gives me all the TRUE information about the headunit. Suspecion confirmed! It was Android 8.1.0. Performance was TERRIBLE, but it was NOT Android 10.0. I had at LEAST 10 emails back and forth with the seller about it. They tried VERY hard to tell me that EVERY UNIT they make has Android 10. After I made a brief video showing them the information I pulled, directly on the unit itself, and it shows 8.1.0, they immediately issued a full refund. lol Dead silent after that.

So what Android OS version are the vast majority of current headunits running?

Android 8.1.0

It's not all bad. As long as the headunit has the right hardware, Android 8.1.0 will run just fine. I have an ATOTO S8 Pro. Experience is nearly butter.

But how do you tell from a screenshot, what the REAL OS version is? If you're familiar with Android at all, these will make sense.

This is a listing for the ATOTO A6. Notice how the theme of the status bar icons is pretty much in line with Android Marshmallow? Even the logo used is correct. This is believable. I give ATOTO props for being honest and upfront about this.

This was taken from Amazon. Notice the font and background here? The whole theme seems to have a HONEYCOMB feel. That's likely because the build is Android 3.x. This isn't Android 9.1. Also consider that Android 9.1 doesn't even exist, so that's two strikes. Stay away from this kind of thing.

This one was taken from an eBay listing. Here are inconsistencies that give it away. This is both Android 9.0 AND 10.0, right? Must be some kind of dual boot magic! Sorry, but no. Also, I forgot to circle the home, back and recents buttons, but you can see the icons are from all the way back in the Honeycomb days, Android 3.x. No manufacturer is going to go to all the effort to bring forward such old theme elements into the current version of Android. It's not worth the time or effort. This could be as old as Honeycomb, or as new as Oreo. I'm betting is older.

Here is one from Pumpkin. It's a more well known brand, or at least people have heard of them. But they too are playing the advertising game. Same as before, we have some very old icons, and it's not worth the time to forward port old icons. Plus, WHY? It doesn't even make it look good. I wouldn't even bet on this being Oreo. I might guess Marshmallow, at BEST. This was advertised as Android 10.

And here we have the best one! This manufacturer managed to pull off the impossible! They created Android 10.1, even BEFORE GOOGLE COULD! Ok, where do I start with this one....

1: So, yeah, Android 10.1 doesn't exist

2: Icons on the left, top one doesn't line up. Faked home screen

3: Bottom right icons, can't tap recents with microphone overlaid on it. Non-functional.

4: Right side. Internet Explorer on Android? Almost positive that never happened. We DO have Edge now, though.

This one was just full a crap.

Bottom line, when it comes to Android headunits, be VERY thorough about getting the specs on the unit you're looking to buy. This market is saturated with companies looking to sell you something they can't deliver on. Marketing makes it sound so good, that you think you're getting a sweet deal. Android 10 headunit for $60, sign me up! (Yeah, don't fall for that fake crap, please).

Don't waste your money on something you think is current. There's a very high chance you'll actually end up with a unit that should have only been worth $10.

If you would like to have a look and see what your headunit is ACTUALLY running, you can use this app to find out:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=itgeeks.fullsysteminfo&hl=en_US

Let me know what make, model, and Android version your unit is running. I'm curious to know the results!