When you talk about luxuries in today’s modern world, having the Wireless CarPlay option in your car is one of them too. There aren’t many car models that come with Wireless Apple CarPlay feature built into them. Even though there are a few third-party head unit options available, they are mostly pricey and their pricing starts at $450-$500 and the range goes higher up to $1000. Still, the entire experience is offered on low resolution through a small 7” display. Above all, their installation is always a headache as well.
Of course, you can spend that amount to get your car equipped with the Wireless CarPlay feature, but what if you can’t afford it or you are not willing to go for a replacement of your stock system with a third-party alternative?
To be fortunate, there is a relatively cheaper and simple plug-and-play option available to you that can help you get a complete Wireless Apple CarPlay experience for as low as $150. This price declines even further if you’re already in possession of an Android tablet that can be used for the very purpose.
Yes, here we’re referring to using your Android Tablet together with the Wireless CarPlay adapter as this will bring you a complete Wireless CarPlay for almost any care you name.
If you have your Android Tablet running on Android 4.4 version, there won’t be any issues whatsoever. Even the cheap Fire Tablets available for just USD 39 and running Fire OS (an Android fork) would do perfectly fine. All you need to do is to install the Android apk that comes along with the chosen adapter and you will be able to take full advantage of it.
This kind of setup also offers great flexibility to you as well. It would be a good idea to take the test run on an affordable Android tablet and then you can go bigger and better with the screen you use in your car. For instance, you can buy Fire HD 10 for only $119 or some other similar tablet. In fact, you can go for something even more expensive such as Samsung Galaxy Tab A for $229.
If you are looking to go with something in Tesla Style for your car then the Samsung Galaxy View 18” tablet would make another great choice. All these options would work perfectly with the Wireless CarPlay dongle mentioned above. It is, however, compatible only with the wired-only CarPlay. Yes, the later options would be a bit on the expensive side and will cost you the same amount as any third-party headunits would with the built-in CarPlay option but none of them is going to provide you with this type of high-resolution screens as well as the flexibility you get for Wireless CarPlay in your car.
Another important thing to mention here is that since the tablets mentioned above run on Android platform, you’re not restricted to CarPlay only and will also be able to run any native apps on Android as well. That’s another feature that you would not be able to enjoy should you choose the third-party headunits featuring built-in CarPlay options. In case, you have Android 6.0 or later running on your tablet, you’d also be able to take advantage of the native Android side-by-side multitasking for running an app alongside Wireless Apple CarPlay simultaneously.
Above all, it provides support for all the iOS versions available including the iOS 13 that is the latest of the lot. Siri commands through microphone, steering wheel control, iOS 13 dashboard view option all are available with that too.
So, if you ask me, I’d definitely suggest that you should start with the cheap Android tablet recommended above to take the test run before setting up something expensive in your car. And, once you are satisfied with the results, you can get on with it and choose a more expensive tablet from the options highlighted above.
Now if you’re interested, here are some products to buy in order to make it all work.
CarPlay Adapter
- Wireless and Wired CarPlay Adapter (Discount code: SPNGSALE10WCP)
- Wired-only CarPlay Adapter (Discount code: SPNGSALE10CP)
Android Tablets options
- Fire 7 (Refurb): Buy it for $39
- Fire 7 (New): Buy it for $49
- Fire HD 8: Buy it for $79
- Fire HD 10: Buy it for $119
- Samsung Galaxy Tab A: Buy it for 229
- Samsung Galaxy S5e: Buy it for $397
- Samsung Galaxy View: Buy it for $549
OTG Adapter
- USB-A to USB-C (Needed for Galaxy Tab A, Galaxy S5e)
- USB-A to microUSB (Needed for Galaxy View, Fire tablets)