If you want to retrofit a modern radio/navi in your older car, have only one DIN bay available and don’t want to spend a lot of money, you might be in the target group for Pioneer’s SPH-10BT.
This 1-DIN receiver looks like a conventional audio radio and simply uses the display of your smartphone! A clever idea. To clamp the smartphone in place, a holder can be unfolded so that the iPhone has a firm grip even while driving. Here in the video you can see how Pioneer thought it would be:
As brilliant as the idea is, two problems should not go unmentioned: on the one hand, Pioneer has saved on installing a Qi loader in the bracket. So you’ll have to power your phone over longer distances using the old-fashioned USB port on the front and cables.
Secondly, the Pioneer’s own app is required for operation. And this one sends all, really all information about you to Yahoo. Not even the smallest piece of information remains untouched. That is nowadays not only a no-go, but almost a cheek. After all it is offered that you can unsubscribe from it via https://dev.flurry.com/secure/optOut.do – so it can’t be that anonymous at all?
The bottom line is that you wonder why Pioneer didn’t think the whole thing through completely, because the idea is really good. And cheap: The smartphone display radio costs around 150 dollars when it will be become available in the US. But it shares the fate all cheap hardware: You pay with your data.
Buy on Amazon: Pioneer SPH-10BT
