Wakaa Carplay Retrofit Info/Review (Installed in 2010 S4)

[BRJ]

I wasn't able to find much at all on this carplay unit on this forum (or anywhere really), but I rolled the dice to see how it would go, and wanted to post some info for anybody else that comes looking.

This is the unit I'm talking about

I liked it because it had a larger touchscreen, but didn't sit out on top of the dash like most of the other android units. For me that looks really slapped on and this looks a lot more OEM.

Pros
- Low price -- the discount code in this thread still worked too ($40 off)
- Generally does look pretty good and broadly OEM (to me)
- Didn't come with any instructions but install was pretty easy; follows the same general process as every other retrofit for this MMI
- Screen looks OK, touchscreen is reasonably responsive
- Wireless and wired carplay do work, but are a little finicky
- It's able to use the stock mic for phone calls, which works surprisingly smoothly

Cons
- The bezel actually looks OK, but fits like crap. It doesn't even really have clips like the OEM one. It's in there on a wing and a prayer. I'll probably have to throw some velcro at it at some point
- The sound is passable, but really not too good. I found similarly bad sound using a BT dongle with the stock ipod input when I first got the car
- Shipping took FOREVER, a couple weeks at least, way beyond quoted
- Support was pretty weak ... long turnaround, non-english speakers, etc. As expected
- The unit actually shipped configured for the wrong car/MMI so it didn't work. That problem was not obvious. I only discovered through chance that I could fix it by going to the admin screen and picking the right chassis / MMI (unlocked with 0000 IIRC)


Overall, it's totally worth the sub-$350 price point, and having google maps + spotify + etc. is a big quality of life bump, so I'd generally recommend it on those grounds.


Here's the completed install in my 2010 S4 6MT:

[Fresh.S4]

when you say sound is 'passable' is that in regards to listening to music?

[BRJ]

when you say sound is 'passable' is that in regards to listening to music?

Yeah, listening to music. I haven’t made a ton of phone calls but those have seemed fine. In those situations, I asked the other party how it sounded, nothing stood out

[Nillious]

This would be deal breaker for me. It must be the Bluetooth receiver in it cause I believe all the factory amp and head unit is retained.

[hyperplus]

Amazing post! Was just looking into this.. i bet sound quality is due to the BT receiver and supported codecs. Will have to do some more readings..

any info you have on the bt or unit? Maybe we can find what BT receiver is using

[hyperplus]

Cant edit.. but thinking and trying to understand this kit...

I will think audio comes from carplay or Android auto apps.. and not straight from the phone.

I saw some post about wakaa and sound quality corrected by settings...

Also why wired vs wireless in this kit? I will think phone is just controlling the main app like CarPlay or AndroidAuto

[BRJ]

So, I did mess with the settings a little and couldn’t quite find the sweet spot (yet). The factory amp, etc is retained so it’s definitely a question of the signal quality.

Like I said in an earlier message, previous owner had a “Tune2Air” hooked up to the AMI and it also wasn’t awesome. This might be a little worse than that, but not much.

Basically, radio sounds better, better bass, sounds “fuller.”

[dgibbs]

Does your module automatically give you backup camera view when reversing?

I installed a mr12volt p2000 unit back more than a year ago. It plugs into the MOST fiber optic loop. Audio is great. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. Carplay interface can be a little clunky w/o touch screen, but really nice way to keep the MMI/Nav "current". Definitely some other issues too, seems to do a weird boot order sometimes and causes the MMI system to have to hangup for a bit at start, but that's ONLY like 30s until you get it all going well. Also won't automatically swap to backup camera when in reverse, need to tie a line into the reverse lights :/


Been thinking about how I could add a touch screen, could be a really nice add.

[BRJ]

I believe it is supposed to support the back up camera automatically, but my car didn’t come with one so I don’t actually know

[simrag]

Does your module automatically give you backup camera view when reversing?

I installed a mr12volt p2000 unit back more than a year ago. It plugs into the MOST fiber optic loop. Audio is great. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. Carplay interface can be a little clunky w/o touch screen, but really nice way to keep the MMI/Nav "current". Definitely some other issues too, seems to do a weird boot order sometimes and causes the MMI system to have to hangup for a bit at start, but that's ONLY like 30s until you get it all going well. Also won't automatically swap to backup camera when in reverse, need to tie a line into the reverse lights :/


Been thinking about how I could add a touch screen, could be a really nice add.

I installed one on my new to me 2014. Do you have a manual? The stock camera triggers with my DSG. I'm pretty happy with it, although the install instructions are poor (the official video is of an older version), but it isn't that hard to figure out if you watch a few videos of similar units being installed. I'm used to navigating the screen with a scrollwheel since we also have a Mazda in the family. Works pretty well on most of the screens, although trying to use the built in parametric EQ is painful. I've got a couple of minor issues (I sound terrible on calls, and I'd like to be able to make it use wired rather than wireless Android Auto due to battery drain and the occasional disconnect), but overall it seems to work pretty well. There doesn't seem to be much out there on using it in a B8, so I'll write up a post after more use.

[dgibbs]

@simrag, yep I have a manual, I know I need to run a wire to the rear lights. It gets a little more complicated because of LED voltage with the rear lights. There is a nice DIY somewhere on AZ.

For the sound on calls, you might try to calibrate the noise cancellation within the system software (as in the hardware configs). I think it helps a bit, but it does seem to not be so great.

Agreed with the install it was pretty straight forward. I wish I had a bit more time to try to diagnose the startup conflict. I think there is some sort of race condition between the box and MMI, the box needs to be in a state that can respond to the CANBUS. If it isn't then MMI freaks out and doesn't startup correctly.

[simrag]

I posted something in the stereo forum, but since it seems to be very low traffic, I'll follow up here too. I'd give the Mr12Volt a qualified recommendation. It worked pretty well at first, but as time went on, Android Auto got more and more finicky. It wouldn't launch at startup, it would drop after a few minutes of use (and would then usually just get stuck at "connecting to phone") and/or stutter fairly often. Updating to the newest firmware didn't help (it shipped with the second newest), but what finally seems to have fixed it was to go into Android Auto on the phone, forget the connection (it showed up as "google" for some reason), forget the Mr12Volt bluetooth connection, enable developer options for AA (go to AA settings, tap version, then tap the AA version that appears many times) which lets you turn off wireless AA. When I connected the phone again, I connected to the box from the cable, and didn't allow the Mr12Volt bluetooth connection that enables wireless AA. It has worked perfectly since doing that. I'm limited to wired AA, but I'm not a big fan of wireless AA even when it works properly since it drains the battery quickly and you end up plugging the phone in anyway to charge which heats up the phone quite a bit.

Also, I'm not using it now since I'm using an amp that has DSP built into it, but the parametric EQ built into the Mr12Volt is a very useful feature with the stock system. REW can be used with a microphone to make significant improvements in how the stock speakers sound.