M072 (S160) Android Head Unit Install/Info

[xtech]

So i've just installed the S160 M072 yesterday that i got from iceboxauto.

I had previously the CD400 (which i loved, but it hadn't a big color screen and GPS, two "must" features on my cars). The installation took me long time (about 4 hours) because it was the first time i've worked on an Astra J and i had no natural light. I did it in my garage which hasn't enough natural light as it is on the basement of my house...

Installation

I had to figure out how to remove certain things like the lighter trim (as i needed to reconnect things up) but generally speaking that wasn't the most difficult part. The most difficult part is to get all the wires behind the DVD reader unit... it is a headache which i could only figure after one hour, after trying several times! The most difficult part was where to hide the BIG CHINESE speaker of the unit and the large connector. Thank God i've manage to hide them. I've also drilled (and polished it to get a nice finish on the hole) the center speaker panel to pass the GPS antenna wire.

* * * * * * * * * * Feedback * * * * * * * * * * *

Overall

It's still to early to say, but the unit is good. I've had other chinese unit in my previous astra h, and this M072 is way way better in every aspect. Overall it seems to have nice quality, good software integration, very responsive. The unique odd thing i've noticed was that "sudden volume peak" when changing the volume on the panel volume wheel. But it may be some hidden setting as i feel the volume of sometimes changes in certain situations. Sound quality seems about the same as the CD400 - maybe it has slightly less definition, nothing noticeable really - but it's too early for me to say that. Overal functionalities are good and this is definitely a step up considering the CD400 unit.

Screen
The screen shines (figuratively - which is good, and literally... which isn't - it has too much glare!). So i guess i'll try to buy some kind of anti glare film. The screen has very good quality, on par with an average tablet - which is very good for a chinese unit. My previous chines unit had a resistive screen (which i hated) and besides that i couldn't see it under direct sunlight. This one, i can - thumbs up for these chinese guys. The screen reacts very well to the touch. The problem is... this Astra was not made to have a touch screen - it's too far from comfortable reach. Although you can reach it while driving, it gets unconfortable as you need to stretch a bit to reach it - and when you do it you loose pointing precision.

Functionalities

I think this is the best point. It has everything you will ever need. The fact of having built-in wifi is great: i used my Microsoft Lumia smartphone as a mobile hotspot and it worked great - get your emails and calendar there, watch youtube videos, etc. The interface seems good enough, and it has an "Android mode" which is like a typical Android 4 enviroment. If you are confortable with it - i am, as my previous mobile ran on Android 4 - you will love the M072.

The integration with the car functionalities is excellent. Everything works as it should, and any oddity can be solved with the "key mapper" app it has. The car diagnostics work well (they lack some calibration, i guess, as i pressed toe down the brake pedal and it only show me i was pressing it 44%) but the window, door, consumption, parking sensor information is good. The parking information is even more detailed that the one you see on the tachometer screen. The radio works fine - but not as good as the CD400 interface wise - a typicall chinese thing. It won't show you the music name going on the radio, and i am having a hard time to save stations on the presets...

The navigation works good, the GPS has enough sensitivity, but as it is a "connected" unit it can use A-GPS which decreases cold start time and improves precision. I've not tried any other GPS software besides the one that comes with the unit - seems good enough and it has traffic info for my city - Porto, so i see no reason to replace it in the near future. The maps seem quite up to date too.

Regarding the bluetooth, it seems working good. I've tried and it worked instantly. I've made a call, and (answering to the people that asked  about it) the internal mic works fine . The other person could hear me perfectly, as i suspected (my previous experience on the astra h chinese unit with the internal mic was good, so i was expecting it now to be too). As i said in a previous post, i didn't install the ugly external mic as i was confident the internal mic would suffice. Thankfully, it did! So, there's no need to install the external mic.



Final Remarks

I would like to thank you all for your posts and your help - they were fundamental for the installation of the unit. Thank you guys!


Here is one photo of my unit in the car: