Just bought a new unit - Was it a mistake? (No - Most issues resolved)

[BitFlipper]

Hi,

I bought the following unit from Amazon a week ago: .

Here are some problems I have, and also some questions:

Unit is really sluggish
This is my biggest problem right now. When the car is started, it takes about 30 seconds for the unit to power up. I know this is the expected time and that is fine. However for about 2 minutes after it starts up, the unit is almost unusable due to being extremely sluggish. Button presses takes 10 - 15 seconds to respond. Trying to start the navigation software takes a long time, with it being unresponsive while trying to enter a destination address. I did install Waze and it is a bit more responsive but still way too sluggish initially. For both the Google Maps and Waze apps, a dialog pops up saying the app is unresponsive, should it wait or close the app? Not good, and is a deal breaker if this unresponsive issue cannot be fixed.

Volume knob issues
The volume knob is also really unresponsive. This is probably part of the sluggish issue mentioned above, but even after the unit "settles down", it is still sluggish to respond. When it does work, the resolution is much too high, and you need to turn the knob many times to make even small volume changes. Can the resolution be changed?

Radio keeps changing stations
The radio keeps changing stations, even after entering an exact frequency and with good reception. I know there was another thread where someone had this same issue and there was a link to a firmware update. I'm going to try that update and see if it solves the issue.

The Back button gets stuck
The Back button on the left sometimes gets physically stuck after being pressed. It's like it doesn't have enough clearance around it to move freely. I can probably live with this as I suspect it would move more freely over time.

Another minor issue with the radio is that some of the graphics seem a bit corrupted. For instance the "AF" text seems to have some pixels shifted, causing the text to appear blurry.

Inconsistent volume levels between apps
Is there a way to control each app's overall volume? I installed Spotify and its volume is much lower than that of the radio. I moved all Spotify's EQ slider to the max levels to increase the overall level, but it is still too low.

Android 6.0 is almost available, will this unit be upgradable?
When I bought this a week ago, I didn't know that your Android 6.0 version is almost out. Will this unit be upgradable to 6.0? From a hardware POV, what is different between this unit and the new 6.0 unit?

Bluetooth tethering
This is not an issue, just a question... Can this unit do BT tethering, or only WiFi tethering? I'm trying to come up with a good tethering solution, and while WiFi tethering works, it is a pain to go into the phone settings menu and enable it each time. For some reason none of the WiFi hotspot widgets work on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. So there is no quick way to enable it each time. Although I'm not sure if BT tethering would even work on the S7 since it seems AT&T might have disabled it. And even if I can get it to work, it might still require the same steps to enable each time, but maybe it is "always on" like BT usually is, not sure.

Return policy
Is your return policy really only 7 days? Is this still the case if it was bought through Amazon? They tend to have good return policies for products bought through them. I will need to look into this unless you can confirm.

[Jammy]

Hi,
Sorry for the late reply due to the National Day.
Regarding your issue, you can try to install the latest firmware to check.
Here is the link for you.
https://mega.nz/#!ZYFCGIZY!vlVpc2S_zPiz ... xD2mRZkC60
For the volume issue, you can enter the settings--factory settings(126)--others to set the "wheel3".
For the radio keep changing, you need to turn off the AF and TA after you search the stations.
For the inconsistent volume levels between apps, sorry about this, this unit can only support to set the volume level of the the default apps, such as Radio, TV and Bluetooth.
For the android 6.0, currently we don't have the new update, if it's available in the future, we can post it here.
For the Bluetooth tethering, this unit does not support it.
For the return policy, the warranty time is one year, even beyond one year, you can still return it back to us for repair.
Within 7 days, you can return the unit back to get refund or exchange whatever the reason.
Regards

[BitFlipper]

After I followed the steps, most of my problems have been resolved.

Unit is really sluggish
This is no longer an issue. Not sure if it was the firmware update or uninstalling Spotify that fixed it.

Volume knob issues
This is still an issue. The volume knob is slow to respond, and the resolution is way too high. Note it is not that it doesn't work at all, it is that it is sluggish. I counted... I need to spin the wheel 30 times to go from min to max volume. Checking/unchecking the wheel3 value does not seem to make a difference. At some point during my testing, it started acting weird in that it will only jump around near the min value, even when turning it clockwise. I'm not sure if it's defective maybe.

Radio keeps changing stations
Note that previously AF and TA was definitely off while it was still searching channels. But as someone else also found, the latest firmware fixed this issue

The Back button gets stuck
It still gets stuck as it is a mechanical issue, but I guess I can live with it.

Bluetooth tethering
I no longer need this because I got the ATT Mobley WiFi hotspot, which I highly recommend as an always-on hotspot for your car.

So all in all I guess things are good now. A few minor issues still but I can live with those.

Thanks for the support from Pumpkin.

[Jammy]

Hi,
Glad to hear that most of your problems had been solved.
The volume knob issue may be the most problem left.
Would you mind take a video, upload it to youtube, then send the link to us for check?
Furthermore, if possible, you can return it back to us for repair, and we will cover the postage and send you a new same unit.
or you can keep this unit, and use the touch screen to adjust the volume. Sorry about this.
Regards

[BitFlipper]

OK I will try to take a video and post a link.

[BitFlipper]

OK I didn't post a video yet because I wanted to try a SWC and see if I can work around the issue with the volume knob not working properly. For the most part, I can just use the SWC now to change the volume, which works well. So it I not such a big issue anymore.

However, I wonder if it is easy to swap out the physical knob for a new one? I am an electronic engineer so I should be able to solder in a new switch if it is accessible and if it isn't surface mount. If that is the case, would you be able to send me just a new knob?

Unfortunately the people that installed the unit cut into the car's harness. So it is a bit difficult to send the unit back for repair since I can't temporarily put the old one back.

Thanks in advance for your support.

[Jammy]

Hi,
Normally we don't allow our clients modify the default design hard parts, but if you want to have a try, we can ask the factory provide a new knob, and it can be sent from China for free, you may just need to pay the shipping cost.
Regards

[BitFlipper]

It is OK for now. Let me try it a while with the SWC and see if that works satisfactory.

However one thing is that the SWC stopped working at one time. I confirmed that the buttons were still programmed correctly. The next day it worked again. Hopefully that was just a one-time glitch. I will also replace the SWC battery (the unit is brand new and came with a batter installed - maybe the battery has discarded over time).

BTW, the order number from Amazon is 108-3781835-6589810 in case you need that.

[CJRamze]

Hi There.
I've bought the same unit as you and I have exactly the same issue.
The unit is so sluggish at the moment and I'm starting to wonder if I've made the right decision.
I'm going to try the firmware update you've been provided and see if it makes any difference.

I will report back with my findings.