Tech review: Carpuride W708. Play music from your phone to your car with Apple Carplay/Android Auto

If you have an older car with no inbuilt screen and/or a way of making/receiving calls from your phone, or using a sat nav, and playing music from your phone... then this is a product that might be of interest. I thought it was an interesting prospect, so I'm checking it out.
This unit was kindly supplied by Carpuride for review, so if you are interested in taking a closer look, please consider using the following affiliate link: carpuride.com/...
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[@GhostRyderFPV]

You two are quite the pair. Cheers, thanks for sharing this! (you're missing a word in your video title!)

[@CurryKitten]

Thanks - fixed it now. It's because the Carpuride people asked me to use the words Apple Carplay and Android Auto so I had changed my original title.

[@nigelmurphy4053]

Fantastic review I’ve just ordered online thank you👍👍👍👍

[@CurryKitten]

Glad I could help

[@glennover6046]

Great review. My girlfriend and I moved to Portugal and bought a 2018 Renault Clio. Renault didn't put Apple Car Play/Android Auto in Clios until the next model year, so I thought we were out of luck until I found out about this product through a FB ad a few weeks ago. I ordered it off Amazon and installed it last week. It's no exaggeration to say that it's transformed the driving experience. I use the 3.5mm cable for the audio. I didn't buy the camera but now that I'm enjoying the unit so much, I've bought the camera and have scheduled to have it professionally installed next week.

[@CurryKitten]

Nice - my daughter is still loving hers. I wish she would use the audio cable so I don't have to listen to 9 seconds of hiss every time I get in it

[@thomasboerkel]

I have the same Clio. It has onboard Nav with Android Auto, but no Carplay. Where/how did you place the Carpuride unit? Maybe you can even provide a foto? Thanks!

[@markIburgess]

Hi Wayne, This looks a good soultion for people (like me) with older cars that don't have all the mod cons. Can't believe Sophie is now old enough to drive. I used to love the vids featuring you both. Think my fav was you two taste testing the 'Kit Kats'

[@CurryKitten]

Fun memories indeed :) But they grow up too fast. She'll be off to Uni in September, so I'll have noone to make fun videos with :(

[@markIburgess]

@@CurryKitten Adam is currently doing his GCSEs. Then he is leaving his school and off to Brooklands college to study forensic science.

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic review, Wayne! Pretty cool device! 😃 But just a heads-up... Do not get scared if people start to call you father-in-law. 😬 Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@CurryKitten]

Why are people calling me father-in-law. if anyone's marrying my daughter, I should at least know about it ! :D

[@ched999uk]

Looks a nice easy way to get phone controls on the dash. One question, can it communicate with the phone wirelessly ie. without the usb cable?

[@CurryKitten]

Yes - it's turned out to be Sophie's main way of doing it as she's become too lazy to plug the phone in. You can connect by Bluetooth and via the device's own Wireless hotspot in order to communicate through it and then you have the i-Play or Airplay (on iPhones at least) just like you would if you plugged in

[@ched999uk]

@@CurryKitten Nice, lots of vehicles even with Android auto or iPhone auto (what ever its called) wont do the wireless version.

[@skippercaship]

You missed if you can connect with bluetooth to the cars bluetooth? if you know the answer please comment

[@CurryKitten]

The car we were testing on doesn't have bluetooth - so don't know. It's expecting a connection from an Android or iOS based phone is I think going to be the problem here. So if you could connect it to a car, would it do anything?

[@gakkieNL]

Do all versions support hands free calling?

[@CurryKitten]

Obviously, I only got this model to test, but the hands free calls are a pretty standard feature, although the actual hands-free calling do depend on your phone having siri/google assistant as the Carpuride really just routes everything to your phone

[@duveral]

My question after trying two random brands with no luck: Can transmit music via Bluetooth (they included in a update) to play everything using your car speakers? And can you listen phone calls using the speakers of the car? Thank you!!

[@CurryKitten]

I haven't looked at any updates, but yes, we use bluetooth to use carplay on the iPhone and the FM broadcast to the stereo. For the very best quality, you should go USB from phone to Carpuride and then line out to your car stereo (if it has an input) but my daughter can be bothered with extra cables

[@garrynutter860]

Does it have Dab ?

[@CurryKitten]

No - it doesn't do much for itself. So to play a DAB radio station through it, you'd literally play it on your phone and stream it through the CarPuride.

[@tonywhiddon3232]

You didn't show how you mounted it! Mine keeps falling off.

[@CurryKitten]

The mount to the dash? The suction thing, which seems very strong. The mount that you attach the screen to seems a bit weirder. I've just placed it in there and it seems ok and survives bouncing around, but according to Carpuride it's suppose to push down and lock in place

[@gakkieNL]

Does sound go through the car’s speakers? Never mind. Yes 👍

[@CurryKitten]

Aha - yes. Sounds like you asked the question mid-video and then found out :D

[@stevefox3763]

Ha ha, im one of those who ripped out the headunit and put in something, errm, rather potent. I put in a High end Sony touchscreen and have three amps and four 12's in the boot, components front and rear handling mids and highs, i have a 2100w RMS (4200w in manufactures BS watts) audio system that punches pretty hard but i fry alternators in months from pulling so much current :D My headunit has a DVD drive in it and it also supports mirroring my phone but i never use those, i dont use the built in Tomtom Sat Nav it has either as the screen is too low down to glance at when driving as my headunit is near the gearstick so my phone still gets used for Sat Nav stuck to the windscreen. My music is on an ultra low profile USB drive permanently inserted into the front USB port in the removable fascia but is so low profile that protrudes less the volume control and does not affect putting the face in its pouch or get in the way at all in use. Thumbs up to your daughter driving a Ford, Lifelong Ford driver here but instead of an economical KA, my motor is a V6 and im doing 15mpg round town lol.

[@CurryKitten]

Are/were you a boy racer? Was there any neon involved ? :D

[@stevefox3763]

@@CurryKitten nooooooo! no cringe lights on my car lol, I have dark tints on the rear and a powerful system and that's about it :)

[@KOrnhOliO1]

Am I missing something? My smartphone can do all of that. This item seems completely redundant to me. No need whatsoever! Please note: playing music through FM radio is a big compromise in sound quality. CD & FLAC files streamed = 20 - 20,000hz or better. FM = around 30 - 15,000hz With the possibility of fuzz and distortion from playing through the FM radio. I just do not see the point of this. 🤷😵‍💫

[@GhostRyderFPV]

Redundancy pretty much hits the nail on the head. But purposeful redundancy, you see, CapPlay and Android Auto basically give you second interface to your phone, while using your car. The systems move the app interfaces to screens that are easier to use while driving, usually with voice assistant, err, assistance. The interfaces are more suited to the larger screens in dashes now, but you're right, we're basically casting to dumb-ish devices in our cars. Looked at another way, you're able to use the streaming services of your choice, have always-updated maps for navigation, and utilize the voice assistant you're used to already, trained in your daily use on your phone and smart device ecosystem. You'll not be out-of-date, you'll text safer, with fewer points of failure. As you saw, they used multiple platforms for calling pretty seamlessly, without any fumbling in pocket or squinting at lap. (and it's much cheaper for the car manufactures, who charge for the privilege; your cell provider can gouge you even more; and you better have stuff saved to your phone on long road trips. I have mixed feelings lol)

[@CurryKitten]

You are not missing a thing - in some cars, or with some phones, it's not useful.... except if the laws wherever you are literally forbid you from touching your phone whilst driving... while using a screen like this is perfectly acceptable. With that car and that phone, I can't charge and play music simultaneously without something like this, and using FM radio is perfectly acceptable to listen to. If you can put up with the background noise of the car, then losing quality isn't a big deal.

[@KOrnhOliO1]

@@GhostRyderFPV My smartphone does all of this and has even more ways to stream audio. Plus, with a nice mount for your phone on your dash, it gives you the stable platform. I can text with my smartphone via voice, the user interface is Android Auto, if I choose it to be, and if I use Waze it will allow me to stream music of my choice while inside the Waze app and it will work with bluetooth too. With a 7" screen, and my phone being about 6.5", there's no meaningful difference there. If it had a 10" screen, we're talking a different beast all together! But, this is essentially my phone with no ability to make phone calls from this car stereo, but it can when connected to my phone. It simply doesn't bring a single thing new to the table! lol

[@CurryKitten]

Yeah - doesn't work for you, I get that. But if you don't have the right smartphone, or the right stereo - that's where it becomes useful.

[@KOrnhOliO1]

@@CurryKitten I get it! Perfect for FACTREE stereo systems! :)