Review on 🚘 Soundstream VR-623B Bluetooth Car CD DVD Receiver with 6.2 Inch Touchscreen, High Resolution TFT LCD, Hands-Free Calls, Audio Streaming, USB, AUX, SD Card Inputs, LED RGB Colors, AM/FM Radio Stereo by Charles Jenkins

Let me start by saying this is a great radio. I have bought others for various vehicles including the one it is currently installed in and this is by far my favorite. So much so that I bought a second one for my mom's car. I highly recommend it. Playback sounds fantastic, even with the factory speakers, and there are tons of adjustments you can make to get the exact sound you want. I listen to different genres, from classical to hip-hop and rock. Everything about this unit sounds great and clean. My mother listens to audio books and her voice is crystal clear and understandable for her. Get the exact sound you're looking for with EQ adjustments, base gain and more. The large display offers many choices so you can choose exactly what you want to see. With two lines of information, you can always see the clock while still seeing information about the artist and title of the song you're listening to. I love the many button options and indicator colors and the mix mode effects which is great! One of the complaints I often see about the display is that it's too dark to see during the day. Yes it is true - IF LEAVE AT FACTORY DEFAULTS. Just go to the system settings (by pressing the MC button) and go to the brightness setting and turn it all the way up - problem solved! Clearly visible during the day, not too bright for night driving. Another useful tip: There are a number of color settings for the buttons and the display. You can set your favorite color or let the device scroll through them all. Here's a tip: you can set the display to one and the buttons to the other. So if you're having trouble with the display (like my mom had when I bought a second set for her car), simply adjust the display to the color you see best. The white display seems to be the brightest and most legible. You can then set your buttons to your favorite color or let them scroll through colors like I did. With this little tweak, anyone can easily read the display day or night! The device is equipped with many useful features. Bluetooth was excellent. My old device was hard to hear, and sometimes people couldn't understand or hear me. They always knew I use Bluetooth in the car. This device has none of these problems. After receiving phone calls from my mom while she was in the car, I can tell you that sometimes you don't even realize the person is using Bluetooth. Both sides are heard very well! The external microphone offers an optimal position for telephoning. And six preset speed dial buttons make calling your frequent contacts easier than ever! The device works great with the iPhone! You can easily make and receive all calls. You can also control your music, Pandora and iHeart Radio apps, and use Siri fully (I had to read the manual a bit to understand how to use Siri, so I'll share it here to save you time). - In any music mode (not phone mode), just press and hold the MC button (big middle button) and Siri will be activated). My old device had to be paired with my phone over and over again. Not so with this one. In fact, both my phone and my mom's phone are paired to each other's cars and they connect back and forth no matter what car we're in (note: she has an iPhone, I have a Samsung, so it works with all phones). My favorite feature is definitely the USB port. I can copy my music files to a flash drive and take it with me. My mom copies audiobooks onto one and does the same. You can create your own USB playlists by creating folders (yes, you might end up with duplicate files, but it's worth it). USB playback stops when you switch modes, receives a call, or turns off the device and picks up where you left off when you access it again (good for music, GREAT for listening to audiobooks). Make sure your music is in .mp3, .wma or .wav format; while the device only recognizes them. I needed to convert some of my music from .mp4 and .acc, but it's quick and easy to do online for free at https://online-audio-converter.com/. One more thing: most flash drives tend to stick out, which looks ugly and can get in the way. Get a low-profile USB flash drive. I bought this one from Revain: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FYNSZA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01. To shuffle just the folder you are in and not the entire disc, first select the folder and start playback; Then set the repeat option to "Repeat Folder"; Finally, and only after you have set the repeat, set the device to shuffle. This will only shuffle the folder (or "playlist") you are in. Changing folders will require you to reset this, but it takes two seconds. You can also connect your iPod or phone to the USB port to charge it or take full control of the device's controls, just like other iPod accessories. USB charging is a useful feature because it offers an additional charging option, useful when we need to charge all our phones at the same time. MIXTRAX mode is an interesting feature. While playing music, it adds a "light show" to the display that scrolls through colors and patterns and blinks like you're in a club. Like a club DJ, he mixes the songs together so the music never stops but just flows from one song to the next. A fun feature that younger users will probably enjoy more. There is one aspect of MIXTRAX that I found odd: you can set songs to play in 30-second intervals of one to three minutes. When this feature is enabled, the device will only play a specific part of a song before moving on to the next. Not sure why you only want to hear 90 seconds of the song, but I assume it's for the "clubbing" experience added with the on-display light show. Actually I would only use this with house/trance music (which I rarely listen to), but maybe some of you will find it useful. Finally, the installation was easy! I looked around my car and found the right wiring harness and plates and was able to install them on a Ford Focus Wagon and a Toyota Yaris Hatchback in under 20 minutes each. Revain has all the products you need to install, but if you want to make sure you're getting exactly what you need and aren't savvy about cars, go to crutchfield.com, search for this unit, and then type yours Vehicle data click on installation hardware and find it here. Crutchfield offers these for free, but I've found that the total cost of buying the unit plus installation hardware here at Revain is still cheaper than Crutchfield's price. However, they are a good source of information. To install, connect the wiring harness, attach the mounting plates, remove the old device, plug it in and insert it into the dashboard. Easy as nothing. The longest and most difficult part of the installation (and it wasn't all that difficult) was routing the mic cable where I wanted it and hiding it behind the molding. Most car moldings pop out instantly so this was easy to do. Make sure all your connections (microphone, equipment harness and antenna) are secure before plugging in the radio (I messed it up and forgot to check the mic and had to remove the unit to connect it as the dash is in the Toyota Yaris is pretty tight). ) In general, this is an excellent radio. It has a ton of features for a fraction of the price of most others. I spent months researching and looking through 3 different radios before settling on this, so I can honestly say this is the best bang for your buck. Anyone can install it, anyone can operate it, and it does what you need it to do (yes, more expensive devices have GPS, video and the like, but do we really need all that with smartphones? And who watches videos while driving? ?) . It even has a CD player for all of you! You really can't go wrong with this. Excellent purchase!