Review on 🚗 Kenwood DNX577S: 6.8" Touchscreen Garmin Navigation Receiver with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – Ultimate In-Car Connectivity Solution by Luis Adu

Purchased for navigation, iPod use, hands-free compatibility and CD playback. PROS: Sounds great after tuning. (I added two amps, two 10" subwoofers, and upgraded the standard speakers in my Nissan truck.) Very attractive (to the point where it's sexy). Lots of compliments for the looks and the sound quality. Tons of audio configuration options that audiophiles will be happy to tinker with. Music playback from flash drive and SD card is really good (plug and play). The Kenwood smartphone remote control app is flawless. The picture and sound quality of the DVD is amazing and can be easily controlled using the Kenwood app mentioned above. CONS: Very expensive, difficult to install if you're new or haven't done it in a while. The required aftermarket dashboard kit is cheap and terrible. The device was too deep in the dashboard and there was no alternative. Excessive loading time (28 seconds). The buttons on the side of the device, while slim and sleek, are very small, almost impractical. (Volume control would be better.) The unit will not play an iPod Touch (found out after installation that this particular model is not compatible) One touch bluetooth connection (intermittently drops out for no apparent reason) Connecting Axxess to steering wheel controls to hold is hell . Installation and configuration are not intuitive for the user and therefore quite complex. It is not possible to use the rear camera when the device is off or booting up (not applicable to OEM). The Garmin navigation system (although accurate) is a bit archaic to me - Google Maps and Waze are much more practical and visually appealing. UPDATE 1 month: PROS: Incredible flexibility in final sound tuning with this unit. EQ, crossover and overall sound tuning is a dream. The Kenwood app for remote control from my phone is flawless. CONS: iPod touch is not compatible with the device, Bluetooth connection is unstable, takes a long time to charge, rear camera does not work when the device is off or booting up. I recommend this device and will not buy it again. Even though I really like the sound of this device, I have a commercial conscience and would definitely buy something else if the opportunity arose. ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS: I'm now having really annoying echo issues during calls (although I've tried tweaking the settings). Speech recognition is cumbersome (name recognition in contacts is random). NONE of the last four vehicles (with OEM units) previously owned have had such problems. Kenwood asked me to turn on Bixby to use the voice recognition feature so the voice recognition can be the phone and not the main device. SUMMARY: Lots of unnecessary compatibility issues and annoying frustrations not encountered with inferior cheaper head units.