TLDR: The Carpuride W701 Plus revolutionizes in-car entertainment with its portable Android-based display, offering seamless CarPlay and Android Auto integration. While it excels in connectivity and performance with Android devices, Bluetooth audio proves to be a challenge, particularly with certain car stereo systems. Overall, it’s a solid choice for Android Auto users, but potential Bluetooth issues may require caution for CarPlay enthusiasts.
You can buy this portable in-car display for $189.99 direct from Carpuride using my $50-off coupon code ‘carplaylife’ at checkout 👉🏻 .
We have seen a few portable displays reviewed on this channel already, all have brought similar CarPlay and Android Auto functionality to any car dashboard, however, we are now starting to see a new wave of Android OS-based displays become available. The Carpuride W701 Plus is just one of these displays and it’s also my first time getting hands-on with a display of this kind.
This isn’t new. We have seen this before in so-called CarPlay AI boxes, which bring a standalone Android OS platform to a wired CarPlay display, and it is very popular with drivers wishing to watch YouTube or Netflix videos (as well as any other Android app from the Google Play store) on their CarPlay display.
These new Android displays are very similar to these boxes, albeit without the need for an actual CarPlay display, because if it isn’t too obvious already, the display comes with it too! Simply plug the display into a 12v adapter port to power it, and off you go. You might be thinking, why not buy an Android tablet instead? Well, you could, but displays such as the W701 will also allow an easier way to bring wireless CarPlay and Android Auto to your car entertainment system, something an adapter would be needed for a tablet, also once plugged in unless the tablet has wireless charging, you have a new problem of being able to power the tablet alongside a plugged in adapter. OTG cables just won’t work. In short, a display like this is a no-brainer, and just like the first generation of car portable displays, it just makes the whole installation and functions much easier for the buyer.
Just like the earlier portable car stereo displays, getting audio from the display to your car stereo speakers is easy. Options from the W701 Plus include the onboard 2W speaker, a wireless FM transmission, a wired AUX connection, or you can ‘try’ to cast audio over Bluetooth, should your car stereo support this wireless audio connection type.
When I say ‘try’, unfortunately, the latter hasn’t been executed that well on the W701 Plus. It is over complicated, unintuitive, and more importantly, it sometimes simply just doesn’t connect to my phone or car stereo at times. It stumbles, disconnects and fails to connect to my VW car stereo, even when both display and stereo status say they are connected. It’s odd. So after many hours, my conclusion is that, If you’re looking at using this display with BT audio, be ready for a few minutes/hours of troubleshooting with your car stereo.
This display also allows BT connection from your phone whilst connected to CarPlay/Android Auto, but as I mentioned before, it has the same issues of connection at times. Enough to frustrate and not recommend it – at least for my VW MIB2.5 car stereo system.
Swinging back to some good points. CarPlay and Android Auto connect surprisingly fast for a software-based wireless connection to an iPhone or Android device. The W701 Plus uses CARLETTER as its software to connect to your mobile for CarPlay/Android Auto, mirroring is there too, but I just couldn’t get that working with my iPhone 15 Pro and iOS 17.2.1. Both perform well, more so on the Android Auto side, which is a surprise, however, Apple CarPlay does suffer from some issues with lag and calling lag issues. Other than a slightly swashed display feed, Android Auto is pretty good in general in both navigation, audio delay and calling lag.
So if you want to use this display with Android Auto, and you plan on using this display with either wireless FM transmission or AUX cable, then the W701 Plus is a decent display. CarPlay owners and those wishing to utilise its Bluetooth audio output might need to be more cautious, and be prepared for the return should it not work out as well on your car system.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Brief overview
0:49 – Unboxing
1:38 – Display features & design
3:33 – Boot up & main menu
6:38 – Pre-installed Apps
9:01 – Sideloading APK apps
9:51 – Gaming on display
10:54 – Wireless CarPlay
12:08 – Wireless Android Auto
13:48 – Installation & demo
24:36 – My Impressions
