In this video, I check out the Carluex GO Wireless 3in1 CarPlay Adapter, a decent video casting, YouTube and Netflix-streaming closed Android 13 AI Box for CarPlay systems. You can learn more and buy this adapter for $139 / £114 / €128 directly from Carluex 👉🏻 https://www.carluex.com/products/carluex-go.
This closed Android 11 AI Box adapter offers both wireless CarPlay and Android Auto on a wired CarPlay system or aftermarket receiver, it has YouTube and Netflix Android apps preinstalled, and you can locally play music and videos from an inserted USB drive, or cast-supported video apps wirelessly from your phone to your CarPlay display.
In the box you get a paper instructions manual, there is the Wireless adapter itself, and you get a USB A to C power cable and a USB A to C adapter for more modern CarPlay-enabled vehicles.
Features & Design
Looking over the adapter then: its size is similar to a few other 3in1 adapters I’ve reviewed. There are cooling vent holes underneath and on the sides of the adapter. On one end there is the USB C port to connect to your CarPlay port using the supplied cable, and on the other end, there is a USB A port for media playback and applying local firmware updates.
I tried the adapter in my pioneer 93DAB CarPlay receiver and its boot-up time into the main menu took 29.87 seconds. This includes a short animation sequence before resting on its modern main menu interface.
Main Menu Interface
This interface features a media playback panel on the top left, and shortcuts to launch CarPlay and Android Auto below it. On the right side, there is a panel of six icon shortcuts to access both YouTube and Netflix streaming apps, USB Media playback, Bluetooth calling and music playback, and access the adapter’s settings menu. Whilst below this panel there is a large button to exit the adapter menus and return to the main car system menu.
In the settings app, you have quick access to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections. You can also alter language and time, check for updates, and change the background theme and startup animation. Updates can be applied over the air, but unless you have any compatibility issues with the adapter, I would leave any future updating alone.
Wireless CarPlay & Android Auto
You can only toggle CarPlay to auto boot up during startup, which in total takes around 39.17 seconds, and I found it will not auto display unless you press the CarPlay option on the menu, which can be helpful or a burden at times. After pairing my iPhone to the adapter, its boot-up took 7.74 seconds. Wireless CarPlay was surprisingly responsive, given this adapter’s low Wi-Fi4 and 65 mbps bandwidth speeds. The music resumed just fine after messages, calling and boot up and microphone quality was good too.
My experience with Android Auto wasn’t as good though. It refused to pair straight away until I repeated the connection steps again, and once I got it working, the Android Auto display resolution was lower than CarPlay, which is a common trait that I’ve seen on some of these 3in1 adapters. Boot-up took 11.00 seconds; calling was fine, and there wasn’t too much delay with screen interactions. Further connections also faced some inconsistent connection issues, so I would hesitate to recommend this adapter if you plan on using it for Android Auto.
Even with its USB port, this adapter doesn’t support a wired passthrough connection to CarPlay or Android Auto, but you can trickle charge your device from it, should you find some value in doing that.
YouTube & Netflix Apps
Connecting to YouTube or Netflix requires an internet connection from a local Wi-Fi hotspot or wirelessly tethering from your phone. When connecting to Wi-Fi, it always seemed to alert that the passwords were incorrect, but seconds later it would connect and operate just fine.
YouTube uses the older app version with its more chunky full-screen layout. Audio in video streams was in sync with video for casual watching and you can easily navigate back via the adapter’s small back and home overlaid buttons.
Netflix performed well enough on this adapter too. The audio was in sync and navigating its menus was ok given its lightweight hardware inside.
USB Media & Video Casting
Playing back video and music files from an inserted USB drive is a better way to avoid this adapter’s limited internet connection options. Stored files will playback through its built-in media player. My test video files ran ok, however on high bitrate files, the picture quality became pixelated in places to cope with some of the picture detail.
One last feature of this dongle that isn’t so obvious is its video and audio casting support. There’s no menu screen icon to activate this, so at a glance you wouldn’t think it’s possible. But by simply connecting the adapter to a device’s Wi-Fi hotspot, you will then have the option to cast video either directly from within apps like YouTube or you can select the OS screen mirroring option to cast your entire display instead. As always, you are limited from casting any copyrighted app content. But apps like YouTube, TikTok and Plex seem to work well here, with good picture quality and audio sync.
My Impressions
This Carluex Go Wireless 3in1 CarPlay adapter retails for $139, £114 or €128 direct from their online store and you can click on the links in this article to learn more about this adapter and buy yourself one.
Overall, the Go Wireless adapter mirrors the same specs as most of the other 3in1 adapters that are selling today. Other than a boost to Android 11, what I found different with this adapter though is its ability to cast from devices was much better, its launcher menu was a little more modern and pleasing to the eye and its settings offered plenty enough to tailor your experience.
If you’re an Android user looking for a 3in1 adapter, my Android auto experience with this adapter could have been better, and I would be looking elsewhere for a better, more stable and higher resolution experience than what this adapter provides.
For Apple users though, or for people who want just to cast video from a phone or use only the two big video streaming apps on your CarPlay display, then the Go Wireless from Carluex is worth checking out.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Brief overview
0:29 – Unboxing
0:40 – Design and Features
1:01 – Menu Interface
1:40 – Settings Options
2:06 – Wireless CarPlay
2:40 – Wireless Android Auto
3:35 – YouTube video
3:54 – Netflix streaming
4:12 – USB Media playback
4:31 – Video casting
5:22 – My Impressions
