Android Auto for the masses

Android Auto will be a decade old in 2025. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long, but in that time, it’s become a standard feature in most new cars. It wasn’t a smooth ride, though, with many car manufacturers reserving it as an option for higher feature levels during the early years. As a result, many cars on the road don’t have Android Auto, even if they were built after Google introduced it. An affordable, easy method for adding Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to older vehicles would be excellent, and I think I’ve found one.

Of course, installing a third-party head unit has always been an option. The trouble is, this can be expensive and labor-intensive and, in the UK, something you must declare as a modification on your insurance. Carpuride and a few other companies have made what I think is the solution, and the W903 has drastically improved my car.

Price, availability, and specs

The Carpuride W903 is available from Amazon and Carpuride for $220, as reviewed, or $230 if you want to include a wired-in reverse camera. It’s frequently discounted and is often available in the $140 range. That gets you a 9.3-inch, 1600 x 600 IPS display that’s perfect for wide-screen auto, and it gets plenty bright and is responsive enough.

What is good about the Carpuride W903?

The best of Android Auto without ripping your car apart

As I said, Android Auto has become a must-have for new cars. So, easily and affordably adding it to older models without ripping the dashboard apart is fantastic. Of course, a built-in unit will look neater, but that’s a small sacrifice to save this much money.

The W903’s display is its highlight. Since it’s 1600 x 600, it has plenty of space to comfortably fit Android Auto onto the screen without being so tall as to compromise forward visibility. I don’t know the maximum brightness in nits, but I can tell you that the auto brightness is effective and easily overcomes sunlight and reflections.

Once your phone is connected, Android Auto works as you’d expect it to. You can rearrange the media and map panels; I like to have media controls closer to me, so I don’t have to reach across the dash to change songs. The built-in microphone means you can use Google Assistant for voice actions, although that isn’t perfect (more on that later).

Moving away from Android Auto, the software on the device itself is pretty good. If you don’t want to use auto brightness, a floating shortcut button can be enabled that, when tapped, will display brightness controls, among other things. From the central screen (before loading Android Auto), a host of functions that the W903 provides can be accessed. You can even wirelessly mirror your phone screen to the display and use it to watch Disney+ and other streaming services or delve into the dash cam functionality.

The dash cam is okay. It’s 4K and has a good dynamic range, so bright days aren’t an issue. It is also good in the dark and can deal with oncoming headlights. And the W903 includes a 64GB MicroSD card, so storage isn’t an issue. You don’t need to pop the card to pull footage; download the Viidure app and connect it to the device.

After a few seconds, the stored footage will load, and you can choose the clips you want transferred to your phone. The issue is that license plates aren’t always the easiest to read unless they’re right in the center of the screen due to the distortions from the wide-angle lens.

There are better dash cams out there. This one is good, but it’s clearly a secondary function of Android Auto support. If camera quality is a priority, something like the 70mai A510 might be a better option.

The camera can spin 180 degrees to face the occupants. I’ll be honest; I doubt many people will use their dashcams to take selfies on road trips (as depicted in the marketing materials), but the swivel is still useful. In addition to the swivel, the camera is gimbaled and can be adjusted up, down, left, and right.

That means you can angle the W903’s screen toward the driver and then position the camera to face forward as the car travels. The W903 has a few mounting options, including an adhesive pad to stick it to your dashboard. I opted to use the adjustable suction mount, which was held firmly in place.

There are a lot of options for audio output. If your car has Bluetooth, you can pair it with the W903 so that it will wirelessly pass the sound to your car. If you want to go the wired route, there’s also an AUX port, or you can transmit the sound over FM radio. That’s right. There’s FM radio hardware here, so you can broadcast your media on an unused frequency and tune your car into it. Finally, there’s a decent loudspeaker on board, but I stuck with the AUX cable in my car.

The overall benefit of the W903 is removing reliance on Google’s mobile apps. At this point, I’m used to Google taking away the things I love. If I could, I’d still be a Google+ poster, Inbox mailer, modern-day Pixelbook user, and Google Allo user. But of all the things Google has killed or messed with, the driving apps make me the most bitter.

In the beginning, we had Android Auto for Phone Screens that effectively made any Android phone what the W903 here achieves. Over several iterations and app changes, things have progressively worsened. While the Carpuride W903 still relies on Google’s vision for Android Auto, at least that product has improved since 2015.

What’s bad about the Carpuride W903?

A few nitpicks here and there

There isn’t much to complain about here. My experience with this product has been almost entirely positive, and I will have to nitpick here.

Google Assistant is my biggest issue, which isn’t under Carpuride’s control. It’s no secret that Google’s voice assistant has been unsatisfying for a while now, but it becomes even more infuriating when using it in the car. Basic commands like sending a text or changing a song are made difficult by Google Assistant’s inability to determine what you’re asking of it. I double-checked all this in a friend’s newer vehicle that has Android Auto built in, and the issues persisted.

Triggering the Assistant is the only Assistant-related issue that does lie at the feet of Carpuride. The microphone often can’t hear the “OK Google” activation phrase over the music. Again, that is also an issue with cars that have it all built-in once the music is over a certain volume. Still, those cars usually have a steering wheel button that summons Assistant, something the Carpruide W903 understandably lacks. If you need to use Assistant, the easiest thing to do is tap the mic icon on the screen.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It is that simple, honestly. An Android Auto unit can be plumbed into an older car, and doing so will look neater. Depending on your car, you may have the convenience of a steering wheel button hooked up to Google Assistant. If you have an expensive older car, maybe that’s worth the investment. For many, including myself, it isn’t worth it. I love my Mitsubishi Colt. It’s a fantastic little car that has become a part of my family. It’s not worth spending somewhere in the region of £650 (about $850) to fit an Android Auto unit, though. That’s especially the case since the upgrade would constitute an insurance modification for me.

Having said that, you should pause if you need a high-quality dash cam. The footage from W903 is alright, but better is available. Really, the Android Auto integration is the primary function of this product and the camera is a bonus feature.

The Carpuride W903 is an affordable and simple way to add functionality to your car. It is also portable, so you can use it in other vehicles. If the wide-screen display doesn’t do it for you, check out the rest of the Carpuride range. You’ll be glad you did.