Car audio with your Android device?

[TG1]

I love to connect my iPhone via the USB port of my Kenwood car stereo to have full in-dash controls of my music collection when driving (so I don't have to fiddle with the actual phone). I was only able to use the auxiliary port to connect my Droid Razr through the headphone jack, which is an inferior experience for me. Just curious what kind of setup other Android users have in their vehicles. Thanks!

 

[matttye]

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean added USB audio support, so using USB will work now.

There's also A2DP (Bluetooth).

 

[siiip5]

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean added USB audio support, so using USB will work now.

There's also A2DP (Bluetooth).

^^^^ This!

If you have a newer car with A2DP support and a phone (like the S3 or Note2) that has this feature as well, this is by far the best setup. No wires needed and steering wheel radio controls work as intended. Song info, album art, etc also show on my cars 7" display.

 

[vietalogy]

I got a grom audio unit works great over blue tooth and works with stock head unit.

 

[matttye]

^^^^ This!

If you have a newer car with A2DP support and a phone (like the S3 or Note2) that has this feature as well, this is by far the best setup. No wires needed and steering wheel radio controls work as intended. Song info, album art, etc also show on my cars 7" display.

I want to get an A2DP stereo at some point, just can't justify it this soon after Christmas!

 

[The iGentleman]

I stream via bluetooth (a2dp). No wires, nothing to connect, and when my phone rings, I can talk on it through the stereo (the music stops and switches over to phone).

 

[Stuntman06]

I connect my SGS3 to my car audio via BlueTooth. The car handles the hands free calling very well. When I turn on my car, the BT connection is established and my music automatically plays. I see the track info for each song and have the ability to pause, skip and replay any particular track. I generally set my music player to play my entire collection randomly.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I also use Bluetooth with the GS3. Barely drains battery life. Reliable and great sound quality.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

Although the fidelity of sound/music from the car stereo is better via a dock connector on an iPhone versus A2DP B/T connection, its not THAT much better. And, in most cases, connecting via the iPhone dock connector renders the UI for iPod mode useless and you are forced to use the mostly-inferior stereo head unit UI.

I switched to using BT for all my phones now. That way, no matter what car I take or what phone I'm carrying on any given day, everything is still useable in the vehicle. Even more important for the phablets since those usually stay in a coat pocket or in the briefcase.

 

[zone23]

Well the car has a USB port that I plug a 500GB HDD into. Beyond that I have the HTC Droid DNA with Beats audio that will stream over Bluetooth. It sounds awesome.