Just over two years ago, I bought my first car, and it was old enough that the head unit was a simple radio with a CD player and Bluetooth support. That's fine for most people, but I wanted something a bit nicer, something that could link to my phone and display Android Auto or CarPlay like many newer cars on the market can.

See, I'm not a car enthusiast, but I am a tech enthusiast. Even then, replacing my car's head unit was surprisingly easy, and it was an immediate upgrade that made my driving experience a whole lot nicer thanks to Android Auto apps like Waze, Spotify, and even Home Assistant.

Installing the head unit was pretty easy

Though it was finicky

When I first installed the new head unit, I watched a lot of videos to prepare and understand the wiring of all of the components. The head unit came with a SIM card reader, a GPS, an antenna, and a reversing camera that can be wired inside the frame of the car and placed above the license plate.

My car has a double DIN stereo size, allowing for the 9-inch display to fit perfectly inside of the plastic shell that it also came with. It's an aftermarket one from an unknown Chinese brand, as I purchased it from a company here in Ireland. I needed to buy it locally because cars in Ireland drive on the left, meaning that the steering wheel is on the right. Importing it from anywhere else would have a shell that fits the other way around and, therefore, would not fit in my car.

It took me an hour and a half to put together, which includes the time taken to remove the original head unit. All of the connectors fit just fine in the new unit, and the most stressful part of the entire ordeal was ensuring that everything clicked into place and would stay that way. Removing the head unit was quite tough as it's solidly locked in place, and I didn't want to have go through that again.

It was the best quality of life car upgrade I could make

And it was reasonably cheap as well

After using it for two years, I can solidly say that I'm incredibly happy with the fact I made this upgrade. At the time, some expressed concerns that it would drain my car's battery, but it monitors my car's battery and shuts down rather than sleeping in sleep mode once the voltage drops by a certain amount.

Android Auto uses an app that forces compatibility, and it's not natively built in. Out of the box, the head unit runs Android, but pre-installed apps came installed. The built-in Tlink app is what I need to launch to get Android Auto running, so I immediately launch that app every time I start my car. This piggybacks off the connection from my phone and then launches Android Auto and connects via Wi-Fi Direct.

I've read about people having issues with the Tlink app, but those have been quite rare in my experience. Unfortunately, this was also really my only option without building something more custom from a more reputable brand, and I've been glad to say that it's been running without a hitch ever since.

All I have to do is connect my phone over Bluetooth to my car, launch the Tlink app, and my phone takes it away from there. My Android Auto apps work normally, my phone recognizes it as Android Auto compatible, and the Android Auto sensors even report back to Home Assistant. This means I can track when I'm driving, and I can build automations using it, too.

When driving, I use Waze for navigation and Spotify in the left pane, though I can also interact with it by invoking Hey Google. I can make calls and send texts using just my voice, and it's made it much easier for me to drive and navigate simultaneously. I don't really ever need to make calls or send a text when driving, but the option to do it with my voice is there if I really need it. It's also a lot easier to get information at a glance or hear what I need to hear while also trying to focus on driving.

If you want a new head unit for your car, there are countless options out there. There are some major players in the space, and all of them will allow you to get the Android Auto experience without needing a new car. Some are more expensive than others, and it depends on what you want, but a simple, clean display with basic functionality is likely all that most people will ever want or need.