This call's for a side by side test here. Lets put a Pioneer AP-6650bt against a DUDU7. Both cost the same (110-120k)
Software aside which probably costs the Chinese a few dollars to get up and running, or the fact that there will be terrible customer service linked to units coming out of China or the fact that if something does go wrong, repairing this unit will be a PITA, we can actually test the two out and see both sides of the story. We'll throw in a Onkyo XQD1800 Pro in there too. The 6-128 costs 120k so it's right there
The point of this test is to test the audio quality of high spec android units vs a OG brand that has recently introduced a budget friendly player (that has a larger android type 9" screen) and that uses the same software and hardware like it's generic head units. Remember, the Onkyo pro series units were designed in collaboration with Pioneer's engineer's. The 1200 and 1800 pro are both possibly the best sounding android players I've heard & tested and yet I would rather have a good old pioneer A, Z or NEX series head unit that pretty much offer me the best audio output & features along with things like alexa, idata link maestro, siri eyes free, HD radio, android auto / carplay etc etc. Things i use on my everyday commute in my corolla/civic/vitz/aqua/lc80/patrol/surf/sunny. The only vehicle running a android unit is our rocco with the nakamichi 5510 and that unit does cost 50k so it's not exactly cheap. I'm still replacing it with a Alpine 10" floating screen.
If you have one of the newer cars that come with their integrated head units, obviously you are not going to install a Chinese android unit in there. You could install one of the OG units and tap into the car with the Maestro which is a lot better than having to worry about your android players gimmick software just crashing.
I still want to do the test though. But there is a reason you'll never see a car audio install channel/shop/individual throw in a android unit into a build. I would not spend 50-100k on a Chinese android unit let alone 100-150k no matter what kind of features they offer or how big their claim is of the audio quality being great. I've done previous comparisons with the DD-1 and multimeter as a hobby and you can send your choice of a android unit and i'll do the same and share the results. Just a heads up, non of the android units will ever put out numbers (pre volts, amp rms values, thd's etc) they claim on their box's. On the other hand, grab a alpine/pioneer/kenwood head unit (not their flagship series but rather their basic ones) and you'll find out that their values either match or are in fact under-rated than what they put on the box.
1 more thing. I did see a channel use a android unit in a car audio build. The instllers were not happy about it but it was a request from the customer. These guys swapped his amps to a zapco adsp-z8 iv-8 specifically cuz it had a built in dsp with optical in. Reason being that they used the optical output from the unit to the dsp which literally acted as a turn on-off switch. From there onwards, the adsp was solely responsible for controlling the full setup. Direct Bluetooth streaming, remote control with 3" screen for tunning and custom settings selection. That's it. The android unit played no role when it came to the music and tuning. Customer was happy cuz he got the flashy android unit, the guys were happy cuz they got the setup up and running the way it was meant to be
They have the features, offer a lot of bling, definitely better audio than a lot of pathetic sounding android units out there but they will only ever come that close to the OG's even if they have less features. There are different kinds of customers out there. Most will still opt for the shitty androids cuz flashy flashy bling bling. Some will upgrade their setups and care for the features yet still want good audio quality. But these people would not want to spend that much on android units. And finally most will upgrade their audio and want a audiophile grade headunit even if they offer less features because the concern is always going to be the audio quality and no android unit is ever going to top it up over the OG's. So that gap between the audiphiles and the people who just don't care is a group of people who will want to invest in a expensive android unit because the audio and features both matter to them. But that number will be 1/20 1/50 or so on.
