I saw some people complaining about the air gap between the forward most screen surface/protector and the actual display behind that surface. To me, that seems like a bitch and not a true concern because overwhelmingly people are happy with it. What are your thoughts? You have the unit in your truck and have a bit of experience with it.

Although, some people will complain about anything. Give someone a dollar and they complain because you didn't give them $2.

I will say, I wish there were more Android head units with dual BT receivers. That would open the options up tremendously and maybe bring the prices down a bit. The ATOTO A6 hits a lot of my primary concerns though, down to the physical buttons instead of soft/on screen buttons. I realize this is not a Rolls Royce head unit, but I am paying Ford prices for it, so I expect to get what I am paying for. The features that I am looking for seem to be good and what I want.

This may not be right for everyone, but it seems like the right choice for me.

 

The A6 comes with a (sacrificial) stick on screen protector - like you’d put on your phone if you didn’t have an otter case or something. The people I installed A6 for read somewhere that the one that came with A6 was less than ideal - but I didn’t get details.

In the past, I’ve used the ones that are pre-cut for specific phones and have custom cut a few. Like window tint - the keys to success are CLEAN surfaces and good cut/size.

 

I see... I don't even use the screen protectors for my phone or tablet because they annoy me. I do have a true tempered glass second screen for my tablet which is nice.

I am not too concerned about the screen on the ATOTO A6, but if I become concerned about it, I will get something like this.


I would have to make sure the measurements were right though because there is no trimming a tempered glass screen protector.

 

Ordered the ATOTO A6 Pro today - found a warehouse deal on Amazon. I'm going to try it in my Yukon XL first - need a backup camera on that rig while I teach my youngest son to drive. Would like to put this in the F350, but gauges/hydra are next on the list for that rig.

The yukon has the advantage of a dash mount headunit, not bezel mount, so the install should be straightforward. I'll be looking to you guys when the time comes to put this type of headunit in the F350 - would definitely like to get away from the bezel mount configuration.

I wonder if I could pull the Yukon next to the F350, so that the F350's OBDII adapter could transmit to the headunit in the Yukon. Just to practice the ATOTO interface - run Forscan, GPS apps, music, etc.

 

Well done Jeff ( @BWST )! I have been keeping an eye on it as well. I ordered some other 12v electrical supplies (heat shrink, heat deflector, splice sleeves, etc) yesterday in preparation of ordering the ATOTO A6 Pro. If I cannot get a deal sorted out by Black Friday, I will order one then.

Truck will go in the garage in December for some minor wiring changes and the install of the ATOTO A6 Pro. I plan to set the ATOTO up on my kitchen table first in order to install the apps (FORScan Lite, etc...) it may not have and to login to the apps it does have.

I believe you could use the ATOTO A6 installed in the Yukon to connect to the F350 OBD. I don't think the distance is too far.

In addition, I was messing around with MyMaps ( www.google.com/mymaps ) a bit and found a way to overlay the my maps pins and routes to Google Maps live. I use MyMaps in order to pinpoint the camping spots within a 4 hour journey of home, then the spots within a couple of hours of Challis ID. MyMaps and Google Maps are not directly interactive or connected, but they can be if someone knows how to get there.

Once the MyMaps overlay route or pinpoint has been selected in Google Maps, you can follow that route or select the multiple pinpoints. You can also download the route from MyMaps or Google Maps.

Google Maps on mobile devices recently added the "add a stop" feature like the desktop/laptop version has. This is big for us as cross country travelers as we like to avoid the cities as much as possible. In addition, Google Maps allows for weather updates, road closures and speed traps alerts.

I am really looking forward to using the head unit in the truck since we use our phones or tablet in the other vehicles while we travel. It will be a very similar setup.

The only question I have about the ATOTO A6 Pro is activating/selecting the rear view camera when not in reverse. I have seen in YouTube videos where there is a preloaded app in order to do that, but I won't know for sure until it is in the car.

@SkySkiJason has a method of installing these things in a way that is more traditional instead of using the side holders. He has been too busy working on customer trucks to even fully install his head unit in his truck. I will see what I can figure out and post it on the FTE someplace if he is not able to get us some information before Thanksgiving. He has described his method of installing to me via text, so I have a rough idea of how it should go.

 

I keep meaning to try the A6 with OBD2 dongle in another truck. That would be really cool.

The mounting is pretty intuitive and you guys may even do better than me. For the A6 I already installed, I drilled through the plastic on the sides of the radio opening and ran screws into the threaded holes in the A6. Trimming the bezel was a tedious process because I wanted it to be a tight fit.

 

👍

I have some ideas and some pieces from leftover projects in the garage that I think will work. Perhaps with your idea and a bit of figuring out, I can get a process down and then Jeff can perfect it for the FTE. Maybe use some nut inserts/rivet nuts or something with a piece of metal backing behind the dash. Not sure yet...

 

Wish I new about this radio when I bought my svc back in February..

 

If anyone reading this thread has any ammo in their rep gun to fire at @Sous for me, please fire when ready. I'm outta ammo for him.

If you need more of reason than my empty clips, then please scroll back up to Post #1 of this thread, and review the details, the spreadsheet, the links provided, the narrative. This is a massive effort, beyond what one might receive from the research efforts of salaried staff. Visualize yourself producing content such as this. How much time would it take you to research the history of previous discussions on the topic, inventory the parameters of importance, survey the current market of offerings meeting the desired parameters, post links to each candidate, and make a freaking spreadsheet for crying outloud?

Please rep Sous accordingly. Or at least thank him.

Thank you, Sous!

 

Looking forward to any more updates on the Atoto head units, my good lady is getting me one for Christmas, looking at the S8 ultra, the reviews look good & the boot times are apparently considerably faster than the other models. Seems a lot of tech for the money, especially coming from years of Pioneer products.
I have 2 vehicles with Pioneer head units, the most recent is less than a year old (head unit not the vehicle) with Android Auto, upgraded my Samsung to a Note 10 & the two refuse to play together, very disappointing!

 

Y2KW57, thanks for the kind words. It was a good deal of time and sifting through the erroneous information, but the spreadsheet has fulfilled the intended purpose. If that spreadsheet helps just one person select a product that works for them from the sea of products, then it was all worth it.

Rob, that should be a nice unit. I look forward to running FORScan and Google Maps while connected to my phone via WiFi. Maps are able to be downloaded as well, so when we get into the mountains or BLM land, I will still have navigation. There are offline apps you can download as well.

This really is a nice tool to have. I plan to get a 90 degree OBD cord that @BWST recommended and similar to what I saw @F0rdc0wb0y using the other day.

I initially planned to get the BAFX scan tool, but think I will get the more expensive OBDLink scan tool. I know the OBDLink goes to sleep after a period of time when not used and I don't know the details about the BAFX. I believe the instructions for the BAFX even mention not leaving it plugged in for extended periods, but I could be wrong.

I am going to try and run a cordless fast charger off one of the USB ports in the back. I have high Hope's for the head unit, although I will be buying the A6 Pro. The S8 looks like a great unit, just more than what I need.

keep us updated!

 

Some people unbolt the OBD2 port and mount it in a way that is less invasive with dongle plugged in.

 

@Sous 'I don't do Fruit devices' I knew there was a reason why I liked you ... I share that opinion, with the possible added consideration that Fruit devices work very well as long as you live within the Fruit ecosystem the way the Horticulturists want you to live. If you try to do something differently, you usually end up in a bad place.

If only I could get over the fact that I can't stand the way the Android units look in the dash... they look out of place to me. Which, I realise, makes absolutely no sense, doubly so when I have to fit two Android phones... somewhere. It would be nice to have Google Maps in the dash however...

OTOH, I am thinking of decoupling the 'rear camera' thing by buying one of those mirrors-with-dashcam-and-rear-camera deals, since my bed means the OE mirror is useless. That could be a consideration if you can't get the camera you want in the ATOTO units (SSJ was mentioning this as a possibility).

It also has to be said that while the IPS screen is a nice and welcome upgrade, 1024x600 @ 7" isn't ... awesome resolution. Then again, they are $200 units.

 

The rear camera is activated with 12v signal - typically from reverse lights. You could add a switch and diode to power that circuit (and not reverse lights) at will.

 

So, looking into the camera thing... I may be delving into this a bit much and overthinking it, but the way I have my camera on the bumper hooked up is when the truck is on, the camera is on. So, when I turn the ignition to "ON", the camera has 12v power. I do this because with the ZF6 transmission, I did not want the camera to be only when the ZF6 was in reverse. That was a bit of a safety issue for me and my wife when we were hooking up the travel trailer we used to have. We no longer have that trailer, but I still like to be able to use the camera, even if the transmission is not in reverse.

With my current head unit which is a Jensen VX7020, the screen does NOT switch to the camera view when the camera is powered by 12v, which it is all the time. There is a "camera" soft button on the screen that I can press, just like if I were pressing Pandora or radio. When the camera button is pressed, I can see what the camera is seeing even if we are going 65 MPH down the interstate.

I have started to look into this feature on the ATOTO A6 and so far, it appears that the "Aux" button for auxiliary input may work as I intend to use it for the backup camera. Another option is to use "FCam" which is intended to be for the front camera, but it doesn't make any difference to me what button I push, just need to push a button and not have the camera on all the time.