The Carlinkit 4.0 2-in-1 adapter (CPC200-CP2A) is an updated version of the Carlinkit 2.0 Wireless CarPlay adapter, which is advertised as faster and more reliable. This adapter makes it possible to connect an Android phone wirelessly to the car radio, which is especially handy when you want to listen to music and your partner’s phone is used for other purposes. Unlike other adapters that run a full Android operating system and allow you to run any app on the dashboard, the author prefers this type of Wireless CarPlay and/or Android Auto adapter.
Note, however, that the car must at least support “wired CarPlay” via USB for a Carlinkit adapter to work. The author tested the Carlinkit 4.0 2-in-1 adapter using a 2019 SEAT Leon Sportstourer FR (with VW MIB2 HU), an iPhone 13 Pro (iOS16.4.1) and a Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro (Snapdragon 695, Android 12, Android Auto 9.3).
Key findings
- The Carlinkit 4.0 2-in-1 adapter makes it possible to connect an Android phone wirelessly to the car radio.
- Unlike other adapters that run a full Android operating system, the author prefers the type of Wireless CarPlay and/or Android Auto adapters.
- The car must at least support “wired CarPlay” via USB for a Carlinkit adapter to work.
Specs
Wi-Fi capabilities:
The Carlinkit 4.0 adapters are Linux-based embedded systems that use an automotive-grade NXP/Freescale i.MX 6UltraLite SoC. Although the adapter is equipped with an Atmel AT91SAM9260 processor from 2006, it only supports USB 1.0 Full Speed (12mbps). The power consumption is about 1.1W when navigating and playing music, which is about 20% more than the previous model V2 with 0.9W.
The USB-A port of the adapter is no longer advertised as a charging port, but is only intended as a backup for flashing firmware via a USB stick if an OTA update is not possible due to defective firmware. With the predecessor model V2, the constant charging of an iPhone connected to the USB-A port caused the adapter to crash. Since the power budget for a USB data connection with the adapter is already ~1W and the hardware of the adapter already consumes power, only limited power remains for the USB-A port for charging.
The adapter features a Broadcom BCM4358 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth baseband processor that supports Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) at speeds of up to 867 Mbps as recommended by Apple. It also enables the WMM quality of service mechanism to improve VoIP latency and touch input response times. Finally, the Wi-Fi channel can be set to the advertised 5.8 GHz frequency band (UNII-3), which may be less crowded than the lower 5 GHz frequencies. So if you suffer from connection problems in the same places all the time (e.g. in densely populated urban areas), you should consider changing the Wi-Fi channel.
Wi-Fi-Fähigkeiten:
| Standard: Frequency bands: Channels: Max. Channel width: Currents: Max. Rate: Security: Encryption: Authentication: | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) 5.2 GHz (UNII-1), 5.8 GHz (UNII-3) 42[36-48] (UNII-1), 155[149-165] (UNII-3) 80 MHz 2×2 866.7 Mbps WPA2 CCMP WPA2-PSK |
Since CarPlay and Android Auto use a peer-to-peer connection and do not transfer too much data (about 10-11 Mbps for wireless CarPlay), it is not believed that Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) will have a significant impact on the performance of the application. The Wi-Fi security of the Carlinkit adapters remains suboptimal despite the disabling of WPA/TKIP, as the password is still set to the well-known 12345678. This allows an unpaired phone to manually connect to the adapter, change settings or initiate a firmware update via the web interface. In his opinion, the adapter should generate a random password for Wireless CarPlay to prevent manual connections, which is not necessary anyway. The idea is probably to still have access to the adapter in case the Wireless CarPlay connection fails to change settings or update the firmware.
Design & building quality
The Carlinkit 4.0 adapter has the second major industrial design upgrade, which is even more appealing than V2. The surface is no longer glossy, which certainly helps against fingerprints. The chosen texture hides scratches better. Most people hide their adapter behind the dashboard of the car. Therefore, they don’t care about the design and stability. However, the build quality of the adapter is very robust and durable. The adapter is made of carbon fiber material and has an LED indicator that shows the status. The adapter has one USB-A port and one USB-C port, which can also be used as a USB-C to USB-C port. The adapter is supplied without a dongle and can be used with a Lightning cable or a Type-C cable.
Plug & Play
Installing the Carlinkit adapter is very easy and requires no special knowledge. The adapter is simply plugged into the USB port of the car radio and the smartphone is paired via Bluetooth. The Wi-Fi login information is exchanged transparently so that future connections are established automatically as soon as the paired iPhone is in the vicinity of the running car. Volkswagen’s modular infotainment kit (MIB) is integrated in many cars of the various brands (VW, AUDI, Skoda, SEAT, Porsche). Carlinkit may therefore have received special treatment.
It usually takes no longer than 20 seconds after the ignition key is turned for the music from the phone to be played through the car’s loudspeaker system. The duration may vary depending on the make of car and head unit. In the case of the Leon Sportstourer, the USB ports are already activated when the vehicle is unlocked. Therefore, the adapter can already be powered up when the MIB2 starts the CarPlay negotiation process without wasting time.
The adapter enables a wired connection between the iPhone and the car, ensuring a stable and reliable connection. The plug-and-play function facilitates the use of the adapter and makes it a convenient solution for drivers who want to connect their smartphone to their vehicle safely and easily.
Device switching
The Carlinkit 4.0 enables connection with several phones. Unfortunately, there is no way to switch between these devices without reconnecting the adapter cable. Instead, the boot menu must be called up, which displays a selection of paired devices. In theory, switching between Apple and Android phones should even be possible while driving, as both Wireless CarPlay and Wireless Android Auto are translated to wired CarPlay and therefore no switching between the head unit and the adapter is required.
However, switching between iPhone and Android reproducibly resulted in a distorted screen, while the sound worked perfectly. Only plugging in the adapter again solved this problem, which effectively requires two plug-ins to switch from one phone to the other.
Wireless CarPlay experience
Human-machine interface
Navigation through the CarPlay interface via the touchscreen does not feel any different compared to wired CarPlay. This clearly shows that the concept works without any major delays. Any input errors are more likely due to the mediocre capacitive touch display in my car.
The iPhone correctly recognizes via the adapter that CarPlay is controlled via a touchscreen and not via a rotary knob or trackpad. The iPhone therefore does not mistakenly focus on a specific menu element. Dark and light modes are switched automatically based on whether the car’s lights are on or off. Metadata such as route guidance, the current playback of an audio track and active phone calls are also displayed correctly via the instrument cluster. All information between the head unit and the phone therefore appears to pass properly through the adapter.
The steering wheel controls for volume and track skip (previous/next) also work properly. However, searching (fast-forwarding and rewinding) the currently playing audio track by pressing and holding the skip (previous/next) buttons is blocked by the adapter. Siri is supported and can be activated by pressing and holding the voice control button on the steering wheel.
Media playback
While Apple specifies uncompressed LPCM audio for wired CarPlay, wireless CarPlay uses the compressed and lossy AAC-LC format for media sounds, which the adapter must therefore decode. There is no audible loss of quality, but this may depend on the music service and the audio codec/bitrate combination used. For services that use AAC (e.g. Apple Music), there should be no difference between wired and wireless CarPlay. It usually does not matter whether the iPhone or the adapter decodes the audio stream. The sound output is neutral and can be optimized via the equalizer of the in-car amplifier. Spotify uses a fairly transparent 320 kbps Vorbis in its highest quality setting. Transcoding to 256-kbps AAC-LC shouldn’t do too much damage, with the advantage of being able to use the in-app equalizer. Low bitrate MP3 internet radio stations will probably suffer the most. However, these suffer even more dynamics than good old AM/FM anyway.
Transitioning between and mixing two audio sources also works flawlessly, e.g. by activating Siri or the navigation app while listening to music, either via the iPhone/CarPlay app (e.g. Apple Music or Spotify) or the head unit’s CD/radio tuner. The adapter handles the different types of audio (music, voice/siri, phone call, ringtone) properly and allows the head unit to store separate volume levels for all of them. So you can, for example, turn up your music while still receiving instructions at an appropriate volume.
However, the adapter-side audio decoding has one major drawback. There is a notable audio delay, which can be mitigated to some extent by the Media Delay setting in the adapter web interface. The interface can be accessed via the web browser on the iPhone (URL = http://192.168.50.2) while Wireless CarPlay is connected. The media delay can be reliably set to up to 300 ms, resulting in flawless audio in most cases. However, this still results in an effective delay of about 1.5 seconds.
Wireless Android Auto Erfahrung
One of the interesting features of the CP2A Wireless Android Auto integration is that the car does not need to support Android Auto for it to work. Wireless Android Auto is converted to Apple CarPlay, which makes sense since there are head units that support Apple CarPlay but do not support the Android equivalent.
This cross-conversion between Wireless Android Auto and CarPlay seems to work better than expected, as the two protocols are sufficiently similar. Over a three-hour period, the user only had one failure. Navigation through the user interface feels laggy compared to wireless CarPlay through the adapter and also to wired Android Auto with the phone connected directly to the MIB2. Out of the box, the projection of the Android Auto screen through the CP2A adapter seemed to have a higher resolution, which was due to a different DPI setting. Here’s how Android renders its Auto projection at different DPI settings:
CarlinKit’s default setting is in the native 120 dpi range of the MIB2 screen (8″ @ 800×480). The default Android Auto of the MIB2 uses 160 dpi, which results in less displayed space. However, the more visually appealing display via the CarlinKit adapter at ~120 dpi comes with smaller icons that are harder to hit, text that is harder to read, and also increased input lag.
After increasing the DPI to 160 in the adapter’s settings, the look and feel became more similar to standard Android Auto on the car’s MIB2 and its 8″ screen, with the user interface becoming more responsive and easier to navigate.
Android Auto via the CarlinKit adapter may require a bit more customization compared to its Apple counterpart, which may also depend on the Android phone model used, its performance and/or Wi-Fi capabilities.
Wireless Android Auto uses the Bluetooth Hands-Free Profile (HFP) to make phone calls, resulting in slightly less delay compared to Wireless CarPlay.
Webschnittstelle & Unterstützung
Carlinkit Adapter still enjoys lively support from Carlinkit, who are constantly fixing bugs and improving compatibility and performance. A recent upgrade included significant changes to the design and functionality of the web interface. The home page now displays detailed information about the status of the adapter’s hardware, which can be helpful when troubleshooting problems. Those of us who are passionate about technology will certainly celebrate this feature. With newer firmware versions, it is possible to customize the logo of the shortcut that takes you back to the car infotainment menu. WLAN and Bluetooth device names can also be customized.
Dann gibt es eine Handvoll Konfigurationsschalter, die dazu gedacht sind, Kompatibilitätsprobleme mit den CarPlay-Integrationen bestimmter Auto- und Head-Unit-Hersteller zu lösen.
Der WLAN-Kanal kann bei Interferenzproblemen geändert werden. Beachten Sie jedoch, dass der letzte auswählbare Kanal 165 nur 20 MHz breit ist und die Bandbreite effektiv auf ein Viertel begrenzt. Was die WLAN-Sicherheit betrifft, wäre es wahrscheinlich sinnvoll, auch das Passwort ändern zu können. Dadurch würde das Sicherheitsproblem des fest kodierten Passworts behoben, während gleichzeitig die Möglichkeit erhalten bleibt, sich bei Problemen manuell mit dem Adapter zu verbinden. Eine Passwortänderung würde jedoch erfordern, dass alle Geräte erneut gekoppelt werden.
The OTA update mechanism is pretty straightforward. Simply visit the help page of the web interface via a browser on the connected cell phone and click on “Check update”. If an update is available, you will be prompted to install it. Note that firmware images are downloaded via your cellular plan. However, these files are rather small and are usually around 10 MB in size.
Make sure the car’s engine is running while you update the firmware to prevent the USB from going into power saving mode or turning off completely. Also, do not connect your phone to the USB port of the adapter (or any other device) to avoid possible interference, be it from the power or data side.
The main quirks of the web interface are some missing translations and the MIB2 headunit sometimes freezing when restarting the adapter after changing settings for the changes to take effect. Suppose the CarPlay session is not terminated properly.
Verdict
The Carlinkit adapters have made significant progress over time and most of the major issues with the V2 adapter have been resolved. However, there is no guarantee of a worry-free experience as the Carlinkit adapters are based on reverse-engineered CarPlay and Android Auto protocols and therefore may experience compatibility issues with certain cars or head units. It is also the reason why there is no Made for iPhone logo, which means that the Carlinkit 4.0 is not an Apple certified product.
For cars that already support wired Android Auto, the Carlinkit 2air adapter can also be an option, which is more of a direct pass-through from wireless to wired Android Auto than a cross-conversion to Apple CarPlay.
With iPhone-only use, the experience of my setup came close to perfection. However, the MIB2 infotainment system in my car is pretty cutting edge, without fancy things like a huge dynamic screen or oddly shaped display. However, to give the “functionality” and “overall rating” categories five stars, the author would like to see long presses of the steering wheel’s skip buttons work to seek audio without resorting to the mobile interface, as well as the ability to switch between paired iPhone and Android devices.
Overall, the Carlinkit 4.0 (CP2A) 2-in-1 adapter is a good option for those looking for wireless CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, but there are still some compatibility issues that should be considered.
Frequently asked questions
What functions does the Carlinkit 4.0 adapter offer?
The Carlinkit 4.0 adapter offers many functions that can make driving more enjoyable. These include wireless connection to the smartphone, support for Android and iOS operating systems and the ability to play music and videos directly via the car radio.
Is the Carlinkit 4.0 compatible with all vehicle models?
The Carlinkit 4.0 adapter is compatible with most vehicle models that have a USB port. However, it is possible that certain models are not supported. It is therefore advisable to check compatibility with your own vehicle model before purchasing the adapter.
How is the Carlinkit 4.0 adapter installed and set up?
Installing the Carlinkit 4.0 adapter is simple and straightforward. First, the adapter must be plugged into the vehicle’s USB port. The Carlinkit app must then be downloaded and installed on the smartphone. After opening the app, the adapter is automatically recognized and can be set up.
What improvements are there compared to Carlinkit 3.0?
Compared to the Carlinkit 3.0 adapter, the Carlinkit 4.0 offers many improvements. These include better compatibility with various vehicle models, a faster connection speed and improved audio and video quality.
Can updates for the Carlinkit 4.0 adapter be carried out wirelessly?
Yes, updates for the Carlinkit 4.0 adapter can be carried out wirelessly. The Carlinkit app automatically informs the user about available updates and offers the option of downloading and installing them directly via the app.
How do I solve connection problems with the Carlinkit 4.0?
If there are connection problems with the Carlinkit 4.0 adapter, this can have various causes. One possible solution is to unplug the adapter from the USB port and plug it in again. Restarting the smartphone or car radio can also help to solve the problem. If these measures do not help, the manufacturer should be contacted for further support.