Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
There’s no multi-user support, and it has a very basic amount of configuration options in its IP config menu. If you’re only connecting to just one of the supported platforms, and you’re after a no-frills 2-in-1 adapter that just works, thanks to being one of the lowest priced, this adapter is for the budget conscious that’s also looking for speed. 1. CarlinKit 4.0 CP2A 2-in-1 Adapter In the YouTube app everything ran fine and smooth with no significant or obvious drops in frames or audio being out of sync. The picture in picture mode is also present here like most other AI Boxes. It has an improved boot menu with config options that match its IP config menu, with some additional options to switch between full-screen and split-screen Android Auto. You don’t need to reboot to swap between CarPlay and Android Auto and this adapter does offer multi-device support. Swapping connections between multiple devices and platforms can be a bit hit-and-miss, which can be frustrating, and there isn’t any wired Android Auto support on this adapter either. So when you also factor in its relatively high price tag, I find it can’t quite compete against the remaining top three finalists when you compare what this adapter offers you for its price. One feature it does offer over the other finalists was a high-resolution CarPlay display. So if your CarPlay system has a high-resolution display, this adapter will take full advantage of that and offer more app icons per screen. 3. Herilary C3 2-in-1 Adapter Just like the MMB Max, this AI Box has one the best user interfaces out there, but underneath all this shiny exterior, its hardware limits its full potential with some below-average performance in particular app launching and low CPU and GPU benchmarking. So when compared to other AI Boxes in its price range, this adapter takes 5th place out of my Top 5 AI Boxes. So if you’re looking to do more than just watch videos, I believe you can do better by looking elsewhere.
It has great Wi-Fi specs that make it a solid performer for wireless CarPlay and Android Auto and its HDMI output port allows you to connect it to an external HDMI display. So after many extensive tests, I narrowed down my 11 finalists to just my top 5. All of these AI Boxes are worth looking at, yet some may offer better connections and features, so depending on what you want out of your adapter, you might find an AI Box in second or fourth place that is a better fit for you. 5. Exploter ApplePie Ultra This switch, in a way, allows for reduced false connections to the wrong device, should you be sharing the car with a driver that has a device on the other platform. If you both have the same issue, you face the same multi-device woes as any other adapter. This is MMB‘s current flagship AI box for Carplay systems which offers a faster chipset, a re-designed UI, featuring lots of additional functionality and visuals, as well as the usual 4G SIM and SD card support, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto support, and the use of Android Apps such as YouTube and Netflix on your CarPlay display. In the box you get the Android AI Box itself, all in its new blue-striped colour scheme. You also get a GPS module, antenna and fuse power cable should your car not come equipped with GPS to support the AI Box. There’s a bundled USB type-A to type-C braided cable to connect to your car’s CarPlay USB port, and if your CarPlay port uses USB-C you can choose to have a USB type-C to type-C cable shipped to you as well.It took me many months to bring this review to you. I had to wait months for a software update that would fix wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, and due to continued instabilities, I also had to have a second adapter sent over to me. So in short my time with the MMB Max wasn’t that great. It supports wired Android Auto also via its USB-A port and its fast Wi-Fi speeds are shared with the Ottocast U2-X Pro. Unlike the Ottocast though, its boot menu is very basic, and it requires a reboot to switch between platforms. So if you’re after a 2-in-1 adapter with video casting, this adapter stands out above the rest. 4. Ottocast U2-X Pro 2-in-1 Adapter The third place goes to the (her-ill-ary) Herilary C3 2-in-1 adapter. Like the MMB in 5th place, this adapter is also built off a closed Android operating system. Although it’s a newly released adapter, its makers have chosen to use Android 8 for its foundation. This decision gives this adapter an advantage over the other finalists by providing a fairly seamless YouTube and Netflix app experience alongside its 2-in-1 functionality. Unlike the MMB Max, I couldn’t get video casting to work with either my iPhone or Android, device, and after a good 30 minutes of trying, I soon gave up. Video casting on these adapters can be hit and miss at the best of times, so I find for the best experience, it’s best to play video directly from an installed Android app instead.
I couldn’t get The Nifty Box working on any portable CarPlay display, however, it worked fine on my Alpine and the Pioneer CarPlay receivers. Once powered, The Nifty Box displayed the same initial boot animation sequence as the MMB Max before ending on the same main home screen menu. The total boot-up time took 28 seconds, which makes it the second fastest AI Box to the Picassou 2 Pro from Ottocast and 3 seconds faster than the MMB Max. Main Menu Interface In second place we have the ApplePie Lite adapter from Exploter. This adapter certainly wins the most unique-looking adapter out of our finalists, but its racing looks also carry through to its boot speed and pairing performance, making it the fastest adapter in my test to boot into its rather basic menu screen, and the fastest to boot into wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. The Nifty Box is the second adapter I’ve tested that does true 60fps in its UI and apps. Yet even then, the graphics in some test games struggled to keep up with a decent framerate. So I wouldn’t let this 60fps support dominate your buying decision. Simple 3D games like Crossy Road had some frame drops and slight input lag, whilst its Vulkan GPU bench test came up very low against other AI Boxes running alternative chipsets. Wireless CarPlay & Android Auto Once connected, the Box 2.0 performs very well on both platforms, especially considering its lower Wi-Fi sepcs (see image below). It is surprisingly rapid, and very responsive with touch input and interaction. Resolution is kept intact (more importantly for Android Auto) and generally, this adapter has felt like this is the best it can get when using CarPlay or Android Auto wirelessly. Audio and calling sound decent with low enough delay (you’ll never beat wired), and overall, this adapter is well recommended for its overall performance verses the competition. Wi-Fi Spec Tests YouTube and Netflix apps ran fine and smoothly with no significant or obvious drops in frames or audio being out of sync. The picture in picture mode is also present here like most other AI Boxes.
You can also operate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wirelessly on your CarPlay display, stream local media files and output to a connected HDMI display. So in short, they are smart little devices that open new opportunities for your CarPlay display, and they are perfect if you find yourself in the car for long periods of time, or whilst you’re waiting for your EV to charge. 24 CarPlay AI Boxes Tested Most AI Boxes came with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, with the exception of one finalist that came with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which earned an extra point as more RAM helps with multitasking between running apps. The AI Box itself has the exact same dimensions and connection ports. The colour is clearly different, and the status light on the top is also there too. Inside the AI Box has had some minor upgrades. The processor, GPU, RAM and ROM are all the same as the Android 7 box, so sadly there’s no additional performance improvements to expect here, other than what the new Android 9 software brings. There is a new 5GHz Wi-Fi module now inside this box, so with that you get increased bandwidth for wireless CarPlay and also to your smartphone connection when tethering your mobile data to the AI Box.
It was the fastest AI Box to boot into the same launcher menu as its rounder brother. Yet I found it had average wireless performance in its MultiPlay app for CarPlay and Android Auto. The MMB Android AI Box is a great new dongle for CarPlay that replaces CarPlay with the Android OS system, to allow you to use Google Android apps and games on your CarPlay display, such as YouTube, NetFlix, Prime Video to even games like Candy Crush and many more.
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You only need at least 1GB so you can try any cheaper alternatives, just make sure it is from a good brand like SanDisk, Samsung, PNY. I tried a number of Bluetooth devices and peripherals, but I couldn’t connect to an ODBII device, and I was only able to get my alternative Bluetooth remote to work with it successfully, which the MMB Max could not. NiftyCity also sells a similar Bluetooth remote with an integrated keyboard, which makes it easier for browsing and text input. My Impressions It is the only finalist to support wired CarPlay passthrough, as well as wired Android Auto, should you wish to connect and charge your device and operate either platform with minimal lag. Its upgraded AutoKit menu supports multi-device support, and with the same Auto Connect toggle option from the boot menu, you can let the boot menu sit there without auto-connecting to the wrong device. Its launch speed in the 4 test android apps was high to good, not the best, but you will likely not see a significant difference between the speed of the top 4 AI Boxes. So if your use case can avoid these negatives, with this adapter’s ability to simply play local video and watch video from the two video streaming giants, this adapter has great value due to the video features it offers. 2. Exploter ApplePie Lite 2-in-1 Adapter
And finally, I looked at their price, including any available sales or coupons. Averaging out their cost I compared each dongle’s cost to how they performed in each previous test to give an idea of how much value they offer. My Top 5 2-in-1 Apple CarPlay Adapters Configuration and multi-user support can also be important, so I rated each dongle if they allowed any form of multi-device menu support and how well they could be configured to increase compatibility by tweaking certain settings within its IP config or system menu. Half of the adapters shared the same operating software, so they also shared the same basic configuration options. Only one adapter had a vast selection of configuration options available and one had none at all, which meant you had to rely on software updates to improve an adapter’s compatibility.This adapter simply takes the best elements from both of the two adapters in my top 5 wireless CarPlay adapters round up, and simply adds Android Auto support. As a result, this adapter is fast to boot and pair adapter for wireless CarPlay, and it comes in just 4 seconds slower than the fastest booting adapter for Android Auto. This is yet another, rather familiar looking AI box for Carplay systems that offers a medium-level processor, a modern UI with lots of additional functionality and visuals, and there is the usual 4G SIM and SD card support, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto support, video casting and video streaming from some pre-installed apps including YouTube, Hulu, Disney+ and Netflix on your CarPlay display. It was 1 of 2 finalists to offer dual Bluetooth support, and although it was the slowest to boot into its main menu launcher, it was the fastest to boot to wireless Android Auto. However, due to some poor Wi-Fi specs, it’s wireless experience can be a bit laggy and less as responsive than the other 4 finalists. Using its connecting app for wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, I tested bootup times of 20.23 for Apple CarPlay and 11.76 for Android Auto, which is one of the slower AI Boxes for CarPlay, and one of the fastest to launch into Android Auto – when it works. Connecting to Android Auto was not as reliable and at times a struggle to launch on my Google Pixel, requiring a restart to get it working after using CarPlay. Once in Android Auto, the resolution was larger for the high-definition display of the Pioneer compared to how it displays on other AI Box adapters. So in light of this, I would recommend the MMB Max for Android Auto. CarPlay on the other hand was fine, and like other MMB adapters, the Max makes it easier to configure the AI Box to auto-launch into CarPlay after its initial boot sequence. My Impressions Connection is as simple as pairing with the adapter over Bluetooth. Total boot time into CarPlay was 20 seconds and 23 seconds into Android Auto. Making the Box 2.0 one of the fastest wireless adapters I’ve tested. In comparison, its speed is 2 seconds slower than the CarlinKit 5.0 in Android Auto, yet the Box 2.0 is the fastest adapter into CarPlay by 3 seconds. Boot up into main menu and CP and AA times
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