Gen4 base radio - can it hook up to Android at all?

I moved from a new model Kia Ceed to the Gen 4 Prius. My wife has a new Kia Picanto. Take my word for it. Absolutely do not get the Kia if a Toyota is a choice. I'd describe the Prius Infotainment system as "It's not great, but it's not terrible". The Kia's is slightly better in some ways, worse in others, but overall marginally better.

However, the Prius is just an absolute dream to drive over the Kia. It's more comfortable, more responsive, far quieter (when not completely silent), uses half the fuel, the drive train is unequalled, and even if my Prius was 3x the price of a Kia, I would still absolutely choose a Toyota. The Prius is fun to drive, even after 18 months of ownership. The Kia is just another car.

But don't take my word for it. There's a reason the Prius is always ranked much higher (usually at or very close to the top) on many comparison sites, and Kias aren't.

 

Other than playing audio through Bluetooth or a headphone cable, and providing mobile data, phones don't interact with the current infotainment system. There are third party add ons that require some pretty scary fitting that can provide Android Auto support, while keeping things like the reversing camera.

If you're looking for native Android Auto sort, it doesn't do it. That being said, neither did either of the Kia's we owned (2016 models).

 

Doooo iiiiittt!

I can’t believe I waited a whole four days before gutting the factory system in ours. We put in a Sony with both Apple & Android connectivity and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I don’t want to buy a car that can’t be converted to aftermarket.

 

Any pics post install?

 

That’s a whole other topic. I was similarly frustrated when I was shopping. Then I realized… they’re all awful. There’s no sync at all between good vehicles and the infotainment systems inside them. And I could either sit around and complain, or I could plan to get a good aftermarket rig, build the cost into the budget and enjoy driving the benefits for a long time.

Yes and no. I bought it from Crutchfield. They also sold me several adapter devices and cable harnesses and mounting accessories. They offered to combine the various wire harnesses together into something that would have been plug-and-play, but I declined that additional service. I’m very comfortable doing my own wiring. I did retain the use of the rear vision camera, the overhead built-in microphone and the steering wheel controls. Each required a little adaptation but none was difficult or unexpected. The mounting kit and trim panel fit perfectly. It’s been in the car over a year now and everything still works properly. And now that I’ve got a generic mount and wire breakout, updating to the next whizbang thing will be even cheaper and easier.

 

Don't forget that "Leadfoot J. McCoalroller" has a different car - a PRIUS c. So nothing inside is the same.

But no, it doesn't use Android or Apple Auto/Carplay. Personally, I haven't missed it - I use USB sticks for PodCasts - but the quality of a CD is far better than either BlueTooth or Carplay for music.

The infotainment system has also some ECO displays too - not sure if you'd get them with the Pioneer?

 

I agree CDs are no longer needed. I'm genuinely surprised they're still so common.

However, the Prius Infotainment system does natively, and fully, support up to two USB drives with MP3/AAC files. So you can easily put your music onto one of those bean size USB drives (which you'll never even notice plugged in and won't get in the way), along with album art, playlists, etc, and you'll be able to play by album, artist, folder, genre, playlist, random, etc.

Assuming they're not ripped at a low bitrate (e.g. 128 or lower) there is no human ear on the planet that will be able to determine the difference to the original CD when played back on the car's audio system.

 

This is true, I have a different car. From what I’ve seen, this means a different mounting bracket and trim bezel would be required. I haven’t found a significant difference in the wiring or feature compatibility.

I did lose some car info displays- the eco stuff. It all seems to be duplicated on the upper display- at least as much as we care to see anyway. We always leave it on the “simple” mode where it just shows a fuel gauge anyway. We didn’t buy the car to push the edge of hypermiling, we just buckle up and drive and trust the computers to save us fuel. It’s been working.

 

Blue tooth works good for most folks. I use a USB 32GB FAT 32 stick with a high bit rate rip. The Prius system somehow always manages to mess up a few folders and randomly move songs to a location that can't be found.

Yep, you have to use the onboard Navigation system or just set you phone on the center console with voice and use the large screen for reference.

So great info hear!

 

CD quality is better, but mostly the presentation - particularly for classical music.

The big issue with MP3 USB drives is that it always re-sorts the tracks. And it's just wrong to have the Andante Movement first, followed by ... ugggh the Presto, and finally come to the Allegro - of another Symphony. Just wrong.

Yes, I know you can dummy each MP3 somehow - I wasted 3 days trying, thought it was all sorted, and then put them in the car, and PRIUS did it's own thing AGAIN.

 

I hear you... No pun intended.

So while professionals, in a studio or laboratory setting, using calibrated audio equipment that costs several times the cost of a new Prius, can determine the differences between CD audio and low bitrate MP3, the cutoff was 192Kbps, even for the professionals. For most people it is 160Kbps, and that's in the above setting. Outside of that scenario, such is using the relatively terrible audio hardware in a car, and in such a noise polluted environment, it's as low as 128Kbps.

That being said, many systems, including the Prius', have separate audio settings for each input (i.e CD and MP3), which means they're often adjusted by the user to be different and hence sound different. But that's nothing that can't be adjusted by them to be the same. Also, the MP3 itself can contain suggestions for audio adjustments. For example, mine have all been through analysis software and have the gain attribute set, so that all my MP3s are the same average volume when played back on hardware that uses that attribute. These, again, can make them sound different.

But, people's claims that MP3s sound worse than a CD, when all other variables are the same, is mostly urban myth, with a little bit of a 90s relic (very low bitrate, to reduce storage) thrown in.

So, yeah, they can sound different, and that difference can be worse (or better), but it's not the MP3s fault.

Anyway... My MP3s can play in the right order. I believe I tell it to play a folder, and the MP3s have file names that include the track number at the start, e.g.

01 - Some song.mp3
02 - Another tune.mp3

And so on.