Pioneer AVH-W4400NEX

Anyone have one?

Looking for wireless Carplay. This one seems to have lots of features. I know the Alpine appears to be the popular choice, but I'm looking around. Do either work with the factory mic or will I have to mount the clip-on?

We can all agree the low-end stock head units are crap and I spend a lot of time in my truck. Time to upgrade.

Thoughts/opinions are welcome.

 

You will have to use the included mic. Place it in front of the gauge cluster and NOT on on the A pillar like so many people do. Your voice goes forward, not up. Call quality will be much better.

The pioneers are good radios, and the 4400 is no exception. Pull the trigger and you wont regret it.
Don't ground out the parking brake wire. Either wire it to the E-brake as you're supposed to, or get a micro bypass.

 

Micro bypass won’t work on the 4400 unless you don’t install the gps antenna or hook up vss

 

Have you seen/tested this? I have installed numerous Pioneer radios while having the GPS antenna and VSS hooked up, and a micro bypass worked fine. But I haven’t tried to bypass the 4400 yet. If it is different than the non-wireless CarPlay units, that would be odd.

 

I have and its only with the 4400. if you don't hook up the vss or gps antenna it is basically a 4200/4201 1330 or 2330. pioneer changed the 4400 and right now there is nothing available. if you don't hook up the gps antenna or vss yes you can bypass BUT your carplay can lag or struggle because its using the cell gps for location. there is no issues with ANY pioneer other than the 4400. thanks pioneer

 

Interesting.

I know FiveStar Car Stereo mentioned ina recent video that they tested one of the new wireless units with and without the gps and vss and didn’t notice any difference, but they also stated they don’t have any phone signal issues in their area so other’s results may vary

 

So I pulled the trigger...but changed my mind and upgraded from the 4400 to the AVIC-W8400NEX.

Confused if the micro-bypass will work on the 8400. Anyone?

 

congrats on the upgrade. just the screen alone makes ALL the difference in the world. as for the bypass on the 8400..... NOT needed!! can bypass it by the touch of a finger. just google 8200 or 8201 bypass. done and done

 

Thanks! I had read the thread but wasn't sure if that little trick was still available in the 8400.

 

yup.... do it all the time

 

Since you seem to be very knowledgeable on this, I'd love to ask you a couple more questions...

- Where do you suggest I mount the GPS antenna?

- I understand reusing the OEM factory mic isn't an option, so where do you suggest mounting the aftermarket? Better solution?

 

If you have factory nav you can use the same antenna. If not, what’s nice about the gps antennas is that it can see fine through plastic or dashes. Tacos And literally 99.9% of the time I will mount it inside the radio cavity. Whether it’s using the metal plate it comes with or a piece of double sided tape or a dot of silicon to keep it in place.
As for the mic.... many people pull the A pillar and mount it right around where the oil change sticker would go. That’s fine but I feel like I like it a little more centralized for passengers too. Plus it helps with the wind noise if not by the window. I will clip it to the headliners by the rear view mirror, I wrap my wires in Tesa tape ( cloth tape and overkill ) because I don’t want the wire to vibrate, then when I tuck it under the headliner I will use zip ties or wrap tesa tape round and round every 3-4 inches so it doesn’t sag or fall out of the headliner. Anything else ask away or pm me
David

 

Very helpful. Appreciate your reply!

Unfortunately I have an SR5 with the Entune Plus unit. I doubt my shark fin has the GPS antenna since the head unit doesn't use it.

 

No... it won’t BUT it doesn’t matter because you don’t need to see the gps ant.

When are you planning on putting the stereo in?
Also, what wiring harness are you going to use or did you use out of curiosity?

 

It should arrive on Thursday and I plan on doing the install this weekend. I bought the Maestro and associated cabling from Crutchfield.

Your advice is appreciated.

 

Good choice. My pleasure for any info given or needed.

Good luck.... it will be straight forward and you will enjoy. Pairing the WiFi to the phone for the wireless may be the hardest part. That’s not that bad either once you do it or watch some videos.

 

I'm using a bypass on my 8200NEX. It seems to be working, but the radio does say that the parking brake is improperly configured when the car starts moving. I suspect they just have a little code that says "If the parking brake is on and the car is moving, print this little dialogue box and make them click ok so we're not liable".

 

Success!!! Wooooo!!!!

It took me most of four hours, but I have an AVIC-W8400NEX playing Pandora over wireless Apple Carplay in my truck. The steering controls, GPS and back-up camera actually work as well. For a professional installer, this may be a fairly routine task, but I found the instructions pretty lousy for both the head unit and the Maestro. I'm not an idiot. (debatable) I'm a 37-yr electrical engineer who won't shy away from anything. It was a pretty fun and challenging evening.

I took a few pics along the way, so I may post an install thread tomorrow if anyone is interested. Crap, I may post the pics even if no one is interested.

 

Let's see how it looks. It's not easy getting all that stuff rammed into the dash. Good job! Prepare yourself for a premium auto audio entertainment infotainment experience.

 

Congrats!!!!.... glad you got it taken care of. Hard part is done and now to enjoy. Yes, post pics because it will help and encourage people to dump the factory and experience something awesome. Hard work pays off. Enjoy the fruits of your labor lol.
David