Hey guys. I'm pretty new to this forum. I bought my Bighorn a couple of weeks ago and have loved all of the suggestions/advice on these posts.
After reading all of the reviews on here, I decided to go ahead and buy one of these. I ordered express shipping, and it got to me today (6 days between order and delivery). I started receiving tracking info on the third day from DHL. That being said, they were constantly sending me texts about changing my delivery option so that it did not require a signature, in order to remove them from any liability (I assume in case the package was broken in transit). I didn't, of course, since I've never dealt with them before. Regardless, the driver delivers, and leaves before I can get to my door, so no signature was required anyway. So if anyone else comes across DHL asking them to change the delivery method, I don't recommend it since it transfers the liability to you, and because they deliver it without your signature anyway.
But back to the product. As has been stated multiple times on this thread, it is pretty intuitive. I followed all of the advice given on here (no connections to any bluetooth or WiFi on the first install). It took about 10-20 seconds for the device to recognize my iPhone 7+. It didn't require a firmware update and it started working once it was connected! Music comes through crystal clear and google maps works really well.
Some things I have noticed about this product after just one day of use:
- I tried "hiding it in the small recess where the CD play was supposed to go. I found that if it was jarred in any way (small pothole or sharp turn) it would disconnect and want to reconnect. I verified this by wiggling the usb connecter a little while it was plugged in. I assume that its just sensitive to the physical connection, so I moved it to the small section on the right of the phone holder to keep it put. It fit snug and hasn't presented any connection issues since (pictures below).
- Pandora can be a little finicky, but I found that it is a CarPlay issue and not attributed to this product. Pandora likes to freeze up on occasion when I switch over to other apps and back. But I was able to recreate the problem when there was a physical connection from my phone to the truck, without this product.
One thing that may or may not be attributed to this product (or CarPlay) is that google maps was very low on volume compared to the music that I was playing when I was driving down the road. I found that I could adjust the volume for google maps whenever it was giving me prompts, so I was able to "fix" the problem by waiting until it gave me directions and turning up the volume while it "spoke". This didn't affect the music volume, so I was happy with that. I haven't had the chance to recreate the issue, so I'll check it again when I get the chance. But in case anyone else has had this happen to them, I was wondering if anyone knew what I could do to set the navigation volume to max without having to wait for it to give me directions first.
All in all, I really like this product. The fact that it connects automatically is a plus for me. And I love that it also gives me a battery indicator for my phone that I can see without having to look at my phone. It works as advertised.
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I am guessing it would be similar as the technology requires that the phone connect via BT and then initiate a Wi-Fi connection. Could be 8-10 seconds based on the fact it is integrated into the head unit, but it will still take time.
