The Magic Box Android Auto is a revolutionary device that has transformed the way we use our smartphones while driving. This innovative gadget allows you to seamlessly connect your Android phone to your car's infotainment system and access a wide range of features and apps without having to take your hands off the wheel. With the Magic Box Android Auto, you can make hands-free calls, send and receive text messages, get turn-by-turn directions, listen to your favorite music, and even control your smart home devices, all through voice commands or through the car's touchscreen display. This means that you can stay connected and entertained while keeping your focus on the road, increasing your safety and minimizing distractions. Setting up the Magic Box Android Auto is a simple process. All you need is a compatible Android phone running Android 5.
Setup in 3 Easy Steps
My only guess as to the reason for this is that my truck has wireless carplay already and the Magic Box was constantly fighting my phone when re-started since it would try to connect to it 1st even though it was not plugged in. Both Android Auto and Apple Carplay work by connecting over BT, and then opening a backchannel peer-to-peer WiFi connection between the phone and the box.
All you need is a compatible Android phone running Android 5.0 or higher, a USB cable, and a car with a compatible infotainment system. Once connected, the device automatically launches the Android Auto interface, which is designed to be familiar and easy to use, with large icons and a simplified layout that is optimized for driving.
Review of "The Magic Box" AA/Carplay dongle
First off- not in any way affiliated with the company. I haven't seen any other reviews (or any info at all, really), so though I would write down some thoughts. This is for a wireless AA/Carplay dongle (sorry, should have said that in the title).
This went into a 2021 Rav4 Prime, which supports wired AA/Carplay. My wife is an Apple fan and uses Carplay, I'm an Android guy using Android auto (Oneplus 8T). I previously used a GiWiOS wireless adapter, which was about $80 on Amazon, and seemed to work well enough, but switching between AA and Carplay required rebooting, and about 50% of the time it wouldn't reconnect cleanly to the car without unplugging/plugging USB to the dongle. I figured I would try something else to see if it did a better job switching between wireless AA and Carplay.
I bought The Magic Box and The Magic Remote for about $400 total. Yeah, this thing is expensive. The box itself at a high level is fundamentally a small Android device with 4GB RAM and 64GB Flash running Android 11. It can connect to a car over a USB cable and (I think) talks Carplay with your car; which is weird, because it's running Android internally, but go figure. The touchscreen in the car works well enough with it. It also has an HDMI output, so I imagine you can use it like a FireTV dongle when travelling.
When booted up, it shows an Android UI with a bunch of app icons (I'll call this the "streaming UI"). The first thing to do is click the settings icon and connect to a WiFi AP. Where do you get a WiFi AP? Here's the first hitch- you either need your car to provide an in-car WiFi connection, or you need to turn on hotspot mode on your phone and use your phone as an AP.
Once you have WiFi configured, you can then login with your Google account, go to the Google Play Store, and install whatever other apps you like, including Netflix, Paramount, Disney, whatever.
The UI also has some special icons. One icon launches wireless Android Auto; another launches wireless Apple Carplay. You can then pair your phone (Android or Apple, respectively) with the Magic Box BT connection. I got Android Auto working fine, haven't gotten my wife's Apple Carplay working (but haven't tried much yet).
However, here's where the Magic kindof goes off the rails. Both Android Auto and Apple Carplay work by connecting over BT, and then opening a backchannel peer-to-peer WiFi connection between the phone and the box. But remember how earlier we had to pair the Magic box to an AP (either in-car or your phone hotspot)?- this is a different WiFi connection than that one, and neither the phone nor the Magic Box can use both concurrently.
Your phone can typically either use Android Auto or be in hotspot mode, but not both at the same time. So switching between the Magic Box streaming API and Android Auto required me to manually turn my phone's hotspot mode on and off to switch between the two.
Luckily, my car also supports in-car WiFi (as long as I pay ATT $16/month), so I figured I would try using that as my AP with The Magic Box. But it turns out the Magic Box also isn't smart enough to share its own WiFi connection between streaming and Android Auto. Pairing my phone over Android Auto worked fine, but whenever I returned to the streaming UI, I had to go into the settings app and manually turn WiFi back on. It works, but not at all seamlessly. At the very least, The Magic Box could be smart enough to automatically enable WiFi when switching back to it's UI. Even better would be if it could have implemented two WiFi channels (one for its AP connection, and one for Android Auto), and allowed them to remain connected concurrently.
I had hoped that the Android Auto integration was smart enough to somehow piggy-back on the peer-to-peer connection to my phone to use that as its access point to the internet, but it doesn't work that way. So it works, but switching between streaming apps and Android Auto requires quite a bit of manual reconfiguration.
Some other observations:
- The Magic Remote works fine, and makes it easy to type or select. I can see the value of this if I were using this thing as a fireTV-like device without a touchscreen. However, someone made the decision that the secondary key Fn values (e.g. all punctation/numbers) are shown as blue on black keys with no backlighting, so it's basically impossible to read if you're not in direct sunlight. I'm also surprised that the USB dongle that plugs into The Magic Box to connect to the remote sticks out quite far. I've seen BT dongles that were much smaller.
- One other annoyance: the car's steering wheel controls (skip forward/back) appear to not work when using Android Auto. This is pretty bad, and even the GiWiOS box could handle this correctly.
Edit: Sorry for the multiple postings. I've removed the dupes.
Edit 2: I ended up sending it back. There were just too many compromises given the price tag.
However, here's where the Magic kindof goes off the rails. Both Android Auto and Apple Carplay work by connecting over BT, and then opening a backchannel peer-to-peer WiFi connection between the phone and the box. But remember how earlier we had to pair the Magic box to an AP (either in-car or your phone hotspot)?- this is a different WiFi connection than that one, and neither the phone nor the Magic Box can use both concurrently.
One of the key features of the Magic Box Android Auto is its integration with Google Assistant, the powerful virtual assistant developed by Google. This means that you can simply say "Hey Google" and ask for directions, play a specific song, or even ask for the weather forecast, without having to take your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road. The Magic Box Android Auto also supports a wide range of third-party apps, such as music streaming services like Spotify, messaging apps like WhatsApp, and navigation apps like Google Maps, allowing you to access all your favorite apps and services in a safe and convenient way while on the go. Overall, the Magic Box Android Auto has redefined the concept of in-car connectivity, making it easier and safer to use our smartphones while driving. By bringing the power of our phones to our cars in a thoughtful and intuitive way, this innovative device has truly created magic on the road..
Reviews for "The Magic Box Android Auto and the Future of Autonomous Driving"
1. Jane - 1/5 - I was really disappointed with the Magic Boc Android Auto. First of all, the interface was confusing and difficult to navigate. It seemed like there were too many options packed into one small screen, and I could never find what I was looking for. Additionally, the voice recognition feature was terrible. It struggled to understand basic commands and often misinterpreted my requests. Overall, the Magic Boc Android Auto fell far short of my expectations and I would not recommend it.
2. Mark - 2/5 - The Magic Boc Android Auto was a letdown for me. While it had some useful features like navigation and music streaming, it lacked the seamless integration I was hoping for. The connection to my phone was unreliable and often disconnected for no reason. The touchscreen response was also sluggish and sometimes froze, making it frustrating to use while driving. I was expecting a more polished and user-friendly experience, but unfortunately, the Magic Boc Android Auto fell short of that.
3. Sarah - 2.5/5 - I had high hopes for the Magic Boc Android Auto, but it left me feeling unsatisfied. The overall performance was mediocre, with occasional lag and slow response times. The voice control function was hit or miss, and I found myself having to repeat commands multiple times. The lack of compatibility with certain apps was also a letdown. While it had its moments of usefulness, the Magic Boc Android Auto didn't meet my expectations and I don't think it's worth the investment.