Android Radio in Dacia Sandero 2014

Welcome in this "advice" guide in how to install an Android autoradio in your Dacia ! The following images are related to the Dacia Sandero Anniversary II Diesel of 2014, but it may defer from your model. Anything here is only my own experience, and the mistakes I did. The user of this tutorial will be held accountable for any damages incurred to his own vehicle ! It is still WIP, so it may change with the time. Also, sorry for my bad English, it is not my primary language.

Context

To put a perspective in this requirement list, you have to take into consideration that I am someone who is dumb. I forget a lot of things, and my brain keeps taking shortcuts in order to make my life worse. I am the kind of person who forget to pass a ring before fixing something, and have then to do it all over again. In addition to that, I have ZERO sense of direction. I mean I get lost in simple video games I play daily. A car without a GPS is for me a suicide attempt.

The basic solution: the smartphone

Today, buying a standalone GPS is almost something from the past. Almost everybody has a smartphone and a data plan, giving real time traffic info, for great apps such as Waze, Google maps,... (not Coyote app which is trash according to me). Having my phone fixed to a magnetic/pressure holder has always been a big downside for me. The GPS app drains its battery, it may fall, requires extra hanging cable to charge it, may heat it if fixed on the ventilation hole,... Also, I sometime forget to take my smartphone with me leaving him alone in my car, abandoned.

The advanced solution: the smart autoradio

Cheap cars (and sometime expensive ones) have all an autoradio. However, it seems it is a global convention that this autoradio is trash. You can have sometime a jack or USB port, or even bluetooth if you are in the lucky section, but it remains something really basic. To make it even worse, some car manufacturers don't make standard radios, they make some kind of rounded special shape which is not standard. Even the connectors are sometime some kind of exotic trash designed by a drunk lobster. The solution ? Our Chinese friends (I lie, they only want our money) have a whole catalog of smart radios, at different prices and with different specifications. You can often find on some big website a whole panoply of smart radio running Android, but it also comes with downsides.

The requirements for my radio were the following:

* 4G connectivity: (I sometime forget my smartphone, and it is always useful for Music/GPS traffic/call for help when your phone is broken). Also, having the 4G connectivity allows you to keep your phone in your pocket, and make your autoradio completely autonomous.

* Recent Android/correct specifications: Installing a radio in your car is not a super funny operation, and it also has a cost. When you have done it, you expect to have it done for the rest of the life of your car which is some years. Given that, having an already outdated piece of technology will get even worse knowing apps get bigger and bigger, and that the support you get with your device will stop once received. You will get no Android updates, no hardware replacement possibility, nothing. It's you and the radio, alone against the world.

* Decent sound: I wanted a DSP chip in order to make it sound better, and have the possibility to lower the volume of each speaker independently. My motor makes a lot of noises, so I need higher volume for the front seats than for the back seats.

* Basics: It's obvious, but I wanted at least one USB port, a GPS antenna, WiFi, Bluetooth and a microphone. The CD player and the hardware buttons were optional/downsides because they are useless for me and take screen size. However, I wanted integration with the media command on my steering wheel.

- A Dacia car (in my exemple, Dacia Sandero Anniversary II Diesel of 2014)

- An Android radio (in my case, I choose the kapud 8'' Android 10.0 4GB RAM and 64GB storage + 4G connectivity)

- Basic tools, such as a set of Torx screwdrivers

- (optional) Masking tape

- (optional) Some rigid wire

- (optional) Some small zip ties

The radio I choose is available from Aliexpress here. I took the 4GB RAM / 64 GB storage version for about 200€ + importation. I took this one because it was matching my specs, but I think there may have some better options, but here is my review:

Positive points:

* It fits perfectly in my car, making the illusion that Dacia was capable of making a decent autoradio !

* The SIM slot is deported with a cable, allowing you to replace it without taking out the whole radio (even the manufacturer knows that it is a pain in the ass).

* It has a great connectivity if you want to connect your own amplifier.

* The multimedia command works like a charm.

* It doesn't do a cold boot at car startup, meaning you don't have to wait too long before it's usable.

* It runs Android 10 which is kinda recent.

Negative points:

* Worst point according to me: The CABLE LENGTH ! There is a place where, in your windshield, you have the possibility to put antennas and other transmitting devices, because the windshield basically blocks all RF signals. It is at the rearview mirror on top center of the windshield. You can identify the region because it has some black dots. However, the cables of this radio doesn't allow to get there, they are at least 30 cm too short ! Even worse, to get as close as possible from there, you have to live with the idea that changing something in your installation will require you to detach the 4G & GPS antennas, which are glued. Really not great.

* The unit comes with ZERO user manual. You will have to guess/read the reviews/read the product page before installing it.

* The Android UI is really not super customisable, and I find it ugly. Worse, the CAN bus integration, DSP control, Bluetooth audio mode etc. have to be used from their ugly launcher ! Meaning that if you install something such as Nova, you won't have access to these settings anymore. I am still trying to get it working, any update will be posted here.

* No "which door is open" popup. The Chinese Android radio of my wife has this capability, but she drives a VW and it may be that the CAN bus info related is simply not present in my car.

* At night, the brightness is really too high even set to lowest possible. I am currently looking for some kind of dimming screen cover in order to mitigate this.

* The fluidity for a 200+€ radio is not acceptable according to me. It is laggy even with its octa-core and its 4GB of RAM.

* The WiFi coverage is really not great. An external antenna would have been a serious bonus.

* You will receive ZERO updates, even the menu to check for updates is not available in my version. Also, you only have some basic settings, no general dark theme or so.

* 4G/GPS/Microphone antennas are glued meaning that if you want to move your radio or replace your windshield, It will be a pain in the ass.

Your embedded radio is normally removable and fixed with 4 Torx screws in my case. To access them, you have to remove the cover which is clipped together. It is not an easy operation, even with the tools supplied with the radio. I damaged a part of the cover, not knowing it was in fact made from two pieces of plastic. I also had to reassemble the two parts before putting it back. In my setup, you also have to remove the cable for the central lock of the car to access the radio. There are no screws holding them, but they require some force.

There is another cover (having the car side windows buttons) that you can also unclip in order to have a nice access for your USB connectors and 4G SIM slot. You will feel two little holes below, which gives enough grip to pull it. Don't go too far, there are plenty of cable connected to this panel. Use the two holes to make the USB/4G cables pass. Then, clips it back once in place.

The third cover to detach is the one used to mask the cables going to your roof (for the lamp I guess). It is also a plastic piece to pull.

To pass the cables, I first put one of the connectors in the hole on the bottom right of the windshield, going behind the storage compartment of the car (see illustration). You have plenty of space behind the storage compartment, but reaching the cable from the radio hole is difficult. I used a rigid cable to catch and pull it. Then, use masking tape to stick the others needed cables (I have three cables going this way: GPS, 4G and microphone) to the one already in place, and get there to destination with a back and forth movement. The roof cover is not really fixed, so you can push the cables under it until reaching as close as possible from the top center of the windshield (only if you can live with the idea of having the radio permanently fixed).

Now, you have to connect all the remaining connectors, and don't forget any of them ! If you attach the antennas like I did, you have only one try ! Check also if the CAN bus is working properly.

Glue the antennas ONLY when everything is tested and working, so you can get the maximum cable length if the impossibility to remove the radio is not an issue for you. If it is, try to find a nice place to put the antennas closer from the radio to gain some cable length (to be able to remove the radio).

Once everything is tested, screwed and clipped back together and finally glued, you can enjoy your new radio ! I hope this was helpful and avoided some kind of struggling in how to do it !