Phoenix PX6 Review...

[Wittbrij]

Update: For all those who have complained about losing Outside Ambient Air Temperature (including me), it is available to be read by the Torque Lite OBDII App available for free on Google Play. I got the OBDII "vertical screen" reader from Phoenix when I purchased the head unit, and finally got around to installing it. It works very well, and I find myself using it quite often when driving. Especially since the screen is not as bright as having the radio software glaring in my eyes with bright blue at night.
The App itself is very simple to use, only takes up about 5MB of memory, and loads very fast when you start it. All data pops right up within seconds of starting the car. It's quite good for being a free app.
About the only downside, is I have to manually start the App when starting the car to bring it up. So, to make that easier, I programmed the custom app launch button next to the radio icon to start Torque Lite. Hmmmm.....If only I could get the head unit to start this app automatically on startup.

I used tasker to program torque pro to launch automatically, and programmed the "home" button to redirect back to torque. You can program torque to boot right to the monitor screen. There's also "widget for torque" by the same developer that allows any torque monitor, like ambient air to sit over top the home screen.

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[Condor1970]

I used tasker to program torque pro to launch automatically, and programmed the "home" button to redirect back to torque. You can program torque to boot right to the monitor screen. There's also "widget for torque" by the same developer that allows any torque monitor, like ambient air to sit over top the home screen.

Can the Volume dial, and the Station/Song advance Dial be programmed to have Fan Speed and Temperature?

It would be so nice if I could control the fan speed and temperature without having to use the pop up touchscreen. It is very difficult to do while driving. Dials are so much easier.

 

[Wittbrij]

Can the Volume dial, and the Station/Song advance Dial be programmed to have Fan Speed and Temperature?

It would be so nice if I could control the fan speed and temperature without having to use the pop up touchscreen. It is very difficult to do while driving. Dials are so much easier.

I'm sure it could be programmed. You can change the 6 buttons to the left/right off the screen to do other functions, like fan speed.

 

[Condor1970]

I'm sure it could be programmed. You can change the 6 buttons to the left/right off the screen to do other functions, like fan speed.

I know, but there's not provision to program the dials. I am not a programmer, so I have no idea how to write some code to do that. I wish there was an easy way, since it's just a digital switch, like the other touch screen buttons.

 

[Condor1970]

What was I thinking?!?! I was so concerned about trying to make the original voice command Ford Sync player work for my music files, I never spent the time to try out the music player software that comes with the head unit. The Music player is quite good, and sound quality is FAR SUPERIOR. I'm sure some after market Player Apps will be even better. This one however, will suffice quite nicely for now. I figured out, in order to make this player work with my USB thumb drive files, I had to plug it into the extra USB cord I ran under the glove box (as it wouldn't work with the USB port by the stick shift). One of the nicest things, is I set it to play full screen so it shows all of my albums to easily scroll through and select. When in full screen, the player also allows me to grab the little "dot" and slide it to fast forward or reverse. Can't do that with the Sync software provided. Frankly, it and it's DSP SUCKS compared to any decent media player!!!

I can't wait to try out some other music player apps, since sound quality is my thing. Don't care much about video.

I'm was using one USB plug for the dash cam, and now the other for my music files. I can see perhaps getting a much larger than this mini-32GB drive, in order to include some video files, like movies for the wife to watch when we take trips.

One problem, is it DOES NOT show the Album name or Artist. It always says "Unknown". I wonder if it has to do with saving all the files in WMA format??? I thought that format would also save all thumb data?!?!

Anyway, the real beauty of any decent music player, is it has a function EQ, and a "Loudness" option to boost the low end noise. I really like this when listening to older recordings, because all their older recordings seem to sound better with the loudness turned on.

I can finally hear "The Axe" in all his glory!

 

[Condor1970]

Question: When I go to the Browse tab, How do I get it to list all my Album files in Alphabetical Order?

 

[tinman760]

I bought the Phoenix PX6, SIX core, Android 8, and am having alot of the same issues that you all are having. Really with there was a better looking desk top. Hard to read at 70+. This seems to be more suited for programmers, than gear heads. I am getting very frustrated trying to get it set up, the way that I want it. I really need the outside temperature, as I live in the High Desert, and it does snow from time to time. I may need to go back and check my connections. I am having problems with my courtesy lights, when I shut off the car. Only the right side lights come on. They all worked before I took apart the dash, and installed the HU. Anyone else have an issue such as this? I thought maybe it was a switch in setup. Euro parking lights or something? I am going to check out the other "firmware" which you spoke of earlier in the post. Thanks for the thread.

 

[stone36441]

to the op and all who have bought one of these units, I am currently on the fence and about to pull the trigger but would like to know if any have had issues with the unit causing your battery to run dead? also would like to know if you use forscan to enable the drive modes are you then able to switch modes with the toggle switch. lastly do you need to retain your factory cd player/radio after you install this unit?

 

[Condor1970]

to the op and all who have bought one of these units, I am currently on the fence and about to pull the trigger but would like to know if any have had issues with the unit causing your battery to run dead? also would like to know if you use forscan to enable the drive modes are you then able to switch modes with the toggle switch. lastly do you need to retain your factory cd player/radio after you install this unit?

I have had no issues with the battery as of yet. But then, I drive my car as a daily driver, so I haven't let it sit for more than about 5 days without being driven yet. As far as drive modes, I personally have the base model. Only drive mode is the stick shift and gas pedal. I do believe if you get the "Premium" version of the PX6 Unit, the toggle switches work the same, since the programming for drive modes is in the cars ECM, and not the stereo.

Yes, it uses the original factory stereo unit mounted behind the center panel. The sacrifice is no more CD player.The plugs are designed to plug right into the OEM factory unit. However, there is nothing preventing you from splicing in an aftermarket Amplifier, or perhaps even getting an aftermarket CD changer under the seat or dash. It has 2 extra USB cables that could be used with some CD changers available.

Personally, if I wanted a boat load of extra music, I would get a 256GB Thumb drive to just leave plugged in and tucked away under the dash. The Unit does have 64GB of internal memory, so it easily stores a couple hundred albums of MP3 music.

 

[carter242000]

I just installed the 10.4 Px6 4gb 64gb Phoenix Automotive tesla radio and everything works except the damn sound. It shows the mute symbol but volume setting is all the way up. Any ideas? 2019 Ford Mustang ecoboost base model with a 4 in display but sync 3 module w/sync 1 software apparently

 

[Wittbrij]

I just installed the 10.4 Px6 4gb 64gb Phoenix Automotive tesla radio and everything works except the damn sound. It shows the mute symbol but volume setting is all the way up. Any ideas? 2019 Ford Mustang ecoboost base model with a 4 in display but sync 3 module w/sync 1 software apparently

When you trigger the sync voice button do you hear the tone?

 

[carter242000]

When you trigger the sync voice button do you hear the tone?

You mean on the steering wheel?

 

[carter242000]

You mean on the steering wheel?

Have never tried honestly. I'll check

 

[Wittbrij]

Have never tried honestly. I'll check

The reason, the android.unit has no amp. It's just a line level device. You retain the ford amp/radio/sync. I think* the back up sensor tones come from the ford amp/radio. If you don't hear anything from the sync voice button or back up sensor you probably removed or didn't get the cable seated in the ford amp/radio. I did that first too

 

[carter242000]

The reason, the android.unit has no amp. It's just a line level device. You retain the ford amp/radio/sync. I think* the back up sensor tones come from the ford amp/radio. If you don't hear anything from the sync voice button or back up sensor you probably removed or didn't get the cable seated in the ford amp/radio. I did that first too

Oh okay thank you for the information. I have no sync voice

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