Kenwood Single DIN Bluetooth CD/AM/FM USB Auxiliary Input Car Stereo Receiver w/ Dual Phone Connection, Pandora/Spotify/iHeartRadio, Apple iPhone and Android Control with ALPHASONIK EARBUDS

Having just purchased this and using for about a week now, I thought a review would be in order. Where to start? Well lets talk about its design first. The unit is VERY aesthetically pleasing to look at and has a sleek nice black finish really complementing the factory appearance on the dash. The display is VERY simple and bright, but not obnoxious either. It's very easy to read and has a dimmer setting in case you find it overwhelming at night which I don't at all. Settings and equalization is VERY straightforward and makes perfect sense. The volume knob is ergonomic and easy to feel unlike those stereos with the flush knobs that you can barely adjust without hitting 4 buttons. Overall the look and quality of this unit is second to none! Now for sound quality. The volume ranges from 0 to 35 and for those of you reading who have tuned an amplifier know that it starts with the all the gain down and the headunit EQ zeroed out. I started slowly increasing the volume waiting for it to distort, 15...20...28...33 and finally 35. Crystal clear. I mean not a lick of distortion at max volume. I played it safe though and set my preferred max level at 28 before the amp was turned up. As I had previously mentioned the equalizer works beautifully slowly adding nuances into your music, and this unit features a bass boost setting which surprisingly doesn't distort either! It just adds Crystal clear sound. I'd rate the sound quality of this unit 11 out of 10 because there is nothing that comes close. I've had numerous Pioneer, Sony, and alpine units but this one blows them away and for the price? I must say I was skeptical with how little I spent but I put my faith in reviewers and glad I did. I saved my favorite part for last. The main reason I looked at this Kenwood was because because I am very picky about factory appearances. I hate Euro taillights, body kits, rims and just about anything the manufacturer of the car didn't design for it. I wasn't thrilled about an aftermarket radio because all the ones today have big chrome knobs, and cheap finishes with stupid designs and laser light shows. Features like that may be attractive to ricers and teenage kids, but not a mature listener who would rather take sound quality and a quality build over a cheap laser light show radio with the 10,000 useless features that are just excessive junk anyway. This kenwood was the cleanest, best looking, simple, best sounding unit I've ever seen in my life. For the price I can't understand why you are still reading this and not entering your credit card info yet. Extremely happy and more then recommend!!!!

CONSThe curved, glossy surface attracts dust and scratches.The removable faceplate is sometimes difficult to plug in; it tends to get wedged at an odd angle.It does NOT read UDF discs (called Live File System in Microsoft Windows), only ISO 9660 (CDFS).MP3 discs are a pain to navigate, especially if you dump all the MP3s into the root of the drive. Placing each album in a folder with the album title works okay.ID3 and CD Text information needs to scroll a lot faster.The screen is not readable in direct sunlight, but that's a common problem.Screen brightness is buried in the menus. It ought to be more prominent, since it's not automatic like the OEM unit.This looks very nice in my Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. I used Mounting Kit-FMK550 (Amazon product B00006JPA1) for a clean fit. The installation instructions were easy to follow and written in real English.PROSThis unit sounds decent with my OEM speakers. It's not very flat; I think Kenwood boosted higher frequencies typically muffled in cars. The result is agreeable, though I sometimes reduce the treble -1 or -2, especially for audiobooks or classical.The "bass boost" feature is nice for casual listening. It adds some kick without sounding strange, as long as you stay at Level 1. Bass Boost Levels 2 and 3 sound ridiculous. Also, the Bass Boost seems to attenuate some mid-range frequencies. I only notice it with classical and Owl City.I initially though a remote for a car stereo was a silly idea, but it's actually quite convenient. The buttons are well-planned and have nubs and shapes, so I usually don't have to look at them. I feel much safer not having to lean forward or take my eyes off the road.Playing regular audio CD's is very pleasant. It reads quickly and resumes playback when turning the car on/off. It doesn't remember position when swapping between multiple discs. I didn't really expect it to, but that sure would be nice when swapping between music and sermon CD's on long drives. You might wonder why I don't just use an MP3 player. I do sometimes, but being able to use the remote to navigate makes CD's more attractive. CD's also don't require cables hanging off the dash, battery chargers, etc.Sure, it's not audiophile grade, but it's worlds better than most stock units. It also doesn't look like a punk art project. Those flashy, bells-and-whistles receivers usually have poor ergonomics and insane menu structures. Kenwood obviously put some effort into making this human-friendly instead of just adding LED's. :)

I’ve had this radio for a couple months now, it was a fairly easy install and sounds really good for the price. The only issue I have with it is when I turn my truck on, the Bluetooth audio says connected but won’t transmit any audio until I change the function, and then back to Bluetooth again. Overall it’s a pretty nice radio with some minor problems.