Sony's in-car receivers have voice control, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto - Tech Guide

2022-07-01 20:17:08 By : Mr. Salvito Wang

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You can add the latest technology to your car with Sony’s new car AV receivers which offer full voice control for navigation along with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and HDMI connectivity to watch content while you’re parked.

The new XAV-AX6000 and the XAV-AX4000 have a 6.95-inch bezel-less flush display and offer full wireless smartphone connectivity so you can enjoy Apple CarPlay and Android Auto without the need to connect a cable.

The units also come with a GPS antenna, and it can all be controlled with your voice when you want to navigate, communicate or play music while you’re driving.

Apple CarPlay allows iPhone users to turn the Sony’s car AV receiver’s screen into a familiar home page with access to their apps to make phone calls, access music, audiobooks, messages and maps while still staying focused on the road.

Android users will naturally use Android Auto and have complete control with their voice just by saying “Hey Google” or by pressing the dedicated voice control button.

It has a 6.95-inch flush anti-glare display with capacitive touch screen so it can easily be seen at any time of the day or night.

Users can even customise the wallpaper to pre-set colours or using your favourite image from a USB device.

The Sony unit has HDMI connectivity so you can connect an external audio or visual source so you can view while you’re parked.

The XAV-AX6000 and XAV-XA4000 are both ready to connect to a reversing camera and can display the camera’s feed when the car’s transmission is shifted into Reverse.

And if it’s music quality you’re after, you can stream audio at 96Khz/24-bit thanks to Bluetooth wireless audio with bitrates up to 3x higher than conventional Bluetooth.

It’s FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) compatible. This is a file format like MP3 but lossless so signals are still compressed but you do not lose any quality.

Also on board is DSP for superior sound processing and adjustment so you can easily match the system to your car’s front and rear speakers and subwoofers.

The Sony XAV-AX6000 head unit has 5-Volt high voltage pre-out that offers clearer sound with less distortion.

Size-wise, the Sony head unit’s rear chassis has single DIN dimensions which gives you a lot of room under the radio for things like cable harnesses, steering wheel controls any integration boxes.

It also makes it possible to install the unit in vehicles that don’t have a lot of room behind the radio mounting area and prevented the installation of similar products from other brands.

The Sony XAV-AX6000 will be available from September and will be priced at $999.

The Sony XAV-AX4000 will be available from August and will be priced at $899.

Stephen is the Tech Guide editor and one of Australia's most respected tech journalists. He is a regular on radio and TV talking about the latest tech news, products and trends.

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