The Best Car Stereos: 5 Double DIN Head Units Compared

How we chose#

This is a research-based comparison, not a bench test. We pulled live Amazon listings for double DIN head units and compared them on the things a listing can actually prove: chassis size, screen size and type, whether CarPlay and Android Auto run wired or wireless, what preamp or subwoofer outputs exist, how deep the equalizer goes, and whether a camera is in the box.

We spread the five picks on purpose. There is a mainstream wireless CarPlay unit, a budget wireless CarPlay unit, a legacy brand receiver, a big screen unit and one with no screen at all. Ranking five near identical 7 inch Chinese touchscreens would tell you nothing.

Amazon returned no star ratings or review counts for any of these products, so nothing here is based on either. Where a brand does not publish a spec, we wrote that it is not listed rather than filling the gap with a guess. That gap is useful information by itself.

What to consider before buying#

Start with the honest part. The head unit price is rarely the total price. A dash kit, a wiring harness adapter and usually a steering wheel control adapter are all car specific parts you buy separately, and together they often add more than half the cost of a budget stereo. Kissound and SJoyBring both say this outright in their own listings. On top of that, some modern cars simply cannot take an aftermarket unit, because the factory screen also runs the climate control, the parking sensors and the settings menus. Check your exact year and model first, not the stereo.

Next, measure. Double DIN is a standard, but dash openings vary and the trim around them varies more. Get a tape measure into the car before you compare a single feature.

Then decide whether the stereo is the end of the project or the start. If it is the end, a unit like the Emeito 7075W with no preamp outputs is fine. If you plan to add an amplifier and a subwoofer later, you need preamp outputs now, and that pushes you toward the PLZ MP-902W, the Kissound KS1001 or the JVC.

Last, be realistic about where your sound is actually failing. If the music sounds thin and harsh, the problem is usually paper factory speakers, not the radio. A set of replacement car speakers will change more than a new head unit will.

Single DIN, double DIN and measuring your dash#

DIN is just a size standard for the hole in your dashboard. A single DIN opening is roughly 7 inches wide and 2 inches tall. A double DIN is the same width and about 4 inches tall. Every pick in this guide is double DIN, because that is what fits a touchscreen.

The number that catches people out is depth. A stereo has to fit in front of ductwork, brackets and a bundle of wiring, and some cars leave very little room. The Emeito 7075W is 2.36 inches deep. The JVC KW-SX88BT is 3-15/16 inches deep and JVC calls it a shallow chassis, which tells you the standard body is deeper still. Measure back from the opening as well as across it.

Width and height are easier to fix than depth. If your opening is a little too large, most units ship a trim frame. The PLZ MP-902W includes a 7.44 by 4.61 inch frame for exactly this reason. If your opening is too small, you need a dash kit cut for your car.

What else you have to buy#

Three parts turn a head unit into a working stereo, and none of them come in the box for your specific car.

The dash kit is a plastic surround that adapts your car’s opening to the standard double DIN shape. It is moulded for one model, so a kit for a 2012 Civic is useless in a Ranger.

The wiring harness adapter has your car’s factory plug on one end and bare wires on the other, colour coded to standard car audio colours. You connect it to the pigtail that came with the stereo, and the factory connector clips straight in. It means you never cut a wire in your car, which matters a lot if you ever sell it. Some cars also need an antenna adapter, because the radio aerial plug is not the standard one.

The steering wheel control adapter is the part people forget. Your volume and track buttons on the wheel talk to the factory radio over a data line the new stereo does not understand. An adapter translates it. Kissound recommends the PAC SWI-CP2 for its units. Without one, those buttons stop working the day you fit the new stereo.

If you already have a working stereo with wired CarPlay and this list of parts is putting you off, there is a cheaper route. A wireless CarPlay adapter plugs into your existing USB port and makes the wired connection wireless, with no dash kit, no harness and no wiring at all.

Preamp voltage, the spec that matters if you add an amplifier#

Preamp outputs are the RCA sockets on the back of a head unit. They carry a low level signal to an external amplifier, and the amplifier does the rest. If you ever plan to run an amp, the head unit has to have them.

Voltage is the part nobody explains. It is how strong that low level signal is. When the signal leaving the stereo is weak, the amplifier has to be turned up further to reach full output, and turning up the gain lifts the background noise along with the music. A stronger signal lets the amp sit at a lower gain, so the system stays quiet between tracks.

JVC publishes 2.5 volts on the KW-SX88BT and it is the only pick here that states a figure at all. The PLZ MP-902W lists two subwoofer outputs on a 4.2 channel preamp, the Kissound KS1001 lists dual subwoofer outputs, and neither says how many volts. Pioneer does not list preamp outputs on the DMH-1600NEX product page at all, which is strange for the most expensive unit here and means checking the manual before you plan anything. The Emeito has no preamp output listed, so an amplifier would need a line output converter tapped off the speaker wires. If a full system is the goal, read our guide to car amplifiers before you order the head unit.

Wired or wireless CarPlay, and what wireless costs you#

Wired CarPlay sends everything down the USB cable, and the same cable charges the phone. Wireless CarPlay does the handshake over Bluetooth and then moves the actual data over a direct Wi-Fi link between the phone and the stereo.

That Wi-Fi link is why wireless drains the battery. The phone runs a radio continuously for the whole trip, and it does that while the screen keeps waking for navigation, so a phone that would have arrived at 80 percent arrives at 55. On a short commute it does not matter. On a four hour drive it does, and you end up plugging the phone in anyway, just into a charger instead of the stereo.

The upside is real too. A wireless unit pairs by itself when you start the car, and that turns the stereo into something you use on every short trip rather than only on long ones. The PLZ, Emeito and Kissound picks all do wireless and wired, so you can switch based on the journey. The Pioneer DMH-1600NEX is wired only.

Final recommendation#

Most people replacing a tired factory radio should buy the PLZ MP-902W. It has wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, a real DSP with a 10 band equalizer, two subwoofer outputs for later, and a separate Bluetooth module that keeps calls clean. If the budget is tight, the Emeito 7075W does the same phone job and includes a camera for roughly half the price, as long as you accept that an amplifier is off the table. Buy the Pioneer DMH-1600NEX if you want a brand your installer already knows, a capacitive screen that responds like a phone, and 13 band tuning, and you can live with plugging the phone in. The Kissound KS1001 is the one to get if you follow navigation constantly and want a 10.1 inch screen, provided nothing important sits above your radio. And if your phone already handles the maps, the JVC KW-SX88BT drops the screen, publishes a 2.5 volt preamp output and gives you digital time alignment, which is the best sound per dollar on this list.