So I have owned a 2016 IS200T and a 2019 IS300 and over the last few years, I have been on a bit of a quest to find the best wireless Carplay solution for our cars.

What I have owned so far:
2016 IS200T
Lexion Carplay and screen replacement
4x4shop.ca Carplay and screen replacement

2019 IS300
Lexion Carplay module
4x4shop.ca Carplay module
Beat Sonic S-Connect module

With the 2019 having the factory 10.25 screen, the screen doesn't need to be replaced with an Android screen. You are simply installing the harness for the radio and the box (or boxes) for the Carplay/Android Auto setup. I thought I would give some general thoughts now that I feel like I have found the best solution.

First off, EVERY wired and wireless unit that adds Carplay and Android Auto to our cars, uses AUX to play audio except Beat Sonic. Even if you are using wireless Carplay to play music through the unit, it is using the AUX source of your Lexus to play to the unit, which then is played through the Bluetooth connection of the unit itself. The only unit on the market that uses the Lexus native factory Bluetooth for calls and audio is Beat Sonic S-Connect which was a huge reason for me to shell out the 750 bucks even after already owning a Carplay unit. I was generally happy with all the units that played through AUX however I was not happy that the audio was slightly degraded but most of all, I was not happy with call quality through these units when making phone calls. Call quality on Lexion and 4x4shop.ca was terrible. Even with the replacement screen units coming with microphones to route, people could barely hear me and many would complain about echoing to the point I couldn't use the car for calls. This eventually led me to stop using the units and revert back to the factory infotainment. Calls were so bad on Lexion and 4x4shop.ca that my kids would be shouting in the back to say hey to mom on the phone but it wouldn't register. The way they process Bluetooth calls were terrible

Fast forward to Beat Sonic S-Connect. When I saw that this is the only unit on the market that uses the factory Bluetooth for audio and calls so I knew that at the very least, music quality would be the same but most of all, calls would be through the factory bluetooth. Here are some findings on the various units:

Lexion with replacement screen, and Lexion for 10in screens:
Pros:
Resolution is very good on the replacement screen and factory screen
Mouse works well for those with nav
Pretty consistent booting into Carplay
Wired or wireless Carplay and Android Auto
The amount of settings to adjust made it very customizable

Cons:
Customer service was absolutely non-existent. In fact I am not even sure Lexion is around anymore
Everything went through AUX for audio
The unit had its own Bluetooth connection and call quality was terrible
Super slow boot times, sometimes up to 60 seconds and beyond after the car was started
Lexion did not make the units, they were merely a reseller
Shipped from China or South Korea (I can't remember) and it took forever
AUX audio for all audio which is degraded
Poor phone call quality
Poor connection quality

4x4shop.ca with replacement screen, and for 10in screens

Pros:
Ships from Canada so the lead times were very low and you could rush ship for very little extra cost
Customer service is pretty good, in terms of response time
The resolution is good on both units
Fairly consistent booting, although sometimes the screen would just be black

Cons:
4x4shop.ca units are made by Champion, so they are just a reseller
Long boot times and sometimes it would boot black, and you would have to constantly click the back button to get the screen to show
Mouse scrolling was not as good as Lexion
Bluetooth would actually disconnect now and again.
AUX audio for all audio which is degraded
Poor phone call quality
Weak connection quality

Beat Sonic S-Connect

Pros:
USA support and shipped from California.
Eric is fantastic to communicate with and very quick
Beat Sonic is supposedly endorsed by Lexus as a recommended aftermarket product which is cool
Factory bluetooth for music and call quality which works like factory (this was huge for me)
Boot time is by leaps and bounds, the fastest of any unit. It is the only unit that boots up to Carplay faster than bluetooth connects to the car
Because it uses the factory bluetooth, signal strength is so much better than the other units. Carplay will load and music will play in the car when I remote start the car from my living room.
This unit does feel like it could be factory

Cons:
Every now and again, Carplay disconnects and I cannot figure out why
Every once in a blue moon, I will get a weird screen flicker. Cannot figure out why
The resolution isn't quite as good as the other units, even without the screen replacement. I will sat the resolution does match the factory infotainment but Carplay icons are a bit soft, and not as crisp as others
The mouse doesn't click and scroll, but rather becomes a pointer. Not really sure this is a con, so much as it is, different from the rest.


There are a couple of basic general camps that all these Carplay/Android Auto units fit in:

1. Units made overseas and are simply rebranded for different companies (Lexion, 4x4shop.ca, Aliexpress, Andream etc. This is basically every unit you see except GROM Audio and Beat Sonic)
2. US Companies that either have their units made in the U.S. or have a foreign supplier, but are not sold anywhere else. This is GROM Audio and Beat Sonic

I have no experience with GROM Audio but they are fantastic from what I hear as well. If you want support for issues, Absolutely go Beat Sonic or GROM Audio. We have already seen these fly by night, borderline scam companies come and go. DashLynx was a sponsor here for a month, had no physical product they could show a picture of, and would conflate specs and refused to answer questions on the forum. They are now gone and their website is not working. You really have to be careful who comes on these forums with a new wireless Carplay solution. Beat Sonic and GROM Audio have been around forever and offer great products and excellent support. Maybe someday when I am bored and have extra cash, I will buy the GROM unit and test that too.

I have been very happy with Beat Sonic S-Connect so far and highly recommend it.

Beat Sonic S-Connect:



Lexion:


4x4shop.ca

 

Did you ever figure out why your Beatsonic S connect keeps disconnecting (no pun intended) I am currently having the same issue I have the unit installed on my GS and it randomly disconnects not enough to the point to make it annoying but nevertheless the issue is there.

 

I forgot that issue noted in this review. Mine will randomly disconnect (in that it goes to the simple 3 icon display of ‘Settings’, ‘CarPlay’, and whatever the Android one is called), and after a few seconds returns to CarPlay and the map I was using (what is kind of annoying is that if I wasn’t following a route, it displays an overlay asking if I want a route ‘home’, which I had previously dismissed, and now need to dismiss again in order to see my current surroundings). Hadn’t gotten around to contacting BeatSonic about it.

 

Yeah that is exactly what mine does. At first I thought it was a signal issue maybe my phone was too far from the module but I don’t think that’s the reason I’m gonna hit them up and see if this is something that can be worked out through an firmware update.

 

Good to know that you have the same symptoms. I’ll skip disassembling the dash again to look for a loose connection.

 

Hey,
I contacted them this morning and this was their reply. And so far so good hopefully this works for your as well.

 

Good feedback.

For anyone else interested in a Beatsonic setup, contact us for forum pricing!

-Josh

 

Nope. Did the procedure, and went for a drive. About 15 minutes into the drive, it restarted, just like before. Be interesting if it continues to work for you.

 

I have a 2016 RX450h. I use android auto on the beat sonic unit and I pretty much have similar issues. It randomly disconnects. Sometimes I have to unpair and re-pair. Resolution isnt the best, and if I'm already on a phone call when I start the car, it will not connect to the unit. I have to end my phone call, connect, then call the person back.

 

I'm happy to help everyone with their issues.

First, make sure your iOS is up to date. Go to Settings - Software Update.

Secondly, Try refreshing your connection to our device. On the three icon screen, go to settings - Bluetooth. Delete your old phone. Then go to your phone - settings - general - carplay - nv17w - connect and yes to prompts. Never connect to the device via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth menu.

To fix this " if I'm already on a phone call when I start the car, it will not connect to the unit. I have to end my phone call, connect, then call the person back", on the three icon screen, go to Settings - Bluetooth - Turn off "Autoconnect"

If you still have disconnect issues, next time it disconnects take a screenshot of your bluetooth, wifi, and Carplay settings menu and email it to us at info@beatsonicusa.com so that we can look into the issue further.

 

First, make sure your iOS is up to date. Go to Settings - Software Update.

Also try restarting your phone.

If you still have disconnect issues, next time it disconnects take a screenshot of your bluetooth, wifi, and Carplay settings menu and email it to us at info@beatsonicusa.com so that we can look into the issue further.

 

Ok, so I reproduced the problem, and sent the requested screenshots to Beat Sonic.

I also sent them two videos of it happening, and my following observations.
What is very interesting, and perhaps pointing to the source of the issue, is that these two events happened while traveling on the same stretch of road, while traveling in opposite directions, and the points of disconnect were about 1500 feet from each other. These disconnects also happened the previous time I traveled this road, in both directions.

This makes me think it is an environmental issue, some RF interference in the area is triggering the disconnect in the unit.

The surroundings include:
1. A commuter/freight railway line ~500’ north of the problem zone.
2. A Toyota dealership on the east side of the problem zone.
3. A Cadillac dealership on the southwest side of the zone.
4. A Ferrari dealership on the northwest side of the zone.

This has me wondering if some component of the system requires some RF shielding?

Can anyone else reproduce the problem at a specific location?

 

Ben, from BeatSonic, responded to my email the other day, and sent me a firmware update to try. After an initial failure to load, likely due to a bad thumb drive I had, I was able to load it using a new thumb drive. I drove through the area where I experienced the disconnect issue, and it still occurred. Ben then told me to try the factory reset procedure (described above). After doing that, I drove through the ‘bad’ area again, and Shazam! No disconnect occurred! Drove through again, and again no problem.

So thanks to Ben at BeatSonic for excellent customer support! My disconnect issue has been resolved!

 

Omg man, I thought I connected something wrong. I have the same issue, Beatsonic just suggested to check the module, it didn't help. Sometimes mine goes black for 5-10 seconds, like once in 3 months. Other times it flickers occasionally.

 

It was the only flaw in the unit. I ended up selling the car and getting a 2023 so I no longer have the Beat Sonic unit. I could never get the flickers fixed, unfortunately. That being said I was still the happiest with that unit than Lexion, 4x4 and others I have tried.