Hi everyone, I am debating between BeatSonic and GROM for an Apple CarPlay solution for my 2015 RCF.

I guess the only downside I see to either is that the GROM requires a wifi hotspot to use and I don't really want to pay a monthly fee.

Can anyone provide insight on one versus the other?

 

I think you've already answered your question...

But I have the BeatSonic (for Android/Apple and for camera/video inputs) and works well. My only gripe, which only happens every few years or so (I'd imagine) is that when I disconnect my battery for whatever reason it is, for my BeatSonic to function again I have to go behind the display and normalize the system, then start car, then stop car, then reconnect my BeatSonic.

I had to do this a few times in first couple months before realizing why the BeatSonic quit working, I had disconnected my battery here and there when I'd work on my engine, or when I removed my bumpers and headlights, etc. For the record, you dont have to disconnect the battery when removing bumper or headlights but it is good practice to do so, some cars require it, but this prevents the sensors or lights or radio from adjustment after reconnection - basically the ECM's (and other electronics) auto convert back to memory of previous state. Very similar to when you have to disconnect battery before removing radio/HVAC due to airbag but if the battery is disconnected you can remove/install HVAC all day long and never trigger an SRS when you reconnect the battery because the car never knew there was a change. My Volvo and Audi remembers level state of headlights so if you remove the headlights before removing battery it requires the headlight to be adjusted and calibrated, so its a habit to disconnect battery.

Long, I know, sorry but that's my answer - BeatSonic is great till there is an power interruption and if you didn't know that the BeatSonic doesn't like power interruption you'd think something was wrong with the unit every time. I had GROM in my Volvo, didn't required data services, but the cost of GROM sucked in my case and quickly moved away from GROM later when other options became available.

 

Thats good to know, I appreciate it! If I am reading right, it seems like GROM needs wifi to download apps. But for CarPlay it should be fine. That does sound a bit annoying with BeatSonic to be honest, but I don't really do too much to the car that requires disconnecting the battery. When you say "normalize" the system, what does that entail?

 

BeatSonic, like GROM, requires intersection of the cables; if you pull out the dash display (look at the bottom of display, dash board part, you'll notice a 1.5 inch long by 10" wide plastic, remove that and reveals two 10mm bolts, undo that and the screen comes out), behind the dash is a single multi pin connector. The aftermarket unit will connect to the car side and the unit will have a matching plug to be inserted back into the dash LCD panel. Normalizing meaning to remove the aftermarket cabling equation and put it back to OEM.

 

I use Beat Sonic and I'm happy with it. It works great, and even when the battery is disconnected, I do not have to do anything to it and works fine after connecting the battery back again.

 

Ah that sounds really annoying to be honest lol but if it only happens every once in a while, i guess it isn't that big of a deal. Thanks for explaining!

 

Hm good to know! From what I understand there isn't any lag in startup and no loss of factory functions either, right?

 

Yes, correct.

 

Out of both the Grom and the Beat-Sonic, which unit do you like best? Which performs the best with the least amount of issues?

I am looking to purchase a unit from one of these two companies and currently they’re both about the same price. So it basically comes down to which one works better and I don’t want to be power cycling these units all the time.

 

I'm pretty big on audio, so how's the audio quality on these devices? Anyone tried playing FLAC files? I wonder if it comes with its own DAC or uses the car's DAC, and what quality would it be?

 

im currently deciding which one to get as well. one thing i like about VL2 is that its wireless. but how do you provide wifi to it though?

 

You simply follow these steps:

 

Bump

So I'm down to having the lack of Android Auto the only thing preventing me from buying a 2020 RCF. I tried an early version screen swap Android Auto in my RC350 and hated its dependency on some app based in China that required giving full access to my phone so I never used it. I've since learned despite its claim to be an AA device it was simply a screen mirroring unit, not true AA.

For those of you using either the Grom or Beatsonic how are you liking them so far?

Some questions:
I assume both simply toggle between the OEM Lexus Enform and the AA interface
Once setup have you had any cons or missing options that you could do OEM?

Anyone have both and if so which did you prefer?

 

I love my Beatsonic, always working and sounds great, but I use it as Apple play. I had mine for the last 5 years. Yes, I always toggle between OEM and AP, and no cons or missing options in OEM. Now they have the wireless connection, and that's the one you should consider, if you decide to go with them.

 

Beat sonic is our best seller!

-Josh