NEX8000 First Thoughts

[kelkin]

So I pulled out my Z150BH and put in the 8000 NEX, it was quick and simple and yes the power harness is exactly the same between the two. As of right now I'm underwhelmed, but I'm pretty sure once the firmware updates come out which support connected services and carplay I'll like it much better. I'll post my immediate thoughts below, I'm sure once I get used to the new interface and play with it for a week I'll like it better.

 

The Good So Far:

The screen is very sensitive and responds just like my iphone

The menu options reveal some future functionality that I'm excited for which are currently disabled until a future firmware update enables them:

1. There are some information services such as online traffic or weather which when selected ask you to select a wireless network first, I get the feeling these radios will become WiFi enabled and support tethered connectivity and personal hotspots for connectivity.

2. Online traffic in addition to radio traffic (Hoping for crowd-sourced traffic)

3. Weather

Was a quick replacement from an existing Pioneer unit

Speed Limit alerts though I did disable them since I have a lead foot, I think there's an option to set a percentage of the limit to alert.. I'll have to see if I can set it to alert me at 110% of the limit.

SiriusXM is sending album artwork, pretty neat.

The interface to scrub back and forward on SXM allows you to easily rewind and forward to any point recorded, unlike the old interface which seemed to always place me at commercials.

 

 

The Bad:

The screen also gets as dirty as my iPhone's and just as quickly

The interface makes absolutely no sense to me, it's not intuitive at all and just seems unorganized and not polished at all. The source list is just plain text and ugly. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet and it'll grow on me.

None of the connected services are available yet, functionality-wise I don't feel like I'm getting much more out of this than I did my Z1150BH

Didn't come with two USB extensions for both USB ports

There's a feature on my X920 and Z150BH which when enabled makes the sound sooo much better which doesn't appear to exist on this unit. I'll have to check and see what it is and post it. I also don't see a Loudness or Bass Booster option. I played with the EQ and got better sound but it isn't quite as full or rich as my Z150BH... It's probably me missing something. I'll reply if I figure it out.

 

I'll update this post if I have any more findings. I haven't tested whether it'll let me do bluetooth while plugged into USB like my X920 would allow but my Z150BH wouldn't. I'll take some video and post it if anyone likes, is there anything anyone wants to see in it?

 

Update #1: Problems

I'm having several problems, I'm curious if others are having them as well. They are as follows:

 

1. iPhone 5 is not auto-connecting to the 8000 automatically even though it is configured to. Sometimes I have to go into my BT settings on the phone and force-connect it.

2. There are times where even though my phone shows I'm connected via bluetooth, and the radio shows I'm connected, if I try to use the phone option on the unit it says "No Connection". I have to go to the BT settings on the HU, disconnect and reconnect and then it works. Buggy!

3. I don't see any way to rename the connection from 8000 NEX to something custom, am I missing something?

4. I'll be playing music through Sirius and the music will just stop as if I'm under an underpass or bridge, but there's nothing but clear open skies. Very quirky...

5. It takes longer to boot up than my Z150BH, and changing channels on Sirius takes longer on this unit than the Z150BH.

[drenyce311]

How is appradio to you?? Do you like it? did you try it? to me it sucks. But its good to know that the feature is there if I ever need it

[alanancy]

I set speed limit alert to 130% . It still goes off sometimes but

A great reminder.

[kelkin]

How is appradio to you?? Do you like it? did you try it? to me it sucks. But its good to know that the feature is there if I ever need it

App radio sucks as bad as it does on the Z150BH, somehow I get the feeling that they knew carplay was coming so they purposely made connections like appmode almost useless to steer people to carplay compatible units which I'm sure they get licensing fees for.