Apple CarPlay Head Unit Review: We Add the Sony XAV-AX7000 to Our 1998 Porsche Boxster
Adding Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is the best way to modernize an older ride. But is this Sony unit worth the cost?
An entire industry has emerged around smartphone mounts for your car. Magnets clipped to an air conditioning vent, suction cups on the windshield, cheap plastic mounts meant to fit in the cupholder; we've seen it all. But if you've driven a new car in the past five years, you know there's a more elegant solution.
With the near-universal adoption of smartphone-mirroring software in the forms of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, we can now use familiar, up-to-date media and navigation apps like Spotify and Google Maps in-car on a large, integrated touch display. But what if your ride was built before the CarPlay era? Worry not. Many older cars use standardized head unit sizing that make it easy to source and install an aftermarket system. Although head units with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability were prohibitively pricey for most folks just a few years ago, they're now less expensive than you might think.
So what's it like to add an aftermarket head unit with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto to an older car? We had Sony's XAV-AX7000 receiver installed in our 1998 Porsche Boxster to explore the pros and cons if you're ready for an infotainment upgrade from a simple vent clip.
Sony's 7.0-Inch Apple CarPlay Head Unit
The XAV-AX7000 is one of Sony's latest touchscreen double-DIN head units, complete with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability (single DIN units are 2 inches by 7 inches; double-DIN units are 4 inches by 7 inches). This one retails for $599.99, but Sony offers receivers with the same smartphone-mirroring tech for half that.
Our review unit sports a 7.0-inch touch display with sleek flush bezels on the top and side and a row of illuminated buttons along the bottom edge. Coincidentally, the screen measures the same size as the factory infotainment display on a 2021 Porsche 718 Boxster, a car that only added standard Apple CarPlay this year and still lacks Android Auto support.
The display is coated with an anti-glare film that successfully minimizes reflections, and it's a capacitive touchscreen like that of an iPhone rather than the old-school resistive touch displays that rely on mechanical pressure applied to the surface. Controlling the system via touches and swipes is effortless, but because the Porsche wasn't designed for a touchscreen interface, it lacks a spot under the display to anchor your thumb for more accurate touch inputs.
Bluetooth wireless audio streaming is included, but the smartphone mirroring functionality requires a wired connection. (The system also includes a backup camera input, plus a second USB port if you want to load up a flash drive with high-quality audio or video files.) Although some of the newest vehicles offer wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, that technology isn't always reliable and is best paired with a wireless charging pad. Even with a wired connection in our testing, plugging in an iPhone doesn't always immediately bring up the CarPlay interface; sometimes it takes a couple of tries, but we've run into that problem with new OEM systems, too.
Once you successfully connect and open Apple CarPlay, though, the experience is identical to that in a new vehicle. The apps and icons are familiar and easy to use, and the display's position high in the center console means our eyes were never away from the road for long. At its brightest setting, the AX7000's display was just bright enough to contend with California sun streaming into the open-top Boxster, but in a perfect world, we'd have it 25 percent brighter.
The main difference between the AX7000 and Sony's less pricey alternatives is the power. Compared to other Sony systems and most aftermarket head units, the AX7000's 45-watt RMS (continuous)/100-watt peak power delivered across four channels is twice as powerful. Think of wattage in this sense like water pressure; even at lower volumes, your speakers will sound better with more power.
This is crucial, especially in a noisy open-top convertible, and the AX7000 succeeds in providing superior crisp audio through the Boxster's stock speakers. We appreciate the 10-band equalizer for adjusting the aural experience, and there's an Extra Bass mode that helps add depth in a vehicle without a subwoofer. That said, the woofers in the stock door speakers sound tired over 20 years past their build date, and we're certain the Sony unit will shine even brighter when we install new ones.
