Parrot Asteroid Classic Car Sound System: The Deck I Wish I’d Had in High School [Review]

This is the original Parrot Asteroid Classic car stereo head-unit ($349), and it made quite a splash when it launched last year. The single-DIN, 4×55 watt receiver boasts a formidable array of features: Bluetooth connectivity, powerfully accurate voice recognition for both calls and music, a GPS receiver, a bright, 3.2-inch LED screen and a quiver of apps that run off its customized, upgradeable, early-vintage Android 1.5 OS (all of which require a data connection via a dongle).

Though this model was originally called the the Asteroid (no Classic), the Classic nomen was added to lessen confusion as three new models were announced a few months ago. However, the Asteroid Classic still very much in play; in fact, as this review goes live, the Classic is the only member of the Asteroid family currently available, as its new siblings haven’t shipped yet.

With its Android-based OS, you’d be forgiven if you thought the Asteroid Classic was more friendly to Android phones than the iPhone. In fact, the opposite is true, as I’ll explain later. And while it suffers from something that can probably be described as teething trouble, it’s still a lust-worthy system.

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A Nexus 7 In Your Dash, Because “Some People Don’t Really Like Apple”

Anyone who owns a tablet has, at one time or another, thought about how they could make it their car infotainment system. There have been a million solutions from universal mounts to professional in-dash installations, and while we’ve seen many, this is the first Nexus 7 I’ve seen double as an infotainment system. It’s an absolutely dreamy combination, and one that will have 90% of you thinking about hacking up your dash (you might want to leave it to a professional).

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