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Kayhan Mylink Replacement Hands on(info)

stooge

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EDIT: kayhan are useless at aftersales support and will probably never respond to your emails for help so keep this in mind before purchasing.

I got a unit to play with so I will post the info here so others can read before buying one.

some specs on the unit:
CPU: Spreadtrum SC9853I x64 1.8GHZ 8 Core (Intel Airmont)
GPU: Mali T820-MP2
RAM: SpecTek 4GB DDR4L (PS082-062 BT)
Storage: Samsung 32GB eMMC (KLMBG2JETD-B041)
Screen: 1024x600
OS: Android 8.1.0
IO: 3x USB Ports

First impressions:

the unit was well packed and is better quality than most aftermarket units I have had in the past.
no tracking number was provided on purchase and not provided when I asked for one on facebook.
there are no install instructions in the box but they have a video here

they have included a plug which will retain the usb port in the center console and the factory reverse cam is also supported so you don't need to buy an extra reverse cam from them.
the vehicles radio antenna is retained but the gps ant is not and you have to use the cheap one supplied.
you also have to use the aftermarket handsfree mic but I will test and see if I can splice in the factory mic and post the results if I can it to work.

one of my main concerns was the cold boot time when you got into the car and started it and went to reverse.
on many android units the reverse camera would not work for about 45 seconds which would be annoying but the kayhan unit is about as quick as the mylink to boot, maybe even quicker so I am very happy with that.

the aircon display and reverse sensors all work with visual aids on screen for what sensor is detecting front and back.
the reverse cam has guide lines and they move depending on the steering wheel direction.
I don't have a hud or heated seats so I cant help with that but I did see a firmware update for the heated seats.

using the unit is pretty good and does not lag at all but I will need more time to fully test it but so far it handles video very well and even worked well with playing back a 4k video.
music from usb is fast and does not screw around indexing etc.
the navigation is igo which is good because it is easy to update and you can connect the unit to the google play store via wifi and install any navigation app you like or other apps.

I will test more crap tomorrow and post back some more info here but so far I am pretty impressed with it and it even has a screen protector installed on it.


The cons:

1: the nav crashes a lot.
2: there is a massive glare issue on the screen so during a sunny day it will be hard to see and the reverse cam will be hard to see and by hard I mean almost impossible.
3: the handsfree is horrible and has no background noise cancelation so when you are doing 100kmh you will be hard to hear to the person calling you.
4: the phone Bluetooth system is poor and annoying to operate, if you have a lot of contacts its a pain to make a call while driving.
5: almost every time you get into the vehicle and start it the unit will display that a door is still open but the door is not open and you have to tap the screen to get rid of the picture of the door open that covers the screen.
6: after you change a aircon setting the aircon menu may flash up again once or twice and if you use it at the wrong time like when reversing it will get stuck on screen until you change the ac settings again.
7: when you reverse it cuts all audio output to the speakers.
8: you have no admin access over the unit and it is not verified or is rooted so you wont be installing Netflix etc from google play and kayhan has removed the ability to access root on the firmware updates or they removed the root.
9: some of the wiring is poor and can break easy.
10: the supplied wifi antenna is junk and the wifi drops out a lot.
11: it does not always remember what it was playing/doing the last time you stopped the vehicle.
12: minor issue here but the outside temp displayed on the unit does not work/update properly and on a 28deg day mine was showing 13deg.


here is a comparison of the kayhan unit to the mylink in the similar lighting conditions.

20191002-090442.jpg


20190819-090608.jpg
 
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NigelinNZ

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This is great info, thanks so much for posting. I’m really hoping this unit works well for you.
I was nervous about the start up speed as well, given our first action is reversing out of a garage.

Our other two primary interests are:
1. Google maps navigation, ease of use.
2. Spotify via USB (iPhone in our case)

Cheers
 

RED LION

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Thanks for the update. I get the impression there's a few on here that are close to pulling the trigger on one of these but just need a little push. Myself included. Disappointing about the mic though. I don't really want an ugly aftermarket mic behind my steering wheel.
 
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Mavericks Choice

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@stooge, thanks that sounds good, as you mention the mic or the ant are big deals. Be interested in HUD integration though.
 

kleanphil

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Thanks for the update. I get the impression there's a few on here that are close to pulling the trigger on one of these but just need a little push. Myself included. Disappointing about the mic though. I don't really want an ugly aftermarket mic behind my steering wheel.
The after market mics aren't a worry , I put mine in the roof light in the spare spot on the opposite side of the factory mic
 

abuch47

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Does it have a sim slot so it can have its own mobile data connection?

Can't wait stooge thanks for pulling the trigger
 

stooge

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I didn't get much time today to mess with it but I was thinking about the factory gps ant and you will be able to use the factory gps ant by using this cable
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/15CM-Fa...able-GPS-Antenna-Extension-New-M/133105137875
I will make this cable and test if it works but I am pretty sure it will because the aftermarket antenna is the same type as the factory one it is just using a smc plug.

I don't have an iPhone so I cant test anything iPhone related.
I did not notice any sim slot on the unit but I will look when I install it properly, it does have wifi and I was using my phone as a hotspot

a couple of things that I noticed that are bad are the screen is not bright enough during the day and there is a lot of glare/reflection on the screen so a anti glare screen protector might be needed.
I am going to email kayhan and ask if there is something that can be done about the screen brightness.
another thing I noticed was if you leave the radio on and stop and lock the vehicle when you come back and start it up the radio does not reload the unit just loads to the home screen which is a bit piss poor because it should save its state but that could be corrected with a software update.

the factory amp in the boot wont work after you install it too so I will look at finding the pins to make it work or just running new cables down the back for the amp as I replaced my factory one with an aftermarket one a while ago.

with anyluck the wife will leave me alone tomorrow and I will get some time to put it through its paces
 

kleanphil

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The couple of things I'm interested are how well the wireless android works , not sure if you got that option , and as far as apps other than music/video apps I can think would be helpful would be the BOM weather radar , being a bricky its handy to see what the weather is doing when you might have an hour to get to work only to be rained off , but I can see that if the only way to get a internet connection is to hotspot your phone then maybe some web apps might have trouble working correctly ? I'm not really familiar with hot spotting and what might work on your phone if sharing the net
 

abuch47

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Kayhan did tell me it doesn't have it's own sim but they seem fairly useless in customer support so not sure. Annoying because the VE units do.

Same with hud and heated seats, they only have an evoke so they didnt test any other features before release, they need the sales to get to these.

I saw they have a popup stall at doncaster for 3 weeks.
68595740_524864338253586_7045543727648997376_n.png.jpg
 
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hsvluva

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Cheers for this stooge. I am hanging off buying one to learn more about them. I want the DAB+ and option of choosing my own GPS software as well as wireless CARPLAY. I have a VF Calais, so the inability to use the amp concerns me, I am happy I can get a conversion cable for the GPS Antenna. The light issues looks bad so hopefully there is a answer for that and the Radio not coming back on after leaving the car. That's pretty poor programming. I am tossing up between this and the Alpine Halo model some people have fitted.
 
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