Control functions
—
Remote control. The radio has a remote control. This function will be convenient primarily for passengers behind the driver — from the rear seats you can’t reach the radio itself. In addition, remotes often have more keys than the stock control panel, which allows you to access various additional functions on the go without digging through the settings.
—
Remote control on the steering wheel. Remote control (see above) with the ability to mount on the steering wheel. Such a remote control allows the driver to control the functions of the radio without removing his hands from the steering wheel and thus not being distracted from driving the machine.
—
Control from regular steering wheel buttons. The ability to control the radio from standard buttons, originally provided on the steering wheel for this very purpose. This function is similar to the steering wheel remote control described above, with the adjustment that the "remote" in this case is built directly into the steering wheel. Before buying such a radio, you must definitely check its compatibility with a particular model of car.
—
Smartphone control. The presence of software (application) that allows you to control the radio using a smartphone, tablet, etc. This is not just about switching songs on the phone, but a full adjustment of all device fun
...ctions.
— Voice control. The ability to control the radio using voice commands. The implementation of such control can be different: in some models, to activate it, you need to press a button, others constantly “listen” to the environment and immediately respond to code words. Anyway, this function allows the driver to control the radio without taking his eyes off the road, which has a positive effect on traffic safety. Note that in its pure form, voice control in modern radio tape recorders is becoming less and less common, being replaced by advanced technologies like CarPlay and Android Auto (see “Control Functions”), which also include voice functions.
— Apple CarPlay system. Support for car radio technology CarPlay. This technology is designed to connect portable devices from Apple to the radio, primarily the iPhone, although it is technically possible to work with any “apple” gadget that has iOS 7.1 or later firmware, as well as a proprietary 8-pin Lightning connector. Thanks to this technology, many smartphone functions (including the Siri voice assistant, navigation, call and message management, as well as music) are integrated into the radio; using them through on-board electronics can be much more convenient than holding the iPhone in your hands. At the same time, CarPlay puts special emphasis on safety: it is designed with the maximum use of voice control, so that the driver has to be distracted by the radio screen as little as possible. For example, the mentioned messages can be dictated by voice and listened to "performed" by Siri. The connection itself is carried out by wire, through the mentioned Lightning connector.
— Android Auto system. Car radio support for Android Auto technology. Similar to the CarPlay described above, this technology is designed to combine portable devices with on-board electronics of a car — only, as you might guess from the name, in this case we are talking about gadgets running the Android OS. When you connect such a gadget, the radio actually plays the role of an external display for a mobile device, with its optimized interface and related capabilities. Features available through Android Auto include navigation (including mobile device access to external GPS antennas and modules), music control, receiving and making calls, listening to and composing SMS, and searching the Internet. Android Auto is only available for Android 5.0 Lollipop and later; in addition, if the mobile device uses proprietary firmware, its compatibility with the radio needs to be specified separately.front AUX
The presence of a line input (see Line input) directly
on the front panel of the car radio. Such an input can also be located behind the panel (folding or removable), however, with its external location, it is much more convenient to connect external signal sources (for example, an MP3 player) to the radio, since this does not require folding or removing the front panel.
Built-in memory
The volume of the internal
built-in memory of the car radio. The presence of built-in memory allows you to record content (music, video, etc.) directly to the device and play it without using any additional media such as optical discs or USB drives. For comparison: the volume of a file with a photo is up to several megabytes, the size of one song in MP3 rarely exceeds 15 MB, the volume of lossless music files is estimated at tens of megabytes, and movies in DVD quality start from 1 GB. But for now (as of 2021), the memory in car radios is significantly inferior to smartphones and tablets — the bulk has
32 GB or
64 GB. But there are
128 GB radio tape recorders.
RAM
The amount of RAM memory.
Many modern premium car radios, as well as regular models, are close in functionality to tablets or even laptops; this is especially true for models that carry a full-fledged Android operating system on board. Accordingly, information about such devices may also contain purely "computer" characteristics, such as the amount of random access memory (RAM). The more “RAM” (
4 GB or even
6 GB) provided in the system (ceteris paribus), the better it works under intensive loads, the easier it is to cope with “heavy” tasks (for example, resource-intensive applications) and performing several tasks simultaneously.
At the same time, note that manufacturers of radio tape recorders, usually, equip their devices with a volume of RAM that is quite sufficient for solving basic tasks and working with built-in programs (
2 GB or less). Therefore, quite often information about the amount of RAM is more marketing than practically significant — it is designed primarily to create an appropriate impression of the product. It makes sense to pay attention to this characteristic if you plan to run various additional programs on the device.
It is also worth noting that different software platforms have different requirements for RAM, and the characteristics of the processor (see below) also affect the overall performance. Therefore, only
...models with similar processors and software can be compared with each other in terms of RAM.
