Like the original AI Box, I still think having the option to move the floating onscreen controls to a fixed area to the side or bottom of the screen would greatly improve the useability of using Android on the CarPlay display. Because between using different apps, they can so easily get in the way and you can sometimes miss hit these controls when trying to select something else nearby. It was 1 of 2 finalists to offer dual Bluetooth support, and although it was the slowest to boot into its main menu launcher, it was the fastest to boot to wireless Android Auto. However, due to some poor Wi-Fi specs, it’s wireless experience can be a bit laggy and less as responsive than the other 4 finalists.

Connecting to Android Auto was more reliable on the Nifty Box, but once in Android Auto, it had the same lower resolution on the high-definition display of the Pioneer compared to how it can display on other capable AI Box adapters. So in light of this, I would not recommend this adapter for Android Auto use unless your system resolution is also low. CarPlay on the other hand performed fine, and like the MMB Max, you can configure the AI Box to auto-launch into CarPlay after its initial boot sequence. I tested recording an audio message via Siri, which sounded good enough as any AI Box, and it didn’t distort or increase the volume in any way. This adapter simply takes the best elements from both of the two adapters in my top 5 wireless CarPlay adapters round up, and simply adds Android Auto support. As a result, this adapter is fast to boot and pair adapter for wireless CarPlay, and it comes in just 4 seconds slower than the fastest booting adapter for Android Auto. In second place we have the Ottocast Picasou 2 Pro. This is a new entry AI Box that I have yet to bring my full review on this channel, but it made good sense to size it up alongside all the other AI Boxes. Thanks to its overall performance it managed to easily sneak its way into taking second place in my top 5.

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This switch, in a way, allows for reduced false connections to the wrong device, should you be sharing the car with a driver that has a device on the other platform. If you both have the same issue, you face the same multi-device woes as any other adapter.

The cost of this dongle is a lot higher than most other dongles, but you are getting a lot of extra functionality with that Android OS layer option. I would have liked to see a spec bump to help improve Android app performance, as I had a few occasions where apps would simply crash from doing too much at once. I then repeated this test for Android Auto. First scoring which adapter needed to manually switch between platforms and which could switch without rebooting. I then paired them to my Google Pixel 5 and tested their launch times into Android Auto as well as their total automated power up, connect to my Google Pixel, and launch Android Auto. Apart from two adapters, they all used the full-screen method of displaying Android Auto, whilst two supported the split-screen display method, and one of those two was able to choose between both display methods. This menu system is one of the better-looking interfaces on an AI Box right now with a choice of three main layouts, with the ability to customise and move the main top row of panels to your liking, and along the bottom, there are two buttons on the left to go to the home screen and invoke the Google assistant, followed by four favourite apps of your choosing, and on the right-hand side there is the time, date, and small status bar icons, that when tapped act as a shortcut to go into the adapter’s preference pane. Only 4 of the 11 finalists offered video casting support, with varying performance. The same number offered HDMI output to display content onto a separate screen, and just 1 offered HDMI input to allow the use of stream boxes or game consoles on your CarPlay display. In second place we have the ApplePie Lite adapter from Exploter. This adapter certainly wins the most unique-looking adapter out of our finalists, but its racing looks also carry through to its boot speed and pairing performance, making it the fastest adapter in my test to boot into its rather basic menu screen, and the fastest to boot into wireless CarPlay and Android Auto.Its launch speed in the 4 test android apps was high to good, not the best, but you will likely not see a significant difference between the speed of the top 4 AI Boxes. It’s the second fastest to boot into its launcher menu, and the second fastest to boot into CarPlay. It only supports a Bluetooth remote and it has an average speed in launching the four key apps.

YouTube and Netflix apps ran fine and smoothly with no significant or obvious drops in frames or audio being out of sync. The picture in picture mode is also present here like most other AI Boxes. Thanks to new chipsets and software, we are seeing a growing number of brands release new wireless adapters that not only support wireless CarPlay, but also allow Android devices to connect to a wired CarPlay system to display wireless Android Auto. These are commonly called 2-in-1 adapters or dongles.From this preference pane, you can view the time and date and be able to toggle things like mobile data connection, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, to altering the layout of the home screen between 1 of 3 layouts and return to Android Auto or Carplay as well as the original system menu. I couldn’t get The Nifty Box working on any portable CarPlay display, however, it worked fine on my Alpine and the Pioneer CarPlay receivers. Once powered, The Nifty Box displayed the same initial boot animation sequence as the MMB Max before ending on the same main home screen menu. The total boot-up time took 28 seconds, which makes it the second fastest AI Box to the Picassou 2 Pro from Ottocast and 3 seconds faster than the MMB Max. Main Menu Interface

You’ll need a USB Flash Drive to load the update files onto the MMB Android AI Box, so below you will find some recommended drives, if you don’t have one. The one thing it has going for it is its user interface, which is one the best out there, but sadly its hardware limits its potential with below-average performance in app launching and general CPU and GPU benchmarking.Once connected, the Box 2.0 performs very well on both platforms, especially considering its lower Wi-Fi sepcs (see image below). It is surprisingly rapid, and very responsive with touch input and interaction. Resolution is kept intact (more importantly for Android Auto) and generally, this adapter has felt like this is the best it can get when using CarPlay or Android Auto wirelessly. Audio and calling sound decent with low enough delay (you’ll never beat wired), and overall, this adapter is well recommended for its overall performance verses the competition. Wi-Fi Spec Tests Just like the other AI Box though, and also the MMB Dongle Plus, switching between CarPlay and Android OS requires a reboot. I also don’t expect being able to switch between CarPlay and Android OS will ever become a seamless or fast experience. They are two different worlds that will always likely require a reboot each time you want to access either platform. On top, there is a wealth of logos and there is a status indicator light which glows whilst the adapter is powered. On the bottom side of the adapter, there are lots of perforated holes and a metal heat sink to help cool the CPU that sits inside. Boot Up & Menu UI Configuration and multi-user support can also be important, so I rated each dongle if they allowed any form of multi-device menu support and how well they could be configured to increase compatibility by tweaking certain settings within its IP config or system menu. Half of the adapters shared the same operating software, so they also shared the same basic configuration options. Only one adapter had a vast selection of configuration options available and one had none at all, which meant you had to rely on software updates to improve an adapter’s compatibility.