The general type of car stereos are the most cost-efficient ones, but many people are worried about the connection problem as there are over 10 lines to deal with. This article will show you all the lines’ function and which to connect at the end of two sides.

ISO wiring harness 

If the ISO lines you got weren’t labeled with names, here are their roles:

A side is to connect with the car stereo, B side is to connect with the car.

The yellow line is the memory line to connect with the car power’s anode.

The red line is ACC to connect with car key’s ACC gear.

The black line is to connect with the power’s cathode.

The white line and half-white, half-black line are to connect with the anode and cathode of the left front stereos.

The gray line and dark gray line are to connect with the anode and cathode of the right front stereos.

The green line and dark green line are to connect with the anode and cathode of the left behind stereos.

The purple line and dark purple line are to connect with the anode and cathode of the right behind stereos.

If the ISO lines are labeled, here are their explanations:

REVERSE-IN: control your backup reversing camera, need to be connected with the anode of the reversing light.

ANT: to provide power for automatically elevating radio antenna or power on the signal amplifier of the radio.

AMP-CON: to control the car’s amplifier (if not connected correctly, no sounds will be released)

KEY 1: to control the steering wheel.

KEY 2: to control the steering wheel (most cars only need to connect with either one of these two lines)

ILLUMI: to connect the car head unit’s button light with the car’s instrument light.

BRAKE-IN: to control with the braking and warn you not to watch videos while driving. (most car stereos shut off this function before products leave the factory.)

PUMPKIN has released about 30 Android 9.0 car stereos since the end of June, covers from 6 inches to 10, Single Din to Double Din. The universal fitting type infotainment still plays a major part, but other stereos for Volkswagen, Skoda, Seat series, Opel, Ford, BMW, and Benz are all included.

About the core technology, Octa-core CPU powered head units are the majority now to satisfy your high response and smooth controlling experience, of course, 4GB RAM and 32 GB ROM along with. If your car is VW series and you happen to look for the built-in DAB+ infotainment system, take a look at PUMPKIN VA0402B, and AA0447B (for Golf 7 specifically).

All PUMPKIN Android 9.0 car stereos support online/offline navigation, RDS radio, Bluetooth hands-free calling, phone mirroring link, steering wheel control. With extra devices, backup rear-view camera, OBDII scanner, DAB+, Android Auto/ Apple CarPlay are all accessible. (all these accessories can be found in PUMPKIN online store)

The most important part is all the stereos are around $300. (The most cost-efficient one is AA0495B) Here are two videos about this car stereo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzKFX9giKeE 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR4otwuZF2E 

Four accessories here to talk: reversing camera, OBDII scanner, Android Auto/CarPlay dongle, DAB+ box.

Aftermarket backup reversing camera is the least accessory that people feel regret after buying, it is also the most wildly purchased head unit accessories. Both wireless backup camera and wired are diversified in the market, few things need to be noticed for user convenience. 1. Night vision and resolution (higher the better). 2. View angle (larger the better). 3. IP rating, the ideal number would be IP 68, number 6 stands for the highest level of dust-proof performance, number 8 stands for the waterproof performance of 1 meter depth at least. 4. Park line marking. If the camera you bought reached higher numbers of the above performance, congrats.

OBDII (on-board diagnostics) scanner has over 50 years of history, no doubt everyone cares about driving safety. Before check on the support system and years and brands of car models, think which type of OBDII reader you are looking, handhold one that can display the real-time data on its screen, or the popular cost-efficient WIFI/ Bluetooth OBDII reader which requires an extra APP to display the data on a car stereo screen. If you pick the last one, please be sure the APP in your car stereo is supported by the OBDII scanner. Bluetooth scanner runs faster and stabler than the WIFI one in most situations.

These two devices are about increasing driving safety, the rest two are about elevating your driving experience.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay won their fame for a new creative technology being applied in our daily life in a really handy way, but little car stereo manufacturers found the right path to link them with the car stereo, and here comes the dongle to play as the media. Two main factors to be alarmed in case the dongle you bought didn’t end up in your garbage can. 1. Check the support operating system it fits in, Android? iOS? And which version exactly. If your car stereo is the classic WinCE system, extra attention cannot be wrong. 2. Check the car model it fits, too many car brands in the market now, no supplier can confidently say their dongles fit any cars. If it fits your car stereo and phone well, then no reason this media will not work well.

38 countries can receive DAB+(Digital audio broadcasting) service with more radio stations, better reception quality, and less unlicensed stations disturb. If you are looking for a car stereo with DAB+ radio, watch out for those “DAB+ optional” and “support DAB+” which means extra DAB+ box required. Some head units have built-in DAB+, such as PUMPKIN VA0402B, AA0447B.