Customer Ratings & Reviews

I want to start out by saying that I actually really like this stereo. We installed it in our 2000 Jeep TJ Wrangler using the Metra double-din dash kit. The big selling points for me were the backup camera input, Apple CarPlay, and a knob the volume. Overall the stereo works great, sounds great, and I think it's fairly easy and intuitive to use. The problem for us, and this could be a common issue with aftermarket radios, is that it only ever remembers the last bluetooth device/phone it was paired to. If you're the only person that ever drives you car it's not an issue, but we have 4 different drivers in our house that drive this Jeep, so we're constantly having to re-pair our phones every time one of us drives the Jeep, which is annoying. The factory radios in our later model vehicles can remember multiple phones so you only ever have to pair your phone the first time and the car connects to whoever is driving after that. Assuming I can find a different stereo that will remember multiple phones I will probably end up replacing this one.

Overall I’m happy with the stereo for the price paid. That said, you shouldn’t need to spend $1000 to get slightly better functionality. Pros Price was good Fit perfectly in Jeep Wrangler dash Has volume knob Satellite radio ready Supports Apple CarPlay 3 levels of channel presets Simple operation Comes with remote (not sure how useful this really is) Cons Bluetooth sometimes slow to connect for phone Screen is not as bright as it needs to be during the day time. It can be hard to see the screen in bright sunlight. Brightness is fine at night. Attached pic are at night time. Font size is rather small. Would like to be able to make it bigger Volume knob could be larger and add a light or glow strip to it. Since it’s black it blends in with rest of radio and dashboard. Not all steering controls worked, but that could be an issue with the vehicle Suggestions for design improvement: Make screen brightness level a user option Allow switch from radio/satellite/CarPlay without having to hit home screen first Add light/glow line to volume knob

I wanted a stereo that still had the volume knob and didn't look too tacky. I previously had the Boss stereo very similar looking to this one, but unfortunately, it was not very well and I didn't like the blue lights and annoying beeping. Ended up finding this one, and though it was a little out of my budget, it was worth the money. The screen looks nice quality and is very responsive. The sound is amazing and I clearly hear everything. The only issue, like others have said, is that it's very reflective, but since the Waze map is white I can still see it when it's really bright so it's not a huge deal, just kind of annoying. My steering wheel controls still work well, and I like the equalizer option. Would recommend it to others.

This stereo has great sound, bass, and works great on android devices through Bluetooth and its compatibility with Apple CarPlay is great! Amazing value for the price, I only wish you could set custom wallpapers and I wish Sony would respond on how to retain steering wheel controls on my 2013 Civic LX.

Was looking for something good enough to upgrade the OEM car stereo of a teenager 2002 honda. Is simple, have apple car play, backup camera input, BT and hands free calls. Additionaly dont wake up too much the attention in the dash and fit great in the car with the correct installation kit. Pair with 4 kicker KS speakers and my teenager is very pleased.

Pretty good.like that it has an actual volume knob. Radio tuner isn’t great. Sound setting are ok with a hand full of preset eq settings. Good price. Easy install with a metro bezel for my jeep

Over-all great stereo, low on excitement but great product, i.e like most Sony products. J.L.L

Great unit for a great price. I’m very satisfied

Have some issues where I’ll turn my car on and it bugs out on the screen a bit but overall better than what I previously had

Easy to put in, has Apple CarPlay but screen is a little lower resolution than I felt was worth the price

The installation was supposed to be free, but I was charged. Also, the only way to turn the radio off, once you've turned it on, is to turn off the car or use the remote. Otherwise, I like the unit and the install tech was very helpful.

I recently upgraded my 2013 Jeep sound system. I wanted Bluetooth and a Apple Play. This stereo hit all the buttons! Best Buy did the install and did an amazing job. I went ahead and added a backup camera as well, and the quality is perfect. The ability to play my Apple music, have text or emails read to me, and google maps has me feeling like I am driving a brand new car again. Didn't give it five stars only because of the jumping back and forth that has to be done to get from Apple Play to Sirius radio. Wish this model would've had it all integrated. Definitely recommend!

The stereo was easy to install, very easy to use, the touchscreen is responsive, sound quality is excellent, and the features useful.The only issues I have is lack of support for album art, and folders are not in alphabetical order when browsing the usb drive.

I absolutely love all the features of this Sony AX1000 receiver. The knob is old school and I missed having a knob on my last Kenwood. All the features I use the most are easy to find when you need to change a setting. The sound is amazing. It makes my stock speakers sound like I have an amp hooked to them... But then there is the issue that really really disappoints me. The CarPlay does not work half the time. It usually takes a couple times of plugging in and unplugging my phone just to recognize it. Then it just stops working randomly. Music stops, maps freeze. Sometimes it will start working again and sometimes I have to unplug my phone and plug it in again. It's really disappointing because I'm a huge Sony fan. This problem happens enough where unfortunately I'm probably going to be taking the receiver back and try the Sony AX5000 series without the knob. If the issue still occurs I guess I'm done with Sony CarPlay receivers.

Put this in a car I bought for my kids. For me it only took a few minutes to figure out how to use the different functions. Only hard thing to figure out is how to turn it off. It’s fairly intuitive and easy to use. However, there are not as many options as with the non touch screen stereos I installed in other cars. It also only connects to one cell phone at a time. It doesn’t store more than one so you you have to re-synch every time a different driver uses the car. Other than that the sound is good and the touch screen works well.

I have this unit installed in a vintage sports car. Having CarPlay in a 30-yr old vehicle is definitely smile-worthy. I also have a backup camera installed, allowing my transitions between this car and my more modern vehicles to be almost transparent. Radio reception is very good and touchscreen operation is also very good. I very much appreciate have a physical volume knob.

Things are fairly ordinary here. And that is a good thing. The screen is kind of reflective and that is annoying. The placement of the USB connection was a bonehead move. It interferes with the operation of the volume nipple. Sound is very good when you turn off the very poorly executed DSP effect. In fact in my 2006 VW rabbit I wound up flattening the EQ. My car has 6.5” woofers, 4” midrange and a tweeter in each front door. Any boost in any frequency ruined the sound. CarPlay worked perfectly and immediately since I am setup for CarPlay in another car. Screen is a bit smaller than I am used to but it’s fine. I didn’t setup a reverse cam because the visibility in my little hatchback is excellent. I bought this open box excellent, used Best Buy points and adding the install kit for $16.99 and the wiring harness for my cars weird ignition system for $40 and all done I upgraded a 17 year old car to a car where my phone gives me a GPS, hands free calls and more for under $300. Worth it.

The physical volume/ on/off knob was the primary reason for picking this initially. It’s also an older design from a few years ago. The overall look fits well with cars from the 90’s-00’s with dark plastic or vinyl trim. The response and interface is good and warrants no complaints. However the lack of a rear USB connect means I have to keep a cord tethered to the front of the unit, which is unsightly and annoying. It also lacks android auto. For this price I was disappointed. A newer design pioneer for $50 more to run a hidden cable into my center counsel, provisions for android auto and a little more modern interface- was what I bought after returning this Sony.

Just installed this over the weekend. It fit well in my 2006 GMC Sierra 3500. I didn't really need the car-play part of it, I picked this one because of the volume knob, and the USB port in the front. Sounds pretty good, but not fantastic. The stock radio had more bass then this one does. I turned the loudness on and set the EQ which is easy to do. It seemed to pair with my phone easily iphone 12 mini. I just mainly needed it to stream music from my phone and handsfree phone calls, which it seems to do fine. Seems like it was on the top end price wise of the lower featured double din touch screens. But I went with it because normally Sony is pretty reliable. It doesn't do anything that outstanding, but there are no glaring faults that I have found in it so far either. So all in all, not to bad.

Very happy with this simple receiver. For one, it has a volume knob -- steering wheel controls do not negate the need for one of these. The screen is responsive and the UI is so simple it can't be slow. The internal amplifier seems to clip at 30 out of 50... at least when connected via an adapter module to my Lexus LS430 factory amp. The bluetooth works great. Overall SQ is excellent for a vehicle environment. Screen is a bit small but this is also not expensive and it's all you will ever need in your old car. I like that it plays FLAC files and other lossless content, too. It's one unfortunate fault is that instead of making the receiver's depth very shallow, it has the same depth as a single-DIN on the top half. In most cars these days, either a more shallow overall design or the meat of the components being on the bottom would be much better. I had to cut out things to get this to fit. I would have had to cut out the same things for a CD/DVD receiver. I'd rather a digital media receiver be shallow!