Coral Vision RX 10

Originally Posted 1/14/24

image of the coral vision rx10. It's showing off apple car play which has a map open as well as a song playing. It's a rectangular screenthat is more long than tall

What is it?

The Coral Vision RX 10 is a "Portable Smart Screen". It's basically a 10 inch screen on a stand that allows you to connect to it to use Android Auto or Apple Car Play in your car.

Why would I use it?

So, if you're like me, you have a car that doesn't have Android Auto or Apple Car Play. Normally, the solution would be to replace your car radio with an after market one. From what I've seen, good car radios will cost at least $300-$400, and then of course you'll need someone to install it. Potentially, you'll also need some extra cables to help connect the new radio to your steering wheel controls, if your vehicle has those. My girlfriend had looked into getting my radio replaced in my car for Christmas, however the nearby shop quoted $1000 for parts and labor, and so we held off on it.

The Coral Vision RX 10 is $250 normally, or currently on sale for $185. Not only that, but I have a used car, and while I would love for it to last for a long time there's no guarantee. In the past I've paid for my car radio to be replaced, but then when I got rid of the car ended up letting the radio go with it. With this device, it just attaches to your dashboard (or you can get a suction cup mount for your windshield). So, if you're someone who isn't sure how long you'll have your car for, or switch cars often, this device is great to just pop out of one car and into another.

Why the Coral Vision RX 10?

When I was researching these products, I was trying to see if there was a reputable brand making these things. Amazon had plenty for around $100, but they were all from companies with random names (Which, if you haven't watched this techquickie, explains why so many amazon companies have seemingly random names). I came across this reddit thread, as well as another one I can't find right now, which mentioned Coral Vision. I saw somewhere online someone mentioned Coral Vision was one of the first companies to start making these things, but didn't look into that claim further.

Still, it was $100 more than other options on Amazon, so why the Coral Vision RX 10? Well, for me, it uses USB-C which ended up being the deciding factor. It's a bit dumb, but the top selling options on Amazon that I saw all used proprietary connectors, and I did not want to deal with that. Also, I took the claim this manufacturer was one of the first making these devices at face value, and figured if that was true they probably had a better product from simple trial and error. And from their website, it does look like these displays are their main product.

So how is it?

It's pretty good! The setup was pretty easy, and if you're going to be using an aux cord to connect it to your car it really is dead simple. It took me a bit to figure out how to get it to connect to my car stereo via bluetooth, but that was largely due to me being impatient. If you follow the on screen instructions, and then just wait, it should start working momentarily. I like that while it's a 10 inch screen, it's not that high vertically. This makes it easier to fit in my car and not block much of my vision out of the car. If you're interested in someone reviewing the device in detail, Car Play Life made a video of using the device which can be found here.

I like how it pretty much just works, and I notice no lag when using it for maps or general things, but did notice some lag if I was trying to watch a video or something. The only other negative thing I have to say about it is the fact that I don't think it has the ability to automatically change its brightness, which is a bit of a pain. But yeah, even its base was great. My dashboard (2014 Subaru Outback) is textured so I was worried about finding something that would stick to it. But the base came with a sticky pad on it already, and so far it's held onto my dashboard like a champ.

I was originally a bit worried about ordering something from Taiwan, but even that ended up being completely fine. It even got to me in less than a week, which was extremely impressive given I live in VT and on a good day mail can take a while to get here.

Conclusion

Overall I'm really happy with it, and wanted to kind of spread the word about these devices. The biggest issue I had with my car was not having Android Auto, but this has solved that. I've only had it for about a week at this point, so maybe long term I'll run into some issues (And if I do, I'll write about it here), but as of right now, it's a device that has made my day to day use of my car that much more enjoyable.