Simple, flexible, and priced just right

I bought my current car when Android Auto was still in its early stages, well before wireless connectivity was even on the table. These days, many new cars ship with built-in wireless support, but plenty of new and old vehicles still lack wireless capabilities that would save you from plugging in a phone every time you start the engine. Several good wireless adapters are on the market, but AACPlay might just thread the needle with an approachable price and just the right qualities to make most drivers happy.

To avoid confusion, let me explain what this adapter is and what it is not. This adapter does NOT add Android Auto to a car that doesn’t already have it. Instead, it adds wireless capability to a vehicle that already has Android Auto, allowing your phone to connect without a cable.

Price and availability

The AACPlay wireless adapter for Android Auto is available to order only through Amazon and in the United States. Retail is officially $50, but it’s commonly on sale for a few dollars off, and Amazon may also offer discount coupons. When all is said and done, the final price may land around $40 before tax.

Hardware and design

Cheers for replaceable cables

The AACPlay adapter is an unassuming, thin, black plastic slab with USB ports on the top (type-C) and bottom (type-A). Since these are ports rather than fixed cables, you can easily replace damaged cables or use a longer cable for more mounting options.

Logos and regulatory info are printed on the front and rear, but that’s about it. The sides have small holes for airflow, and a long LED is stationed on the front. I’m always disappointed that none of these adapters offer a switch for toggling between paired phones, which would be useful when two people share a vehicle and regularly ride together.

The box includes a pair of 6-inch USB-C cables with A and C plugs to fit either port in any car. There’s a soft felt carrying pouch for the adapter and cables, and a small gel adhesive pad is included for semi-permanent mounting.

Maybe I’m too paranoid about electronics and heat, but this adapter does warm up a little bit after about fifteen minutes. It’s far from hot, and I’d only barely call it warm, but that’s just enough that I would advise against keeping it in any tightly enclosed spaces without airflow, especially during long drives in warm weather.

I have to dedicate a moment to the lone LED. My soul breaks every time a manufacturer commits an act of true evil by jamming blindingly bright LEDs into products. Too hyperbolic? Well, what if I told you it also blinks! The LED is fine in daylight, assuming you can ignore the blinking. However, it is far brighter than it possibly should be, and at night, it easily overpowers everything on my dashboard, including the Android Auto display.

Fixing this malignant design oversight is as simple as sticking a strip of electrical tape (or similar) over the LED, or you can use the included adhesive pad for this purpose. You could also hide it somewhere that will block the light; just be sure it still has some airflow.

Performance

No complications

Pairing and setup are about as simple as they can be. There’s no custom app to install; you just need Android Auto on your phone to get started. If you’ve paired your phone to the car with a cable before, the only thing required here is to make a Bluetooth connection, and then the adapter switches over to Wi-Fi after a short pause. Likewise, a phone making its first connection to the car also has to go through the Bluetooth pairing before switching to Wi-Fi, and then the standard first-run experience kicks in to complete the setup.

Performance was consistently good for me on every phone I tested — mostly a Pixel 7 and Galaxy S22. There wasn’t any noticeable loss of image quality, slow animations, or audio degradation. Connection speeds were also very good, usually taking about five to ten seconds longer to connect than if I had connected the phone via a USB cable.

Firmware Status: Ghosted?

Almost all modern electronics have some potential to get firmware updates, which could be used to add new features or fix compatibility issues for specific cars and head units. However, I have doubts about the potential for firmware updates to this AACPlay adapter.

As it turns out, the aacplay.com website has never been up during our review period, and it looks like it has never been live at all. Likewise, since there’s no custom app or any way to register with the manufacturer, I can’t think of any way to notify customers, even if the company eventually produces an update.

Fortunately, Android Auto isn’t too complicated, and this AACPlay unit should work perfectly well with most vehicles using its original firmware.

Competition

The Android Auto wireless adapters market arguably began with an Indigogo campaign for AAWireless, followed shortly after by the Motorola MA1. Both technically retailed for $90 at one time, but have since dropped in price or regularly go on sale in the $50-$70 range. Both performed well in our comparison.

However, there are also several mystery brands floating around Amazon with two or three generic hardware designs originating from Alibaba. These tend to cost a few dollars less, but still don’t get much cheaper than about $40, so the savings are pretty minor. Plus, most of the models I’ve seen were designed with a really short fixed cable.

Should you buy it?

Relatively few things differentiate one Android Auto wireless adapter from the next, so it’s hard to say which is best for each person or car. However, aside from a couple of relatively small and easily fixable complaints, I can’t find much wrong with the model from AACPlay, and most people will probably be happy with it.

There’s no complicated setup procedure, and performance seems to be about as good as anybody could ask for. The price is in the premium range, while the design is generally better than most of the cheaper alternatives. Just be sure to have some way to cover that obnoxious blinking light.