There is no doubt that Android Auto is a really convenient way to use your smartphone on the road. However, unfortunately, this convenience is hampered in many vehicles by the need to constantly plug in your phone every time you get into the car.
This may not be a big deal for long road trips, since you’ll probably want to keep your phone charged anyway, but it gets old very quickly when you’re regularly hopping in and out of your car, like when running errands or driving around town for meetings and visits Social. It’s enough to tempt a person to replace their car with a newer model with wireless Android Auto support.
Fortunately, Dutch company AAWireless has developed a much easier and affordable solution that lets you untether your phone from any vehicle that supports Android Auto.
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AAWireless is an affordable way to add wireless Android Auto capabilities to almost any vehicle. It’s a game-changer for people who rely on Android Auto for short commutes around town.
- Power source: USB C
- What’s included: USB-A to USB-C cable
- Brand: Wireless AA
- Contact: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- Dimensions: 1.93 x 1.93 x 0.47 inches
- Easy to set up
- Ample configuration options
- Detachable cable
- It must be unplugged if you need to charge your phone
Price and availability
AAWireless began life as a hugely successful Indiegogo campaign in 2020, and is now ready for prime time. The company is selling its eponymous adapter exclusively through Amazon for $80 after permanently marking down the price from its introductory price of $90. While AAWireless is readily available in the US, it has been slower to roll out internationally. It is listed on Amazon in a few other countries such as the UK and Australia but is shown as currently unavailable in those countries. It has not yet appeared on Amazon Canada.
Although AAWireless told us it plans to bring it to all of these countries pending regulatory approval, you’ll have to resort to cross-border shopping on Amazon to get one sooner. Since AAWireless works entirely over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB, there’s no reason why it can’t work anywhere in the world. I had no issues with the review unit I received and tested in my home city of Toronto, Canada.
Design, hardware and what’s in the box
The AAWireless adapter turned out to be smaller than I expected, measuring about two inches on each side and a half-inch thick. It’s made of matte black plastic, so it’s as light as a dental floss container.
Other than the USB-C port and the status light on one side, the unit is completely enclosed, with an unassuming design that only features the faint company logo at the top. The package includes a 6-inch USB-A to USB-C cable that should accommodate most vehicles, and you can provide your own cable if you need longer reach or connect to your vehicle’s USB-C port. There’s also a multilingual quick start guide in the box, though it mainly directs you to the Play Store to download the app; The rest is just the usual regulatory and compliance stuff typical of most wireless devices.
Compatibility and communication
AAWireless is compatible with any Android phone that supports Android Auto Wireless. In short, you should be fine if you’re running Android 11 or later and your phone supports 5GHz Wi-Fi. On the car side, you need wired Android Auto support. Note that AAWireless can’t bring Android Auto to a car that doesn’t already have it; It is just bridging the gap between wired and wireless support. However, there are no other special requirements because your car doesn’t need to know it’s using a wireless connection — it sees the AAWireless adapter as your phone.
Under the hood, the AAWireless unit uses Bluetooth 4.2 and dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi. The Bluetooth connection is for initial setup, after which your phone connects and transfers data via 5GHz Wi-Fi. You can connect AAWireless to your car using any reasonably good quality USB-C cable; It worked well with all the USB-A and USB-C ports in my car.
Prepare it
I tested AAWireless with a Pixel 6 running the latest Android 13 and a 2021 Nissan Rogue Platinum, which, while it supports wireless Apple CarPlay, has unfortunately always required a wired connection for Android Auto — until now. Although the initial setup for AAWireless isn’t quite as simple as connecting your phone to a car that’s already equipped with wireless Android Auto, it’s not difficult. There are only a few extra steps to perform, and you only need to do it once. The good news is that the companion app does a great job of walking you through all the necessary steps.
The first step is to install the AAWireless app from the Play Store. Don’t be overzealous and plug the adapter right away like I did. You will not be able to connect it to your phone until it is configured properly by the app, and you need to connect your phone before connecting the AAWireless app. This extra step is necessary even if you’re already using wired Android Auto. The AAWireless device presents itself to your car as if it were your phone, so the app needs to capture these details to configure it correctly.
Once that’s done, you’ll be prompted to disconnect your phone and connect the AAWireless device to your car, and then the app will take you through pairing your phone with Android Auto Wireless, and you’re good to go.
Programs and features
It took me about three minutes to get AAWireless up and running, and I suspect that will be true for most people. However, the AAWireles app offers a wealth of advanced configuration options for those who want to tweak their experience.
Many of the options in the app address specific compatibility issues you may encounter. For example, there is a “GM Fix” for some GM vehicles where Android Auto could hang on startup. There are also some useful tweaks available, such as changing the DPI value to match your car’s display, playing media or navigation instructions via a different Bluetooth device, and disabling auto-connect for cars that always keep their USB ports powered. You can also set it to instantly open Android Auto on your screen right after it’s connected.
performance
After two weeks of driving around Toronto using AAWireless, I can confidently say that it works as advertised. It provides the same magical experience as my car with just the iPhone and Apple CarPlay.
With AAWireless set to automatically start and capture screen focus, Android Auto is completely seamless, as if it were part of my car instead of the standard infotainment system. I can hop into the Rogue, turn it on, have Google Maps on my screen, and be ready to go without pressing a button on the screen, let alone taking my phone out of my pocket and plugging it in. Since my car also supports wireless charging, I don’t have to worry about cables on long road trips.
Because it uses Wi-Fi, AAWireless offers enough range to connect anywhere inside your car. For example, if you have a compatible USB port inside your center console, you can hide it out of sight and completely forget about it. To give you an idea of the range we’re talking about, I made it far from my house one morning before it lost contact. At first, I thought I was experiencing a glitch, which was surprising since the connection was so strong. It made more sense after I checked my pocket and realized I’d left my Pixel on the living room table.
The only real problem I’ve had with AAWireless is that you can’t reliably connect your phone and the AAWireless unit simultaneously. Your mileage may vary depending on the type and model of car you drive. However, when I connected my Pixel 6 directly to my Rogue and had AAWireless connected, I was sometimes confused about which device to connect to. Since both devices shared the same ID, he started flipping back and forth. If you need to charge your phone from a wired USB port, it’s best to unplug the AAWireless unit first and use wired Android Auto. You can also use the USB port for charging only if your car has one.
This is important, because using Android Auto wirelessly will use up battery life more quickly than you think. After all, your phone has to maintain a stable 5GHz Wi-Fi connection to your car, plus you’ll likely be using it for navigation or streaming music, both of which consume a fair amount of power on their own. This might be good for short hops around town, where wireless Android Auto shines anyway. However, on long trips, you’re better off unplugging the AAWireless and plugging it in directly unless you also have a wireless charging pad in your car. However, be careful, as the combination of wireless Android Auto and wireless charging can cause some phones to overheat a bit.
Competition: What are your other alternatives?
AAWireless isn’t the only game in town when it comes to wireless Android Auto adapters. Since these devices fulfill a common need among smartphone users, you will find dozens of similar devices on Amazon. However, although these devices are small and simple, they are much more complex than USB cables or even basic Wi-Fi adapters, so it’s best to be cautious about purchasing one from an unknown manufacturer.
The main competitor to AAWIreless comes from the Motorola MA1, which has been so popular that it’s often difficult to find in stock. It typically sells for about $20 more, and works very well, although its biggest drawback is the 3-inch hard USB-A cable that limits where you can put it in your car. In comparison, the AAWireless includes a detachable 6-inch cable and a standard USB-C port so you can save your own.
Should you buy it?
If your car supports wired Android Auto, AAWireless is a complete game changer. While this may not be necessary if you’re only taking long road trips, where you’ll likely have your phone plugged in, few drivers fall exclusively into this category. When I bought the Rogue two years ago, having wireless Apple CarPlay was the main deciding factor in choosing the Platinum model. However, after trying out a wireless iPhone with CarPlay, using the Pixel 6 seemed like a trucker gear change in user experience.
With the wired requirements, I tended to avoid plugging my phone in on short trips, which meant I didn’t get all the great benefits of using Android Auto. AAWireless technology solves this problem by creating a seamless, integrated experience that you don’t even need to think about — Android Auto is ready to go every time you hop in the car. It soon becomes part of your daily life.
