Customer Reviews

Pioneer AVIC-U310BT 4.3-Inch In-Dash Navigation Receiver with CD Player and Bluetooth

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The boss (Wife) had the stock 6 CD changer in her 2006 Explorer XLT. She wanted a new radio that would allow her to listen to her iPod and have Bluetooth for her phone. I also wanted to add GPS, since if I was going to replace the darn thing, I may as well give her all the functions she might need for the future.

I looked online for a new head unit but it seemed that all the units were in the above $500 range. I saw that Amazon had the Pioneer AVIC-U310BT on sale for $259.00. I did some research and found a mixed bag of reviews, for every good review, there was a not so good one. After a bit of thinking, I decided to bite. I'm glad I did.

I bought the head unit along with the PAC Can Bus module05-08 FORD RADIO CAN BUS MODULE INTERFACEand the Scosche Scosche FD1426B Double ISO DIN Kit for 2004-Up Fordmounting kit. The harness was about $80 and the mounting kit another $15. If you look at a lot of the head units out there, they offer Bluetooth as an option, not include it with as with this radio. That would have added another $100 to many of the competitors out there.

I opened up all the parts I bought and read all the documentation on all the items BEFORE I went outside. I prewired the Pac module, connecting all the wires to the wiring harness from the radio. This made it easy when I went out to the truck. Plug and play, the only wiring I need to do was routing all the wires for the microphone, GPS antenna and the Aux output wire for her Sirius radio.

About that Sirius, Pioneer offers the built in module for Sirius or XM. Both cost $100 and you have to find a place for the big Sirius modules under the dash. They don't offer some of the features the little Plug and Play units Sirius offers; pause, FF, and favorite song or artist reminders. We decided to keep her existing Sportster 5 and plug it into the Aux port.

I got it all installed in about 90 minutes. I placed the GPS antenna under the top tray on the dashboard. The antenna sees right through the plastic tray, and stays hidden. The iPod cable is simply the USB cable that came with the iPod. You can buy the cable from Pioneer for about $40. I don't see the need, as it works fine with the Apple cable. I put the iPod in the glove box, as you don't need to access it, all the controls can be reached from the head unit.

The sound from the radio is great. The GPS navigation seems to be good, but I can tell you more as we use it in real world driving. Some people have said that they had issues with Bluetooth not connecting consistently. I started and turned off the truck about 20 times so far, and each time it finds and connects to my iPhone....no issues at all. The sound quality of the included microphone seems good, so far. Again, we will see how it goes in real world driving conditions.

Overall, it isn't as neat as the $500-$1000 dollar head units out there, the screen is not as big, and it may not have all the features of its higher priced cousins. But to have GPS, CD, iPod and Bluetooth for about $350 total, it cannot be beat.

Edit 4/27/10 After a week of use:
Wanted to add a few items on the use of this system. First, some have complained about the quality of the microphone that is supplied with the unit. For us, it works well. I have been involved in both ends of phone conversations as both the sender from the truck, or as a reciever of a call from the truck. Both come in loud and clear. Perhaps other people had issue with the location of the microphone? We clipped it directly to the driver's visor.

Sound quality is fantastic. This head unit really takes advantage of the factory sub woofer in the Explorer. We never heard such powerful bass from the stock unit.

The iPod control takes a little getting used to, but once you figure it out, it works well. My wife has simply put the iPod on random from the head unit controls. It is like a juke box with thousands of songs.....it is playing songs we long ago forgotten that were on the iPod.

GPS navigation has been fine. Sure, not a lot of POI's, but we simply enter in addresses. For my wife, it is no big deal.

Using the PAC Sys can bus module made the wiring easy. The system knows when the truck is moving, it knows to dim the display when the headlights go on, etc. It is just like a factory installation.

Overall, we are still happy with the purchase.

Sorry for the long winded review, but I want to provide as many details as possible for people to understand the unit better.

I bought this unit after seeing some so called professional reviews online. I did see their notes about very limited POIs or lack there off, no video etc. But I was not looking for Video or not even lot of POIs.

I liked this unit for the fact it is always in standby state and will come on instantly. For Pioneer F series that has a major complaint about start up time. I installed this unit a week ago and did lot of experimentation so far and here are my thoughts.

Looks and installation:
I liked looks of the unit for it simplicity, not too many buttons, and able to control Major audio functions without using Touchscreen etc. Installation went very well with excellent documentation provided(courtesy Crutchfield).

Phone, Bluetooth Module:
After everything is installed, synchronized my iPhone with bluetooth module and tried to make some calls. I can hear other side verywell, no issues here. But other party can hardly hears my voice. If I hold Microphone within few inches from my mouth it was acceptable, but if that is the case I would very well hold my phone instead of Mic. Tried lot of positions, and nothing helped. So, I looked around avic411 forums and saw quite few people having problems with supplied Microphone and used either Parrot Mic or Garmin Mic. So, I went ahead bought the Garmin Mic from local Frys electronics and installed it( Garmin Mic wire length is shorter, only 10 feet). Now the quality improved substantially and usable. But it still had problem with boomy echo(even with echo cancellation), but that was partially because of location. Moving the Mic close to head liner( above rear view mirror) somewhat reduced it, and now I thought this is usable. I was able to transfer the phone book quite easily from iPhone 2G(My other car Toyota Prius built-in system has problems with iPhone 2G for Phone book).

In total I drove the car 4 days, and out of 4 days, Bluetooth system hung 3 times. The symptoms are, bluetooth does not connect. But when to click on Phone button in Menu, it goes to phone screen and shows Bluetooth off and connections button disabled. When I click on Bluetooth to turn it on, it keep circling and nothing happens.

Trying to do a F. Reset does not do any good. Only way to get it working again is doing Hard reset by pressing the small reset switch on LCD frame. This does fix problem, but also resets everything else. Phone Book is completely gone, all Illumination color, Radio presets, Song details Display preferences, Eq settings, and Navigation preferences(ATT, Mute etc) are gone. We have to do set everything again back from scratch.

RESET OBSERVATION NOTE : We can reset the unit after taking out of docking position. This way unit does not reset AUDIO/NAV settings.(Contacts/Phone Book and Some Nav settings seems to be lost).

Also, the volume adjustment is independent from main audio system, so if you raise the volume to hear over road noise during a highway drive it would not reflect in bluetooth volume.

Another bummer is, you can not access the numeric pad after call is connected(it is disabled). That means, you can not select IVR systems voice menu option which is quite common if you call any customer service, and even more annoying, there is NO MUTE . But atleast you can do it from actual phone.

Navigation:
Size of the screen is small, but I think it is okay size as long as it is not too far away from driver. Menu structure, selecting options, settings etc are fine.
Just to clarify, DETACHABLE SCREEN DOES NOT WORK AS PORTABLE NAVIGATION. It does not have any built in GPS antenna/GPS processor. You can browse maps like paper maps, or create route etc.

This system uses Tele Atlas database(instead of NavTeQ) for Navigation which does not have good reviews. Despite being the latest database it does not have main roads( Bus route) which are 4-5 years old. Even for old neighborhood like 30 years old does not have correct road information.

Now the routing, I got to tell you this got to be worst navigation I ever used(Garmin, TomTom, Omnitech, Toyota in built). It lags much behind the actual vehicle position(not a signal problem), sometime a street or more behind actual location. I think unit is taking too much time reading the data, calculating position and representing on the actual map. It may not be a problem for most highway driving or sub-urban driving, but for downtown it is pretty close to useless.

For some reason it does not show the all the road names. It's 3D mapview is not good, 2D is ok. It does not know the difference between a walking trail vs roads, it will insist on driving on trails!

Text To Speech is pretty bad too, it says take a slight turn when infact it is very sharp turn. Sometime it lags, and sometime it all together forgets to tell you that you need to turn. Sometimes, it does not even show you on screen whether to turn or not(you come to a T-junction, but it does not tell you which direction to take.

I tried to compare same route with portable Omnitech Navigation unit(Destinator software). That is 100 times better in routing, shows better details on screen and providing direction properly.

And now the POIs, it is not the problem because of just 500k POIs. It is the categories they intentionally removed. The most commonly used categories, restaurants and Gas stations are missing, and do you believe they have Cemetery there? There is an option to feed the locations using AVIC feeds, but that does not come as POIs or category or even based on location unfortunately.

BTW for Navigation there is option to set voice, either to mute music, ATT music or simply say directions while music play at full volume(default, which does not make any sense).

Audio:
Audio portion I liked it. It is able to play music from recent thumb drive( 4 years small thumb drive did not work), and works wonderful with iPhone. Sound quality is pretty good, Radio reception is ok. Joystick navigation is ok, menus are easy to understand once you read the manual.

It seems many retailers listed saying this unit can music from SD card, but that is not true. YOU CAN NOT PLAY MUSIC FROM SD CARD. It can only be used to upload AVIC feeds(color, Locations, trip data etc). Pioneer confirmed it also See notes from Crutchfield editor to one of the reviews.

The illumination color can be selected or can be fed with custom color using AVIC feeds software. The LCD never turns off even when you turn off the unit. It only turns off when car keys are taken out(out of acc position). There is a button to turn off screen, but this is to turn off while system is on. Good thing about it is, you can turn off screen entirely when driving long distance during night. It comes back right away if you touch the screen.

Note: As of now there are no firmware updates available to fix any above issues I described, and quite few people have problems with Navigation Freezing. I think overall hardware is good, but it is the software/firmware that is problem.

12/04/2009: Another update. I can confirm after the Europe Firmware update, I did not get any bluetooth hangs anymore(4+ weeks). It also seems routing is little better(TTS voice is still bad). But I am having problems now-and-then with USB drive. During the playback it suddenly has problems with reading the USB, and I also saw the same issue with iPhone playback. Unplugging and plugging in back fix the problem temporarily. I checked the routed cable in my console and it seems fine, but I have not check behind radio to see if it moved(Highly unlikely as I anchored all cables with zip ties). I will update once I check it out.

11/03/2009: I did a partial upgrade using Europe firmware as Pioneer did not provide any updates to this unit in US. This seems only upgraded the Bluetooth module. But this change/improvement seems to be significant enough to report. First I no longer see the "Cell Phone disconnected" message after I turn on my car as Bluetooth module was not aware that I shutdown the car before and just started again(Just embarrassing if someone in the car). Now the change is that, when I shutdown the car(out off ACC postion to off/lock), the Screen does not shut-off immediately, but waits for about 5 seconds, identifies that Bluetooth module is disconnect, then shutdowns(It may look weird as you took your keys from car, closed the door behind, but this thing screen us on). The good thing is because of this change Blue-tooth connect quickly next time when you start(approx 18 secs vs 34 seconds without any other app running/audio/nav etc). This also reduced Bluetooth freezing episodes(not completely gone, but ran more than week or two with out freezing). Bluetooth freezing happens more frequently if Contacts are synced.

But Nav issues are still there, it thinks I am driving somewhere without roads, that is with fulll GPS signal( not just my unit, other too), Only way to correct is undock and dock it again( restart does not work).

And AVIC feeds, which I was excited about as I can create my own POIs is really restricted to the point that is not useful. Like example if you want to add all SHELL GAS stations(5000+), it only takes first 100. Ofcourse you can add 100 of each gas stations or restaurant. And you can not search these POIs like inbuilt POIs.

And AVIC Feeds for iPhone, it is joke for this unit( again highend units are ok). If you add a POI, it adds like a contact in your phone(like you will have McDonald as your contact) and you need to sync complete phonebook again from scratch to get single POIs from iPhone to AVIC-U310BT. But on the higher-end unit you can simply transfer that one contact.

09/16/2009: Now, even Navigation unit is hung. I tried normal reset, but that did fix problem. I had to hard reset keeping unit in head. All settings are lost as expected, but atleast navigation and bluetooth are working again.

Pros:
Instant On!
AM/FM/Single Disk CD Player with 18 FM presets; 6 AM presets
Total iPod control thru unit
Basic GPS with text to speech
Hands Free Bluetooth (when it works)
Detachable faceplate

Cons:
There's a software glitch in the bluetooth software that requires re-pairing your phone with the base regularly. Menus might seem initially confusing.

Summary:
I installed the AVIC U310BTs in my 2009 smart car after reading that this unit would be offered as the "official" GPS upgrade on the 2010 model smarts. I picked up a unit on eBay for $370. Another $30 for the iPod cable plus $50 for the double din face plate and wiring harness and another 50 bucks for new speakers and for $500 I had an upgrade that the dealer will offer for $1300.

The GPS is basic but adequate. The lady in the box giving directions has a very slight flutter to her voice but she gets me there just fine.

The radio/CD player work great and the units puts out a lot of sound. Paired with decent speakers, you will not be disappointed.

With a 120 Gig iPod, my Holy Grail has been a way to navigate through the hundreds of artists and thousands of CDs to play the tune I wanted without killing myself while driving. I've found that the AVIC U310BT succeeds in allowing me to search with a minimum of clicks and twists to the exact song I wanted-- while driving! However, here's where the confusing menus might make you want to read the manual. Once you "get" the menu flow, it all makes sense in some weird way.

My biggest disappointment with the unit is the software glitch with the bluetooth. About every 4 starts of the car the bluetooth hangs and will not work with my phone. It requires a faceplate reset which takes about 30 seconds then you must re-pair your phone which takes another couple of minutes. This is really the only thing that I do not like about the unit. I take a star away for the bluetooth hassle.

Pioneer AVIC units in the past have been criticized for slow boot times. On the 310BT however, the unit comes on instantly because the battery in the removable faceplate keeps it in standby when the car is off. The instant on function seems to be the culprit that somehow causes the bluetooth to hang upon occasion.

The U310BT has only been on sale since June so I expect that as more owners report this bluetooth problem there will be a firmware update to correct, but until then I'm not as happy as I could be.

Update: I've found a workaround to the bluetooth problem and my phone-- once I paired my wife's phone to the unit, it began working flawlessly! Dropping and re-connecting my phone from the unit now seems to fix the lockup. On reconsideration, I give this 4 stars!

I was shocked to find out this unit has no POIs to speak of. Pioneer has a hundred dollar solution, buy their SD card with updates. I would not purchase this had I found out before it was installed in my dash. Audio features are fine and bluetooth is OK, albeit a little confusing. Had to reset after removing the SD card for some reason. Who wants a GPS that can't locate a gas station?

This is a pretty solid HU when you update the firmware, and installation took a few hours (primarily to route wires and get steering wheel interface working). Ipod controls are pretty good, if a little slow. The AVIC Feeds software is useless, so don't waste too much time on that, and as others have noted the POI database included with the navigation system is laughable. If you like to search your nav for gas stations, restaurants, hotels, ... they are not in there. You'll need to buy the POI supplement from Pioneer, which runs around $85 - $99 and does include all of those things. All-in-all, for the money, this is a pretty nice and very capable unit.

My big complaint is with Amazon - nowhere do they disclose that they are not an authorized reseller for Pioneer car audio. When I had a problem with the Bluetooth microphone, I was told by Pioneer that the unit is NOT waranteed. So in essence, you have your normal 30 day window to return purchases to Amazon; after that, you have NO PROTECTION. If the unit dies on day 31, you are out of luck. This is borderline deceptive - if I knew that I was not getting a warranty, I would not have purchased from Amazon. By the time I learned, I had already invested lots of time and energy installing the unit in my car - if I decide to return I would have to reverse the process, then spend even more time installing something else. This will be the last electronics purchase I make from Amazon.

The title says it all: Great Entry Level Navigation Car Audio Receiver

I installed this in my 2002 Toyota Tundra without any issues overall I love this stereo. It has a great bang for the buck - but it is not for everyone as it is an entry level unit... Here is a brief run down of the pros and cons of the unit.

Pros:
-Quick start up - it is ready to roll just a second after turning on the vehicle.
-Bluetooth Compatibility for hands free cell phone calls - It pairs with my iPhone 3G with no issues. I use this feature all the time without any issues due to the updated firmware fixes (already preinstalled on the unit.) Unlike others, I do not have an issue with the microphone - but you must place the microphone in a place that you voice can reach it!
-Works with iPhone and iPods - Control the music from the stereo or control the music from your iPod/iPhone. It works both ways. It works great with Pandora running on my iPhone through a standard iPhone cable!
-Plays CDs, MP3, WMA, AAC - Plays the major music formats.
-Touch Screen for easy control - the touch screen makes controlling the unit on the drive easy as pie.
-USB, AUX inputs - The USB input can accept an iPod/iPhone or a jump drive with no issues. You have a AUX mini-jack input for all other non-USB devices.
-HD HD Radio and Satellite Radio Ready (not included) - the unit can add HD or Satellite radio with the purchase of additional parts.
-GPS - Never get lost with GPS in your ride.

Cons:
-Navigation system: No POI (points of interest). You can download or pay for updated POIs - but this is a pain. It is also important to note that the navigation system interface is very generic and not very visually pleasing when compared to other models. The Navigation system is a bit odd to work with as well. There is no "direct" address input. You have to enter a city, then a state, then the address - all on three separate input fields. Navigation is kinda slow a picking up as well. The verbal directions help - but you can still pass the street you should turn on before the system can catch up. Overall, the nav system is OK but it is very crude and it is an entry level setup.
-AVIC FEEDS Software for iPhone - great idea poorly executed. Hard to use (especially when your iPhone is connected to a Microsoft Exchange account). You have to add an address to your contact list in the AVIC feeds iPhone app -> which adds the address to your main iphone contact list -> which adds the address to the contact list on the nav unit memory allowing you to use nav system.
-No expandability - no ability to add features such as steering wheel controls or back up camera or divix/dvds. Plain flat out stupid...
-No Bluetooth audio streaming - you can not stream audio from your iPhone to the unit unlike other models. Not that big of a deal since you can hook up your iPhone with a standard iPhone/iPod cable.

Overall Review:
A great entry level car stereo that excels at hands free calling and iPod/iPhone connectivity and control. Great sound and easy to use once you get use to the operating system. A sub-par GPS navigation unit. This is a great product for you if you really only want is a killer stereo with hands free and iPhone connectivity and limited nav system uses.

CNET Link for additional reviews:
[...]

I purchased the Pioneer avic-u310bt for my 2007 CRV with hopes of upgrading technology wise to bluetooth & in built gps.I installed the system myself in about 90 minutes,with a lot of info from the web,and a Scosche double din kit(i ended up using just the trim from the kit & used the OEM kit as the oem was steel and the Scosche was plastic and looked too flimsy).I also got a Metra antenna adapter and wiring harness(which made the install all the more simple.

Sound
At first I thought the sound was pretty ordinary but play around with the equalizer,bass boost & yeah,it sounds terrific.I don't have a sub woofer,still it worked fantastically with the OEM speakers

Connectivity
I couldn't pair my phone at first,till I got the firmware update.After the update connection was a breeze.Only thing is that on the Pioneer site there seems to be something wrong with the update page,i figured it out in the end & pioneer even sent me an SD card with the update free of charge.

GPS
After coming from an ancient 5 yr old Garmin c340 for which I then paid about $400,the gps on this unit is terrible.I thought I was gettin an upgrade but its worse than 5 yr old technology.It is way off on the "you have reached your destination" and its a bit annoying to hear turn left,turn right constantly instead of hearing street names,yes it does not tell you street names,just displays it on the screen,although it does have lane assist,which I found kinda strange,was it that difficult to incorporate street names into the unit.

Overall, the unit is in my wife's car & she's happy with the phone functions and doesn't care all that much for the GPS which she rarely uses.Next time I get something like this for myself I'll make sure that it has the same technology Garmin uses.

***When you get the firmware update search through the given links,download the zip files & be sure to extract the said files to the top layer of ur SD card.

This is an amazing unit, especially considering the price of under $300.

BT Hands-free: I wanted a Bluetooth hands-free system for my car and bought this Pioneer AVIC-310BT for around twice what I expected to pay just for that. After pairing the devices, it took about ten minutes to transfer all my contacts to the 310BT from the phone (a BlackBerry Curve). Now, whenever I start the car, the 310BT automatically pairs with my phone which is still attached to my belt and, fifteen seconds later, I am in hands-free mode. When a call comes in, the unit mutes the radio, CD or other music and you talk into the supplied microphone while the caller is piped through the car speakers. You may need to warn callers that they are being broadcast to an entire vehicle....

GPS: The screen is detachable so can be programed inside the house before you set off - a nice touch. Typically, I am in the vehicle when selecting my destination so followed the advice given elsewhere and attached the green wire to the black, ground wire so that I can access all of the GPS features while not having to have the parking brake on (while waiting at traffic lights for example :-)). Yes, the GPS is a little basic when compared to some stand-alone units, but it works very well and the voice instructions are piped through the car speakers, so no troubles with hearing the tiny speaker that is typically in a GPS unit. One huge advantage with the 310BT is that there isn't the usual GPS mount left stuck to your windshield, a sure attraction for low-lives who assume the GPS unit itself is probably hidden inside your car and break windows to search for it. Yes, personal experience!

The CD player has a slot-loading opening at the top of the unit and also plays MP3 files. Don't expect to see much in the way of track and artist information - or maybe I'm not creating my CDs correctly? - but the unit has happily played all of the disks I have loaded into it during the past two months. No problems with the sound quality and there are a range of equalizer settings to satisfy your mood/taste.

Radio: The radio has an HD (Pioneer GEX-P20HD) option which I bought for around $100 from Amazon. This also works perfectly and comes with all of the cables and wiring you require (I did not need an antenna splitter cable as one reviewer suggested). I have become a fan of HD radio, its clarity on AM is good, excellent on FM broadcasts. The unit displays a small satellite symbol when an HD channel is playing. Sirius/XM radio will also require an extra external unit but I haven't tried that so cannot comment on its quality.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00281AFAO/ref=oss_product

A real bonus is the iPod connectivity via a USB cable. I fed the supplied USB cable into my glovebox which keeps the player in a safe, out-of-sight location. The interface to the player takes a bit of getting used to, so I just tell it to randomly play tracks or, alternatively, listen to podcasts on longer journeys. You can use your iPod controls if you prefer those - many people will. A thumb drive with audio tracks can be used, but the player will simply play the tracks in the order they were recorded. As other reviewers have said, any iPod/USB cable works so save a few dollars and buy this one for under $2. Go on, buy four!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EW2XQ8/ref=oss_product

There is also an audio input for connecting other makes of MP3 players via their headset socket, but I found the volume from that to be quite a lot lower than via the USB, which can certainly rattle your brains when you get to the hotel room and connect your headphones after a journey.

There are not many buttons on the unit, a large dial which usually controls the volume but is also used to search radio stations, change audio settings and navigate the iPod. A source button selects the sound source, the Mode button deactivates the GPS screen (the default) and leaves the full screen for radio, CD or iPod control. Many features are accessed through the excellent touch screen, depending on what you are playing with at the time.

In summary, a feature-packed device at an incredible price. I installed it myself so can tell you it cost more for the new facia panel (thank you Dodge), a wiring harness and mounting kit than for the Pioneer AVIC-310BT, but I have had no problems at all and thoroughly recommend it.

For the price I thought the Pioneer wouldn't deliver the results as a more expensive head unit. Being an audio freak and a DJ as well I really value quality from audio equipment and this product definitely delivered. It powers the speakers really well and compliments a high grade subwoofer extremely well. The navigation is pretty good and the bluetooth is great.

After reading many reviews with mixed results I pulled the trigger and purchased this unit based upon the price. I installed this unit on a TrailBlazer with onstar. First, make sure you get a gmos-01 kit and a mounting kit as this make the installation easy and keeps functionality with chimes and OnStar. After installation, the unit will have a lot of freeze ups, etc. So first thing make sure you go on-line to Pioneer and install the 1.0003 software update and that has fixed all the issues. The sound quality if very good. The bluetooth functionality works very good with no problems. The iPod works very well and you don't have to buy any extra cable as you can use the cable the iPod came with. The navigation is probably where is falls short. The POI is practically useless and you will end of buying for $100 the POI card Pioneer offers that has 12 million POI. You can create and download your own POI using the AVIC feed software you can also download. However, this will not replace the POI that Pioneer offers. A nice feature is that you can create directions from Google maps and import that as a POI into the unit. The navigation unit verdict is still out as searching for streets and city is okay but haven't used it enough. Garmin or TomTom is superior to the navigation in this unit. Another note on this unit as the unit requires you to ground it to the parking brake for the nav functions to work meaning you have to stop and lift the brake (common in many units). You can simply bypass this and attach the "green wire" to a ground wire or ground it to the body and it will work fine while moving (this may be illegal in some states). Other points to offer, the face plate comes off which I like for theft reasons. This has no video capabilities so things like backup camera will not be an option. So overall for $250 plus wiring harness, SD card $100 for POI is probably priced right. If you want more you will have to be in the $500 plus range. Also [...] is a good site that helps provide information.