Customer Reviews

Pioneer AVIC-Z120BT 7" In-Dash Double-Din Navigation CD/DVD/MP3 with Pandora iPhone streaming

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Length:: 9:09 Mins

[*** UPDATE 9/9/2010 - It turns out that firmware version 2.003, which I just installed tonight, fixes the bug where you have to press OK before your phone connects to the AVIC-Z120BT. I tested this out and it works as expected now. ***]

I got this AVIC-Z120BT unit a few days ago and installed it in my 2009 Nissan Frontier. The install did take a while; but, I had several quotes by some car audio installation places and I decided I'd be better off doing it myself and saving the money. So far, I am absolutely loving having this system in my truck!

In the attached video, I tried to go over some of the main features of this unit. I'll also try to cover most of the same material here for people that don't want to spend the time to watch the video.


Here are the things I'm loving about this Pioneer navigation system:

1) The sound quality is very good. The radio reception is also exceptional for both AM and FM.

2) The media source selection is great! This unit supports playing from CDs & DVDs (including MP3s from either), SD cards with either video or music, iPods (using an additional interface cable), USB keys, or the internal AM/FM tuner. You can also add an HD radio tuner, although I didn't add that feature. Personally, I love that I can stick an SD card with all my music in this unit and it is always available to me without having to mess with an FM transmitter or hook up my phone to the receiver.

3) The navigation system itself is very good. The maps are up to date in my area, and it looks like new maps can be downloaded from Pioneer when they are available. It has all the standard nav features, like being able to adjust the scale or change the top of the map to be either North or to be inline with your current heading. It also offers turn-by-turn guidance, waypoints, and can be controled using voice commands - although I haven't played with this much.

4) The Bluetooth interface on the receiver is amazing! It automatically downloads the contacts from my phone whenever it turns on and then I have access to all of my contacts through the nav system. Even though my Android phone does NOT support voice dialing over Bluetooth, I can now use the voice dialing feature of this receiver and it automatically dials my phone.

5) The voice interface in general is very good. It handles everything from voice dialing to switching inputs - even when I'm driving down the highway. The included mic works fine for phone calls in the truck, although it does sound like I'm talking on a speaker phone (which I basically am when using this system).

6) Incoming calls on this system work very well. A small overlay pops up on the screen that lets you answer incoming calls, hang up, etc... It also mutes (or turns down) the currently playing audio during the phone call.

7) The backup camera is a great addition. It switches on automatically when the truck is in reverse, and it can also be used in conjunction with the map view - which will be great for towing.

8) The system boots fairly quickly. The backup camera and previously selected music source are available almost instantly, where the navigation system and other controls are available after about 15 seconds. My Android phone typically takes about 45 seconds to connect from the time the system first starts up.

9) I should have shown this in the video, but the screen tilt can be adjusted if you need it to angle up a bit. In my truck, I don't need it to tilt at all; so I tend to forget about that.

10) The interface looks great and is very easy to use! The system also looks great in my truck.

11) You can set an anti-theft password through a 'secret' interface, and the system will prompt for the password if the backup power is ever cut. I think this is a dubious 'anti-theft' feature since the system could easily be stolen and the thieves wouldn't find out about the password until they were back at the secret lair :). I guess I would have the satisfaction of knowing they probably couldn't use it...


Although I absolutely love this Pioneer nav system, there are some quirks in the firmware that I hope will be addressed by future releases:

1) [*** UPDATE - This is fixed in firmware version 2.003. ***] When booting the system, you need to press OK on the warning screen BEFORE the system connects to your phone. Otherwise, you won't be able to voice dial until the car is turned off and back on again. If the system boots up into the map screen, this is pretty easy since the prompt will show before the map is displayed. If, on the other hand, the system boots into the media mode, the prompt won't even display until you manually switch to either the home screen or the navigation system - and it can be easy to forget until you need to make a call...

2) The AM and FM presets are named based on the text being broadcast by the station. That makes no sense in my case, so I end up with presets with names like "ive,". I wish that could just be turned off and I could just have the frequencies displayed - or it would also be great if I could name the presets myself. Normally, I don't mind remembering the preset numbers - but this interface doesn't really lend itself to that. Hopefully this will be fixed/changed soon!

3) I wish this system would show album art for songs that are on the SD card. I called Pioneer and verified that isn't supported in the current firmware.

4) On bright days, the display tends to be a bit washed out - even on the brightest setting. It's still visible, but just barely. I may end up getting my front windows tinted to help out with this.


Overall, I really love this system and would highly recommend it if you want an integrated nav/bluetooth/multimedia system in your vehicle. The combined feature-set that this added to my truck wouldn't have even been possible a few years ago; and, the Pioneer pulls it all off with a very nicely integrated user interface. There are some quirks in the firmware, but I think they should all be easily addressed by future firmware updates - I just hope Pioneer does us all the favor of actually updating the firmware!

I will update this review to reflect any changes in my opinions, or if new firmware versions are released.

I have been using this receiver in my 2010 Toyota Tundra for several weeks now. I will simply go over the points that mattered to me. This is an updated review.

- sound quality: excellent. Very happy in this regard. I have this connected at the line level to a JL Audio 400 watt amp and Morel Tempo speakers. Professionally installed.

- navigation: so far so good. The voice quality is great. The UI works well and I haven't found it slow when searching for an address or a POI. I like how it behaves as your drive.

- iPhone integration: generally very nice. Both for video and music and phone contacts. The audio quality I am getting for better music files is what I had hoped for. I am using the Pioneer iPod cable. There are glitches here and there, such as transitions. For example, shot off the unit/vehicle with video playing, then when the unit starts up again, the video doesn't play but you hear the sound. This continues even after acknowledging the safety screen. Can be lived with.

Voice quality during phone calls appears to be good. Or should I say nobody has complained nor misunderstood me. I did move a microphone a few times before settling on the rear edge of the visor. This is a less hidden, less integrated place to put it, but this places the microphone much closer to my voice. Sound levels in my Tundra aren't too bad. The doors are lined with Dynamat.

- voice recognition/control: overall surprisingly good. There is a bug that happens if your phone connects to the unit before you have acknowledged the safety notice for the GPS. Voice commands related to the phone refuse to work at all. This bug earlier led me to believe that the VR was useless. Work around for this is to hit that OK button in GPS mode as soon as possible after starting up the unit. I have used the VR even for specifying an address or searching for a point of interest, and it all works well. The VR voice is computer generated and not nearly as smooth as the GPS voice. One of several points of integration between the unit's separate systems that could use some improving.

So overall, I am very happy with this choice. I have not used such a unit in the past, so my expectations were actually quite high. I am used to better integration between features. I am however quite impressed with the overall quality of the user interface. Much nicer than I have seen on earlier receivers. Useful and looks good, not a silly display of flashing graphics. I believe it could be improved on, but I develop user interfaces for a living, so take my opinion as coming from a more critical point of view.

Six months update: really not happy with the navigation in this unit. Makes mistakes too often and in a few cases dangerous situations (big city, lots of traffic, etc.). The alternate view thrown at you at big intersections isn't helpful and causes more confusion at bad moments. I could go on for an hour why I don't like this GPS. I have resorted to using a portable Garmin sitting on the dashboard. That's right, $1300+ "nav" unit and I have to use a Nuvi 760 if I actually want to get there.

This unit is not what I expected for a "Flagship" unit from Pioneer. If I would have been able to test a unit before purchasing, I would not have purchased it.

1) The Navigation screens are so poorly designed.

If you have the unit search for any point of interest, i.e. "Taco Bell", it will give you multiple results with the distance being the only thing differentiating them. You have no idea which street they are on, or in which direction they are from you. Completely useless. It would not be asking much for them to at least put an address on there. Ideally, a map display of results, similar to what you get with Google Maps is ideal. However, for an update, I would be happy with just showing addresses.

2) The features of the radio are utterly pathetic. There is less functionality in this radio than the most basic car stereos.

You can only have 6 channels in memory, and 3 FM "modes" (FM1, FM2, FM3), for a total of 18. Why so little channels? Is it a lack of technology, processing power, or laziness in design? There is no scan function. The channel info freezes when you switch away from the station, and stays there until you reselect the station. So, you may have a partial name of a song you listened to days ago, as a means to identify what one of your presets are.

3) Voice features for music are not responsive. I don't even bother with this feature anymore. It rarely understands what you ask for, and usually ends up changing the audio source when I ask it to play an artist or album. The Voice dialing actually works really well, so I do not know what the disconnect is between great voice dialing and terrible voice music requests.

4) Musicsphere is more trouble than it is worth.

The program is just a convoluted way of making playlists. You can jump through hula hoops to make playlists through this program or you can just use Genius in Itunes or make them yourself. The program does not work with 64 bit versions of Windows OS's, so hopefully your computer is not too advanced for this.

5) Outdated options.

There is an option to dial Google 411 on the phone screen, and when you call it, Google informs you that the service is no longer available. They could have removed this on a firmware update but have not.

6) AVIC feeds app has terrible ratings.

Read the reviews on the Itunes store for more info. I have never had the pleasure of using it because it is not compatible with an older operating system I am running on my Iphone.



BOTTOM LINE-------------------------

For a "Flagship" aka "Top of the Line" Product from Pioneer, this navigation unit has many shortcomings. As of this review, there is not even a downloadable firmware update for the unit. There used to be one, but it is no longer there. Hopefully they are preparing a new firmware that addresses many of the shortcomings that this unit currently has. If they do, I will update this review.

Until Pioneer makes changes to this unit and future units, save your money and wait for a company to really put an effort into their top-of-the-line products.

Overall: I think the AVIC-z120BT unit is great, unlike any other head unit I've ever owned before. I've had two other Pioneer and a couple other Kenwood units and for the most part, Pioneer does not disappoint. Replacing the stock unit in a 2002 VW Jetta, what I noticed first was the dramatic sound quality improvement; it sounds incredible. The 7" screen allows enough space for all the displayed information to be easily comprehended. The navigation system leaves something to be desired, just not quite up to par with TomTom or Garmin...but it's still quite accurate. The POI selection menu is easily maneuverable too. The Bluetooth phone system is easy to setup and is very clear. Pandora streaming is awesome...

Audio/Video: I'd give this a 9/10. Right from the installation it was just a joy to use. I mainly only used it sync'd to my iPhone and the menu system on the unit was faster than I would have expected it to be. Switching from audio to video on the iPhone was just a couple clicks to turn on a movie. The quality on the unit was great, I started up a DIVX movie on the iPhone and it was as clear and crisp as it would be playing on a 1080p tv. Scrolling through your music library is nice, it's setup for two speeds, so if you have an enormous music library to scroll through your fingers won't get sore! BEST feature barnone is the Pandora streaming feature, if you're in an area with good signal, this works perfectly. This seemed to also somehow really improve my AM/FM reception dramatically.

Navigation: Not too much to say about this, but it works! As mentioned there is just something missing, not even 100% sure what it is exactly but it's just not as seamless as the NAV units by Garmin are. The best part about it is that it is built-in and in your dash, no worrying about plugging it in or sticking to your windshield. I really like that I can grab a contact from my iPhone and set for navigation. Selecting Points of Interest is just a matter of typing in what you're looking for. Unlike my Garmin that I use, the keyboard on this unit is very fast and responsive...so that is a big plus.

Phone: I haven't used the phone too much, but the call quality is actually a lot better than I had expected. I did have to turn down the volume on my phone (still controlled even though it's on bluetooth) to stop some static. Downloading contacts to the unit is fast and dialing numbers on the unit is quite quick.

Installation: I'm an electronics nut (and cheap)...so I took this on myself. The main thing I'd say if doing this yourself, have patience. I literally had to deconstruct my entire center console and dash to get this to fit perfectly. I didn't need to, but because of the size and extra "stuff" behind this unit, it was the only way I'd be happy to do it. This is not (unless you have a very new vehicle) just a plain wiring harness swap and push in type unit. You'll need to route cables, splice into vehicle speed sensor, reverse wire, parking break. It wasn't terrible, but it's not a one hour job.

Cons: Not much negative to say about this unit and the price explains why. The one problem I had was that Pioneer did not include the radio cage for installation. I needed to buy it separately and it also came with the trim plastic. One other thing that I haven't yet figured out how to change is the shuffle feature. When I plug in my iPhone and set all songs to shuffle it works great, but when I turn off and come back it's off...just a small annoyance.

Would be glad to answer questions and will update when necessary.

Positives:
1) My iphone works great with the optional cable (Pioneer CD-IU50V). Very nice menu structure for your music library.
2) The Pandora app works well but you have to start the app before you plug the phone in or you won't get the graphics on the screen.
3) The rear view camera (Pioneer ND-BC4) works very well with the unit. The dual screen mode is nice for keeping and eye on my trailer when I tow.
4) The nav system boots up really fast. It is already tracking before I leave my driveway. I really like the way the system zooms in on the intersection where you are about to turn which helps avoid missed turns.
5) Blue tooth audio works well and the sound quality is great but you don't have any graphics on the screen. I use BT audio when I'm making short trips around town and don't want to take the time to plug the phone in.
6) Blue tooth phone connection works great with no issues.

Negatives:
1) The nav system doesn't do a very good job of choosing the fastest routes. It always wants to take you on larger roads and through towns rather than taking the bypass route that most smaller towns have. If you take the bypass anyway, the system will recalculate the route and show a shorter route time that it had originally calculated. I understand that this is a common problem with Pioneer nav systems.
2) The screen really washes out when in direct sunlight and makes it almost unreadable, especially with sunglasses on.

I purchased this unit when AMAZON was doing a 30% off deal ... AMAZING PRICE!!! Anyway, I actually installed it myself in our 4Runner and while it took about 4 hours --- it wasn't that difficult and I've NEVER done a stereo install before in my life. (Amazing what Youtube can show you though)

I love the unit --- Works very well ... I would have given it 5 stars (and it still probably deserves that), but I'm mad (more at myself) for not realizing that this unit doesn't play nicely with Sirius Radio. Yes, it works with Sirius, but there is NO COVER FLOW to view what station you are listening too ... XM supports this, but for some strange reason Sirius clearly doesn't. To me, that is irritating that I installed Sirius and it just doesn't look right without the cover flow of the station I am listening to. O well, too late now as I spent the $ on the Sirius tuner, installed it, etc. But I sure wish I would have known this BEFORE I installed SIrius --- I would have went with XM.

All in all, this unit is really, really awesome ... My wife is absolutely thrilled with it! Thanks AMAZON for an amazing price ... Incredible product.

Long story short, I have had this deck for under a year and got a lemon. Deck has been into Pioneer two seperate times and each time it works for a little while and then dies again. Pioneer still refuses to replace the head unit, so I have put in a "competetors" in place. Thus far, its flawless. The Pioneer head unit (if I ever get it back from Pioneer) will be going on the shelf as a back up. Pretty rediculous to have to use a $1000 unit as a back up, but I just cant sink any more time and money into this worthless product.

Good job Pioneer... You will never see another dime from me.

I have had this unit for over six months.

First the good points. The navigation part works, I love the iPOD connectivity and the hands-free cell phone operation works well. Very helpful at night, in bad weather, or in fog.

Irritating items: The touch screen is irratic and not easy to use. Often I unintentionally select the wrong item or I can't get it to scroll up or down. Very distracting in traffic.

Reasons not to buy:
1) The navigation unit can not be programmed by a passenger while the car is moving. the vehicle must be parked and the brake set to program a destination.

2) To see the navigation screen you must touch OK to get rid of the legal warning. At first this seemed a minor point but over time became very irritating to the point I do not turn it on unless I really need it. Yet to select iPOD music or a radio station I do not see any such warnings.

3) To program an destination You need Country, State, City, Street name, Street number. Get any part of it wrong and you will not find the destination. Why don't they just use a street address and zip code? How good is your spelling?

4) GPS coordinates of your current position are not displayed.

5) GPS destinations require N/S or E/W and minutes and seconds. Most hand held GPS units give the location by N/S or E/W and minutes, with seconds expressed as a decimal fraction of minutes. You need to convert this to seconds or you don't go.

Overall the product is dissapointing. Some things it does great. Other it miserably fails. So, depending on what you are buying it for it could change your appreciation of the product.

+ Awesome sound quality when paired with a decent speaker setup and amps
+ Awesome interface with a few quirks.
+ Pandora App works without a hitch.
+ Can stream Netflix's videos from iPhone.

- BT hands free does NOT work. Do not buy if you are going to be on the phone. Especially for business use. Pioneer needs to fix the BT.
- Voice recognition does not work. If this is a feature you want do not buy.
- Some interface items are small and difficult to hit. Could be a safety issue when driving.
- Too expensive for a product that doesn't work flawlessly.

If the BT and VR would work and small interface refinements made then this product would get 4 or 4.5 stars. Come on Pioneer it is a flagship.


* Note I have not used the Navi so I cannot comment on that.
* Note - The new AVIC Z130BT is coming out soon for a cheaper price. Pay attention to the BT and VR, since Pioneer now has a history of not getting it right.

If you are looking for the best of the best in regards to what you can put into your car as an audio receiver, this is it, right? This has Bluetooth, Touch Screen, GPS, and all the audio functions you could want, so what is the problem? Unfortunately, the functions of this device are not elite quality. I want to start off by saying this has nothing to do with Pioneer in general, because I have had much success using their products in the past. However with this particular model: Z120BT, their great reputation does not quite lead this product to its potential.

Lets get right to it. What I did not like:

GPS - It has a touchscreen integrated, and voice commands and voice playback (it reads directions, and addresses) like every GPS you have probably used. However, this is not a GPS that warrants a thousand dollar tag. Seeing actual street names on this can be a very annoying chore. By this I mean, it is next to impossible to quickly find addresses because the screen will not show them. It is like they are purposely hiding them from view and the only way to see them is to get the device to read them back to you (which can add up to some lengthy listening sessions).

+++ Other than that, the GPS functions like any other GPS, and is neither slower or faster than similar products.

Touch Screen - When I think of perfect touch screen integration I think of the iPhone, iTouch, and Android--to an extent. This touch screen is not quite like that. It is not very sensitive (somewhat laggy, and not very precise with touches), and seems to be best used with a finger nail like touch. I know the latter sounds odd, but it seems to only work well enough if you use the absolute tip of your finger and nothing but. With some very small icons used in some of the Pioneer's menus, this can sometime be an annoying feat driving down the road while wanting to switch from GPS to your iPhone, or radio. Contrast this to an iPhone, for instance, and you could use your whole thumb, a knuckle, or a fat finger tip to seamlessly transition through menus and songs. For the price, I expected a better use of the touch screen.

The Voice Command - This was not as bad as some reviews will say, but yes you do have to repeat yourself a lot if you do not slowly, and clearly, pronounce words--and namely numbers. There was one instance where I was trying to dial a number by voice, and several people in the car tried different ways in order to get the number right, because the slow and clear approach did not work. We would end up saying a perfectly clear telephone number, and getting results such as: 2030492034982059235 when we said only 7 digits. Bug? Who knows, but we seemed to catch on to its preferable speaking tone quickly enough and it rarely became a hindrance anymore. Overall, an average voice recognition mechanism.

Music Sphere - This is a seemingly exclusive type of software that automatically creates playlists adjusted to different moods (sad, happy, angry etc.) that is not very useful to me, but is a fun tool. I would not say I did not like it, but could not really find a use for it outside of playlists that I manually created for myself. A novelty if anything.

Being since this a very expensive unit with many features, there had to be some things I liked about it. What I did find myself commending Pioneer on with this unit were, fitting enough, features that Pioneer always seems to do best.

Installation: There are two types of harnesses with this unit. To be as succinct as possible: you will use both if you have a car that is less than 8 or so years old, while you will only use one if not. One wire harness is typical of any car audio receiver, and the other is for newer technology that also aids this device (rear view camera for one). Installation though is simple and the same as any other car audio installation. However, take note that if you do not have a double din already installed, you will need to check if this will actually fit in your car, and also purchase a double din installation kit.

Amp: I believe this unit comes with a pretty standard 18x4 RMS integrated amp. Nevertheless the sound is superb, as would you expect coming from the best Pioneer has to offer. If you are buying this unit, I would suggest to replace your car speakers, if you have not already done so, with some good aftermarket replacements, to have the full capabilities of this unit's sound engine realized.

iPod Navigation: Other than the touchscreen, which I mentioned above, the iPod navigation on this is fantastic. Fast, easy to read, easy to search through. Great integration here.

As you can see above, this unit certainly has meritorious qualities, but lacks in areas that you would think the higher price would have taken care to improve on. I cannot say that the price here justifies what you get, but because a lot of the problems are software related, there could possibly be an update in the future that could solve a lot. Otherwise, with the Z120BT, you are paying more for slightly less.