This Small Dongle Replaces Android Auto with a Fully Featured Android Computer

On the other hand, it goes without saying that replacing the head unit in a car with a new stereo that runs full Android isn’t exactly the most convenient workaround for drivers out there, not to mention that it typically comes down to spending hundreds of dollars and possibly losing the warranty.

But with a new device called CarDroid, turning your Android Auto-capable head unit into a full Android computer is easy as plugging a dongle into the USB port available in the car.

Published on Indiegogo and supposed to go up for crowdfunding in the coming weeks, CarDroid is a device that promises to update your car’s infotainment system and open the door to the full Android experience, with access to the entire app catalog currently available in the Google Play Store.

CarDroid is pretty much a mini Android PC that can connect to your car through the USB port, and it runs Android 9 out of the box. Needless to say, this isn’t the most recent Android version, but given it’s a car we’re talking about here, most drivers might be just okay with it since 99 percent of the apps work just fine on this OS release.

The device is powered by a quad-core A53 processor that is paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB of storage. An upgraded version with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage is also planned, the early Indiegogo announcement reveals.

Everything is plug and play, so once you get the device, the only thing you need to do is connect it to the car’s USB port and wait for the full Android experience to load. Of course, this is something that remains to be seen when the project goes live, as everything sounds good on paper but the real experience could be totally different if anything goes wrong.