Kenwood DMX7706S 6.95" Digital Media Receiver w/Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android

I just installed this in my 3rd gen 2001 Toyota 4Runner and overall am very happy with the outcome.The installation is fairly straightforward if you are somewhat handy with working on your car. I didn't have to do any trimming of the bezel on my 4Runner, and the factory unit brackets are a direct fit onto this double din unit. I recommend getting the appropriate Metra (or similar) wiring harness which you crimp to the Kenwood wiring harness and will provide a direct plug-in connection to your factory wiring harness. Most of the wires are color coded and labelled so you can connect everything up sitting at your desk and then just plug it right in.I'm no audiophile but the sound is really good. Mind you that I'm upgrading from the original head unit in which I used a Monster tape deck to head phone jack adaptor for listening to music on my iPhone, so it is a big improvement in sound quality for me.The unit boots up fast and overall I'm impressed with the sensitivity of the screen and the speed at which the interface responds and transitions to other screens and apps. Overall it feels very responsive to me. I was a bit concerned because this unit has a "responsive" display which means it responds to pressure, as apposed to a "capacitive" display which responds to touch (think smart phone, iPhone, etc.). The majority of head units are "responsive" and from what I've read there seems to be a wide range of touch sensitivity in this category. I've used some factory head units that seem like you have to push kind of hard for them to respond. I would say this Kenwood requires a relatively light touch. I do feel a slight squishiness to the screen which seems to be characteristic of a responsive screen.The screen itself is reasonable crisp and clear, but it's no retina display that's for sure. I'm not blown away by the resolution but I find it pleasing to look at and perfectly acceptable for a functional display with some icons and album art eye candy. I haven't had it in the sun too much but I can tell there may be some glaring issues. I also read about glaring issues on almost every other head unit out there so I don't think you can really get away from this.I'm not a big fan of the warning that is displayed when the unit first turns on, but you can wait 10 seconds for it to disappear, or tap the dismiss button to remove it immediately, or if you have the backup camera and shift into reverse it will automatically switch over to the rear view camera display (no need to dismiss the warning to see the camera).Overall the interface is fairly intuitive. Like any auto touch screen interface it takes some getting used to to learn where the various features are located, but I would consider more intuitive than most factory touch screen systems I've encountered (our '16 Honday Odyssey is much worse). The primary features like XM, CarPlay, radio, phone are all listed at the top level menu so you can quickly navigate to them. EQ and screen adjustment options are easily accessed without drilling down. Deeper and less frequently used options are available by drilling into the settings. I do agree with one other reviewer about the radio presets in which they are kind of small (narrow) all the way to the right side of the screen, and are a bit awkward to select and scroll through. If you are a heavy radio listener and preset switcher this could be an issue for you, but I find it a small annoyance.Apple CarPlay is really nice and is for sure my favorite feature of this unit. You can use Siri to initiate hands-free phone calls, ask for directions, read and reply to text messages. Maps and Waze are displayed very nicely on the screen. Music and Spotify look great with album art. I feel like it really brings my old car into the digital age. It's amazing to me that you can spend a few hundred bucks and really modernize your vehicle. I'm a big fan.I can't speak to Android auto, do not have an Android phone. I do like the fact that it has Android auto in case I ever switch phones.Some other reviews complained about how bright the display is especially at night, and I was pretty concerned about this because I live in the mountains and drive on really dark roads at night, so I don't like having a lot of distracting light inside the car. I'm happy to say that when wired properly this unit will dim when your headlights are turned on (more specifically your parking/running lights). In addition it has separate backlight settings for when your lights are turned on so you can turn the backlight way down so it is not distracting. It will also affect the display of certain apps, for example the CarPlay Maps app will switch from a light/white background to the dark/black background when you switch your lights on...pretty cool. My guess is the other reviewers may not have had the somewhat confusing Orange/White Dimmer control wire (ILLUMI) from the head unit properly connected. Certain Metra harnesses sometimes come with two similar orange wires (one Illumination and one Dimmer) and it's not exactly clear how to connect them, and at least on my 4Runner you can fry an expensive electric component if you get it wrong. Therefore many so do not connect the orange wires to be on the safe side. My Metra harness only had one orange wire labelled dimmer which I connected to the orange/white wire on the head unit harness. The orange/white wire on the head unit harness should get 12V power when your lights are turned on, which will tell it to dim. Make sure this is connected properly and you will have happy dimming.The backup camera works quite nicely; when I shift into reverse the camera comes on quickly and the display is pretty clear. The unit puts guidelines onto the screen which you can adjust in the settings. Some backup cameras also have their own guidelines (mine did), but I opted to disable the backup camera guidelines and instead use the head unit ones which are adjustable. I suggest getting a backup camera that allows you to disable its guidelines. Installing the backup camera, running the wire all the way to the back, was not so nice! I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of the CAM hard button is on the unit since the backup camera is only powered when the vehicle is in reverse, in which case it comes on automatically. It's not like you can switch your backup camera on while you are driving down the freeway, which would have actually been kind of nice.I tried playing a few movies from a USB stick with mixed results. One movie played fine but the unit displayed "unsupported audio type" on a few others. I guess your mileage may vary depending on how the video and audio is encoded. The unit does allow you to switch to USB and then navigate around on the folders to find the video you want. It doesn't display very long folder or video titles (truncates them) so it can be hard to navigate when you have long titles.One reason I purchased this unit is because I thought it had a dedicated power antenna wire which would put my antenna up only when you were listening to the radio. Looks like I misunderstood the wiring diagrams in the manual and it is the DDX5 and DDX6 units that have this feature, and not this DMX7706S. That was my fault for misreading the manual and only an issue if you have a power up/down antenna in your car. Some people with 4Runners will wire a separate switch for their antenna so they can put it up and down at will. Not sure if I'll do this, time will tell.The head unit comes with a USB cable that you can route to an accessible location such as your center console or glove box. I wanted a more factory look and replaced one of my accessory/cigarette plugs with a USB port that I could plug my cable or USB stick into. Search around on amazon and you'll find different configurations that you can add to your dash.The unit also remembers its settings even when your battery is disconnected which is nice. I used to have to write down all my radio station presets when I got a new battery so I could reset them all. Thankfully this unit remembers, especially considering all the customizations you can and probably will make to it.Overall I'm very happy so far. If I find any glaring issues I'll come back and report. I scored this unit for $244 plus tax during Black Friday. This thing packs a lot of punch for less than $300!Here is a list of parts I used for the install, including of course this Kenwood unit:Metra 70-1761 Radio Wiring Harness For Toyota 87-Up Power 4 Speaker (this is vehicle specific for 3rd gen 4Runner, get the right one for your car)https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002BEQJ8/?coliid=IEPKVK02AW5DQ&colid=M52ZJVW069NX&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_itMetra 40-UV43 Male to Female Motorola Antenna Cable (you'll need this if you have 2 antennas like my 4Runner does, one standard and one micro)https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002EXF10/?coliid=I2JX0D9NDUC6GG&colid=M52ZJVW069NX&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_itSCOSCHE MDAB 1988-05 GM Micro/Delco Antenna Adapter; Tip only (you'll need this if you have to adapt a micro antenna to the standard size)https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009UHRI/?coliid=IQRYD7S2XEJ2O&colid=M52ZJVW069NX&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_itICESPRING USB 3.0 Male to USB 3.0 Female AUX Flush Mount Car Mount Extension Cable for Car Truck Boat Motorcycle Dashboard Panel -(3 Feet - 1 Meter) (I used this to replace an accessory/cigarette plug with a USB port)https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NAMU8KY/?coliid=IILP24TRPANR&colid=M52ZJVW069NX&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_itCar Backup Camera, Rear View Camera Ultra HD 12 LED Night Vision,Waterproof Reverse Camera 140° Wide View Angel with Multiple Mount Brackets for Universal Cars,SUV,Trucks,RV and Morehttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VDCJWVL/?coliid=I3W1DTA9LSD5JK&colid=M52ZJVW069NX&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

definitely a solid upgrade to my car, works perfect have had no issues since I installed it last week. great quality picture and makes the cars interior way more neat and useful. with the original stereo, I only used the volume nob and the cd player for my phone mount. the rest of the buttons meant nothing to me but I didn't want to pay for someone to install this new one and turn this into a large bill. installation took me about 40min while watching a video showing me how to remove the original unit. having apple car play is such a plus and im never looking back. you need some extra materials along with this but below I gave a short description of the parts needed and the link to it.disclaimer: these exact parts are what I bought and worked for me, the parts I listed may not work for your specific car but you can easily type in the name of the part and follow it with the make, model and year to find one that you need. this will at least give you an idea of what you are looking for.it can be overwhelming at first glance considering you have to source out the extra parts needed, but don't worry I was surprised how simple it really was. on my car for the full removal, there was a total of (4) Phillips screws and (4)10mm bolts, and (6) 8mm/Phillips bolts. tools needed: wire strippers, screwdriver, a crimp tool for wires, and a rachet set. this is for my car specifically but across most cars these will be needed regardless.here's a few things you need to add to the cart that you need for this to work.this is a wire harness that plugs into the back of the unit responsible for the speakers. you will have to do some wire splicing with this so be sure to have those wire strippers around. when splicing the wires to the harness that comes with the unit, everything is color matching and they come pre labeled. so even not knowing what each wire does you cant mess it up.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002BEQJ8?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsremember that splicing part we were just talking about? well you need these wire nuts to ensure a solid connection. I learned the hard way that just using the twist on wire nuts don't last long and will eventually fall off the connection which can lead to some electrical problems down the road. I would consider theses necessary to do the job right and have peace of mind that nothing is going to short out in there.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N4WPZHP?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsthese are for your radio antenna connections. when you unplug your original stereo you may have 2 connections for the radio. if you have 2 like I did (a blue and black plug) then id say pick these up. if u only plug one of those connections into the unit, the radio is still practically useless for most stations. (also learned this the hard way). if you really dont care for the radio or only have that one wire then disregard these partshttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009UHRI?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailshttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QJCGGQX?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsthis is another one of those harnesses that aren't needed but I would definably recommend. this will allow your steering wheel controls to talk to the new stereo. I thought I wouldn't want it but you don't know what you have until its gone. especially since the volume buttons are touchscreen you're gonna want those controls. again, match the colors of the wires its really that easyhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064J4LOM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsThis is defiantly needed. whatever car you have chances are if your buying this it doesn't already have a touch screen like this already installed so you need a frame that will make the stereo look like it was built for your car. it doesn't have to be this exact one but it does need to be double din and compatible with your style of dash.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DIFNECA?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsthese are just some tools I wish I had when I was installing this, I originally used a regular flat head screwdriver which got the job done but during removal of the stereo you will need to pry on some stuff to disengage the clips. you can take the risk of damaging your dash (which I did), just take your time and be careful not to damage the clips that hold the pieces in place.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HNMLQAG?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsthis unit has front and back camera inputs, so if you are planning on doing front and rear cameras it would be best to plug them in now so you don't have to take it off again like I had to. most cameras that you can buy will plug right in.

This stereo is amazing, its sound is very clear and crispy. I installed it on my 2009 Corvette and my car now rocks.This stereo has all kind of android features, very easy to install and very easy to set it up.This is an update, THIS STEREO IS NOT GOOD!!!! ....THIS IS THE BEST STEREO EVER!!!!Every day I'm realizing all kind of features that it has, I have an android cell, it has been a little tricky to get it connected but after few tries I made it.The sound and all the features that this stereo has, they are awesome!!!!!

Bought this stereo in July of 2020, had professionally installed. Noticed immediately that auto dimmer didn't work. Not a big deal, most stereos don't for whatever reason. Sound quality wasn't terrible, but def not worth what I paid for this unit. In July of 2021 I noticed occasionally the screen would flicker. Then it lost all red characteristics in the buttons, not a huge deal. Now all it does is flicker and freeze. Today it started sending a popping noise in the middle of music to certain speakers independently. Yay. Time to replace it. Always had good experience with kenwood but this thing is def walmart quality. Shipping was great wjen it came though. The stereo itself is just hot garbage. Will be going with a non kenwood next though.