Ottocast U2 Air Pro vs U2 Air Wireless Apple CarPlay Adapter Review

This is Ottocast’s latest wireless adapter which promises to be 30% quicker than their previous U2 Air adapter. It works only in wired CarPlay vehicles to offer a wireless connection between your iPhone and your Carplay system and it will not convert CarPlay to Android Auto for Android phones.

Looking over the adapter, its form factor is pretty similar to their earlier Air wireless adapter. Its casing is slightly rounder and on the front there is some Ottocast branding and the play symbol logo also acts as a status light when connecting to your iPhone.

Like the Air, there are no power passthrough ports, however, there is a new button on the opposite edge, which when pressed will disconnect any connected iPhone from the adapter, and open the adapter for connection from another iPhone in the vehicle.

My time with the Air Pro has been good so far. It hasn't failed me yet and its GPS has been around 1 second behind, with my iPhone sitting on a mount on my dashboard. Personally, I don't think that's too much to worry about, but once it tracking did manage to lose myself when I made a 180 on a roundabout for a few seconds before picking my location back up on the road.

This adapter doesn't convert CarPlay-only systems to run Android mobiles for Android Auto, you can check out the Ottocast U2-X Pro for that functionality.

Its price runs at the high end of wireless dongles that I have tested, so if speed is your primary desire, then the U2 Air Pro delivers in spades, however, do bear in mind its limitations, and those are: no original car GPS support, limited IP Config menu and no power passthrough support. If you can live with that, then the U2 Air Pro is worth checking out for speed freaks out there!

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Brief overview
0:32 - Unboxing
0:49 - Features & Design
1:24 - Demo
1:30 - U2 Air (original) benchmark tests
4:16 - U2 Air Pro tests
9:18 - My Impressions

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EQUIPMENT IN THIS VIDEO:

#Ottocast #wirelesscarplay #CarPlay

[Skunkd]

Going over the available settings was super helpful thanks!

[HCG]

How's the performance (navigation lag, song switching lag, audio quality, disconnection issues) compared to the Carlinkit 5.0? Are they basically the same? Or is one noticeably faster?

[technickr]

Hi, You mentioned there is no GPS pass trough. What do the carlinkit adapter pass trough, the adapter's GPS or the car's GPS?

[chandonvalentich]

Can I expect the commonly reported issues with other adapters such as phone calls immediately dropping, delays in switching songs via steering wheel buttons, etc.?

[giovannirizzotti]

I bought the Air one year ago thanks to your reviews and almost never had issues.
I was wondering if there is an adapter wiht a lower latency while changing sound :)

Thanks for your awesome work!

[stevemhouse]

Spot on review. Hopefully, they will include GPS passthrough in their next version. Will be using the Carlinkit until that day arrives.

[icebreakersable]

Thank you for this video. I have a U2 air pro and my car is mg4. When I get in the car, I think the device gets power but no data. The device stays in red light. When I plug and unplug it connects. Do you have a suggestion? (I also tried with a better usb cable)

[plaw]

Great review, what do you recommend for best way of wirelesssly connecting both Android Auto and Carplay to a car with wired Carplay and AA ?

[oleksiibondar]

Hi Anthony! Why don't you test response time from steering wheel buttons? I believe your Golf 7 equipped by them.

[anthonystuart]

Hi Anthony thanks for you review can you tell me what dose GPS pass through mean please regards

[jackwong]

Great video, I have a VW also.

Did you try reverse and would this switch back to CarPlay smoothly?

[MG-yudo]

I currently own the Carlinkit 5.0 air and I’m happy except of the fact that sound quality is a tiny bit worse than the USB CarPlay. My car is equipped with the premium sound system and sound is a tiny bit quieter and also bass and treble sound just a tiny bit worse, but it bothers me.
Do you test sound quality, and if so, what is the best adapter in your opinion?
Thank you

[GiffelDK]

Great review. Ottocast also made an app for iOS and Android called Ottopilot where you can update firmware, change settings, view manual etc. One thing i can't figure out is what the different settings in the audio menu does (Default, Mode1-3), anyone know this?

[jerryguan]

Hello!
So does this use the phone GPS?
I have been having a lot of issues with my built in car GPS stuffing up CarPlay navigation and constantly rerouting my trip. Phone navigation works perfectly when not plugged into CarPlay. Only stuffs up once connected to CarPlay.

Do you think because this relies on the phone GPS, it will solve my issue?

Thanks!!

[DroninAroundDownUnder]

Do you find Waze works okay using this CarPlay dongle? As both myself and my partner over 4 separate cars and 2 different adapters have Waze crash the whole system/reboots on our CPlay2Air adapters. Hoping to upgrade to this Ottocast one but want to know Waze will be okay as we do use it all the time.

[tobiasbamberg]

Hello, I got it because of your video and have now found that it is not possible to make calls via Carplay with my VW. I don't hear anything, but my counterpart does. do you have an idea? customer service is not really helpful

[moayyad]

Which carplay adaptor is the best for Netflix .. no lag good resolution ? Please tell me

[DarlesFlow]

i wonder if will work on volvo xc 40 since the display in the car is different. The older model of volvo 2019-2020 they support only a half screen when using the normal air mode for iphone

[anthonystuart]

Hi Anthony just one more question dose it work when you have your iPhone 14 in your pocket 🙂

[tonypreston]

Great review, if I was in the market for one of these I’d probably go for the pro version but I’m really quite happy with the normal Air version I still use daily & only rarely gives any trouble.