black.cat

The click wheel is generally considered easier and safer to operate. The hand-eye coordination required to reach over and touch where you want to while driving is definitely dangerous and distracting.

roastpuff

Personal preferences on that - I have a good technique for the touchscreen where you rest four fingers on the top/side and then use your thumb to hit whatever button it is you're trying to get. That way your hand is "locked" relative to the screen, and you don't have to try to hit a moving target.

Prefer it to the wheel which is backwards scrolling!

ZThang

Yes this screen replaces the factory one with a touch screen capable one. It is using a 'skin' that looks like the newer Audi MMI, however it actually more like a tablet running Android OS.

Here are the instruction files given to me. RSNav also has a great instructions page, and there are a few videos on youtube that are very helpful. The install is quite easy, takes maybe 2-4 hours or an afternoon.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qzi...ew?usp=sharing, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dHx...ew?usp=sharing

ZThang

I actually have a 10.25" RSNav unit on my wife's Q5. I really like his products and especially like that he continues to support them. The only reason I went rogue to aliexpress on this one was because RSNav doesn't have a 12.3" version for the B9 yet and I was getting tired of waiting. I gambled and assumed since all of these products are produced and shipped from the same area (shenzen) that they are all similar. Gamble paid off this time because it seems pretty similar in quality to what RSNav puts out, only difference is that support for it may be nonexistent.

ZThang

We live in Houston, Tx where it's 90 degrees plus for most of the year. My wife has a unit like this one from RSNav in her 2013 Q5 and it's been going strong for the last 5 years or so.

ZThang

The center click wheel as well as the 'Menu' and 'Back' buttons still work for many of the main menu functions. But even better all of the steering wheel functions work for most mainstream apps as well. For example, the 'Nav' button brings up google maps, the volume wheel works, the track buttons skip forwards and back in spotify/youtube etc.

ZThang

Order at your own risk. The unit I bought was this one from ShunSihao. For what it's worth, they were somewhat professional and replied to messages fairly quickly. I just sent them a message with photos of my OEM unit, MMI version, center armrest Aux jack attached and they replied telling me that their product would work on my car which it does.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...21ef1802Io9jah

danshonin

ZThang,

If you are playing music using the app in the Andoid head unit, will the music keep on playing even if you switch to the original MMI, i.e. map? I have a similar one from Aliexpress but the music (audio) cuts off when I switch to MMI. Is there something in settings that will let me listen to the music using the Android head unit?

danshonin

AzJazz

Thanks for the great info, @ZThang !

Two more questions:

1. I have my car modified with OBDeleven to automatically switch the display to Park Assist mode when a front obstacle is detected (and of course, when the car is in reverse). Do you know if the display automatically switches to Park Assist with the rear camera when in Touch mode and back again to Touch Mode when switching from Reverse back to Drive?
2. Did you get their Blue Screen option? If you did (or did not), are you happy with your screen type selection for reflection, visibility, and durability? Audi had an anti-reflective coating on their display that I had to remove due to how easily it got scratched - and I'm perfectly fine with the display quality and low reflectivity after removing their coating.

VM

The biggest problem is that touch screens require much, much more of your attention. If you want to, say. switch songs from a flash drive, with the touch screen you need to get your eyes fully off the road as you interact with the touch screen. With the **** you just need to glance over briefly every once in a while but you can otherwise control the system without moving your attention too much from the road.
(It doesn't help that the 2020 removed a lot of the things you could do with the virtual cockpit...)

Also, the touch screen in the B9.5 (or this) is just located wrong. Too high up. Hard to reach with your arm whereas the MMI **** was in a perfect location. I believe Audi dashes that were designed around touch screens (e.g. the A6) are fine in that regard, but the A4's is just too hard to reach.

The other thing is that the touch screen system is a bit more confusing - more icons, less words, etc. But that's not really a touch screen vs MMI issue.

Don't get me wrong - there are some nice things like the higher-resolution, bigger screen... but I think it would have been better if those had been combined with a traditional MMI **** controller.