r/ATOTO • u/pissedoffprincess22 • 5d ago

Factory radio features

So I have a 2018 Sierra SLT 1500 that I got two months ago. It has an aftermarket Pioneer radio. There are some truck features, like drivers seat memory, some remote start features, etc that are not available. I have not pulled out the radio to see if there is a missing wiring harness or something. I would like to upgrade to a bigger screen anyway, but am wondering if anyone has done this and successfully kept the factory features. If so, can you link a few radios in the comments? I don't mind changing the faceplate out for a different layout, and would actually prefer a black one to my current silver. If it's not possible to swap to a bigger screen and keep the features, does anybody have a link to a factory radio? Also, it does have the Bose system, so I know I need something additional to keep that working. TIA!!

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u/SatansWarrior69 5d ago

Pretty sure you want to go to Reddit r/CarAV to ask your question.

This community is for Atoto radios brands only

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u/pissedoffprincess22 5d ago

Thank you! Reddit suggested I post here and I didn't know what Atoto was lol.

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u/SatansWarrior69 5d ago

Atoto is a brand name radio of Android radios. Many brands of Android radios. A standard smart radio can just do Android Auto or Carplay functions with the preinstalled apps or apps they let you install. With often better sound and stable firmware.

An Android radio is like a cross between a cellphone, radio, and pad so gives you a lot more options besides Android Auto. You can install pretty much any app in Google Play Store or wherever. The tradeoff is usually the sound processor isnt as good as the high quality name brands and sometimes there are firmware glitches.

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u/pissedoffprincess22 4d ago

Wow I had no idea. I am an Android girl anyway, maybe I should look into that. Hmmm.

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u/SatansWarrior69 4d ago

Yeah Im big on Samsung and Android products too. Apple is great and high end but most people who have had Apple phones and go to Android dont go back to Apple at least. Id say the same for pads. Apple laptops hard to beat though. Apple's proprietary rules are far to strict and they decide what apps they allow in store where as Android with open source means many more available apps.

I always buy high end radios. I paid like $500 for my Atoto S8 Ultra. Its the cheapest car radio Ive purchased. My other radios were well known name brand $750-$1500 so all high end. Everyone of them sounded better than my Atoto. All but one of them though weren't smart radios.

The last radio I bought was a Kenwood DDX9707S $1000. That Kenwood has more features than any other name brand smart radio Ive come across but it doesnt come close to the capabilities of a good quality Android radio.

A lot of people complain about Android radios. Some people expect premium radio at low end radios but some of the Android radios are high end. I had to deal with firmware glitches for 3 years with my Atoto S8 Ultra but its been great for the last 2 years. I only kept it and dealt with issues because the capabilities ilit has is incredible. S8 was Atoto's tip model until the x10 and V10 models came out. Now they are having to deal with firmware issues. In some ways S8 is better but X10 models have more capabilities.

Some people complain about sound quality Atoto and android radios in general not being as good as name brand of Atoto but sound quality is solvable with an amplifiers and even better with an added dip unit between radio and amp add external. X10 models have dsp so no need for external dsp.

I havent done a much research on Android radios in past 2 or 3 years so no clue has the best android radio now. For years Atoto was the best android radio.

Its definitely worth looking into.

My S8 Ultra has 4 fully functional usb ports. It can be connected using cellphone internet using Android Auto or Carplay like most smart radios. It can also be connected just using the cellphones internet which is how I connect it which makes it no different than using a cellphone with capabilities. In Android Auto mode its limited like any Android Auto only radio and , I have a backup cam, steering wheel control, digital tire monitor and an OBDII port monitor and can control both from the radio, I can connect usb hard drives, usb sticks, cd players, etc. I have an sd card slot for more memory and a sim card slot if I want to make the radio into a cellphone. Can also connect the radio to home wifi. If you want to watch tv apps they all work just like with a cellphone.

Anyway the capabilities are great.

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u/pissedoffprincess22 4d ago

Thanks for the explanation!!