JVC KW-M740BT Apple CarPlay, Android Auto 2-DIN AV Receiver (No CD Drive)

This was the fourth head unit in my car, after Kenwood DDX9904S, Alpine ILX-207, Pioneer MVH-2300NEX. Each of these had pros and cons, but the JVC has the most pros least cons.The quickest to boot up (7-8 seconds), JVC has a minimalistic home screen, and only three buttons. Although the screen is resistive, it is very responsive and close to the feel of a capacive touch screen. You can seek up/down by swiping right/left on any screen. Similarly you can go next/previous by swiping up/down, and adjust volume with circular gestures clockwise/counter clockwise.Sound quality is amazing, DSP options are similar to the Kenwood. Great equalizer and crossover customization.When reversing right after starting, backup camera comes on instantly, though the guidelines take a couple of seconds to show up. Otherwise, the guidelines show up instantly.After startup, the annoying safety warning pops up, where you can either ok it out or wait 10 seconds for it to time out. I was able to upgrade firmware with no issues. I also changed the default JVC splash screen to my car’s logo by following the same procedure as with the newer Kenwood units.Integration with bluetooth, CarPlay, WebLink, and Waze is excellent with no problems to report. I was able to adjust Bluetooth echo and noise canceling to a very clean voice on both ends of phone calls.

Great price for what you get. There is a little learning curve with using my phone with it. Android Auto works the best for my purpose, my phone does have to be connected via USB but I'm ok with it. MT wife's IPhone connected itself via Bluetooth but my LG G7 was more finicky. I used the maestro Rr for steering wheel controls and their wire harness for it all. I am having a little issue with the truck's sync voice commands but I think I need a separate harness for that...still researching. The fit and finish are very nice, looks factory in a lot of ways. If you get the module and harness to make it work all together you can splice 99% of it on a workbench and the put in the vehicle. Install time was about 4 hrs for everything including a factory style backup camera. Once I learn the rest

Got this reciever a couple of months ago on sale, and finally got to installing it and a rear view camera on my 2014 Ram 1500. Installation was fairly easy, the sound is amazing, and interface is decent. The HUGE lettering and the lack of automatic scrolling of long names, titles, ect. is something I had to get used to, but became less of a bother the more I used the head unit. iDatalink Maestro integration is amazing as well, giving me my ODBII information straight from the unit. Now to the main event...Having a receiver with Android Auto at the price I bought it was a steal, or at least I thought. Setting up Weblink for JVC and Android Auto was a complete pain. Originally had nothing but issues, getting "unsupported device" and "an access error of hte usb device has occured" when plugging in my Note9 with the original Samsung cable. Tried my other original cables and other USB-C cables I own and none of them worked. I started to instantly regret this purchase until I did a good bit of research and found out that with the KW-M740BT, it's has everything to do with the USB cable when connecting to AA.According to an article on the official Android Auto Help forum, here are confirmed USB cables that work, and are all on Amazon to some capacity:Micro USB:AmazonBasics Micro USB Cable (6ft, 1.8m)Anker Micro USB Cable (6ft, 1.8m)Cablex Nylon Braided Micro USB Cable (6ft, 1.8m)iOrange-E Micro USB Cable (6.6ft, 2m)iSeeker Micro USB Cable (6ft, 1.8m)Monoprice Micro USB Cable (3ft, 1m)Type C:Anker USB Type C to USB 3.0 Cable (3.3ft, 1m)Cable Matters USB Type C to Type A Cable (6.6ft, 2m)CHOETECH USB Type C Cable USB Type C to USB Type A (3.3ft, 1m)FRiEQ USB 3.1 Type C Cable (3.3ft, 1m)Inateck USB C Cable (3.3ft, 1m)iOrange-E USB C Cable (6.6ft, 2m)LTNLab USB Type C to USB 2.0 Cable (3.3ft, 1m)I can definitely cosign on the CHOETECH USB-C cable. Before I plugged into the receiver, I uninstalled both AA and Weblink while my Note9 was unplugged from the receiver. Reinstalled both, and plugged it in using my CHOETECH USB-C cable. Both JVC Weblink and AA worked with no issues whatsoever. I had 2 CHOETECH cables, and both were able to bring up AA and Weblink as well as function with no problem. After spending a couple of days with another set of CHOETECH USB-C cables--the 1ft, 3.3ft, and 6ft--these work perfectly.For anyone that is having issues with connectivity to AA and Weblink, I suggest purchasing one of the USB cables Android Auto Help recommended. I hope that this review helps someone that is planning on purchasing this head unit as well as some that have already purchased it.

I was excited about this unit at first, but after installing each firmware update the carplay function prompted a one star review. I've had this unit for a year, and continuously struggle with connecting my phone to the unit. I use an iphone cord through the USB connection (the reason I bought the unit) and each time I plug it in the screen goes blank. I have to disconnect my phone, plug it in again each time. when the JVC home screen appears after re connecting the phone, you have to press the car play button to get yet another black screen. wait 10 seconds, then select car play a second time after it reappears. I've updated my phone software, updated firmware, reinstalled the firmware, initialized the stereo, used different cords and nothing is fixing the issue. I would not recommend this unit as it seems the firmware update have not addressed functionality issues with car play. The best I can do to fix the problem is re install the previous firmware version which seems to run a little smoother. Probably not a problem with the unit itself, more on JVC's end for keeping a slightly older head unit up to date. I can imagine that's a real challenge. I also can not get Blue tooth to pair with my iphone, when it does it is random, and at times when I'm not trying to connect via Bluetooth, even if I have bluetooth in "OFF" on both my phone and head unit. It seems like it has a mind of it's own. After it does pair then I have to go through the carplay connect/ disconnect operation describe above. Do yourself a favor and don't buy this unit. JVC's customer service is unreachable at best and I am simply going to pull the unit, and re create the office space printer scene in my front yard as soon as it's out.