CarlinkitMiNi SE Wireless Carplay Adapter for OEM Wired carplay & Apple CarPlay,Compatible with iOS 10 and Above, Fast Connection, No Latency, CarPlay Wireless Adapter

Here’s my experience with the US spec 2022 Mazda CX-5 equipped with Bose speakers and running iOS 18.5 on an iPhone 13 Pro. It’s been a couple of weeks now, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the overall performance.One notable difference is the audio quality. If you listen to lossless audio in Apple Music, you’ll definitely notice a noticeable difference in sound quality. However, there’s a solution to this: you can set a connect delay in the device’s settings. I’ve set mine to 5 seconds, so if I decide to use a USB cable, I would connect my phone first and then turn engine on. The car will first pick up the wired connection. I’ve also set the audio delay to the lowest setting and left audio setting set to DVD quality.So far, I haven’t encountered any issues with overheating, even when the outside temperatures are around 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius). The unit reconnects seamlessly during my errands, and the USB connection doesn’t require an extension cable.I’ve upgraded the firmware to version ax_202506161616. One minor issue I’ve noticed is that the unit sometimes doesn’t reconnect automatically when the engine starts. It happened maybe 2-3 times so far. However, if I wait a couple of seconds, it reconnects automatically.Another issue I’ve encountered (not related to this device) is that the Mazda infotainment system sometimes forgets CarPlay settings. It forgets to automatically establish connection. To resolve this, I go to the Connectivity section and reestablish the connection (set to Always). This happened to me over USB, but not with this specific unit.Overall, I’m extremely satisfied with this device. It’s challenging to find reliable reviews of CarPlay dongles, as many seem to be paid sponsorships. I hope this review helps others make an informed decision. I’ll update this review if the unit fails or causes any problems in the future. Once you switch to wireless CarPlay, it’s hard to go back, especially for this low price. Also, if you wonder what the difference is between Carlinkit MiNi SE and Carlinkit MiNi SE Pro, the Pro version supports both iOS and Android, while the regular SE supports only iOS. I would definitively recommend this brand over some random generic dongles.

I previously had the car link 5.0 with my older iPhone, but when I upgraded to the iPhone 16, the 5.0 would not function properly basically calls would drop out, streaming was bad and I went onto Reddit forums and found out that the mini SE was the best solution for iPhone 16. So far so good, I’ve had the mini SE working with my iPhone 16 for a few weeks, and it is very fast connectivity, calls, and streaming are perfect. No complaints. Great solution for wireless CarPlay with iPhone 16 and beyond.

It stops working after less than a year. Worked decently well for about 10 months and one day just died on us.

4 STARS as much an expectation thing as anything. A bit slow to sync up, with variations in doing so. Overall fine, and certainly better than the old cable connection I had to use. FORD ESCAPE 2021

Bought for my mom's new car and the fact that she hasn't needed setup or troubleshooting help says a lot about how easy it is to use. She also had someone comment on how much faster it is than the one they have so I'm assuming the review I watched that ranked this unit the best overall is pretty accurate.

The CarlinKit Mini SE 5 works fine with my 2023 Subaru Forester getting me wireless Apple Carplay from my iphone SE 3. I upgraded from using the CarlinKit 3.0 Wireless CarPlay adapter which also worked fine with my 2023 Subaru Forester. The reason I upgraded to the CarlinKit Mini SE is because it has a smaller form factor. It's about the size of a USB flash drive. The CarlinKit 3.0 adapter is a dongle that is connected via a short USB cable (included with the dongle), meaning it requires a bit more space. The other markings on the CarlinKit 3.0 are CPC200--U2W Plus, just in case you want to look it up. Amazon still sells it, and it does work well, as well as the CarlinKit Mini SE 5.

Let me begin with the positive aspects. This product is truly exceptional. It’s actually more responsive than the Alpine and Sony models I’ve tried that are built into the units. It’s compact and well-designed, with everything about its functionality being great. However, I encountered an issue after updating the software. Since the update, the device kept disconnecting. Despite multiple attempts to reach out to Support, I received no response. Eventually, I had to return the product and exchange it. Fortunately, as long as I keep the older software version installed, the device seems to be working perfectly now.

this apple carplay is kinda sketchy and does not connect like others do. and every now and then it will freeze the screen.bought a different one and the new one works perfect and connects just like they should.