AVIN Avant 4 vs. Dynavin D8
I didn't find any thread directly comparing the two. These are the two units I see most often. I installed both and wanted to give my thoughts for others considering each.
I bought the AVIN unit first but returned it. I splurged a bit on the AVIN unit, and bought some of the extra stuff like the TPMS sensors etc, though it never worked. Steering wheel controls were intermittent. The install process was fine but there weren't any instructions. To be fair, the Dynavin barely had any instructions, but by this point I knew the removal process.
The AVIN harness has both types of pin connections pre-wired together, which makes the harness much bulkier than the Dynavin harness. When I first installed the AVIN, several functions (like CarPlay, of all things), weren't available in the interface. Customer support was very lackluster, though I did get a late-night reply while installing my unit. The instructions provided to fix the CarPlay issue were inaccurate, but I figured it out with the other information in the email (had to log into a secret menu and enable it myself). The sound quality is much worse compared to the Dynavin. GPS didn't work. The worst part of all is that Siri was about ten times louder than the other audio, and basically made it unusable.
The Dynavin install was simple and clean. The sound quality is leagues better than the AVIN, and I personally like the UI more. It feels less like an Android tablet and more like a head unit. There was a comment on this forum that called the Dynavin "Little Tikes" because of the chunky buttons, but I don't mind it. Most buttons on the AVIN are useless anyway.
The AVIN didn't put out enough power to charge my phone more than the battery drained, so it would remain at whatever percent it was when I plugged the phone in. Better than nothing but not ideal.
On the Dynavin, the screen dims much lower than the AVIN which makes night driving more enjoyable, and there's even a function to shut the screen off entirely while keeping the unit on.
The AVIN coded my car when I first started the unit, which I don't like. The coding app never worked on the unit either. Now, when I unlock my car, the driver's side lights turn on while the passenger's side lights stay off—very odd. I'll need to find how to code this out.
Lastly, returning the AVIN was an absolute nightmare. I asked for an RMA five separate times before I was given one; each time I asked, the support staff would dodge the question and try to convince me to keep the unit. I only received an RMA when I opened a dispute case with my credit card company. Also, there's a 20% restocking fee which I wasn't aware of before purchasing.
I'd recommend anyone considering the two just get the Dynavin and skip the headache. The price difference is worth it without question.
Happy to answer questions for anyone considering both.
I bought the AVIN unit first but returned it. I splurged a bit on the AVIN unit, and bought some of the extra stuff like the TPMS sensors etc, though it never worked. Steering wheel controls were intermittent. The install process was fine but there weren't any instructions. To be fair, the Dynavin barely had any instructions, but by this point I knew the removal process.
The AVIN harness has both types of pin connections pre-wired together, which makes the harness much bulkier than the Dynavin harness. When I first installed the AVIN, several functions (like CarPlay, of all things), weren't available in the interface. Customer support was very lackluster, though I did get a late-night reply while installing my unit. The instructions provided to fix the CarPlay issue were inaccurate, but I figured it out with the other information in the email (had to log into a secret menu and enable it myself). The sound quality is much worse compared to the Dynavin. GPS didn't work. The worst part of all is that Siri was about ten times louder than the other audio, and basically made it unusable.
The Dynavin install was simple and clean. The sound quality is leagues better than the AVIN, and I personally like the UI more. It feels less like an Android tablet and more like a head unit. There was a comment on this forum that called the Dynavin "Little Tikes" because of the chunky buttons, but I don't mind it. Most buttons on the AVIN are useless anyway.
The AVIN didn't put out enough power to charge my phone more than the battery drained, so it would remain at whatever percent it was when I plugged the phone in. Better than nothing but not ideal.
On the Dynavin, the screen dims much lower than the AVIN which makes night driving more enjoyable, and there's even a function to shut the screen off entirely while keeping the unit on.
The AVIN coded my car when I first started the unit, which I don't like. The coding app never worked on the unit either. Now, when I unlock my car, the driver's side lights turn on while the passenger's side lights stay off—very odd. I'll need to find how to code this out.
Lastly, returning the AVIN was an absolute nightmare. I asked for an RMA five separate times before I was given one; each time I asked, the support staff would dodge the question and try to convince me to keep the unit. I only received an RMA when I opened a dispute case with my credit card company. Also, there's a 20% restocking fee which I wasn't aware of before purchasing.
I'd recommend anyone considering the two just get the Dynavin and skip the headache. The price difference is worth it without question.
Happy to answer questions for anyone considering both.
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