Seicane S16003 Review

[Bonburner]

TLDR
Not actually plug and play. Not perfect fitment. Very cheap chrome (covered?) plastic knobs. Not as smooth, responsive, or as fast touch screen as I had hoped (compared to Galaxy S6 Edge). Slow Wi-Fi connections. Dash cam works well. Little bits of static for a split second every ~20 seconds when my audio is set to ≥1 (no noise when 0/mute; I'm still trying to figure out what it is ... I re-soldered the ground wires but that hasn't fixed it). I still need to finish setting up the rear view camera, but seeing as how well the dash cam turned out, I'm not worried. Seicane had poor customer service speed .. and attention to details.

3.5/5 stars - At least it works, not as well as I hoped. I'd go for the octa-core version if I had the choice again (even though older android version). Improved my audio over stock because of better audio equalizer/controls.

S16003
Android 7.1.2 (according to the device's information)
4-core
2gb ram
16 GB INand Flash

I chose the 4-core for the newer android version .. I think in retrospect I should have gone for the 8-core because I like more responsive systems. It feels a little slower than I would like, but it isn't anywhere slow to the point where I think I just threw away money on a trash product.

The device quality is sub-par. The top where DVD's are pushed in bends with the lightest of pressure. My Call button was oily, upon wiping it, I had some yellow oil (mineral oil?). I tried what I could to wipe it clean but it was impossible getting between the button and the case. I chose this device because it had knobs .. but these knobs do not feel good. They are cheap plastics (not completely-trash cheapest in the world, but cheap enough to know they're cheap). The good thing is all the buttons works (I haven't tested the DVD eject, but I am assuming it works).



Plug-N-Play?
So I saw some reviews that this device was plug-n-play .. but it isnt. There are two thing that needs to be done at a minimum. The #8 pin in the 10 pin connector should be in the #9 pin connector position! Wrong placement! Seicane gives two power harnesses, which confused me at first. The FR-S uses power harness 1, but power harness 2 has the radio adapter! So I had to cut the blue wire, solder it to the blue wire in power harness 1. (In the FR-S the blue wire coming out of the antenna adapter is not a ground!) Both dash cam and rear view camera needed soldering to their own various wires.
I also cleaned up the wiring a bit. I yanked out the female connectors numbered 4, 5, 9~13 from the RCA adapter. I also yanked out the Steering Wheel Control Connector (there are none in '13 FR-S).




Android OS/Screen
So I like how the screen is a solid capacitive touch, but low res of 800x480 at 7 inches. The Wi-Fi speed is really slow, even though my other devices are fine .. which is really annoying. There are times when I think and know I pressed the screen, but the unit does not respond. I am not sure if that's just lag, a dead spot, or because of the factory screen protector (I'll be taking it off soon).
The default android Launcher is pretty much garbage. The dock that shows the apps that you use the most is semi-modifiable. What I mean is, you can only remove apps from the dock. You cannot add, nor will it automatically add. So once you remove an app, its gone. This led me to aimlessly wander the play store looking for a better launcher (I'm looking at CarWebGuru now). The default launcher does not let you remove blank pages either (the pages you slide left and right from the default home screen).
My second biggest gripe: for some reason I hear a little bit of static every 15 seconds when no music is playing with the volume set to 1. Not sure what it is .. I think its the ground .. but not sure yet. It might be just in my mind, but I think the audio is a little staticy at times too!

Fitment
This is my Biggest gripe. Honestly, I would be 95% satisfied with my product if this didn't happen.
So I finally soldered and installed everything as I wanted. Everything is working and everything is bolted into place.
I grabbed the plastic trim and it doesn't seem to want to complete fit.
I look closer at the set up, it turns out the head unit rests ~0.2 inches too low.

Video for the bad fitment.

I went out and bought a few washers and I put two washers on the bottom two. I then screwed those on tight. I screwed on the top ones (with minimal force so I don't break anything). In doing so, I was able to get the plastic trim to actually sit in the sockets. Unfortunately, there is an unevenness between the center plastic trim and the passenger's plastic trim.

Purchasing From Seicane:
Seicane.com is a Garbage website. They do not organize it in any form of the word organize. They set it up so the "name" of the product is the correct way to find your product. I personally was going in with the mind set that any Toyota fitting head unit that is 200 mm x 100 mm should fit. So I had to sift through every single Toyota head unit Seicane had and picked my favorite design. After I picked my desired head unit I checked off a few extra items: back up camera, OBDII, and a dash cam.
Then I thought, knowing how terrible this website is, what if I search dash cam and back up camera on their website? The optional dash cam provided was a USB only dash cam with no extra features. It was required to be plugged into the head unit for it to work. This unit costed $20.00. I found another dash cam that had these features: Night Vision Security Camera Car DVR Camera with AUX connection G-sensor Date Setting Motion Detection Loop Recording. The price? $20.00. The only downside to this one was it was not a USB. I required soldering into a 12V wire, ACC/ignition wire, a ground, and a standard video output into a head unit.
The same thing happened for the rear view camera. The optional check box camera was $35 and it did not look like it was a design that would be tucked away in our car's design very well. It's shaped a lot like a cube with some metal hinge to tilt. Then I manually searched rear view camera, parking camera, etc. There were several cameras that were listed $8~$15! The one that I chose was this one, it was much more low profile and I knew where I wanted to put it. It was much more low profile and simpler design that I liked. There is a tilting version of this same camera for $12.99, but I didn't see the point.
Seicane's default front and rear camera were terrible picks.

So I finally put in my order and in my rush to punch in my phone number, I hit the wrong keys (one off to the left of the number pad). So I emailed them about having inputted the wrong phone number in my order, with my order number, and the corrected phone number. This was the response I got:

Thank you for your inquiry and we are happy to contact you.
If you want to check which unit fits your car.
Could you please send us the photo of your car's dashboard? And could you please tell us the model and year of your car?
Then we can help you to check it.
If there is any after sales questions,to better answer your questions, please send us the issue (or with pictures) with your order number to aftersales@seicane.com, our after sales staff will reply you within one working day.
If you have done that ,so you needn't to do the response. we will answer all your questions the soonest.

Useless automated gibberish.
Two days later, I get an actual person that emailed me back. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem she was fluent in English:

Could you please tell us your right phone number ?Then we can help you to check it , thank you

I decide to give her my corrected phone number again.
So I paid 11/24. I do this phone number correction for several days. I get my tracking number 11/29. And then it ships 12/04. With the wrong phone number. It looks like Seicane tried to correct the phone number but they inputted it in wrong too. At least they used a good shipping company, DHL. The package arrived in 3 days once it was in DHL's hands!

------------

Update 01-11-18:

• Some of the static is gone, but it is there. It is most prominent in Bluetooth/Aux. There is no static noise at higher audio volumes using a MicroSD card. At lower volumes there is some residual static noise at lower volumes.
• Reverse camera angle is too low. It is usable, but I regret not getting the adjustable one. Now, had I purchased the adjustable one .. I'd be concerned if it came loose and just slacks straight down. Ultimately, I still reverse the same manner as I did before - But I now can go significantly closer in reverse because the camera gives me about 3 feet of vision behind my car. Too lazy to replace it.

------------

Update 02-12-18:

• No change in static since the last update. I forgot to mention that going into Reverse completely cuts off my music .. it's starting to get annoying when I'm trying to enjoy my music and reverse.



------------

Update 07-04-18:


• Static is pretty much gone since I have avoided all bluetooth with exception of phone calls.
• Side panel buttons have stopped working. I have tried to recalibrate & reset them. I have already contacted seicane .. waiting to hear a response. See video: https://streamable.com/3ag0k
• I can finally play music while in reverse, shout out to rixter145. (I haven't done the Malayski's ROM yet, looking to do that once I have some more free time)





------------
Update 09-19-18
• I got the side panel buttons to work again after having it disconnected from a power source. Strange bug. I still get the occasional glitch in the audio balance that turns off the left side of the speakers, which I just reset back by going into the Amplifier application.



------------
Update 05-03-20
• Overall, I'm happy with it. Surprisingly haven't had any real issues with it since I last updated. Really enjoying the audio quality over stock.



------------
Update 05-02-23
• I readjusted the headunit while fixing other parts of the center console .. it somehow fits better than before? It's still not 100% perfect, but its much better. Nothing is popping out as significantly as before (there's still a slight bump in the bottom right) nor are there any creaking noise as my prior video had.

[rixter145]

Got the head unit too... the Octa core version. Agree it doesn't fully fit into the trim piece, but you can get the new trim piece and that should work out better.

Thanks for the heads up on the pin #8. I was scratching my head when my door speakers weren't working. As for the static - did u manage to fix it?

[EdBoy]

thanks for the review, i was looking into the head unit. I might just dish out the extra money for the kenwood ddx917ws after seeing this.

[Bonburner]

Originally Posted by rixter145

Got the head unit too... the Octa core version. Agree it doesn't fully fit into the trim piece, but you can get the new trim piece and that should work out better.

Thanks for the heads up on the pin #8. I was scratching my head when my door speakers weren't working. As for the static - did u manage to fix it?

No luck ... I started to think I might need to "break it in" and a lot of it is gone, but I still have some static.

What trim piece are you referring to? I am 100% interested!

[rixter145]

Originally Posted by Bonburner

No luck ... I started to think I might need to "break it in" and a lot of it is gone, but I still have some static.

What trim piece are you referring to? I am 100% interested!

The new 2017 trim piece should fit it:
https://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru_20...6077CA200.html

This guy got it from the Canadian version but I believe it's the same... video:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP7o7z82wrU"]8 Core Android Head Unit Initial Impression + What do you want to see (Seicane) - YouTube[/ame]

[Bonburner]

Originally Posted by rixter145

The new 2017 trim piece should fit it:
https://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru_20...6077CA200.html

This guy got it from the Canadian version but I believe it's the same... video:

Interesting ... I wonder if the trim itself sits in the '13 pin housing then ...

I wonder if anybody has tried this yet

[rixter145]

Originally Posted by Bonburner

Interesting ... I wonder if the trim itself sits in the '13 pin housing then ...

I wonder if anybody has tried this yet

I believe there are others who already bought the new trim piece for their 13-16. It should work. FYI The car in the youtube video is a 15

[rixter145]

Originally Posted by Bonburner

Interesting ... I wonder if the trim itself sits in the '13 pin housing then ...

I wonder if anybody has tried this yet

Also here's something I found out. The "element" setting - if you change it to white, it minimizes the static. The static happens when you are navigating/the Headunit is processing.

Secondly, if you try to unscrew the bottom bolts for the headunit and push it up a little, it fits better and the plastic doesn't pop out. It won't make it fully align with the second part of the plastic but for me that's good enough since my plastic piece is wrapped.

[Bonburner]

Originally Posted by rixter145

Also here's something I found out. The "element" setting - if you change it to white, it minimizes the static. The static happens when you are navigating/the Headunit is processing.

Secondly, if you try to unscrew the bottom bolts for the headunit and push it up a little, it fits better and the plastic doesn't pop out. It won't make it fully align with the second part of the plastic but for me that's good enough since my plastic piece is wrapped.

So I haven't had some time to look into it until recently, but I wasn't able to find this "element" setting you mentioned. Was this found in the settings?

[rixter145]

Originally Posted by Bonburner

So I haven't had some time to look into it until recently, but I wasn't able to find this "element" setting you mentioned. Was this found in the settings?

Yeah it should be in the settings. Basically just changing your colours

[rixter145]

Originally Posted by Bonburner

So I haven't had some time to look into it until recently, but I wasn't able to find this "element" setting you mentioned. Was this found in the settings?

For going into reverse, there's a setting that by default, sound is off when camera shows, you can turn it on so it won't cut out... I think it's called reverse volume.

Also I have flashed a new rom onto the unit... Malaysk's 8.0 rom. It runs like a dream now.
Link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/and...evice-t3598908

[KR-S]

So I just recently bought the Octa-core unit and had a question on what exactly you re-pinned; exactly what wire did you repin on the 10-pin connector? Sorry, noob here; sound isn't working properly on mine.

[Bonburner]

Originally Posted by KR-S 86

So I just recently bought the Octa-core unit and had a question on what exactly you re-pinned; exactly what wire did you repin on the 10-pin connector? Sorry, noob here; sound isn't working properly on mine.

The #8 pin in the 10 pin connector should be in the #9 pin connector position.

Here is a link with the electrical diagrams: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...5&postcount=34 (Scroll down to the end of the pdfs)

Here is some extra FYI: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124137


I noticed you have a different year model. I don't know if they're the same set up or not .. You could always just check if the wires feeds to the matching pin positions :P

[KR-S]

Originally Posted by Bonburner

The #8 pin in the 10 pin connector should be in the #9 pin connector position.

Here is a link with the electrical diagrams: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...5&postcount=34 (Scroll down to the end of the pdfs)

Here is some extra FYI: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124137


I noticed you have a different year model. I don't know if they're the same set up or not .. You could always just check if the wires feeds to the matching pin positions :P

So basically what I was originally asking was what exactly you repinned on the harness provided by Seicane. It looks like they updated the units slightly in between the time you bought yours and I bought mine (I/O ports are different; mine came with Oreo stock), so it also appeared that the harnesses were different as well.

There's no difference in my model; however, from what I've gathered on this forum, on 2016 and up BRZs, the amp wire is instead located on the 28-pin connector for Starlink HUs.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely make use of it.