TL;DR The CC3 2K is a very good head-unit with plenty of features such as a large, bright, colour accurate screen, that certainly has people mentioning it when being in my car. Installation was a bit difficult as there can be minor differences between car models that determine how things are connected (i.e., my Sportage 3 had a factory AMP which made things a little harder), but through TEYES Australia, I received amazing customer support and he's a top bloke who knows his stuff.
Pros:
- Big screen (9 inches is a lot you know ;) )
- Vivid Colours
- Carlink 2.0 means wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay (something only the newest 2023 cars actually have lol)
- Reverse camera option is considerably better than the OEM one, and even better than my parents 2023 Kia Sportage reverse camera in terms of image quality and night time viewing.
- Fast start-up even from cold boot (its like 20 seconds from cold boot i.e., haven't driven the car for a few days and like 5 seconds otherwise)
- AMP system makes the OEM speakers actually sound good and I can adjust in the settings to how I want my doof doof to be
- Came with a custom fascia kit for the sportage so it looks relatively OEM in terms of the surrounding plastic
Cons:
- 2k resolution on Android Auto makes icons very small --> not a huge issue but something to be aware of
- Installation was an undertaking that I wouldn't of been able to do without the TEYES Australia customer support.
- Sometimes Carlink 2.0 doesn't auto connect to the phone and needs to be closed and re-opened (not a huge issue as it literally takes 2 seconds to restart but its not as seamless as a default OEM head-unit in a newer car but I mean its literally like 2 button presses and not every time).
- "Hey Google" doesn't work most of the time and I cannot reprogram the steering wheel controls, so unlike newer cars with a dedicated prompt button to call a specific person on my contact list, I can't just press a button and say "Call Mum" (might be fixed with firmware updates)
Overall, for $700 AUD (including the Sony reversing camera), it was worth every dollar. It made a 2013 car have a better feature set than most 2023 cars, and has definitely improved my quality of life in terms of driving (Waze for maps, Spotify for music etc).
Thus, a 9.5/10 (-0.5 for installation stress but otherwise a very worthwhile buy) - Dan P