Proton Exora In-car ICE Review

More news on my Exora.

Yesterday, I sorted out some CDs, CDRs, DVDs and VCDs for testing them with my new car stereo system (Clarion HU/Head Unit) and roof-mounted DVD player. And the result is, PROMISING...

Clarion Head Unit
The Clarion is 2-DINN head unit. It has Tuner, CD/MP3, Bluetooth, AUX functions. To switch to any of these modes simply press and hold the master volume control.

Roof-Mounted DVD player
I tested with various disk types such as original audio CDs, recorded video CD-Rs, DVDs, Video-CDs, almost of all of them can be digested without problem except some CD-Rs. There's not lagging in the video and sound is transmitted without delay too.

There's one complain though. I found there's a slight disappointment with the DVD player's sound though because there's a loss of signal and background noise is high partly because it transmits the signals via its built-in FM transmitter hence signal loss.

To overcome this shortfall you might want to opt for a "Bluetooth Transmitter" that plugs-able into the DVD player's 3.5mm audio-out jack (there are 2 of them you may use either one). Or for the sake of simplicity just set same FM frequency in the DVD player to either 88.1, 88.3, 88.5 or 88.7 matching the HU's Tuner frequency.

Basically there is a way to get a better sound without loss of signals, which is through it's 3.5mm audio-out jack connecting to the Clarion's AUX audio-in jack with a lengthy audio cable, then switch the HU to AUX mode.

I also tested the HU's bluetooth audio function with my HTC Incredible S. I managed to stream audio from my phone's MP3s to the unit and the result is good even the distance is from behind 2nd and 3rd row seats. I guess there's no problem to talk with hands-free.

As for USB port and SD-Card slots I yet to have time to test them so I leave it blank here for future updates. TESTED the USB & SD Card slots today (14/1/2013). Here's my words:

"Literally, the USB port & SD Card slot work towards the same goal, to play digital format multimedia files. Anyhow, due to lack of file samples I managed to verify only 2 types of video formats: AVI and RMVB and MP3s for the audio format. I am very happy to tell that surprising all these 3 formats work without much fuss. There's no delay on the video and the sound delivery is superb! I will further test other format." 

Speakers Performance
I have to say that the car's sound system is above average, better than Alza's. It has a solid but not overloaded BASS, a crisp but not harsh TREBLE sound. To get the best balance I set Bass=4 and Treble=5.

The sound is also well circulated within the cabin giving it a stereophonic sound, which is good enough for listening pleasure.

Summary
Overall, the in-car entertainment stereo system works great. It performs its job without much issue and meets your everyday entertainment needs on the road. However there are still room for improvement though so for those who looking at upgrading the ICE I suggest you to add an amplifier and better speakers to get the most for your ears. The exora's silent cabin offers a perfect place for quality sound so don't worry you'll get every penny well-spent.