Customer Ratings & Reviews

Great iPhone Accessory!!!

I have had this unit for about a month now and I really like it. The bluetooth calling works well, but I did have to reposition my microphone a couple times. This is the perfect iPhone accessory. The sound quality is great with the phone. The dock design allows for docking with the my case still on. Installation was simple with the included kit from Sonic Electronix. My only complaint about the unit would be the display while the iphone is docked. The unit allows for 2 modes of operation. On auto mode, the unit controls the iphone and the song title and info are displayed on the unit. In manual mode, you use the iphone to choose what you are listening to. When in manual mode, the display just says "Manual" and does not even show the time. Kind of hard to see the time on the iphone....so that is my only complaint.

Innaccurate Bluetooth description

Not a bad unit, but not really capable of streaming audio via Bluetooth as described. I tried with several phones with no success, though it works with another model Dual in my truck. Seems as though the agents are better salesman than techs, merely reciting the label on the boxes with no real knowledge. The unit is basically useless.

great product

I have owned this unit for approx. 1 month now and I love it, the only problem I had was with the mic on the bluetooth wold not pickup my side of the conversation without yelling into it very close to my mouth but that has been solved. Just contact dual's tech line and furnish them with a receipt and they will send you for free a module which makes it work perfectly.

The Dual

I am a new age kind of person, and CD's arent part of that i have a ton, and i mean A TON of music. so when i read the specs. of this deck i though, "ill give it a try"
for a cheap toy i thought dual did a great job. I LOVE the ipod deck, my 160 gig doese great on it and loves to blast my subs. i ran it on just plane deck power for over 5 months to see how it did on product quality and OMG, this thing doesnt give up, for real. i thought Dual is a POS, but GOOd job guys i love it and will, and am looking into getting a couple amps off you guys. great job, love the deck, i have to think that deck loves me.

Sent it back, twice...

We ordered this and when I received it the iPod connector felt loose but I installed it anyway since I didn't have anything to compare it with to know if this was right or not. The phone kept disconnecting and reconnecting so we tried it with a USB cable and it worked fine, so the dock part was bad, after that we noticed the volume going up by itself, we didn't think much about it until one day we got in the truck and it reset itself completely. I called Dual and they said send it back. We did and the second one had a great dock and worked better. After 1 week, we would get in the truck and it would start scanning the FM frequencies like you hit seek. Called Dual, they said send it back. I didn't want another one.... The stereo looks nice, it worked great with our iPhones (iPhone 4), even mine in an Otterbox Defender case. The dock had no problems on the second one. The bluetooth calling worked well but the bluetooth audio streaming never worked. We were going to get the HD Tuner for it but after the problems I am so glad we waited on that one. Overall, I really can't say I recommend this stereo, but if you order it and anything it wrong with it, call Dual they can help, and surprisingly someone (actual person) always answered the phone. It's a crap shoot with this one, I really wanted the iPhone dock for using the GPS but it had to many other problems. Very disappointed that this had exactly what we where looking for but two decks didn't work.

Not worth it

As I've seen on other reviews elsewhere, the unit sporadically shuts off and reboots when playing music from my iPhone. It does this with several iPhones. The problem is worse at high ambient temperatures. Seems to be okay during cooler weather. Otherwise, it would have been a great product.

Good for iFanatics

Good if you only wish to access music from your apple device excluding the radio. iPhone calling on deck is ok, microphone isn't super sensitive. Screen is clear and easily legible, device holder is strong and has never let my device slip out even on bumpy dirt roads.

Best car receiver for the iPhone/iPod available!

Bought the XML8150 from Sonic ... came with the free Scoche installation kit for my Nissan Sentra. Installation was bit of a hassle since the Sentra has a curved radio slot and the flip down section would hit against the mount and not open fully. After some filing, I got the unit into the adapter ... the Metra kit might be better! The unit does not have the sleekest interface or the greatest build quality but hard to beat it in functionality. Sound quality is great and the amplifier is pretty powerful. The iPhone/iPod dock is flexible and fairly robust but you have to be careful docking/undocking your iPhone. Definitely beats having a separate dock and cables running from the iPhone to the receiver. iPod controls takes some time getting used to. Use the manual to figure out all the features. Bluetooth works fine .. the microphone is adequate. I did not have problems with streaming iPhone music through Bluetooth but the quality is not so great. And the iPhone is charged when docked. I don't have go around scrambling for a charger - no more cable clutter!! Just great!! All in all ... I am very happy with the purchase.

Good idea, Bad quality!!

When I first saw this unit, I said to myself, that's exactly what I've wanted. So I ordered it. Came in fast from Sonic. Installation was easy and operation was ok. But a week later, I've took 2 hour drive and after 1-1/2 hours of use, it turned itself off and back on again but when it did come back on, it lost all it's memory and clock settings. I had to reset everything like i had to when I first installed it. Other than this issue deck had everything that I wanted. Just wish it had better quality.

Must have for iPhone/iPod drivers

Pros: iPhone/iPod dock with charge function, no CD-player (no moving parts), hidden SD-card slot (replaces your CD's), great value for money, bluetooth, extended equalizer.
Cons: microphone (audio level too low), not available in Europe (I had to import it).

Overall: I have many jealous friends now.

Upset

I'm upset with this unit because the key feature (streaming audio via bluetooth) that I was looking for does not work, and is a known problem with the manufacturer. Dual customer support told me it's a software issue that they're working on, but with no timeline for a fix, and then I'd have to send mine in for exchange. It sure would have been nice to know BEFORE I purchased it that there was a known issue. Phonecalls over bluetooth do work, though. I have not yet tested the iPod dock. No other issues to complain about other than the streaming BT audio.

Great idea, poor execution...

First of all, this is my second unit. I had to return the first for the same reason many other reviews state: it would crash and my entire stereo and iPhone 4 would reset. A few other weird electronic hiccups as well. Sonic Electronix took the unit back and sent me a new one no problem. The second unit works great. Most of the time. About 95% of the time, I love this stereo and the other 5% I want to rip it out of the dash with my bare hands. This unit still suffers from a few quirks, mostly to do with the Bluetooth feature. Every once in a while I'm either using the Bluetooth on a phone call or streaming music the unit will have a stroke. The speakers will screech a terrible sound at maximum volume for a few seconds and then the Bluetooth connection will drop. Warning: you will nearly crap your pants and veer into oncoming traffic the first time this happens. Also, as a few other reviews state, the out of the box mic is not amplified enough and the person on the other end of the phone call cannot hear you unless you shout. If you talk to customer service they will send you an amplifier module that you install between the mic and the head unit that makes it work great. But honestly, if the company already knows this is a problem why not ship the module with every unit? Between the return and the module, I had to tear my dash apart three separate times. Overall, I still love the unit. The sound is great and I love having my iPhone mounted on the dash when I need the GPS. But Dual still has a ways to go on this one. Sonic Electronix was great, cheapest retailer by far and the free install kit was a terrific bonus. Saved me nearly $50 bucks from the next closest competition.

Pros:
-Sounds great, very customizable sound and EQ
-Cool blue illumination looks good at night
-Bluetooth music streaming is awesome. Quality is not quite as good as hard connection but so handy to just get in and hit play with the phone still in your pocket.
-With the module Bluetooth calls sound great (as long as your unit doesn't lose it's mind in the middle of the call)
-Affordable!

Cons:
-Non removable face plate
-In the Manual mode (you control music through iphone, not the unit itself, which would be a pain in the ass) you can't see the clock or the name of the song playing. Same with Bluetooth streaming.
-If the phone is docked and the screen is off, it's basically a giant bouncing mirror reflecting light directly into your cornea
-Buttons feel cheap. Because they are.
-It takes about 8 seconds for the unit to automatically connect to your phone via Bluetooth. If you dock the unit before that time, and start playing music the phone will stop playing music as soon as the Bluetooth connects because it thinks you then want to stream instead.

So overall, great idea, but I wish Sony made it and did it right. And then I also wish I could afford it.