Pioneer MVH-1400NEX Review
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Today’s car radio receivers do much more than simply connecting you to your favorite music stations or your local weather report. Car owners who are stuck with terrible, outdated head units can choose to install a car-play enabled radio receiver to get access to a better audio, navigation and messaging experience while on the go.
Today, we talk about the new MVH-1400NEX introduced as an expansion of the Pioneer’s NEX platform. It is a double din digital media receiver that complements the driver’s lifestyle with the integration of the popular smartphone interfaces. Read on to learn more about what this affordable in-dash receiver from the popular brand can do for you.
A double-DIN in-dash receiver with a big LCD screen, the Pioneer MVH-1400NEX features a CD-free design to embrace the newly emerging trend of streaming music content. It comes as an affordable price to be one of the most budget-friendly, fully-featured digital media receivers.
Design
The most impressive thing about this receiver is its clean design, partly resulting from the absence of any hardware button or CD slot. The double-din fascia surrounding the head unit is carefully-molded to fit into the car’s dashboard.
The 6.2-inch glossy touch screen complements the design. The capacitive touch screen is quite responsive and easy to use. The capacitive touchscreen offers multi-touch gestures like that on the smartphone touchscreen. The screen not only allows controlling the head unit but also the paired device. NEX advanced design caters today’s smartphone and tablet-specific lifestyle.
Smartphone Integration
Apple CarPlay
Featuring Apple CarPlay, the receiver provides a safer and smarter way to use your iPhone in the car. The iPhone can be connected to the rear panel of the head unit through USB cable to enjoy an intuitive way to listen to music, make calls, read messages, use maps and Siri voice control through the Pioneer receiver’s controls.
AppRadio Mode
This receiver features AppRadio Mode+ to give you control of compatible apps right on your car’s dash. By connecting to iPhone or compatible Android smartphones, the receiver lets you enjoy complete on-screen access to your calendar, contacts, maps and some of the most popular in-vehicle apps.
Android MTP Playback
The Pioneer MVH-1400NEX has support for MTP to control and play stored music files in various formats from the phone through the receiver.
You can enjoy all the basic controls right on the screen of the head unit.
Smartphone Charging
The USB connection allows charging iPhone/iPod and Android phones through the head unit.
Variety of Music Options
Pandora Internet Radio
The receiver lets you play music from the Pandora service using Bluetooth or USB connection to the smartphone. You get complete control over the playback and important information is displayed on the screen.
Spotify
Pioneer head unit has the ability to playback and control music from Spotify on a connected iPhone or Android smartphone.
You can use the receiver’s controls to play, pause, skip tracks and browse albums and stations. The screen also displays information about the song and artist.
Apple Music Radio
It is possible to play Apple Music Radio on the connected Apple device through the head unit. The touch screen controls can be used to select the stations and control the playback.
SiriusXM
This receiver is SiriusXM ready so that you can listen to free music, sports, entertainment, news, traffic and weather simply by connecting the SiriusXM Connect Vehicle Tuner.
Integrated Bluetooth
The Pioneer MVH-1400NEX comes with built-in Bluetooth to let you handle phone calls wirelessly through the head unit and stream music from the smartphone. The receiver allows connecting a maximum of five Bluetooth-compatible devices simultaneously.
It also facilitates hands-free communication for the phone. You can use the external microphone and the car’s audio speakers to perform a conversation while driving.
The Pioneer MVH-1400NEX also allows wireless audio playback and control for a Bluetooth enabled phone or music player. The head unit streams music from the device as well as music apps and even lets you browse the collection through the screen.
You can even access Siri through the head unit’s touchscreen and microphone for eyes-free functionality to access music, make phone calls and use navigation.
USB & AV Playback
The rear panel of the Pioneer head unit allows connecting a USB mass storage device to enable playback and control of music, photo and video files stored on the device. Almost all popular types of file formats are supported including JPEG, BMP, PNG, MP3, AAC, WMA, FLAC, WAV, MPEG4, FLV, MOV, MKV and more. Dual AV inputs allow connecting two simultaneous audio and video sources externally.
Audio Quality
The Pioneer MVH-1400NEX features a 24-bit digital to analog converter to deliver excellent audio quality when playing from Android, iPhone, iPod and Bluetooth.
MOSFET amplifier enables it to play louder and cleaner music at higher volumes without noise or distortion. High and low pass crossovers tailor the head unit to the speaker setup.
Apart from these, the head unit allows further adjustments to the car audio system including loudness, bass boost, position and time alignment, speaker level and more.
Camera/OEM/NAV Connectivity
The head unit is equipped with a rear-view camera input to allow adding an extra camera. With Auto View, the unit switches to rear camera image automatically. There is also a Camera View mode that lets you manually bring the rear view image on the screen to check what’s behind.
You can also connect an add-on navigation unit to the head unit to switch to navigation mode at the touch of a button.
The media receiver is compatible with iDataLink Maestro and allows selecting the factory functions to retain.
Steering Wheel Control
The Pioneer receiver features an OEM steering wheel remote control input to keep the factory radio steering wheel controls.
What’s In the Box
- Digital media receiver with fixed touch screen
- USB extension cable
- Wiring harness
- Microphone with mounting bracket
- ISO screws
- Two-sided tape
- Installation manual
- Warranty information
Conclusion
The Pioneer MVH-1400NEX is a great choice for a head unit for those who want to use CarPlay while on-the-go. It offers an affordable way to bring CarPlay to vehicles which don’t have such functionality built-in. Do let us know whether you will consider installing the Pioneer head unit in your car.
