The KW-XR810 JVC Car Stereos is certainly a nice looking double din car stereo, but after we get past the looks is there anything substantial behind that pretty face?
As far as connectivity goes, this unit is well adorned with connections to suit the majority of us. There are two (2) usb ports which allows the connection of your iphone/ipod or any other usb device, such as a usb thumbdrive. This enables us to listen to our music collection from any of these sources and will even allow us to have two usb devices connected at once.
If your device only connects with a 3.5mm plug, no problem since this connection is also included, although you won’t have the same functionality that the usb supports.
Another way to connect is through the built in Bluetooth, so you can connect and use your bluetooth enabled phone through your stereo system. The system allows the import of up to 400 contacts from your phone, although with an iphone you can access your contacts straight on the phone without the need to import/update. You can change between public and private conversations with the simple click of a button and switch phones without any major hassle.
The stereo is compatible with CD-Rs and can play MP3/WMA/WAV formats out of the box.
Going back to the basics for a moment, this unit, of course, plays AM/FM radio, but what is nice is that you can store 18 FM stations, along with 6AM, but who listens to AM these days anyway.
They advertise the unit as “HD/SAT Ready”, which means if you want to listen to HD/SAT radio you’ll need an extra component, but if you’re not interested, or not in an area where it’s available, it’s not really a factor and won’t be missed by the majority of people.
Overall, this is a nice unit and does what it advertisers in a nice simple manner and I haven’t heard anyone having any problems with it.