New Kenwood DMX709S

I installed my

$349 Kenwood DMX709S eXcelon 6.95" Capacitive Touch Screen, Car Stereo, CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth, AM/FM HD Radio, MP3 Player, USB Port, Double DIN, 13-Band EQ, SiriusXM

Kenwood DMX709S in my 2021 SR on Wednesday. It took me longer than it should have because I’m dealing with a herniated disk that makes it very hard to do much of anything. But a somewhat leisurely afternoon in the garage was good for me.

I was able to flash the Maestro with custom functions for the steering wheel controls - something as simple as a quick press of the hold button to pause makes a big difference to me. Each button can be programmed with up to 2 functions - one for a short press, and a different function for a long press.

As far as wiring, everything was plug and play, except I had to connect wires for the antenna amplifier, reverse trigger for the backup camera, and I had to ground the parking brake trigger wire to the head unit chassis.

I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to keep the factory USB port. To be fair, Crutchfield said it may or may not work. Since I use it every time I’m in the truck, I just pulled the head unit’s USB cables out through a switch blank and connected my lightning cable to it. Wireless CarPlay would have been useless to me as my dash cam connects to my phone through Wi-Fi.

I also gained some features - on-screen display of individual tire pressures and temperatures, as well as 2 customizable screens of gauges that can be displayed. For those that tow, one of the gauge options is trans temp.

Overall I’m happy with the system. I’m not an audiophile, and I don’t need a big screen. I just needed functioning CarPlay since all physical controls (steering wheel as well as the volume knob on the head unit) stopped working with CarPlay after updating my phone to iOS 16.5 and neither Apple nor Toyota was willing or able to come up with a fix.

Sorry for the weird color of the pictures - they were taken in my garage with the fluorescent lights on.

 

There is an adapter cable that allows you to keep the factory USB. I have one in mine.

 

Thanks. I have the adapter cable, but for some reason CarPlay wouldn’t connect when I tried it. I suspect amperage is borderline, and it may be hit or miss.

 

Looks nice. Any issues with glare in the sun? Also good taste in music, love some Colter Wall

 

I haven’t driven it enough to really say about glare. Everything I read said the capacitive touch screen is going to be better than a resistive touch screen, though.

The head unit has an adjustment for viewing angle that may or may not help. If I have a problem with glare that will be something to play with to see if it helps.

 

Which install package did you get from Crutchfield with this?

 

My Kenwood DMX907S had two USB connectors on the back - one black, one gray. I believe only the gray USB connector supported Apple CarPlay connections, but the black connector could be used to mirror the iPhone screen.

 

I got the better install package. It was around $250 but included everything I needed for full functionality.

 

No, there is only one USB connection.

It's not a big deal. I ended up with a different setup where it was easier to use the head unit USB cord instead of the factory port. I added a Rago dash plate, Bulletpoint MagSafe holder, and ran the USB up through the dash. That setup will also make firmware updates simple.