Especially when you remember that wireless connections don’t offer the same recharging capabilities as hardwiring. That obviously isn’t the worst battery drain in the world, but it’s worth bearing in mind on longer trips. In my testing I found that the simple act of leaving my Pixel 6 Pro connected and playing music with the screen off caused me to lose 7% of battery in the space of an hour. Wireless Android Auto has something of a reputation for battery drain, which I could sort of see with the Motorola MA1. It took Android Auto 18 seconds to launch when I physically plugged my phone in with a USB cable the wireless connection with the MA1 took around 23 seconds. The most obvious one is that the MA1 took slightly longer to initialize than wired Android Auto. Of course there are a couple of limitations to consider, both of which stem from the fact that wireless connections are not as fast or efficient as wired ones. Then it’s a case of pairing the adapter to your phone, as you would any other Bluetooth device, and waiting for the wireless connection to initialize.Īll the problems I experienced were problems I’d had with a wired connection - Audible skipping like a cheap portable CD player, the Nissan infotainment system crashing and rebooting mid-drive, or the fact my touchscreen is about as responsive as a dog when it’s time to take a bath. Once everything is ready to go, and Android Auto is running, you unplug and swap the USB cable for the Motorola MA1. The first step is to make sure your phone and Android Auto are all set up, which involves little more than plugging your phone into the car’s USB port. Setting up the Motorola MA1 is a fairly straightforward process. Not that you’ll have any trouble finding phones that have both. This means your phone registers the connection the same way, so you’ll need a compatible device - one that supports 5GHz Wi-Fi and runs Android 11 or newer. The MA1 uses a mix of Bluetooth and 5GHz Wi-Fi to connect to your phone, the same protocols as any other built-in wireless Android Auto setup. You only need to concern yourself with this the very first time you connect, though it’s worth mentioning that it can only pair with one phone at a time. This is a product made by a company you’ve never heard of who licensed the Motorola name because the brand still has some pull in the tech space.Finally there’s a single button on the side, which can toggle Bluetooth pairing mode or reset the adapter to factory settings. Well, the Motorola you know that is owned by Lenovo and makes phones, does not make this. Oh, and for those confused at how Motorola factors into this, no, they did not make this device. The makers if this device appear to have done a pretty darn good job. While I haven’t tested the device (no car with Android Auto here), the reviews almost everywhere are quite positive. That’s a decent $30 discount! As far as I can tell from an Amazon price tracker, this is the best price it has ever been at. This Motorola MA1 typically retails for around $100, but at the moment can be had for $69.99. The idea here is that life in your car is easier if you can simply get in and Android Auto fires up without you needing to plug your phone in.Ī number of cars now have wireless Android Auto built-in, but there are likely thousands of models of cars released years ago that do not, yet do have the wired Android Auto experience. As we slide into this new year, the MA1 is already on sale with a solid discount to help make your smart car experience (hopefully) simpler than ever.įor those not familiar, the Motorola MA1 is a wireless Android Auto adapter that plugs into your car – which has to be equipped already with Android Auto – and beams that experience’s connection from your phone, wirelessly. If you happen to own a car with Android Auto, but that Android Auto experience is not of the wireless type, a device like the Motorola MA1 seems like a no-brainer.
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