987.1 Double DIN head unit w/CarPlay - bright enough for top down?

Hi all, first of all apologies if the answer is buried in a thread but my search didn't yield promising results. I have a non- Bose 2006 Boxster . A few years ago I installed a Kenwood Exelon DNX891HD. Unfortunately, it was done about a year or so before CarPlay became more common on head units. I'm considering changing the head unit out in order to have at least wired CarPlay . But here's the catch: I have the Kenwood 's screen brightness cranked all the way up. And I have my phone on a mount right next to it. The phone's display is bright enough to see with the top down during the day. The Kenwood 's screen brightness is not. Maybe there is a glare issue mixed into this. Is there a brand/model that has much better brightness for convertibles? We all know that brighter screens are possible, since our phones have them. Is it that my Kendwood has a resistive screen instead of a capacitive screen? Any personal experience with this issue, positive or negative, is welcome. In the meantime I'll forego CarPlay unless I can get a substantial upgrade in head unit display brightness. No point paying $1000 for a head unit that is as dim as the current Kenwood .

Just wondering - are you wearing sunglasses with the top down (good idea, helps prevent retina damage from UV)? If so - take them off and hold them in front of the screen, look through them and then rotate them 90 degrees. Does it get brighter? Some display screens use a layer of polarized plastic in front of the actual display - for a touch-screen interface or just protection. If the brightness changes when you rotated your sunglasses that means your sunglasses are polarized, and the two polarizations are at 90 degrees to each other which will drastically cut the visible light. The only cure is to try to find a pair of sunglasses that are polarized in the opposite axis, or not polarized at all.

That's an interesting idea, thanks - but I don't wear polarized sunglasses. The Kenwood 's screen can tilt slightly and I may try that. As it is, I can live with it. But if there is a head unit that is known for being appreciably brighter than this Kenwood model I have now and has CarPlay functionality, then I think I will upgrade. So looking for feedback from other 987 Boxster owners who have upgraded their head units and are happy with their brightness. On this note, I see that Kenwood offers both resistive and capacitive screen models. An informal reading seems to indicate that capacitive models may be brighter (which mirrors what I experience when running nav off of my iphone next to the Kenwood). I'd love feedback from other users on that possibility.

Bumping this thread in hopes that someone out there has also done the work to find out if the capacitive screens now offered on higher end models are appreciably brighter in daylight. If nobody knows, maybe I will reach out to Crutchfield and find what they recommend generally for convertible use. I used to have a Saab convertible that had the same issue with its OEM head unit, but goodness you’d think the issue has been solved by now.

There are a number of the double din units that are now using OLED screens. Cheers, Julian

An update on this thread. I ended up buying and installing the Kenwood DMX957XR double din unit. What's distinctive about it is that it uses a capacitive screen. You really have to hunt through specs to find which units out there have this. At any rate, it is significantly brighter than the older Kenwood resistive unit I had. And the wireless CarPlay is seamless. Finally, an unanticipated benefit is that the driver/amplifier in this new head unit seems much better at powering my front speakers (I don't have the rear deck speakers). For practical reasons, it's significant enough that I can now listen to Pandora/ Spotify at highway speeds with the top down. This Kenwood model is pretty pricy but I think it is well worth it if you drive with the top down and you like the safety of using CarPlay .

In the writeup on it they mention "electronic viewing angle display adjustment" - does the owner's manual explain what that means? One issue I have with my current unit is the display is OK until I put on polarized sunglasses, when the brightness is radically cut down due to conflicting polarization between the screen orientation and the sunglasses. If I rotate the sunglasses the screen comes back to what would be an expected brightness, but it's rather awkward driving with my head resting on my shoulder. Some displays use "circular polarization" - which does cut the brightness, but it cuts it the same amount at any angle of the sunglasses to the display. It does seem to be a very competent unit, if a bit pricey.

Ah - found a video about it. Apparently all it does is change the brightness/contrast depending on the angle you look down to see the screen. Greater angle = + brighter/contrast

I very happy with my Alpine iLX-W650 as a cost effective solution for wired CarPlay (currently $350 on Amazon)

So many to choose from, but I'll say any of the 2022 models and newer over $500 are likely as bright as your phone can be. I have a xav-ax6000 from Sony and it's appropriately bright as needed.