I installed the KW-V30BT a month ago. Although the unit looks nice, I am disappointed with it for a variety of functional reasons.
The interface is slightly sluggish, with a delay of 1-2 seconds moving from one screen to another. The USB input offers to sort music by ID3 tag or
Folders. I like to use folders. After navigating your folder hiercy and selecing a song, the screen returns to a "play" screen with minimal functions,
and the song title is shown in tiny text which is not adjustable. The fast forward function will only jump ahead in 10 second intervals, which can take
quite some time, to jump through the track if it's over 4 minutes long...this is the only way to jump through a track. When you try to select a new
song, you must renavigate through the folder hiercy...the unit does not remember the last folder it was playing from, nor does it allow you to view the
track listing (or next track to play). There is no playlist capability.
The MDI interface works with my Galaxy Note, however, it is still an unrefined capability. The touch screen is akin to using an old windows PC
touch screen, with the arrow cursor. the sensitivity is poor and you must be careful to press just right to get the function you need. The "home",
"back" and "menu" buttons on the bottom of your phone screen are not shown on the screen, instead a tacked on menu pops up occassionally where you can
select those buttons from a pull down menu.. Is very cumberson, and distracting to use those buttons. To further add to driver distraction, every
time you connect your phone, you are prompted to select "Agree" to three different messages confirming you won't be using the interface while driving.
Most people will use the interface while driving for music selection and possibly maps, so the added task of selecting AGREE is an annoyance.
You cannot display the smartphone screen while playing the radio or USB source. Once you choose the MDI option, the radio or USB stops playing...so
don't plan on displaying your google maps from your phone while listening to music (except if you play the music from the phone itself). There is no
multi-touch capability, no pinching to zoom...just one finger operation.
The App link only works for iphones in the USA. There are few android applications, and those only work in the USA, not Canada. This was quite misleading from the documentation on the JVC website. The one internet radio streaming service available in Canada, tunein, has an app compatibility only for iphone.
The physical click buttons on the left of the bezel are cheap feeling and often I have to click them two or three times to get them to respond.
The display is configurable in a very minimal way. You may change the three sources on the main screen...but you cannot display more than three.
One major annoyance is that when you phone connects via bluetooth, there is no indication on the stereo that it is connected.. icon. the only way
one can verify that the phone is connected is navigating your phones bluetooth options to see that the connection was successful. This is a major flaw,
considering how simply a small symbol on that big 6.1" screen could give the driver verification that they are hands free.
The sound and equalizer features sound good.
In the end, this stereo has not really lived up to the hype. It's a basic stereo, with a sluggish cumbersome interface.
