By James Chevrette and Amy Gilroy
Retailers report more customers entering their shops seeking installation for “no name” Chinese radios (or those from unfamiliar Chinese brands) that they purchased on the internet. These are typically Android-based radios, often specific to certain vehicles.
Nearly all the dealers we contacted said the trend increased sharply last year. But, the majority of retailers we contacted are flat out refusing to install these radios due to lack of technical support from the companies and because often they do not work as intended.
Tony Mari of East Hamilton Radio Ontario, Canada said, “We are seeing two to three a week, and usually vehicle specific radios. Most customers are disappointed with the performance after the installation.”
Three or four of these radios come into the shop a week at Empress Audio and Marine, LA. “But we’re not responsible for anything that happens when we put it in. It’s a 50/50 shot whether it works for some of them. I would like to be in that business. I need a supplier that would give us the support. I don’t see it going away,” said Floyd Seal.
Often the radios aren’t formatted for the US so dealers must go through the settings to get them to work and sometimes, they don’t work properly even then.

Dean Beyett of 5 Star Car Audio, FL, also mentioned in one of the Dean and Fernando High Level podcasts that the shop recently began seeing a spike in customers bringing in Chinese radios for installation.
“I blame Amazon,” said Linkswell’s Walt Detlefsen of the recent increase in Chinese radios. “They’ve made it very simple for anybody to sell product…” He added that more and more factories are producing the radios, mostly in 9- and 10-inch universal radios. “There’s not a lot of people making T-style radios,” he said referring to vehicle specific radios that are 12 inches and larger.
Isaac Schertzer of Devine Concepts, FL will typically avoid the Chinese no-name radios. “We do use companies like RDVFL, for some specialized vehicles. We know that companies like them offer support and a warranty if something goes wrong. Most off-brand radios do not offer this, and if we cannot support the product – this is not what our store is about.”
“Yes it’s been increasing. It’s really too bad because they look awesome and have some good functions but they are terrible units,” said Mike Hungerford of KarTele Mobile Electronics, CT. “They sound terrible. People install them themselves and then they realize it was a mistake. They are generally plug and play but people realize how bad they sound and then come to us for an aftermarket amplifier to make them sound better.”
He tries to upsell customers to Linkswell or RDVFL, brands that offer US-based customer support with product geared to the US. “We are able to upsell people, especially if they haven’t purchased it yet, but there are vehicles where there is no other replacement option,” said Hungerford.
Retailers said there is room in the market for the Android-based large screened-vehicle specific radios when there is no other mainstream solution. And some said they would like to see more of these from reliable traditional suppliers.
“If we have researched every solution for a radio upgrade with no solution, we turn to the ‘Chinese radios,'” said Justin Wingfield of Certified Autosound, BC Canada. “For example, a Maserati Ghibli, no one offered a solution through Pioneer, Sony, Kenwood etc. This company www.4x4shop.ca had a solution, and it worked well. The dealership wanted roughly $10,000 to replace the radio, we did it for roughly $3,500. We will not entertain using an off-brand solution unless there is no solution from one of our regular suppliers.”
Some retailers are looking at the Chinese radios as opportunities to educate customers. “We see them, but if we just tell customers we will not install them, we look like the bad guys. We choose to educate them on their purchase. For example, TV Tuner, FM radio and accessory integration will not work up to their expectations. We explain, just because it might have a correct harness etc., it still needs installation parts. It is not just plug ‘n’ play,” said Jayson Cook of Columbus Car Audio, OH.
Feel free to share your experience with these radios in the comment section.
Photo by Britta Preusse on Unsplash
This is crazy. Linkswell & RDVFL are the same as the Chinese no brand radios. In fact they are part of the problem. They are all unlicensed products. Everyone I know who has sold a linkswell has all complained it take 3 to make 1 work. Next time Amy should contact some real companies for feedback. I wouldnt install those for all the money in the world, when all those radios go bad (including Linkswell and RDVFL) the customer will blame the shop and not the product. My reputation is worth more than a radio install. Junk
I’ve probably done a couple hundred of these over the last few years. Some can be massive timesinks, the “little to no tech support” thing is real, and if there is support odds are good it’s 180 degrees opposite your time zone. Lower end, super cheap versions are as bad as super cheap anything. The client will definitely get what they pay for. When purchasing them *you must be absolutely specific* the vehicle year/make/model/trim package. These things will have variations in code based on the vehicle specificity. They tend to have multiple settings menus for feature use.
My best advice to my industry with these is 2 things: First recognize these *are not* “radios”. They are networked computer components, make that your approach going in. 2nd, recognize the going trend in new vehicle design and learn these. We are leaving the age of replacing “the in dash radio” for a generation of vehicles. We learn, we adapt, we grow. That’s who we are and what we do. Good Luck, Have Fun!
We have decided to not provide installation services for these “no-name / off-branded” units due to a high failure rate. It is not a matter of IF, its WHEN this unit fails– there will be no tech support available. Sure, we lost a few clients here and there– but the way we look at it, if they brought the cheapest unit available to a premium shop for installation– they were never our customer to begin with. On the flip side, we have also had great success with conversions.. Its all about the approach. If you trash talk their equipment, they will take offense.. deliver bad news with grace, some clients will understand and again, we have had great success with upselling OUR head units. Companies like RDVFL and Linkswell are our “go-to” for any sort of large screen. We have also installed autotech and phoenix as well.
This epidemic is also in the U.K.
Absolute rubbish being bought and sold, people are too lazy to send rubbish back so the Chinese win hands down. The problem is the integration parts / fitting parts for a Pioneer or Sony etc cost twice the price of the Chinese stereo so it’s an obvious choice for the uneducated. The big brands are suffering proven by Sony closing down in Europe.
When a client brings in one of these no-name brand Chinese Android based head units we explain in no uncertain terms that we will install these to the instructions provided, we will not email or try to contact any customer support hot line if any issues or problems arise with the installation. The customer handles that and any issues that come up. If, by chance, the head unit is incompatible, not working properly, or just is not “plug and play” like the directions say you, the customer, will still be liable for the full installation and shop time used. I will say that of 10 installed maybe 7 will work as advertised but 0 will sound any better than factory or sometimes worse, much worse. The customer is aware of this before the vehicle is brought in the installation bay. Some are cool with this, others not so much.
One huge question I’ve always had about these, namely the vehicle specific ones, is Who exactly is building/engineering them? Someone needs to scrape CAN data from the car to compile HVAC integration and stuff like that, then write the code and make it all work. Someone needs to model the plastic bezel it all fits into, and then someone needs to actually produce it and sell it. That has to be a fairly large team, and it can’t all just be based in mainland China, right? Like who is going to engineer a 2024 Silverado solution in China before something else?
It’s just all so grey to me where any of this is actually coming from.. you can’t just snap your fingers and have a solution, I’d love to hear more from the teams behind this stuff.
That would be neat to learn about. That said, a bunch of the OEM stuff is likely made offshore, and those companies have access to the OEM diagrams, specs etc via those OEM contacts or industry memberships.
We do a lot of these and due to that we have gotten good at making them work. However here is the rule of thumb we have noticed. If the unit is supplied for a German car Audi, BMW, Mercedes the consumer usually spends $600-$800 or more and they work well. the only units that perform badly are usually the $179.00 and free back up camera versions. We have seen a dramatic increase in quality when the direct price is at least $300.00
we get 3-5 of them a week some are necessary because of no solutions by major manufactures but to keep work in the shop we insatll them , but we will not sell them because of warranty issues , but we tell them the ins outs ups and downs , they still purchase them, then are disappointed by the performance or bad sound they have. its 50/50 shot but its here and something we have to live with
the sad thing is the consumer thinks they know better than dealers & major manufacturers and take the risk of buying a cheap inferior products & either way dealers can get blamed either there bad guy for not instaling it or they installed it wrong intentionally to make money to sell them a brand name. People buying non-branded items have picked up dramatically. Kids sadly are getting over name brands in general. Example the Walmart Wirkin Bag Play on the Birkin Bag sold out for $79.00 in couple of hours
Lots of blame going around here… Who do we think is manufacturing these “No Brand” radios. I am quite positive that it is not some Chinese guy who got a wild hair and thought it would be worth it to go into manufacturing to sell 100 or even 1,000 or even 5,000 units per month. You can be assured that many of these “No Brand” units are being produced by the name brands that are in your display boards right now. The challenge is the “brands” are wary of ordering and stocking too much inventory from their suppliers, especially low velocity models. The natural result, especially given the state of manufacturing in the PRCC, is that these manufacturers in the PRC elect to go direct to the consumer. No question business marketplaces like AMAZON and TEMU provide a reasonably smooth pathway for the PRC suppliers, they are certainly not the fault or the reason that this “No Brand Invasion” is occurring. We can’t blame the PRC suppliers for using these markets, as we are all using these markets for the same smooth purchase and sell experience. To the degree that brick & mortar installing, specialty retailers have a beef, it does not reside in the delivery channel. It is more likely resident in the business relationship between the brands and the suppliers they choose to source products from in the PRC.
People above who contributed to this article must be joking. They’re claiming they use RDFL or Links, but these are the same generic Android-based radios from China. They import them, slap a label on, and resell them. This is exactly why the industry is struggling. Supporting products like Links or RDFL creates stagnation, as all the money flows back to China. There’s no research or development happening in the USA. It’s just the same Android radios being bought and resold. These people aren’t manufacturers—they’re just middlemen.
i partially agree with you
Linkswell owns their factory. Actually “Centigrade” however its spelled owns Linkswell and 100% of R&D is done inhouse. They source screens and parts from other manufacturers but the boards are designed in house as well as the software. RDVFL is using a build house but works with the factory engineers to develop products that will work better than the off the shelf versions. Neither should be labeled as just a relabeler even though RDVFL might be closer to that than Linkswell.
I just had somebody bring me one of these units yesterday for their Toyota FJ. His vehicle has the JBL sound system and I said you still need the audio adapter for that and I’m not sure on if the steering wheel controls would even work. No clear instructions and only text messaging or email for tech support.
I did offer to do it but with a lot of disclaimers to it. Going over what features these things offer that have no usable need in a car radio like a picture viewer.
In the end I think I have him convinced the big brands of the US may cost a bit more. I can even tell him exactly how it will sound because of previous experience. The brand name US market radios have solid features and tech support behind them before and after the sale.
These Amazon radios have lousy tuners and even worse output. I swear they only have about 3 watts a channel since they sound so weak.
As installers we just have to keep educating consumers and hope for the best. Hey, I have an open mind for new product but I know junk when I see it.
The quality of these units is so poor that we will not install them, and are VERY careful about even doing an audio upgrade to a vehicle if one of these radios is already installed. This is a perfect example of a category that 12 volt specialists should stay far away. “Custom fit” radios that retail for $100-400 should scare any of us and will do nothing but damage our industries reputation that all of us are trying to improve.