Another Carplay... Thread Hamilton vs Beatsonic

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NCobbledicks

NCobbledicks

Joined
Mar 17, 2025
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Afternoon everyone, going through the threads it seems to be the two "best" options to update the oem head unit to include carplay are beatsonic and hamilton.

Has anyone had hands on experience with both system and can recommend one over the other? Which is quicker, more reliable, with the most OEM experience?

From my research, I havnt seen any head to heads with these two modules.

Thank you
 
I'm in this exact same boat.

I wrote to Beat Sonic about why I should go with them instead of Hamilton, this is what they replied with:

"
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Beat-Sonic S-Connect for your 2017 Land Cruiser.

Our kit is the only Lexus USA approved kit on the market. This means that Lexus dealerships sell and install our product because it has undergone thorough testing for safety and reliability. While our product comes with a one-year warranty, its approval by major dealerships reflects its high quality and seamless integration.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Best regards,

Ben"

FYI Hamilton has a 3 year warranty and BS has 1.
 
there are several long threads but the consensus seems if you have a 16-21 Hamilton is the better way to go, especially if you have an LX since it literally swaps the entire unit.
 
I had the BeatSonic in my LX for a few years, then the display got all jumpy/twitchy and didn't respond to the fixes they recommended. I switched to the Hamilton and like the newer display, and touchscreen (when I can safely reach it). I wound up swapping the wireless BeatSonic in my LC for a Hamilton because the wireless module was getting upset when different drivers used the car. Like @dudemancool1904 said, hands-down Hamilton in the LX, but the gap narrows for the LC.
 
I have the Hamilton units on my 2015 LC200, 2015 GX460 and 2020 LX570. For me, Hamilton is a great company to work with and they make a great product.
On my LX570, I have the conversion kit, which is a full replacement touchscreen. It works great.
 
For a 2017 Land Cruiser, can either unit provide video output to the rear entertainment?
 
I have a Hamilton in my 2016 LC and I am quite pleased with the performance, integration, and ease of installation. It’s been installed since Sept 2025 and I haven’t had any issues with it.
 
in the same boat . have a 2021 LC and trying to decide between these two. Google AI says that beatsonic may have better sound quality -- is this true?
 
I have a 2017 LC and have had the Beatsonic for a little over a year. Very happy with it. I've had a random issue pop up twice where wireless Android Auto won't work for a couple days, but it's always been after a phone update. I contacted BeatSonic after the first instance and they sent a firmware update for their unit which didn't resolve the issue, then it randomly worked again a day later. In my mind it's an Android Auto thing, not an issue with their unit.

Long story short I have no experience with Hamilton but have been super happy with Beatsonic.
 
I have a 14 and I’ve used Naviplus, Grom, and Beatsonic.

I returned the Naviplus unit - didn’t care for it. I used Grom for quite a while and it works very well. The one box design is nice.

Beatsonic only recently released a unit for the 13-15 200 series so I wanted to give it a try.

It does fully retain use of the factory buttons since you still BT the phone vs trying to run all functions over CarPlay.

Grom would fight for control of the screen - don’t accidentally hit the “mode” button lol

Beatsonic will make you hold the map button to get back to CarPlay if you leave the map screen, is much less aggressive at seizing the infotainment vs GROM.

Anyway, maybe the 16-21 models have better options? I wasn’t a fan of replacing the screen with a retrofit since the factory stuff is very robust - don’t want a $200 android tablet dying on me.
 
Spaghetti Sauce said:
For a 2017 Land Cruiser, can either unit provide video output to the rear entertainment?
Click to expand...
For what it’s worth, the Hamilton website says that its kit for the 2016-21 LC sends video to the rear screens.

“The optional "Streaming Package" allows you to load streaming apps onto the device. It also allows these streaming apps to play on the rear screens, as an HDMI port is included on the Upgrade Kit.”
 
MCtree said:
For what it’s worth, the Hamilton website says that its kit for the 2016-21 LC sends video to the rear screens.

“The optional "Streaming Package" allows you to load streaming apps onto the device. It also allows these streaming apps to play on the rear screens, as an HDMI port is included on the Upgrade Kit.”
Click to expand...
I'm installing this unit right now.

The Beat Sonic customer service was not a great experience.

PXL_20260507_182146222.webp
 
MCtree said:
Nice!

Let us know how it goes, please.

I’m particularly interested on how (or if) it affects sound quality of music played from the phone.
Click to expand...
Hamilton claims they've tested and have no loss in sound quality for all stock systems including the ML.
 
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