In this review, I check out the Exploter QC6225 AI-996 E adapter. You can buy this AI Box for $179.90 directly from the Exploter Store 👉🏻 https://bit.ly/applepie6225.
TL/DR: The Exploter AI-996 E AI Box offers decent performance with the QC6225 chipset but falls short in user interface design, Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto performance, and issues with using a micro-SIM card for its internet connection. Although it’s competitively priced vs its performance, there are enough dealbreakers here to seek out better alternatives available in the market.
As the months roll by in 2024, we are beginning to see a few brands adopt the slightly faster QC6225 chipset in their AI Box. I have already covered the fastest CarPlay AI Box from Exploter. However, their latest AI Box takes the foot off the accelerator with a more sedate AI box for CarPlay systems, the AI-996 E.
In the box, you get the AI Box itself, a long USB-A to USB-C cable to power it, and a USB-A to USB-C adapter to convert the supplied cable into a C to C USB cable for use with more modern CarPlay ports.
The adapter takes a similar silhouette to their ApplePie Ultra model, albeit with less chrome and a much cheaper, more plastic-wrapped case design that has some passive vent holes underneath to keep its fast QC6225 CPU cool.
As for I/O ports, it just has one side of its casing that features the USB-C port for power, and alongside it is a SIM card and TF Card slot, to give it local-based internet connection and additional storage respectively.
Connecting to the CarPlay port in my Golf and firing up the adapter takes around 26 seconds before seeing its main menu interface. At first glance, I was a little uninspired by its rather un-sexy and more functional interface. By default, you have a two-panel widget interface that consists of a quarter-sized media panel and a three-quarter-sized Google Maps panel, which can be changed to any other app by digging down through its rather basic settings menu and into its own ApplePie section of the generic Android settings screen.
Below this is a drawer of changeable app shortcuts, and a central app overview toggle button. On the nearside, there is a return home button that also brings in an app-select overview panel, and on the far side, there is a shortcut to exit back to your car’s system. Squashed above these widgets are some time and status indicators, and overall, it’s all very uninspiring on first impressions and also after some lengthy use.
Swiping left gets you into yet another screen of pre-installed apps. Swiping right from the edges of the main panel also brings in a grid of app shortcuts. There are so many ways to bring in these app icons that it’s almost laughable. It’s almostlike its UI/UX designer wanted to be sure someone could find a way by accidentally swiping or touching something on the screen.
Firing up apps really showcases the new QC6225’s power, alongside its 8GB of RAM and its 128GB of internal storage (expandable with an inserted TF card). This type of performance is more than enough for most tasks you’d want to do while in the car. You can browse and play back video from YouTube and Netflix, or play medium heavy 3D games without breaking too much of a sweat.
I installed my usual 3DMark and Geekbench 6 apps to test if it ran similarly to other QC6225-based AI Boxes. It did mirror their performance more or less, with fast results in app launching than the other QC6225 AI Boxes. However, it did perform slightly worse in 3DMark GPU performance, scoring 120 points less, albeit using the same Adreno 610 GPU.
Games like Crossy Road and Subway Surfers ran well, and pairing up a Bluetooth controller or remote with the ApplePie 6225 was quick and easy. This allowed for better enjoyment of gaming from the backseat of the car or a way to browse and watch video streaming apps from afar.
This adapter uses the XLINK app for its Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. I’ve not had too good of an experience with this app in other adapters, and the ApplePie was no exception. It took around 15 seconds to connect and display either platform. Contrary to its Wi-Fi specs, which are pretty decent, the experience was sluggish and unintuitive at best. Such a disappointment for this adapter. Call quality and delay was ok, considering, but touch input, audio and display feedback delay soaked up any joy that could be had from connecting wirelessly to either phone.
On a positive note, this adapter’s video streaming was surprisingly good. The lip sync of the video and audio coming out of the car speakers was in the region of around 200-300+ milliseconds, which is JUST enough to enjoy watching content in practice. This was halved when viewing the adapter on a CarPlay display with its internal speaker. So I think actualexperiences between car systems will vary.
Plugging in a TF card allowed me to playback video and music files with ease via the pre-installed VLC app. You can download other apps from the Google Play Store, and there’s a pre-installed file browser and APK manager app if you wish to side-load any unofficial or allowed apps onto the adapter.
Finally, I have to report that I encountered an issue when using a micro-SIM card to supply the adapter internet. The AI Box didn’t think it was inserted when enabling its Mobile Internet option. Whether this is a pre-production model issue or it didn’t like my SIM, I thought I’d mention it here and to be cautious if you’re thinking of using this method of supplying internet to the AI Box.
For its sale price of, currently, $179.90, the ApplePie 6226 / AI-996 E AI Box from Exploter isn’t a terrible AI Box, but there’s enough disappointment with it to not recommend it over some other AI Boxes in a similar price range that also carry the same QC6225 level of performance. If Exploter spent more time on its UI/UX of its menu interface, added a richer and more intuitive settings area, reduced the number of ways to view its app sheet, and created an alternative to the floating button, we would be only halfway there. With its SIM card issue, and more importantly, its Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto performance, there’s enough here to recommend passing on this one and seeking similar performing alternatives.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Brief overview
0:35 – Unboxing
0:52 – Features & Design
1:25 – Size & Line-up Position
2:13 – In Car Demo
2:27 – Menu Interface & Settings
5:30 – Pre-Installed Apps
6:12 – YouTube Video Lag Test
7:12 – Netflix Video Lag Test
8:13 – Over Air Updates
8:44 – TF Card Video & Music Test
9:54 – SIM card issues
10:14 – Gaming & Bluetooth Controller Test
12:01 – Benchmark Tests & Comparisons
12:31 – Splitscreen Mode Test
13:17 – Wireless Android Auto
14:53 – Wireless Apple CarPlay
17:24 – My Impressions
You can view this video and many more on my YouTube channel. If you like what you see, please do Like and Subscribe to our channel so you can be alerted when my next video goes live.
