In this review, I look at the Ottocast Car TV Mate Pro. You can buy this wireless and HDMI adapter for $69 Ottocast directly using the $30-off coupon code CL30 at checkout here – https://shrsl.com/4njcx, $89 from Amazon US – https://amzn.to/3P33aSo, £65 from Amazon UK – https://amzn.to/3BwDc6O, €99.99 from Amazon DE – https://amzn.to/49DOi6w, $115.89 from Amazon CA – https://amzn.to/4fkmjKA
TLDR: The Ottocast Car TV Mate Pro is a new HDMI to CarPlay adapter that adds wireless CarPlay and HDMI input capabilities. It lets users connect devices like Fire TV Sticks and mirror their iPhone’s screen. However, the adapter has some issues – it can be buggy, the cable is too long, its USB port doesn’t provide enough power for connected devices, and the screen adjustments don’t always work properly across display sizes. Overall, this type of adapter is a step in the right direction, but there is still room for improvement before it offers a seamless and enjoyable experience.
HDMI to CarPlay adapters are fast becoming a new trend for CarPlay adapter makers, as they shoot from the hip with new product ideas for CarPlay owners to plug into their car’s USB ports. Ottocast was the first to bring their HDMI to CarPlay TV Mate adapter to the masses. Yet, during my review, it felt like a wasted opportunity not to include wireless CarPlay functionality inside the adapter. Well, it seems that they listened- behold the Ottocast Car TV Mate PRO.
Features & Design
In the box, you get a paper instruction manual, the adapter itself, with its 60cm long tethered cable, and a USB-A to C adapter for modern CarPlay USB-C ports.
The exterior size and shape of the adapter look very similar to its non-pro model. The adapter is a little square in its casing with a textured circular detail on top. It features the same status lights, logos, HDMI and USB ports on the exterior of the adapter, but it’s all different on the inside though, and this isn’t apparent until you plug it in.
Boot-Up & Wireless Apple CarPlay
Once connected and powered, this adapter boots up in 10 seconds and displays two key menu options: wireless CarPlay and HDMI. A smaller button on the top left to return to the car system screen and a few text labels informing you of the adapter’s current firmware number.
Tapping CarPlay first, you are taken to a familiar-looking wireless adapter connect screen that is simply waiting for your iPhone to connect to. From Bluetooth pairing to wireless CarPlay took a lengthy 23 seconds, which doesn’t compete against the much faster wireless CarPlay adapters we are recently seeing now.
From here on out, this adapter behaves like any other wireless adapter from Ottocast. Performance-wise, I’d say think of their u2-air and you’d be close to its general performance. It may not be the smoothest or fastest-performing adapter out there, but this adapter has another trick up its sleeve: HDMI IN.
HDMI Performance
Tapping on the CarPlay exit icon takes you back to the adapter’s two-option menu screen, as mentioned earlier. This means you can easily switch between a connected HDMI source and CarPlay fairly quickly.
Tapping the HDMI menu option displays a ‘no connection’ prompt while the adapter is waiting for something to be connected into it. I first chose an Amazon 4K Fire TV Stick, powered by a nearby 12V USB adapter in the centre compartment. The Fire TV boot animation soon replaced this holding screen and within seconds I was looking at the Fire TV menu screen. Picking up the remote, I was controlling and viewing Amazon Fire TV content as if I were sitting on my home couch. Its sound was coming through all of my car speakers and interactions were just as smooth as on my 65” Samsung TV in my lounge.
Fire TV Stick via HDMI
Firing up the YouTube app for my first test on the Fire TV stick and I was saddened to see that the TV Mate Pro didn’t display a decent audio sync on my Golf system specifically. There was a -400ms delay, meaning the video was late to display alongside the sound coming out of my car speakers. This makes for an out-of-sync viewing of video, which may serve ok for casual, glance-based viewing, but for any prime viewing, this didn’t work out too well. I tried Netflix to find it was a little better than YouTube, so apps will vary, along with the car system that you’re using the TV Mate Pro on. The video was much better in sync on a Renault Megane E-tech MY25 portrait display, but it also had some issues (see below).
iPhone via HDMI
I next tried to connect my iPhone via a connected HDMI to USB C cable from makers UNI. This allows me to easily mirror my iPhone onto my CarPlay display and test the ability to play video content. Once I connected the USB C cable to my iPhone 15 pro port, I saw my phone mirrored onto my CarPlay display. Loading up YouTube to test audio sync I found this to be not as bad as on the Fire TV Stick, with around +380 ms in audio delay. Again, this is not really acceptable for prime viewing but for casual at-a-glance viewing it may be okay. On the Megane display, running the 13 August 2024 update, the issues were more pronounced with the iPhone not filling the entire display, and audio sync was similar to my Golf.
Steam Deck
I next reached out for my Steam Deck games console and connected it to the Car TV Mate Pro. Sadly, the screen went black and so did the feed on my CarPlay display when I connected the Steam Deck. No dice for the Steam Deck and Car TV Mate Pro, which wasn’t an issue for HDMI input on a CarPlay AI Box adapter that I recently reviewed. Ottocast tells me their engineers think it’s the resolution that wasn’t supported by the Steam Deck, but I had no problems on other adapters with this same cable and console. Maybe updates will address this compatibility issue with this particular gaming device- they say it worked with a Nintendo Switch.
Other Things to Mention
Other things to note: You can’t listen to CarPlay or HDMI sources while viewing the other. The long 60 cm tethered cable is far too long, and because it’s braided, it’s a tough cable to coil neatly away. The USB port on the adapter doesn’t allow passthrough charging or enough passthrough power to power any connected streaming box devices like a Fire TV Stick. Finally, the boxed display of their original Car TV Mate while using certain HDMI devices was still present here. It can’t be overcome, even with its screen zoom/adjustment button.
The screen adjustment button is a welcome addition that other HDMI adapters should also adopt. With a simple tap of this overlaid button, you can toggle between the correct screen ratio of the source, to stretched full width, and stretched full height modes. I was able to try this out on a Renault Megane E-tech portrait display. Sadly, the result was a poorly stretched-out display and its overlaid buttons went missing, offering me no ability to adjust the screen modes or even return back to my car system. Hopefully, some fine-tuning and adapter updates will soon address this issue.
Is it PRO Enough?
Overall, the Car TV Mate Pro has taken a step in the right direction for this type of CarPlay adapter. However, it’s frustrating to experience the same quirks and issues that I found on their earlier model. None have been fixed or improved in any way. I also found it difficult to update the adapter to its newest firmware. Ottocast pushed out an update and using the wall adapter and WiFi connection method of updating was more successful. The 13 August 2024 update, however, featured several bugs when using HDMI via iPhone, which oddly now uses an AirPlay-like approach to display video from my iPhone. This resulted in fewer apps successfully streaming video this way, including YouTube! There’s still work to be done here by Ottocast engineers.
If you’re looking for a simple wireless CarPlay adapter with HDMI support, then your options are quite limited right now. The Car TV Mate Pro does this well, but there seems to be a lot of work that needs to happen before this adapter can offer a seamless and enjoyable experience. However, this opens the door for other makers and Ottocast themselves to improve and fine-tune this type of CarPlay wireless+HDMI adapter. For me, that’s the exciting thing about this adapter, the opportunity. Right now, we’re not quite there yet.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Brief overview
0:40 – Unboxing
0.55 – Features & design
2:13 – Installation & main menu
2:42 – Wireless CarPlay
4.59 – IP config menu & updating
5:44 – HDMI mode
5:56 – Amazon Fire TV Stick on CarPlay display
7:01 – YouTube audio delay
7:36 – Netflix audio delay
8:00 – Luna Cloud Gaming
8:46 – iPhone HDMI mirroring on CarPlay display
9:10 – YouTube audio delay
10:23 – Switching between CarPlay & HDMI
11:25 – Steam Deck on CarPlay display
12:31 – My Impressions
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