Review of the Official Ferrari Accessory - Clarion Infotainment System Upgrade

Hey all -- so I took the plunge and ordered the Clarion NX605 Infotainment System upgrade that is offered as an Ferrari OEM official accessory.

For this upgrade I ordered the following parts:
Part no. 70003474 - Clarion NX605F Infotainment System/Kit (specified for Ferrari)
Part no. 70003476 - Ferrari California Double Din Bezel
Part no. 70003578 - GPS antenna adapter

The Infotainment System/Kit came with all of the plug-and-play wiring harness, mounting brackets for the double-din system directly into the California's dash, and the typical components when buying the package system directly from Clarion (connectors, cables, wire kits, etc.)

I had the install done locally at La Jolla Audio (shoutout to Scott) who has done many California's and has the install down to a science. Ferrari of San Diego uses them regularly and they took excellent care of my car during the 1.5 day install. In addition to the install of the unit, they also did a great job placing the connectors in the center console for the unit's powered USB and HDMI connectors which are used for Clarion's Smart Access program and added the upgraded external microphone near the map/reading lights.

On to the system... I believe the only thing that separates this unit itself as a Ferrari official upgrade is the cavallino on the splash screen upon start up. There are no other Ferrari branding logos like in the accessory catalog or features I've discovered, but I did notice the model number on the unit itself labeled NX605F which is different than all the other unit pictures I've seen online.

Overall the unit is a great official Ferrari accessory upgrade as it was plug-and-play with all the connectors it comes with into the OEM wiring harness. I was primarily looking for bluetooth audio streaming capability from my phone for my music, pandora and spotify. It does this great. The added features of Clarion's "Smart Access" is similar to Apple's Carplay but is far inferior as many 3rd-party apps no longer off support. In the end, the Clarion Smart Access wasn't worth all the additional cables to my phone, that virtually offered the same thing I wanted to do via bluetooth. The navigation feature on the unit looks plentiful, yet I'll probably still use Google Maps on my phone as it's quicker. I doubt I'll ever watch DVD's in my car, use a USB or mini-SD card to play music, or use the CD drive. I haven't setup the transfer of my Sirus radio subscription, but will report back on transfer process. The Clarion unit does make the OEM speakers sound 10x better with all the equalizer and audio features and I was able to get the sound much clearer and crisp vs. the OEM unit. I'm sure if I upgrade the speakers in the future, I'll get even better results.

Overall, it is a much needed upgrade from the crappy OEM unit. The quality of the black bezel to fit the double-din unit looks better than the "aluminum" color from the old unit and allows for any other double-din unit upgrades if I decide in the future. The steering wheel controls work with the unit on any mode, yet there is no display of any song data or information on the dash LCD screen.

If I were to do it again, I'd probably would look at other units (Alpine or Pioneer) that offered even more features. The unit doesn't do HDMI mirroring from my iPhone and I wish there was more 3rd-party app support outside that stupid Smart Access (though I haven't had time to really explore it). Where the real value of this upgrade, is the plug-and-play wiring harnesses and bezel, that makes it easy to retain most of the OEM radio functions.

I've attached some pictures of the unit, bezel, and functions in action. Let me know if you have any specific questions that I can help answer.
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@Wallsttrader - Overall costs was about $3k. I saved money by finding the system for about $1500 for the Unit, Bezel and GPS adapter. This is different than the $2500 I've seen posted for the package online.

@good2go - I don't know what the hell your problem is, but I'm not promoting the stereo, I'm just saying what I think of this system and that the OEM unit sucked for my needs. It was old, dated, wore badly, etc. I even mentioned that if I did this again, I would strongly consider something outside this unit for more features. I only have a few posts, cause I just bought my car a few freaking months ago. I see that dealers are selling this system, but show me someone who actually took the plunge (my words exact from another thread) and installed it. No one has, and that's why I'm sharing my experience. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/144474438-post18.html

@Wavey38 - I looked at your other posts when I got my car and it was your setup that inspired me to look at this unit as an option. The CANBUS unit to make any aftermarket stereo work with the Cali was my biggest fear, so I thought it be easier to go with an Official Ferrari upgrade. The unit I have has HD radio scan and a bunch of other HD radio features, but I rarely use the radio. I don't have much customization on the splash screens and other features, and Auto Plus and CarPlay seem to be the industry standard, vs. the crappy Smart Access offered on this system.

@Snewton94024 - As mentioned, the Clarion system uses a Smart Access program which is thought to be like Apple CarPlay using 3rd party apps through your phone. However, it takes a bunch of cables for me (iPhone lighting HDMI adapter, HDMI, USB) and apps to work and doesn't offer anything I can't do on my phone directly. I think my solution would be to use one of the RCA/Composite AUX on the unit and do a converter to an HDMI input, so I can plug any accessory like a Google Chromecast of my iphone for screen mirroring.

 

Alex@TAG - glad to hear there are others installing the unit. I wasn't able to find any other posts or local experience on the setup so I had to take a chance.

Cockney.mike - The GPS adapter converts the existing OEM GPS antenna in the car to work with the Clarion unit and did not come with the Ferrari package.I ordered the part from Ferrari of San Francisco and it lists Part No. 70003578 ADAPTOR FOR ANTENNA, $81.99.

SciFrog - Unfortunately this setup from Ferrari on the Clarion system does not have CarPlay. It has Clarion's Smart Access program which I don't like and don't use. It's supposed to be like CarPlay but is slow, lacks app support and required too many wires. I recommend looking at Clarion's website at the Owner's Manual for the NX605 and also Clarion's Smart Access webpage (which seems almost abandoned).

 

@SciFrog - As mentioned, CarPlay is something that I would prefer to have, but am living without. I used to use a Bluetooth adapter on the OEM ipod connector, but I would get errors and had inconsistency in it working properly. YMMV.

@ttforcefed - All I know as a comparison, is the difference in what I can see on YouTube. I won't have more feedback unless I get to see some units in person at a local stereo shop. Not sure what OTO is, but no GPS or radio info is shown on the TFT screen next to the tach.

@Cockney.mike - I was told that a special connector was required. If you look at the Installation/Owners Manual, it says a separate connector is required. My installer got the cord and I didn't see it as an option from Ferrari.