Since my old radio was slowly no longer modern and had no technical features, I finally decided to send my old radio to well-earned retirement. My new radio should support the popular music formats as possible. It should have a good sound and to avoid the nodule because of the telephoning at the wheel, it should, best connected with my smartphone, as a hands-free system. After some research on the Internet, I came across the KD-R862BTE Autoradio from JVC. Since the radio was in my price room, I ordered it. A few days later my object of desire came to me by mail.  

Scope of delivery and first impression

Next to the radio, I was sent a microphone, a manual, an adapter for connecting to the car electronics and a built-in frame. At first glance, the radio made a high-quality and stable impression. No rattling or knocking. The built-in frame also fit into the DIN slot of my car. At a glance in the manual I noticed, however, that neither the installation nor the removal of the device in the car were described. The instructions are probably more for people who either have their radio installed or have mastered the whole thing before. But it should not be a problem. The installation itself did not take fifteen minutes. Old radio raus, new purely, the microphone I could by the long cable comfortably in the A-pillar of the driver move and attach at the level of the sun visor. Otherwise, I had to connect only the remaining cables with the adapter and the radio and lo and behold, it worked immediately.  

First commissioning

After everything was installed, you could see only the whole optical splendor of the radio. The clearly recognizable display is black and equipped with white letters. The buttons are highlighted with blue light and the volume control is held in a chrome optic. Due to the blue lighting, the radio does not dazzle even in difficult lighting conditions, but everything is still very recognizable.  

What is the KD-R862BTE?

Now I connected my smartphone via Bluetooth to the radio. The sound quality with a first test phone was very good.Partially, I had to adjust slight microphone settings, but this went through the menu on the radio wonderful. Next, the promised music formats were tested. So I copied a song in MP3, WMA and AAC to my smartphone. All three formats are supported without any problems and the sound was excellent. Via the USB connection it is even possible to play files in the WMV format. Of course, tastes are different, as is the sound. For this reason, the radio from JVC has numerous setting options and an equalizer. Thus, the sound can be adjusted at any time.  

Another feature is the Android Audio Mode AOA 2.0

Of course, I was also curious about the somewhat strange sounding Android audio mode. According to the description, I can control the radio with the smartphone. I downloaded the JVC Music Play app from the Google Store. After successful installation, I just plugged the smartphone to the radio and so could control my radio by smartphone. This allows me to access my music archive and play it without problems. But what was really impressive for me is that I can play through this mode, streaming services such as Spotify or Internetradios. So I can always and everywhere listen to the music I want.