*NOTE* Don't read a couple of non 5 star reviews and make a decision. Look at the reviews for the Linkifun product and then the reviews for the Linkifun Store. Their are reviews that give less than 5 stars for nonsense.
One complaining that shipping took a few weeks. If you paid for standard international shipping then that is reality and undeserving of less than 5 stars.
Another complaining that they wish the unit accepted a sim card in the US. The description clearly states this information for that particular unit and you buy it to complain that the item was exactly as described.
One unit purchased for a BMW complaining that, there was a learning curve to navigating through the device, the unit lags and does not use the full head unit screen. First, don't be lazy it's a very straight forward system and does not have near the options, settings and interface as a Dudu7, firestick or a smartphone. Second, I have had zero issues with lagging and define in my review below. It sounds like the sim card carrier service you have isn't great in your area, no fault of the unit. Last, there are settings for the screen and some apps act differently than others just as they do on a smart phone.
Application:
Unit: L8 AI Box for BMW
Option: Android 13 Qualcomm 8+128GB
Sim Card: T-mobile 30GB text & data (no voice) $10/month
Automobile: 2022 BMW X5 G05 45e - iDrive7
I purchased the higher memory and advise to do so. There is a noticeable boot up and application run speed difference if you choose the cheaper version vs the higher end. You get what you pay for. I found this out the hard way in my previous purchase of a Mekede Dudu7 unit. The review videos of the Dudu7 showed several timed instances of boot up and application run speeds for the top end unit. I went cheap and got the low end and it was no where near as fast, 50-60%.
The sim card was plug and play left over from my previous unit mentioned above. I called T-mobile to cancel it prior to purchasing the L8 as it wasnt being used. They gave me a $10 (so free) bill credit indefinitely. I have several lines and devices for family on my account so they're getting their money. The 30GB has never been reached or throttled. It has worked great in my area and the vast majority of our road trips. I regularly use the split screen to play YouTube or Netflix with Waze running on half.
The bootup to screen on my X5 is random. Sometimes its immediate and sometimes I have to unplug the L8 and plug it back in. This may be the 90 degree usb adapter in my console. It also may be due to the unit not getting proper air flow/open air to no fault of the units. It sits under a shelf in the center console and I live in Alabama so it could be a number of those affecting the units temperature.
The settings are pretty basic compared to other devices which is a positive IMO. There are screen settings to play with along with all the typical android settings. The screen on my X5 is not a standard size but the device works great on it. Waze for instance covers the entire screen edge to edge which is a huge nav screen. Youtube also covers the entire screen. Netflix uses the whole screen until a video is played and then it gives a ~0.5 inch top and bottom border and ~1.0 inch left and right border. It is still a good size and a non-issue for me.
The main screen has a Google maps that takes up one half the screen and then 4 widgets on the other half.
2 of the widgets cannot be changed to other apps or are pre-set. 1 of the pre-set widgets is split screen. You can set two apps within it, specifying left & right, that is basically a shortcut to that particular split screen. The 2nd preset widget is audio. This shows what is currently playing with standard music options buttons (play/pause, next, back, etc).
The other two widgets can be changed to a limited list of available apps you've downloaded on the device.
The home screen has an option to add 5 favorites on a favorites bar. The remaining screens you can add any number just like an android and the app icons display on it. The app icons can be sorted to your liking. Tying back to split screen, you can add multiple icons or instances of split screen. They will show as an app icon with thise 2 apps split on the icon. Those split screen icons/instances can be added to any of the 5 favorites on the home screen.
There is a folder app icon that is for your micro sd card and the system. You can access your pictures, music, videos, files, etc here. The unit comes preloaded with a large variety of screen background images and you can save or make your own to your sd card. There are some pretty neat background images that come with the unit and I use those.
The L8 connects to your screen by accessing the BMW iDrive Carplay app and selecting the Linkifun L8. Mine is named BM-4numbers as the carplay connection. Disconnect your BMW wifi to phone option from your phones wifi. It will keep the iDrive and Carplay for battling connection. A great ...
