Best Alexa-Enabled Car Stereos [UK Guide]

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If you love having Alexa at home, you’ll love her just as much in your car. Of course, with Alexa in your car, you have access to your favourite music, podcasts, audiobooks and all the sounds you love to hear. But, in addition you’ll also have your very own personal assistant!

In this guide, we’ll share our favourite single din and double din car stereos that have integrated Alexa, as well as some other great ways you can add Amazon’s voice assistant to your vehicle.

Benefits of Alexa in Your Car

Voice assistants are nothing new. Google, Apple, Amazon and more have all released their voice assistants in recent years, helping us with all manner of tasks, from setting timers to ordering our next outfit.

With an Alexa device in your car, you’ll be able to:

  • Safely choose your next song using your voice
  • Check the latest news
  • Make and recieve hands-free calls with ease
  • Check your calendar and confirm your next meeting
  • Take notes or make to-do lists
  • And much much more

At the time of writing, all of the Alexa devices we’ve identified rely on your phone to do the heavy lifting. They connect to the Alexa app and use your phones data, however they all have dedicated Alexa buttons so you can do all of this without touching your phone.

Later on in the article, we’ll share some alternative Alexa devices that aren’t built in to CD players. Our favourite is the Echo Auto that was built especially to add Alexa to your car and works great with new models.

Of course, Alexa isn’t your only option when it comes to voice assistants in your car stereo, Android Auto and Apple Carplay stereos also offer many of the great benefits and tend to be a little more advanced than Alexa.


Best Single Din Head Units with Alexa

Here are our top car stereos compatible with Alexa:

JVC KD-DB912BT – Best Overall Single Din

CD player, Bluetooth, DAB, USB and Alexa, this JVC has it all and fits a slim single din slot.

Connect two Bluetooth devices simultaneously
Looks smart and has easy controls
Only single DIN with both Alexa and a CD player
No pull-out tools included

This JVC car stereo is our top recommendation, it combines a traditional CD player and radio with bluetooth and Alexa for an all round great device.

The Bluetooth feature on this stereo is awesome as it allows you to connect two devices and switch between them with the push of a button, perfect if you have a work and personal phone. You can also enjoy DAB radio with this stereo, plus, there is an AUX port and a USB port for even more access to your favourite music.

You’ll need the Alexa app on your phone for this car stereo to give you access. Still, once you download it, you can open your garage door, check traffic and do everything else Alexa is awesome at.

Overall, this JVC car stereo provides a wealth of ways to listen to music, connect your phone and have all the entertainment and information you need while you’re driving. What’s more, it is very easy to install in your car, and it looks great too. You can control any music app on your phone from this stereo, and Alexa opens up even more possibilities too.


Kenwood KMM-BT506DAB – Budget Choice

This Kenwood is perfect for those who want quality on a budget.

Best price
Sounds great, looks great
Alexa and more at the touch of a button
No CD player
Phone control from the Kenwood app isn’t great

This Kenwood is our budget option, but you wouldn’t know it. This car stereo has all the kit you need and more. It has a DAB radio that works fantastically well, along with Bluetooth, a USB slot and an AUX port too.

Connecting this stereo to your phone is super easy and will open up the possibility to take calls, play music and utilise Alexa’s functionality. The display will look very familiar to anyone who’s ever owned an after-market car stereo. So, with simple controls and lovely looks, this car stereo is really hard to beat. Especially for this price!

The only downside to this is the lack of a CD player, so if you’ve not yet transitioned to Spotify’s infinite library and instead keep your own collection, this won’t be for you.


Pioneer SPH-20DAB

Connect your phone and sit it on the holder for your own touch screen stereo with access to all your apps.

Easy setup and controls
Solid phone holder
Clean and simple display
The volume controls are finicky
The Pioneer app has a few flaws

Pioneer has knocked it out of the park with this car stereo. We love the phone holder on this stereo. Once you connect your phone up, it sits on the stereo as if it were a connected screen. It’s a solid build and works with even the biggest of modern phones.

The phone connection can be used to access both the Pioneer app and Alexa which will give you the ability to control every aspect of the entertainment in your car. The Pioneer app is used to programme the DAB and FM radio which can be done when you aren’t driving. You can then use Alexa to take calls, listen to Spotify and everything else.

There are four hard-key buttons on the lovely and clean display of this stereo. You can preset these buttons to help you answer calls, access your music app, send messages and whatever else you like. Once you’re done, at the touch of a button, your stereo will do it all for you.


Best Double Din Head Unit with Alexa

If you have the luxury of space in your car’s dashboard thanks to a double din slot, here are our recommended stereos:

Kenwood DPX-7200DAB – Best Overall Double Din

Everything you need from a car stereo; a CD player, Bluetooth, USB, AUX, DAB radio and Alexa.

Sound quality is excellent
Loads of ways to enjoy music
The Alexa app works seamlessly
Some people have had issues with the Bluetooth

This Kenwood stereo has it all. It has a very clean and sleek look but packed with features including a USB port for music files and charging, an AUX port, Bluetooth, a CD player, DAB radio and more. With this stereo, you can listen to music in every way you have ever been able to in your car. However, with the addition of Alexa too, you can do a lot more.

The best thing about this Kenwood stereo, though, is that there is no compromise to sound quality. The CD player has fantastic audio quality, as does the DAB radio. Plus, you’ll never miss a vital piece of info while on the phone either. This is a serious bit of kit. This stereo is perfect for lovers of music!


Pioneer FH-S720DAB

A sleek stereo that offers powerful music playback and that is only half the story!

Excellent sound quality
The twin lighting looks great
Simple app set up, and easy controls after set up
Will need to purchase an adapter for certain models of car

Pioneer has been, well…, a pioneer in the car stereo business for years. This stereo is the latest in a long line of stereos that are breaking tends and rules. This one works much like the single din Pioneer stereo mentioned earlier but with more room to play with it has a bigger display and they’ve squeezed in a CD player.

You can also use the app, alongside the Alexa app to stream music from any app on your phone. Taking a phone call is as simple as pressing a button. Plus, with Alexa in your car, you can easily phone any of your contacts hands-free too.

Once again, this stereo comes complete with all of the playback functions you need. It has a CD player, AUX port, USB and Bluetooth. Just to top it off, the sound quality from this car stereo is exceptional as well.


More Alexa-Enabled Car Devices

If you’re very happy with the stereo in your car and don’t want to change it, or you have a built in infotainment system that’s difficult to replace, you can still upgrade your vehicle to include Alexa voice assistant functionality.

Here are some other Alexa-compatible devices for your car that are simple and easy to install:

Echo Auto – Recommended Device

Simple, easy and effective, the Echo Auto was designed with Alexa in mind and is the best way to integrate the voice assistant in your car.

Super simple to set up
Nice and small, will fit anywhere in your car
Vent mount comes in the box and is solid
Not currently compatible with all phones and cars

If you have an Amazon Echo at home, you’ll already know all of the features of the Echo Auto. The Auto may be small, but it has every feature you love about Alexa inside. The way this awesome little device works is really cool as well. It connects to your phone and then to your existing stereo. The Echo Auto can be used via the AUX port or Bluetooth. Once you’ve connected it, you have Alexa.

Once connected, eight microphones help you control the Echo Auto with a completely hands free experience unlike the stereos above which usually require a button to be pressed to wake her.

At the touch of the button, these microphones can be switched off for a relaxing drive too. The Echo Auto is arguably the easiest way of getting Alexa in your car, it is also extremely affordable too.


Roav VIVA Pro

The gateway to smart driving with every app on your phone available easily and quickly.

Transfer from your home system to the car is seamless
Very easy to set up and then use
Good warranty and excellent customer service
Spotify support not yet available

The Roav VIVA Pro is a very simple concept. It plugs into the 12V outlet in your car. Don’t worry, it has two quick-charge USB ports for the devices usually in this port. Once it is there, you can connect your phone via Bluetooth to the VIVA. You can then connect the device to your radio.

This can be done with the AUX port, the FM transmission, Bluetooth or an app on your phone. Once you’ve connected the VIVA to your car and your phone, Alexa is there for you. You have instant and complete access to all of your music, your contacts, sat-nav and more.

Roav really have thought of everything with this device. It comes with two microphones that effortlessly drown out road noise to help with voice recognition. The two USB ports on the VIVA also mean that you can charge your phone, your partner’s phone and anything else!


Garmin Speak

Amazon Alexa in your car, and a dashcam? Does it get any better?

Really solid construction and looks sleek
Easy to set up (for most)
Works flawlessly with Alexa on your phone
Navigation system currently doesn’t work in the UK
Expensive option

Garmin has always been a company all about rejuvenating car tech and pushing it forward. Arguably, one of the most significant issues with certain Alexa-enabled car devices is that the sat-nav function doesn’t work that well.

Well, Garmin has solved that with this awesome device. You can use this as a sat-nav, and it has handy turn-by-turn navigation that is easy to follow and to read. What’s more, it is also a dashcam that loops video and stores anything you ask it to.

If the Garmin Speak had just that, we’re sure it would be a popular device. However, with the addition of Alexa too, it suddenly becomes a must-have. Sure, this device is designed to get you where you want to go safely.

However, with built-in Alexa, you’ll get there safely while listening to your favourite music as well. For such a simple-looking gadget, the Speak from Garmin packs one big technology punch!


Nextbase 522GW Dashcam

Looks like any other dashcam, but provides so much more than any other dashcam!

Additional modules for all-round safety
Fantastic, 1440p video quality
GPS can track and store accidents and incidents automatically.
Needs to be plugged in, the internal battery doesn’t last very long
Some have had issues with the power cable

Nextbase makes some excellent dashcams with the addition of Alexa to their higher tiered devices from the 322GW up to the 4k 622GW. We recommend this one as a great trade off between price and features.

It uses Bluetooth 4.2 and a Quick-Link Wi-Fi connection to your phone to really easily and quickly transfer any files to your phone. This means that any accident you have, you instantly have a record of it on your dashcam and your phone!

The 522GW also comes with a GPS module that will track and log where an incident takes place. It will also send out an SOS signal if something does happen. Plus, it has handy features allowing you can set a screen saver on the dashcam to show your current speed.

Oh, and to top all that off, it has exceptional video quality. You can add rear and side cameras easily too. Did we forget to mention that the Nextbase 522GW also has Alexa and that works effortlessly on this dashcam too?


Final Thoughts

Well, there are our favourite Alexa-enabled car head units in the UK. These car stereos are fantastic. They make long drives fun and short drives productive.

To find out more about car stereos and a wealth of other fantastic car gadgets, explore our website further. We have all the tech you need to make driving to work a pleasure.