man I wish they were, the Ideal of the radio was brilliant, I just can't understand how the execution when so wrong. while the AVIC-f F series was a total nightmare, the X series that succeeded it has been pretty good, definitely one of the best out there. yeah it still has its bugs here and there but they are nowhere near as bad as the ARs do.
from what I've read Pioneer (while far from perfect) is still the best out there for the navigation units.
the AV interface and look have been top notch for a long time, but while the nav system is very powerful and accurate, the software is really bad, hard to use, and even when you buy the new software updates every year, they still seem to be way out of date compared to their competition. I would say while I still had an AVIC, I would say it probably had problems finding about 20% of the addresses I tried to input. it really struggles when the same road changes names as it runs through different towns, so as long as you're kinda familiar with the area you're going, you'll be fine. but as most of the time when I need to find a place, its because I have no ideal where I'm going and just ended up using my phone all the time.
Kenwood looks promising, but I read their HUs are known for not working as advertised. Alpine seems to have gone downhill from back in the 80's when their stuff was at or near the top in quality (and don't like their GPS interface anyway). JVC...looks cheap. That's about it for options.
finally after a few disappointing models a few years ago, kenwoods are using much faster processors and now their radios are pretty fluid, and well with garmin GPS, its super easy to use and easy to update. (also i would say pretty hard to beat as far as accurate maps) JVC's are pretty much the same systems just with different (and usually pretty good) interfaces. as for alpine, even if they have fallen off since back in the day, I would say they haven't fallen off nearly as much as any other brand and still have the sound thats extremely hard to beat
iPhone compatibility means nothing to me and I could care less if it works well with an apple device. The android issues are a problem, however, but other than pairing my phone to do hands-free calling, that's really all I need...I don't have playlists and stuff to need the link to my phone for anything more then use as a phone.
that kinda the route I took, google maps on my phone are always up to date, has as interface that is as easy to use as any out there especially when using it with google now voice commands. I still use my phone for 98% of all my music with either internally stored collection of albums or Pandora so all I really needed was a radio with good sound, good controls, and bluetooth. so I ditched the expensive nav for a pioneer AVH model with has been rock solid. then I just use the phone to give nav instruction and it even mutes the pandora or music for directions!
