Kenwood Dnx 6160 Multimedia Navigation Bluetooth good but could be better

Garmin is a win, First off, I purchased a Jensen VM9414 and was going to buy another one when I ran across a good deal with this unit. I will be comparing to a Jensen product. There is definitely no comparing the Navigation part of this unit. I works great and has a bunch of things that I still haven't even played with. For example, you can change the traditional icon to a car. There are a few to choose from too. I will try and get a video review up when I get a chance. I thought the colors were a bit childish looking at first but they prove to be useful. For example, Pink was used for the direction to my destination. Well, turns out that pink stands out pretty damn good so that you don't miss your turn. It also shows you speed limits of the roads that you are on. When you go too fast, your speed will be indicated in red. There were a few side streets that it didn't show the speed limit, but this was impressive. As far as the bluetooth, it sounds great and the other person can hear me clearly. If you have an iPhone 4, you might have some difficulty connecting the unit everytime. I didn't have this problem with the Jensen unit. This can be fixed with an update that I hope Kenwood creates. If you are wondering, the safety features can be bypassed easily. Enough said about that. I have an overhead unit that it is hooked up to and it works great. If you want to listen to music in front and have children watch movies in the back, you can do this with the dual zone features. I haven't quite learned how to make my Infrared work for the headphones though. Overall, I am pleased with the unit. There are a lot of options that I haven't even learned to use which means that there is a lot of customizing that can be done. I did learn how to change the background pic. You wont be disappointed with this unit.
Awesome Unit DNX-6160 Love this Unit!!!! Amaaaaaaaazing!!!, I am not sure why people have problems with their units but I have to say it was their bad Luck that they bought a Faulty Unit. This is an Awesome Unit. The reason I bought this was because of its GPS, Bluetooth, and iPod/iPhone features. Since I have been using Garmin GPSes, I am really comfortable with the GPS on this Unit. The iPod features is amazing, I play videos and also mp3 from my iPod and it plays it perfectly. The CD and DVD Is great also. The Sound Quality is amazing :D The telephone features is amazing also, I have had couple phones connected to it. Especially my SE x10i and iPhone 4G (White), so I can use the Bluetooth (Hands free) features, and it shows your phone book and your battery life also, you can send and receive TXT messages with it also. I highly recommend this item to anyone. It is fast and operates amazingly well. I am really glad I bought it. The price was great Too! My iPhone 4G (White) works perfectly with this Unit, unlike what other people say. I highly recommend this unit. I have installed this unit in my IS300.
Dissapointed, I have purchased it and installed it professionally by local radio shop in my Hyundai Tucson, 5 months later sound function stopped working. Shop says that unit is bad and needs to be replaced. Garmin says warranty only 3 months.
I would not buy it again.
good but could be better, The good... has a volume knob, enough power/good sound, decent display, and has a lot of features.
The bad: incredibly POOR user interface. Very hard to use while driving.
Needs a lot of expensive options to use all features like HD radio, XM, traffic for nav

Takes 30 seconds to boot. During boot, no radio, no functions at all.

1. Navigation
Garmin navigation seems to know fewer POI's than standalone Nuvi's of same class.
Less on-screen display than Nuvi.. side streets, rivers, lakes, etc.
Doesn't tell you next cross street
Not on same update cycle as Garmin Nuvi's, seems a rev behind.

2. Tuner
Poor sensitivity, hard to tune weak stations with the touch interface
Ridiculously cluttered screen almost REQUIRES on-steering wheel controls (supported but optional)

3. DVD player
No 5.1 support, stereo only.
Plays MP3's on DVD-RW, but "random" is always the same sequence, not true random
Hard to find songs

4. Bluetooth
Links to only ONE phone at a time
ONLY 3 preset callable numbers! and NO user tags on them, just PRESET-1,2,3
Limited support for voice dial
Requires BT Windows laptop to update..
Buyer Beware!, I purchased this unit based on favorable reviews that I read on Amazon and other sites. However, after purchasing this unit and having it installed by an authorized Kenwood dealer (Best Buy), I began to have difficulties with the unit's iPod operation, touch screen, video display, etc. Upon further research online, I found other DNX6160 owners were experiencing similar problems too. Upon contacting Kenwood to exercise my product warranty rights, I was given the run around, and told that I would have to remove the product to send it in to be evaluated for warranty repair--NOT product replacement with a non-defective DNX6160.

Think TWICE before purchasing any Kenwood product. Any sense of security you may feel with from the product warranty is misleading. Kenwood policies and procedures are designed to discourage consumers from exercising their rights granted under the product warranty.
Myeh - Lack of Support and Mortal Nav Board, I have installed two of these DNX-6160's. I also have two of the previous 2009 models, the DNX-6140's. I have encouraged others to buy Kenwood Nav receivers based on their functionality and features along with a fairly good experience (I post to a handful of automotive forums).

Well, it would seem that what you have read here is true. Kenwood really doesn't expect to stand behind it's products or make their customers feel good about the brand.

One day out of the blue this 6160 had a message that it "Cannot unlock maps". An examination of the "info" screen on the map section of the nav area showed only a blank screen. No Text. No version number whatsoever. I updated the Kenwood head unit software followed by the latest Garmin nav software.
iPhone 4 problems ?????, Do you expect the Kenwood 6160 to work fully with your iPhone 4?

That's what I'd like to know. But good luck getting any clear information on that subject. The iPhone 4 has been out for 4-5 months and there doesn't seem to be any acknowledgement or response by Kenwood and other auto units that addresses the reputed incompatibility problems.
Nice new interface, but Garmin ruined an excellent unit,   name="R2XP9S9UV340RO.2115.Helpful.Reviews" style="font-size:1px;"> name="R2XP9S9UV340RO.2115.Inappropriate.

Navteq Traffic Ready

Multimedia Navigation Receiver With Bluetooth

6.1" Customizable Touchscreen

Built-In Garmin Navigation

Built-In Parrot Bluetooth For Hands-Free Cellular Phone Operation

Navteq Traffic Ready.Multimedia Navigation Receiver With Bluetooth.6.1" Customizable Touchscreen.Built-In Garmin Navigation.Built-In Parrot Bluetooth For Hands-Free Cellular Phone Operation. Kenwood Dnx-6160 6.


Related Products

• Metra Axxess ASWC Universal Steering Wheel Control Interface (Black) Works great I don't know why you would buy the alternative. I ripped out my PAC SWI jack because it wouldn't work right. Connected the simple three wires on this unit turned on the ignition and the unit programmed itself in about 30 ...Read the full
• Kenwood KCA-IP301V iPod Video Direct Cable Not a Kenwood Cablewould not buy again. I purchased this cable thinking it was a real Kenwood KCAIP301V iPod cable. It is not. After installation of my new stereo with this cable I was having intermittent connecting issues. Talking to ...Read the full
• PAC SWI-JACK Steering Wheel Remote Interface Works OK slow response   style=width300px> name=R3R25G1HW1GN0C.2115.Helpful.Reviews style=fontsize1px> style=floatleft> style=paddingleft15px> style=whitespacenowrap> ...Read the full
• Kenwood CA-SR20V Sirius Connection Cable for 2008 Video Unit Did its job Did its job for my kenwood dnx 9980hd head unit. But had to buy another cord to make it all work ...Read the full
• SIRIUS SCC1 Connect Universal Tuner Sirius SCC1 Tuner is the way to go! After years of using a portable universal tuner through either the FM tuner or aux. jack on my stereo I finally decided it was time to upgrade my stereo head unit so I could integrate all my attachments. ...Read the full