But before getting any given car head unit, it is highly important to ensure that it is compatible with your car’s dashboard in terms of its size and form factor. This size of car head units is given as Din size, which includes Double Din and Single Din car head units. And we are here with a complete comparison for Single Din vs Double Din where you can find all of their important details by going through this comparison till the end.
What is the Meaning of Din?
Din stands for Deutsches Institut fur Normung which is a standardization organization based in Germany that has created a standard size rating for car stereos that get used in cars. And due to the same, all car head units come with a standard size of either Single Din or Double Din depending on the model that you are going for. So whenever you see a Din size rating, it simply tells you about the size of the car stereo chassis offered by your car or by the car head unit you are going for, as shown here:
Single Din
Starting with the smaller size, a Single Din car head unit is going to be two inches tall with a length of 7 inches making it more of a compact option. Most older and entry-level cars will only have the space for a Single Din car stereo since it is much more compact and easier to incorporate.
Pros and Cons
Before picking the right car head unit size for your car stereo, it is highly important to check its pros and cons, which are given as follows: Pros:
Thanks to their small size, a Single Din unit is quite easy to install and highly compatible with most car dashboards out there. Because of their smaller display due to the smaller size, Single Din car head units are also more affordable and a great budget option. Some Single Din car stereo units may allow you to easily remove the front control unit for maintenance and other purposes.
Cons:
Due to their smaller form factor, there isn’t much space for a large display, especially when you consider that it also needs to have multiple controls, which can be an issue if you are looking for a touchscreen display in your car head unit. If you do not have external amplifiers, then the inbuilt amplifier of a Single Din car head unit might not be the most powerful, which is to be expected due to its given compact form factor and size.
Double Din
Taking a look at the larger Double Din size, it essentially has double the size of a Single Din size. While both of them have the same length of 7 inches, a Double Din car head unit offers double the height at 4 inches resulting in larger displays that generally offer touch input for ease of use. Although, not all cars might have the space for installing a larger Double Din car head unit.
Pros and Cons
Similar to the Single Din form factor, it is highly important that you also check the pros and cons of the Double Din form factor as given here: Pros:
One of the best benefits of going with the larger Double Din form factor is that it offers a lot of room for all the controls as well as a much larger display. Hence, you can easily use their controls even while travelling. Coming to the larger displays offered by Double Din car head units, you will be glad to know that almost all of them are touchscreen units making them perfect for operating systems like Android that offer a wide range of handy features for the user. Another benefit of going with a larger display is that it makes it quite easy to read all the text. In some cases, larger Double Din head units may even have inbuilt amplifiers for better audio quality without needing to get a separate amplifier for your car.
Major Differences: Single Din vs Double Din Car Stereo Head Unit
Now that you have a general idea about Single & Double Din car head units as well as their pros and cons, you might be interested in knowing more about their differences and how well they compare to each other. In that case, consider checking out the following major differences regarding Single Din vs Double Din car stereo head units:
1. Size
Starting with the most obvious yet a highly important difference between these units, we have their size. As mentioned earlier, a Double Din head unit offers twice the height as a Single Din head unit. This means that you get a much larger display with easy to access controls making everything easy to use while having additional features, as you will see down below.
2. Features
Speaking of the features offered by Single Din & Double Din car head units, both of them offer the same audio playback features. In other words, if you are using an external amplifier, then both of them will offer the same audio quality. In fact, you can also get basic functionality like radio, Bluetooth, USB, aux, and other options in both Double Din & Single Din car head units. Although, the larger Double Din unit does offer better functionality in terms of its operating system, thanks to the larger touchscreen displays used by most of them. As a result, almost all of them come with the Android operating system allowing you to easily use apps like Maps, YouTube, Spotify, and various others.
3. Usability
Coming to the practical usability and features that you get with car head units, both of them work great with amplifiers and other audio devices. However, if you want to connect external cameras or connect your smartphone via Apple Carplay or Android Auto, then a Double Din head unit is going to be much better and versatile. Although, a Double Din unit may require extra efforts in terms of its installation, making it the less viable option for installing in older cars which may not support larger Double Din units directly.
Conclusion: Which One is Better?
After checking out all these factors, details, features, and differences regarding Single Din & Double Din car head units, you must have a pretty good idea about the right one to choose for your needs. However, if you are still confused, then let us help you with the same. Starting with their audio quality, both Single Din & Double Din car head units offer the same audio quality since that has nothing to do with their audio quality performance. Although, when you are talking about their functionality in terms of their features, a Double Din car head unit will most likely offer much more features due to the larger displays that they generally offer. On the other hand, a Single Din head unit is much more compact making it easy to install in most cars since a few cars may not have enough space for a Double Din head unit. If you have gone through this Single Din vs Double Din comparison, make sure to share your thoughts in the comments section. You can also post any questions down there if you have any! Comment * Name * Email * Website
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