Installed Stinger Heigh10 Head Unit into 2022 Tacoma
After my OEM headunit unexpectedly failing on my 2022 Tacoma, I bought and installed a Stinger Heigh10 unit yesterday. I really didn't see any in depth opinions when buying this other than it seems reliable and looks nice.
The final result: the headunit looks great and the feel when touching the screen is smooth. The screen is 10". It's almosssst too big and i may have went smaller for a couple reasons (can't believe i'm saying this). 1. it just feels too large for the size of the interior and 2. the apple care play screen is the same layout but just blown up. So it looks like my grandpa's phone since he can barely see the text (I'm exaggerating a little). Overall, i'm still happy with the setup.
Installation: All the reviewers on the website and reddit said "it only took 30 min" - no chance unless you have done this more than a few times. Took me maybe an hour and a half to two hours (was my first time). There was two places to find directions for install. A video specific to this unit and the pamphlet it came with. I had to use both because the video was for an older design of the same unit and the pamphlet sometimes wasn't clear or straight up skipped steps. The video was really just useful for how to remove the old unit - the wiring part was way too fast and you really couldn't tell which wires they were putting where. The pamphlet steps were generally good but a couple steps i think were from the old design? Somebody didn't take their time when updating these. Last, not all wiring was labeled. The directions use codes for each set of wires. This wasn't a huge problem since most plugs were different and only belonged in one place.
The design of the brackets to hold and install the unit are a little janky. They must use the same brackets for the same unit but different vehicles, so there are adjustment slots for the screws. They seemed a little lazy when redesigning the brackets and could've put way more thought into it rather than a quick fix. This just bugged me because my immediate thought was "if they can't design a bracket, was the head unit designed with the same laziness?" It seems like a legit headunit but if anybody out there works for Stinger - just know that i think these small things are important to people. We want reliability too.
Last, the customer service was slowwwww. I reached out to see if i could use the OEM microphone (you can't) and if it came with the plastic pry tool (it does). Customer service said it did not come with the pry tool, so i spent too much at Autozone for a pry tool kit. I think the "gift" they give you with the purchase was the pry tool. Maybe don't include a "gift" and just say it comes with one. I called the stinger tech line during setup because i couldn;t find a wire (turned out the directions were wrong and the wire was on a totally different wire harness that you connect a few steps ahead) but i never was able to connect with anybody. Was just in the waiting lobby for 25 min.
Overall, the unit seems pretty good and i'm happy with it. There are loads of wires (a lot of un-used for additional accessories) - don't get discouraged by the amount of wires, it's not too bad. I would recommend this unit but just a heads up on the directions.
To Stinger: Please reach out to me and i will make new step by step directions for you.