6.5″ Double Din Head Unit With GPS Navigation, DVD Player and Bluetooth.
Not everyone is looking to add a full-blown home theater experience to their car when they upgrade to a digital media receiver.
Some folks are looking for improved performance, the ability to stream video (including movies and TV shows) and enjoy some navigational and HD radio benefits without having to spend a small fortune along the way.
That’s where the Boss BN965BLC comes into play.
While not exactly swimming in the bells and whistles that top-tier, super premium (and almost prohibitively expensive) digital media receivers include, the Boss BN965BLC is a rock solid head unit that has a couple of surprises up its sleeve when it comes to power and performance.
If you’re interested in learning a little more about everything the Boss BN965BLC brings to the table check out the rest of this quick review!
Immediately after popping open the box of your brand-new Boss BN965BLC you’ll find a Double DIN 6.5 inch touchscreen head unit with built-in AM/FM radio tuner up front and center.
They had unit is already prewired and designed to work off of the 15 A fuse architecture, making it a pretty simple and straightforward installation process. The wiring harness necessary to get this new digital media receiver up and running is included, too. It offers full wiring support for accessory units you might want to add in the future, with AV/pre-out artists features built right in.
A trim ring (preinstalled) allows you to basically pop the BN965BLC right into your dashboard without any issue at all. It’s clean, modern, super minimalist approach works with any automotive interior.
A GPS antenna (with a 10 foot cable attached) lets you hook up your navigation system straightaway. Backup camera technology is included as well, with an integrated license plate bracket that you can swap out with your existing license plate bracket in about five minutes. A 21 inch power/video cable is included to makes setting up this core accessory simple, and a 16.5 foot power/video extension cable included in the box lets you run the wiring the rest of the way. A 39 inch power to ground camera cable is included, too.
Double-sided brackets, installation screws, back straps, rear support studs, and other installation hardware to get the project done from start to finish can be found in their own separate baggies.
A remote control and a touchscreen stylus round out the rest of the things you’ll find in the box when you buy the Boss BN965BLC.
Navigation and media playback are what the Boss BN965BLC has been built to showcase, and both of these elements are really what the key features for this digital media receiver revolve around.
For starters, the 6.5 inch touchscreen monitor is really crisp. It may not be quite as laser sharp as the latest retina display from the folks at Apple, but it’s right up there amongst the very best of the best digital media receiver screens on the market today.
Colors are accurate, vibrancy is off the charts, and even when playing movies and TV shows from your mobile devices or USB sticks feels like a really enjoyable experience. Combine that with the highly responsive capacitive touchscreen capabilities and it’s easy to see why this is such a favorite of folks that don’t want to splash a lot of cash on a digital media receiver – but don’t want to cut corners, either.
The GPS antenna included with the BN965BLC can be used if your vehicle is without a GPS set up already, though full support for OEM GPS antennas and pre wired set ups is available as well. The navigational UI is clean and uncluttered, though it’s not quite as good as Google Maps.
An included rearview camera extends the capabilities of this system straight out of the box. Not only do you get a relatively high definition backup camera that improves the safety of your vehicle straight away, but this set up also includes a license plate bracket mounting system to simplify installation quite a bit.
Installing this backup camera allows you to automatically trigger the video feedback on the 6.5 inch display whenever you put your vehicle into reverse. As soon as you move out of reverse the video feed cuts and the display reverts back to the previous screen. This all happens without you having to fiddle around with any controls.
Hands-free calling and media control capabilities are made possible when you plug your phone into this digital media receiver through USB. You can also connect over Bluetooth 5.0 wireless protocols with a rock solid and stable connection at distances of up to 30 feet outside your vehicle.
The front panel slot of the digital media receiver can accommodate SD cards (and 8 GB card is included with your purchase), but there’s also front AUX and USB ports that allow you to connect devices and media and a bunch of different ways as well.
Unfortunately, as of right now (late 2019) the Boss BN965BLC does not currently support Apple Carplay and Android Auto integration.
This may be something that the folks at Boss decide to remedy with a firmware update in the future. But in the meantime, while you’ll be able to control your phone or mobile device running iOS or Android operating systems through the BN965BLC digital media receiver you won’t be able to take advantage of the Apple Carplay and Android Auto features, and in other head units.
You will 100% be able to control your phone with this digital media receiver. You can make calls, and calls, send texts and emails through voice to text capabilities, and play your movies and music without ever taking your hands off of the wheel.
The Boss BN965BLC does have some support for steering wheel controls with some automobile manufacturers, but not all of them. This may be a little bit hit or miss.
Blu-ray disc support is not available currently on this digital media receiver. You can play CDs and DVDs, though. You can also play media off of your phone or tablet as well as off of SD memory cards and USB sticks.
Those not looking to spend a small fortune on a Double DIN digital media receiver while still wanting a major upgrade from their stock car radio experience will want to look closer into all that the Boss BN965BLC offers.
As we highlighted earlier, this isn’t the highest end digital media receiver money can buy right now. At the same time this is a unit that gives you tremendous value for the money, unit that is very easy to install and extensible, and a dependable system protected by a three-year warranty that you won’t want to overlook.
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