Pioneer MVH-300EX

7″ Double Din Digital Multimedia Receiver with WVGA Touchscreen Display & Bluetooth.

Pioneer MVH-300EX Review

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Pioneer has long been regarded as one of the industry leaders in the world of automotive entertainment systems. They have a long-standing reputation of making top-tier technology that “just works” right out of the box with a simple and straightforward installation process.

On top of that, Pioneer also leads the charge as far as innovating new technological advances and shoehorning fancy capabilities into Double DIN dashboard spaces. The new Pioneer MVH 300EX is a perfect example of this company pulling off another engineering feet by getting this much tech into a relatively compact form factor.

Sure, the Pioneer MVH 300EX has a 7 inch touchscreen display that’s a little bit bigger than most of the other options out there (aside from the free-floating 9 inch plus touchscreens you can find on the market today). But it remains pretty compact, pretty sleek, and relatively unobtrusive while adding a lot of flair and style when it is fired up at the same time.

Let’s dig a little deeper into everything that the Pioneer MVH 300EX has to offer, shall we?

What’s in the Box

The digital media receiver technology that makes up the brains of the MVH 300EX unit has been paired directly to a 7 inch (well, 6.94 inch) touchscreen monitor that is one of the best looking units in the business today.

This screen has incredible vibrancy, warmth, and a depth of color that you just aren’t going to find in a lot of other touchscreens made for automobile installations. Combine that with the intuitive and easy to use Pioneer user interface (or the Android Auto and Apple Car Play capabilities) and you are really looking at something pretty special here.

A dedicated wiring harness that can mate the MVH 300EX to pretty much any make and model vehicle made in the last 20 years or more make the installation process simple and straightforward. The wiring harness has plenty of pre-amplified outputs that you can utilize with other accessories you might want to add later down the line, but everything you need to get your system up and running right out of the box is included here.

A single USB output on the rear of the device makes use of the included 58 inch USB extension cable. This is just under 6 feet of cable you can use to route the USB cord anywhere in your vehicle’s cabin that is conveniently in reach, letting you connect your smart phone or your tablet to this system without a lot of headache or hassle whatsoever.

Best of all, that same extension cord and USB output on the rear of the MVH 300EX unit allows you to keep the front facing USB port open and available. You can hook a second phone up for charging, plug in a USB stick for media playback, or utilize it in a couple of different ways while keeping a dedicated USB cable for the media player itself.

A 13 foot microphone cable connected to a high fidelity sound capturing external microphone is also included. This lets you get the microphone close to the driver without it being obtrusive or in the way, which is only going to improve the overall sound quality that you can capture when you fire up the voice commands or phone control options Pioneer makes available.

Double-sided tape, mounting hardware, and a trim ring system round out the rest of the features you’ll find in the box. As far as paperwork is concerned, a quick start manual, installation guide, and detailed warranty information is what you’ll find here.

Key Features

At first blush the difference between a 6.2 inch or 6.4 inch touchscreen device and a nearly 7 inch touchscreen device (6.94 inches diagonally) may not look like much, but as soon as you see them in person – and start to use these devices – you’ll notice the difference almost immediately.

At 7 inches diagonally, the screen of the Pioneer MVH 300EX is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack aside from the 9 inch options that are anything but common and almost always prohibitively expensive.

You’ll have a lot more screen real estate to play around with when you fire up this unit, but it also provides for a better experience when you’re playing back movies and media or using the navigational features on your digital media receiver.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Pioneer has made sure to include a top-tier screen with a lot of vibrancy and color options, either. You’ll be able to tinker and play with this system to get looking just the way you want while enjoying great feedback and performance even in low light or high glare situations.

Bluetooth wireless connectivity and multiple USB input options give you a lot of freedom and flexibility as far as how you use your mobile devices and the Pioneer MVH 300EX together are concerned. The Bluetooth signal reception is rock solid and super strong throughout the cabin and for a 30 foot radius around your vehicle.

Over USB you’re going to be able to fire up Apple Carplay and Android Auto capabilities if that’s something you’re interested in, though this is a topic we tackle a little more in depth in just a moment.

The sound quality of this Pioneer digital media receiver is top-tier as well. A rear auxiliary input, multiple video inputs, a built-in MOSFET amplifier, and some other cool proprietary Pioneer technology really helps to take your media to the next level no matter what it is being sourced from.

13 band graphic equalizer, high and low pass filters, and dedicated time alignments round out the special features you’ll find in your new Pioneer MVH 300EX.

Specifications

Apple / Android Compatibility

You’ll be able to enjoy a lot of extra control over your mobile devices when you connect via USB thanks to the tight integration of both Apple Carplay and Android Auto software.

The moment that your device has been connected the pioneer MVH 300EX will read its operating system and immediately transition to the software for that platform.

You’ll get metadata for your media, the opportunity to playback videos and music from the storage on your phone, the chance to control the streaming media you connect to over your wireless data connection, and so much more – all with a friendly Apple or Android environment that you are familiar with.

It would have been nice to see that these integrations available over a Bluetooth connection but like a lot of other digital media receivers out there (except for at the very high end) this kind of tech wasn’t included in the MVH 300EX model.

FAQ

There is no slot for physical legacy media playback on the Pioneer MVH 300EX. You can stream music and movies from your phone, from your favorite apps, and from USB media but you can’t play CDs and DVDs on this system.

All of the heavy lifting has been taken care of for you in that this Double DIN unit has a dedicated wiring harness, simplified instruction manual, and a pretty straightforward setup process. It’s not a bad idea to look at a couple of YouTube videos to get familiar with the process before jumping in but all in all it shouldn’t be too tough for most folks.

It’s hard to imagine there is a brand in this space that has a better reputation for reliability, consistency, and dependability than the folks at Pioneer. This is money well spent.

Final Verdict

If you’re ready to overhaul your in-vehicle entertainment system and want something cutting-edge, something very modern, and something easy to use – but still very powerful and feature-rich – the Pioneer MVH 300EX definitely deserves a closer look.

Pros
Cons

There’s a lot of top-notch technology stuffed into this Double DIN system that’s hiding behind the 7 inch touchscreen, providing you with all the power and extensibility you could want at a very affordable price point.

There’s a reason why the Pioneer MVH 300EX is so popular.

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