Alpine iLX-W650 Review

Within the car audio space, Alpine is one of the oldest and trusted names. This audiophile brand has been delighting the ears of audiophiles for over 50 years now, and you could say they know a thing or two about sound.

Alpine products don’t really need an introduction. The company has released everything from in-car multimedia products to navigation systems and maintained a level of quality throughout. The same goes for its selection of car headunits.

The ILX W650 is one of Alpine’s most popular double DIN headunits in today’s market, for good reason. It’s a very-well engineered headunit that’s packed with a wide array of bells and whistles.

Sale

Alpine iLX-W650

• digital media receiver with AM/FM tuner (does not play CDs)
• shallow-mount chassis design (2-7/16" deep)
• touchscreen swipe controls
• designed to work with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• hands-free control lets you access apps using your voice

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Design & Build Quality

Alpine makes a lot of great receivers, but we really like the ILX W650. It might not be the best headunit out there, but it’s the best value. For less than $300, you get a premium design, great specs and features in a shallow-mount chassis (only 2-13/16″ deep), making this headunit a great candidate for a smooth installation in many “problem vehicles.

This headunit comes with a 7” capacitive touchscreen which boasts a 800 x 480 resolution. It’s plenty bright and vivid and most importantly it’s very responsive.

Additionally, this headunit’s capacitive touchscreen can recognize multiple touch points simultaneously. And in order to help you maintain your eyes on the road, Alpine has enhanced the touchscreen experience with swipe control over volume, track-skipping, and more.

The two-finger swipe can be done at any location on the touchscreen, eliminating the need to search and touch a specific area for each command.

Furthermore, this receiver is featured with conveniently located touch-sensitive control buttons (including Power/Menu, Source, Volume Up/Down, Mute, Phone/Answer, and Voice/Mic) along the bottom edge of the 7 inch monitor for quick access and simple control.

Features

First and foremost, it’s worth mentioning that Alpine ILX W650 is one of the cheapest double DIN headunits that’s featured with both Apple CarPlay and Android auto.

As with most modern headunits, the Alpine ILX W650 is featured with Bluetooth connectivity for hands-free calls and wireless audio streaming. You can register up to four smartphones or any other Bluetooth enabled devices with this headunit, and keep two phones connected simultaneously. That way you can switch between them a lot quicker without having to un-connect and re-connect devices.

Additionally, this headunit is featured with rear-mounted USB port and two camera inputs. The latter lets install both front- and rear-view cameras and use the receiver’s built-in color-coded dynamic parking guidelines to back up safely in any crowded lot.

With a wired connection to your smartphone via the receiver’s rear USB, you can browse through your phone’s FLAC music files for playlists, songs, artists, and albums.

Furthermore, the iLX-W650 is SiriusXM-ready, so you can add a satellite radio tuner and enjoy a myriad of commercial-free music, live sports, entertainment, and talk. Best of all, you get coast-to-coast coverage so you won’t ever lose a station again.

This unit also has Siri Eyes free control and works perfectly with Google assistant.

As far as expandability options are concerned, this unit comes with three sets of 4-volt RCA pre-outs for connection of external amplifiers.

Sound Tweaking Controls

It goes without saying that new aftermarket receivers offer better sound quality, more playback options and great sonic goodies than the typical stock headunits, the iLX-W650 is no exception.

As far as sound tweaking controls are concerned, the iLX-W650 is equipped with a variety of EQ Presets and EQ frequency bands to tailor the music to your listening preference.

It also features 9-band parametric EQ which allows you to adjust the center frequency, Q-factory, and level for a more custom listening experience.

Additionally, this unit has time-correction feature which is meant to delay the audio signal to the speakers closest to you. This way you’ll feel placed at an equal distance between the left and right speakers for optimum staging.

Last but not least, this Alpine receiver is equipped with active high- and low-pass crossovers which limit the frequencies delivered to the speaker and line-level outputs.

Each speaker channel is controlled independently. This means each speaker pair can be driven by the frequencies they’re best equipped to handle.

Pros & Cons

Sale

Alpine iLX-W650

• digital media receiver with AM/FM tuner (does not play CDs)
• shallow-mount chassis design (2-7/16" deep)
• touchscreen swipe controls
• designed to work with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• hands-free control lets you access apps using your voice

Buy on Amazon

Final Thoughts

All in all, the iLX-W650 is one of the best double DIN headunits that Alpine has to offer, all things considered. Not only does it come loaded with a wide selection of features, but it’s also designed to work perfectly with Alpine’s KTA-450 power pack amplifier – a super compact amp that packs an impressive 50 watts RMS by 4 channels.

Combined with this little powerhouse, the iLX-W650 and amp are still less than 5 inch deep. So, if space is a commodity and you’re thinking about building a system with more power, this is a perfect combo.