AAWireless Two Review: Easier connections for wireless Android Auto

The best technology in my life is that which I never think about. For me, that’s the Android Auto Wireless that I reviewed back in 2022. Announced at CES in 2024, the Android Auto Wireless2 is now on-sale and available in Australia – and I got to take it for a spin.

Priced at € 59,99 – around $100AUD – the AA Wireless2 has a more compact design which now includes an easy to find button for pairing or switching easily between phones.

While CarPlay support was talked about in the announcement last year, you’ll need to wait for the AAWireless Two+ which will launch soon to get that option. 

As far as the AAWireless Two goes though, I’ve been wanting to check this out since it was announced and I plugged this in when it arrived after Christmas and here’s how it’s been going.

As far as hardware goes, the first gen AAWireless dongle was decent, but the AAWireless2 looks more finished and purpose built – in short it looks great. 

It’s smaller than the original, though thicker but it fits into the cubby in my car neatly and the new button on the front with the multi-coloured LED surrounding it makes it easy to see where the dongle is at for setup – or once it’s in use. 

There’s a small USB-C port on the side, which you connect to your car using the supplied cable and that’s about it on the hardware front. 

Setup is ridiculously simple, easily adding the ability to connect to Android Auto wirelessly in your car.

The multifunction button includes a few options by default which you can also edit in the AAWireless app. The default options include:

• Enter pairing mode – default: hold 2 seconds)
• Switch to next paired phone – default: single click
• Factory reset – default hold 10 seconds

A fourth option: Standby Mode can also be configured which effectively disconnects the adapter when you don’t want your phone to pair to Android Auto. I use it to great effect while waiting for the car to be serviced so the phone doesn’t constantly connect to the car. 

• Standby mode / disconnect adapter – not paired by default

The LED light surrounding the button has a number of colours but the most important are the Purple when in pairing mode, and Blue when it’s all connected – which is what you’ll see most of the time.

To get it up and running, you’ll need to install the AAWireless app from Google Play on your Android device – or use the app on your device if you’re upgrading. Once the app is open you can run through the setup which involves having the car on, in Park – with the AAWireless Two in setup mode.

The setup is easy and before long you’re booting into Android Auto on the cars infotainment system and you’re ready to rock. 

Once you turn the car on your phone will now automatically connect and Android Auto will start on the cars display. All your apps are accessible including PocketCasts, Google Maps/Waze, Audible and more. 

It does take a while to boot and launch Android Auto – around 30 seconds – which usually means it’s connected before I get to the end of my street.

The key feature of the AAWireless Two is that button though. I paired my sons and my wife’s phones to the dongle and when you’re on a road trip with a couple of people who have paired to it, pressing the button to flick between phones is great – Driver’s playlist reigns supreme!

Switching phones takes about 10 seconds, but is pretty smooth. You can of course change phones – as well as configure the button settings in the app, but the button just makes it a lot easier. 

The app does allow you to set it so that it will connect to the last connected device – handy if you mainly use the car – but having that backup to quickly switch phones is great. 

There’s not a lot of drawbacks to using the AAWireless Two over just plugging it in, but there is one: Charging…

I’ve worn out a few cables plugging my phone into the car, so that’s no longer an issue – but the phone doesn’t charge while just sitting in my pocket wirelessly connected.

Unfortunately I don’t have a newer car with Qi wireless chagrin, so while having my phone wirelessly connect to the car display is great, after a significant road trip – 8 hours to Bendigo – I was left in dire straits in terms of battery life. 

But that is about the only downside of the AAWireless Two – and it’s only generally an issue on longer road trips. When you’re just jumping in and out of the car around town there’s no noticeable drain.

The Android Auto connection has a few quirks, however the settings menu has a number of fixes for this in the Advanced Settings menu. 

Should you buy it?

At the time, the original AAWireless dongle was an innovation that filled a hole in the market, and as one of the pioneers in the space the AAWireless experience remains as one of the best.

The AAWireless Two offers a better connection experience over the original dongle. The button makes it much easier to control the experience for connecting with multiple people in the car – and the multi-coloured LED makes it easy to work out pairing, connection and more. 

The AA Wireless Two also retains what made the original great, with a compact design and the cable still separate so you can replace it if needed in the future. It’s a fast experience that’s only marginally slower than plugging it in – and a lot more convenient. 

You can get your hands on the AAWireless Two through their website, with shipping through Amazon for $124.99 AUD.