Review: Kenwood DNX7120 Multimedia Head Unit

There are a lot of people out there who are happy with their car but wish they might be able to do a little better on the technology side of things. An eight-year-old car with under 100,000 miles on the clock probably has a lot of life left in it, but is also probably a relic of past technologies, complete with a cassette deck or single-CD slot when you have ‘iPodified’ music. You yearn for today’s tech so you can ‘Navigethere’ while speaking legally with your ‘BlueTeeth.’ Or something like that. What you do not need is your dashboard looking like they are the old buildings at Yale – growing ivy wires from the base of the ashtray, 12-volt power sockets to the top of the dashboard and sprouting electronics from every stem. All in all, assuming you kept your factory radio, you would need eight discrete units to replicate the potential power of the Kenwood DNX7120 head unit (satellite radio, DVD/DivX player, Bluetooth handsfree calling and music, HD Radio, GPS Navigation, remote access transmitter, USB and SD card reader and iPod connector). You could have all of these features as add-ons to your factory radio and have more suction cup mounts than a typical college apartment bathroom. Granted, there are some portable units on the market that combine some of the features mentioned above, but isn’t it easier and safer to have all of this aftermarket ‘tech horsepower’ in the place where the auto manufacturer and God intended – in the center of the dashboard? Meet the Kenwood DNX7120.

Believe it or not, the DNX7120 is not even the flagship of Kenwood’s deep mobile electronics lineup. The top-of-the-line DNX8120 adds Bluetooth built into the unit (the DNX7120 has it as an option) and, for audiophiles, a hotter set of preamp outputs in case you want a killer system with outboard amplifiers. If you are in the opinion that your factory radio is loud enough for you, then the DNX7120 with its built-in 22 watts per channel of true RMS power will be fine and you will never miss the DNX8120’s 5-volt preamp outputs (again, only good for adding additional amps in the trunk). Without getting too technical, the 5-volt output of the 8120 is really just used for rejecting noise from potentially being induced into the system compared with the 7120; both would be great choices for the real world. So why not review the 8120? They are so hot I could not get my hands on one, but the 7120 will suffice for 90% of the readers.

The DNX7120 will look great in any dashboard that can accommodate the double-DIN chassis size. Lucky for us, the double-DIN size is becoming more and more popular since people are getting tired of using chicklet-sized buttons, especially those in cold climates who use gloves when they drive or construction workers who may be wearing work gloves. Most of the real estate is given to the 6.95” touch-sensitive panel control display. There are just seven ‘hard’ buttons located right underneath the screen. With a head unit with all of the functions of the 7120, it is nice that Kenwood took the Apple iPhone approach and dedicated most functions to the GUI (Graphic User Interface). For the seldom-used functions, and for making DVD playback easier, included in the package is a multifunction remote control.

Navigating around the DNX7120 is easy. You are greeted with a ‘Source Select’ screen that puts nine icons on the display. My configuration featured AM/FM/Sirius/XM, HD Radio, DVD, USB, iPod, TV, Video, Bluetooth, and Standby. Whew! The built-in amplifier with its 22 watts of internal power is pretty decent for most people, but it might not be enough for Will Smith’s Hancock character when he wants to aggravate his superhero friends. At least setting up equalizer and crossover settings are a snap with the easy-to-follow graphs. One interesting item I discovered is the ability for traffic updates on both the FM carrier and XM NavTraffic. Potentially, you can ‘double-check’ if there is traffic ahead from two different sources. Pretty cool!

To use an iPod with the DNX7120, the software is included but you have to purchase a separate adaptor, the KCA-iP300V ($29.99). For the price of admission, the adaptor comes with the ability to watch video stored on the Apple device right on the display of the 7120 while your iPod controls are ‘hijacked’ by the radio with the ‘Kenwood’ logo being displayed on the iPod screen. Navigating music tracks on the iPod is easy enough with a display that gives you categories (although some other manufacturers, such as Pioneer and Alpine do a little better at mimicking the famous iPod clickwheel controls on the display). Video is even taken care of – if you want to go to the next track without reaching for the remote, just touch the right side of the screen. To go back, a brief touch on the left side of the screen will do the trick. An information display automatically comes up for five seconds when watching video. Bluetooth is the other function that requires a separate adaptor (unless you opt for the DNX8120). However, if you add the KCA-BT200 ($149.99) you can get a clean Bluetooth connection over the car stereo speakers. An included microphone can be installed discreetly in the headliner by your installer to get it as close as possible to your mouth, unlike some of the portable contraptions that have the microphone near the shifter. The KCA-BT200 accessory also allows you to listen to audio files stored on your cell phone via A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile). Hey, you never know if you will need a ringtone broadcast in digital quality over the car radio. But with more cell phones getting better music interfaces, the technology makes sense. Imagine having your friends in the car and they can send songs from their phones to your car stereo!

Kenwood left the GPS side of the equation to stalwart portable GPS manufacturer Garmin. For those familiar with Garmin portable units, the interface on the Kenwood will make them feel right at home. The mapping data provided by Navteq is robust, and it is all stored in flash memory so there are no discs to worry about. If you opt for XM radio (the capability for Sirius is also in the DNX7120), you can take advantage of the XM NavTraffic and Weather system that will beam right into the radio. For open-road truckers, the DNX7120 will be a godsend – it can help you ‘see’ the weather along your route and allow you to plan accordingly. If there is a major traffic incident, a small traffic diamond icon appears in the lower right hand corner of the navigation screen. Pressing it will list the roadways where there is traffic (according to the data provided, sometimes the data isn’t always up-to-snuff, but overall the XM NavTraffic data was good in the New York metro area). Then a secondary screen comes up with the option button labeled ‘Detour Around’ that you press to avoid the route. Is anyone NOT going to use the Detour Around button? Some other neat features that Garmin packages into the Kenwood DNX7120 is a trip computer that is actually pretty useful (it displays your current speed, distance to your destination, total distance traveled, and average speed). For traveling sales road warriors and truckers another available option is an electronic mileage log that allows you to keep four different logs of how far you traveled. After all, if the IRS is allowing 48.5 cents a mile, why not have the head unit calculate your reimbursement for you? It is easy to turn a log on and off so personal travel does not rack up the mileage on the business side of the equation. I only had one major beef with the DNX7120 – adjusting the volume. If you use the ‘soft’ buttons on the display to change the volume, you can only go up in single digit increments (from 0 to 35). Even leaving your finger pressed on the button only allows you to increase the volume in steps of one unless you take your finger off and re-press. I discovered a trick technique that involves rolling your finger around the button rapidly that allows you to increase or attenuate the volume more quickly, but even that bordered on annoying. The dedicated ‘hard’ volume buttons below the display have no shape or tactile difference than the other buttons flanked around it. They are so small they would better serve duty as the chronometer buttons on a digital Casio wristwatch, but they do allow you to raise or lower the volume quickly. If it were me, I would have my MECP installer add steering-wheel remote controls that are available for most vehicles. All you need to do is tell your installer to hook up the DNX7120 with all the peripherals and you would have a car audio head unit with every modern convenience available to date – imagine that in a typical eight-year-old car. The unit even leaves room for ultra-high-end installers to perform ‘tricks’ by activating your guard gate or house lights from the screen of the DNX7120 if you have a smart house. Heck, you might as well install one in any car from today and you’ll probably be ahead of the game.yy