BlaupunktESSEN200DAB Single Din Stereo with DAB+, Bluetooth, CD, USB & AUX

First impression: product quality. It looks like proper premium product.Matt finish is great, less fingerprints and screen is better visible in daylight.Menu is little confusing, but after while i found what i looking for.Sound quality is as expected, but EQ settings are hidden in menu and not easy to find without looking (when driving car) so, settings must be adjusted when is safe to do.Buttons are big, easy to find without looking.CD works without problems on damaged UK roads.FM radio reception is ok. DAB is useless with so small screen. It works, but find proper station is a nightmare.It is perfect choice for older cars, there this looks proper. For more features, better find something with bigger screen.

The media could not be loaded. I used to really rate Blaupunkt stereos back in the day 1980's.They always sounded way better than the competition.So I took the plunge and ordered this Essen...Fitted straight into my Ducato , looks OEM quality and sounds fantastic.

Looks nice but the CD player doesnt work. Totally useless

So it looks good in an older car as no gimmicky flashing lights or overuse of chromed plastic. The quid pro quo for that is with the 1 DIN size and the limit on buttons you have to dive in to sub menus to set it up but all the options are there if you can RTFM and apply a little patience. That does take one star off the experience but as I say - what did I expect with the form factor?One hidden feature which is not obvious from the manual is that the DAB aerial socket supplies 12V phantom power which means that an amplified FM/DAB splitter such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MRIFCDD?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsworks well so that you have a good chance to be able to utilise your existing aerial. That is how I have installed it and reception at least in London seems pretty good for FM and DAB even using a cheap stubby aerial.Talking of installation, if you need to use the tapped holes in the side of the casing for mounting it - the screws/bolts are not supplied, and the legend engraved just says max 6mm deep bolts. There are no details in the manual either. (the other reason for taking a star off) After fruitless searches in the internet I finally worked out that No12 self-tapping screws ground down with a Dremel to the required 6mm length worked perfectly. Apparently this is a trade secret known only to installers that you would have to pay!!Blaupunkt tech support were actually quite helpful with prompt email reply confirming the phantom power feature although they were still a little vague about the spec of the mounting bolts.I have not really tested the hands free mic but will edit this (if poss) after a while with the unit.

Not intuitive to use. To me and age to find the sub sub menu to get AM radio usable.I expected it to come with a Dab antenna, it didn't.The radio signal was awful but when I switched back to me factory radio the signal was perfect.Plus most frustratingly the removal tools are so flimsy you can't get the damn radio back out without pulling your whole car apart.Honestly I could go on but you get the idea!