Review: I gave my ageing car an 11-inch Android upgrade for £170

If, like me, you have an out-of-date infotainment system in your car or, like many people, you don't have one at all, a proprietary touch screen could be exactly what you need.

These can sit on your dashboard, or stick to your windscreen, and use your smartphone's wireless connection to give you an Android Auto or Apple CarPlay interface.

It's a great way to breathe new life into an older vehicle, and systems can be picked up online for around £50 - but what happens if you go for something with a really high spec?

I've spent a while testing the Lamtto 11" CarPlay Display in my own car, a 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander, and it really does transform your journeys.

These add-on screens effectively save you digging out and replacing the existing display, which can be very costly and usually require professional assistance.

In my car, I'd have lost vital controls for the car that are operated through its touch-screen, so a second display was the only option.

And, as it turns out, it's arguably the best option. I've tested a few now, and the good ones all do a great job of piping sounds through your car speakers, giving you an array of navigation apps, offering access to apps like Audible and Spotify, and allowing you to take phone calls handsfree.

But the Lammto 11" CarPlay Display takes things a stage further, because it has an Android operating system built in.

This means that, as well as displaying a bespoke smartphone system like Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, it has its own trick interface that's incredibly customisable. You can even download apps to it.

And that means you have a limitless scope of navigation apps, driving apps, entertainment apps or even, if you feel so inclined, things like YouTube and Netflix.

Obviously, there's an important caveat here. Watching YouTube while you're driving is utterly stupid. You can even download social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, which would be even more stupid to use in motion, but it's designed for grown-ups who will only use these apps when they're stationary.

What I liked about the Lamtto 11" CarPlay display

The standout feature of this display is its screen. It's one of the biggest on the market, and it's full HD, which makes it look absolutely gorgeous.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay fit well on the long, wide screen, and it gives you plenty of room for a huge map, or one of the apps. There's even a clever split view so you can run the standard interface alongside CarPlay. I really like that.

It mounts either by sticking to your dashboard with a fixed bracket, or sucking on with a suction pad to your dashboard or windscreen. They both work well, but I've gone with the suction pad, and even with my textured dashboard, it has never popped off.

It powers off USB-C, but that can be adapted, and it connects with a clever two-way Bluetooth system. The display itself connects to your car stereo, and the smartphone then connects to another channel on the display.

This means that anything you do through the phone is piped to your car speakers. It's easier than it sounds to connect, and it even has two-way WiFi to keep the apps running.

It's built with a fast processor, which means it never gets overwhelmed by meaty apps, and it has expandable storage in case you start to run out of space.

Another thing I really like is that it gets over-the-air updates, and they tend to happen very often. In the few weeks I've been using it, I'm already on my third.

What I didn't like about the Lamtto 11" CarPlay display

Those over-the-air updates being so frequent is actually becoming quite a good thing, because the software experience with the Lammto display hasn't been a bed of roses.

When I first started using it, the volume level would default to zero every time I started it up. And it's buried in the settings menu, so it's not easy to change on the move.

Since the first update, that's now sorted and it remembers its last setting, but it's not the only niggle, sadly.

Since that update, the display started setting itself to 1% brightness at every startup. Thankfully, this was sorted with a second update, but it still does it occasionally. And it's a pain to adjust it.

As I write this, the display has been asking me to do another update, so hopefully a fix is on the way. While these have been annoying, credit to Lamtto for getting on it and sorting it. But it's still a shame they weren't sorted straight away.

While I've been impressed with how well the suction pad has clamped itself to my dashboard, the fixture that allows the screen to rotate or stay in place could be stronger. Every now and again I find myself having to adjust it because it's gone on a little wonk. In pothole season, this could become quite tiresome.

And on the odd occasion, it has failed to automatically load Android Auto. This will probably sort itself out with an update, and it is only a case of tapping an icon, but it shouldn't be happening on such a pricey display.

Should you buy the Lamtto 11" CarPlay display?

It simply can't be overlooked that there are fairly competent, if far less clever smartphone displays available for around £50, and the Lamtto display costs much, much more than that. At the moment Amazon has a deal on bringing the price down to £169.99, but it usually retails at around £200.

And it's very much a premium price, but you should be under no illusion that this is very much a premium product.

With its Android operating system giving you access to the apps in Google's Play Store, it's incredibly customisable, and there's a joy to being able to play games, doom-scroll, or even watch movies in your car - while you're parked, of course.

And then there's the gorgeous 11" HD display. It's not unrivalled, but it's really very special, and makes using navigation apps so much easier in all lighting conditions.

It's a shame I've had some early niggles, but I'm impressed with Lamtto's apparent keenness to sort them out.

Yes, it's pricey, but if you want to have all the features, it's a pretty fair price. And it's still significantly cheaper than having a bespoke system professionally installed.