Home > Consumer Reviews > Kenwood DNX5120 6.1-Inch-Wide Double-DIN In-Dash Navigation with USB/iPod Direct Control/DVD Receiver

Overall I like the DNX5120. I picked it up when the price dropped below 500. I purchaed everything I needed to istall this in my car. I purchased the PAC controller to plug right into my Ford harness. I also picked up Sirius and Bluetooth. Keep in mind buying every accesory available for this unit will add 350+ (Sat Radio, BT, HD Radio, Ipod, Rear Camera).

Upon initial install the unit did not sound good. Some of the settings did not seem changeable. The setup and laoyout of the controls are really conterintuitive. Luckily the manual is pretty good and walked me thorugh everything.

Now that I have gotten to know this unit I like it a lot. Garmin is the best NAV IMHO and the stereo sounds good and was fairly easy to install.

At first I was skeptical with the install, as I've only installed single-DIN units before, but it was very simple and straight forward. Unlike many other models out there, this unit was self-contained and didn't have any separate boxes to hook up or anything. I just spliced the Metra wiring harness together and plugged her in. Reception for the GPS is great and the level of user customization is a step up from other radios I've had in the past. The ability to set the button color to match my factory interior lights alone made the install look a lot cleaner and more OEM.

The only problem I've run into so far is the touch-screen on the main menu of DVDs, as it won't always default to letting you select from the different options and only hit play. I guess this could be remedied with a remote or something but other than that it's a top notch system. Much better than the $1200+ Alpine I bought 2 years ago for my other vehicle and at less than half the cost.

I have two of these nav units. They are a great alternative to the expensive factory installed nav units. If you have factory steering wheel audio controls, be sure to get a PAC steering wheel remote adapter.

Some complain about the awkward user interface. I agree that the radio functions could be better but the Garmin nav interface is very straight forward. I find the Garmin nav routing to be much more reliable than my old TomTom portable nav unit. For the price of this in dash nav, you can't go wrong.

You need to be careful who you buy Kenwood radios from. The Kenwood web site clearly states that they will only honor warranty claims for units purchased from authorized Kenwood dealers (Crutchfield and 6th Ave. Electronics are two of the few online dealers). If you buy from someone else, make sure that you look into a third party extended warranty.

I bought the dnx5120 on Saturday at Best Buy for $850, and they installed it and the ipod adaptor for about $230 (I wouldn't even know where to begin to install myself - like, how do you get behind the stereo?). Anyway, I have a Mazda Protege5, and a big FYI, the Best Buy website said the 5120 would NOT fit in my car, but the Best Buy installer told me he could make it work, and he was right, it fits perfectly!

I mainly bought it for the navigation. I wanted a permanent nav system with a little larger screen than all the portables I was looking at. I'm happy withe the Garmin system!

The rest of the UI seems a bit quirky, but it's manageable once I programmed my 3 favorite stations. I just wish it had a few more hard buttons for the stereo controls.

My iPod does NOT connect properly - I have a 4th generation ipod classic (20 gigs, monochrome screen). It plugs in and plays music from the ipod to the car stereo, but I have to control it all on the iPod, not the stereo interface - in fact, the stereo interface says "disonnected." This isn't a deal breaker for me because at least I can still connect the iPod without those awful transmitters, but I sure wish it would work as advertised.

Next to myiPod not connecting properly, my other disappointment was that the navigation system does not have any Traffic Update options - when the packaging said "optional" I thought that meant, I could opt to buy a subscription, but it doesn't, apparently it means you can opt to buy a Receiver and pay more to install it and pay even more to subscribe :(

I contacted Garmin and Kenwood, and learned that the only traffic receiver that is compatible is the GTM-10 receiver for the TMC traffic service. The XM and MSN Direct traffic services are not compatible with the DNX5120.

I ordered the KCA BT200 bluetooth adapter and the GTM 10 Traffic Receiver, and I'll edit this review once I get them installed.

Overall, I love the big nice screen and navigation, and the stereo is a nice upgrade from my factory model. Even though my ipod doesn't connect right, I'm still happy to be able to plug it in anyway. I highly recommend this if you're like me and don't like the portable nav systems hanging on your dashboard tempting thieves.

I love this unit! Everything about it is great. I got it installed two weeks ago and although there's a lot to it, it's fairly easy to learn how to use it.

The nav starts immediately. I read one review where it took awhile to find the satellite. I've got zero problems with finding a satellite. The same review I read said they had a problem with getting bluetooth up right away. My bluetooth has always connected and works perfect. I wonder if the problem may be with the location of the antenna location?

I also purchased the Kenwood back-up camera, XM satellite, and ipod connector and it all works perfectly.

I have nothing negative to say about this unit. It's fun and I love it! I'm completely happy with my purchase!