[David Roberson]

Hello - first post!

I am pretty much set on getting a Kia. I am trying to decide between the Optima and the Cadenza. I love the looks of them and the standard options. There are quite a few 2014/2015 Kia Cadenza's(Premium and Limited) locally for about $20-22k with 20-30k miles on them. I love the Optima's UVO system but I don't think I ever played with it using streaming. I have test driven the Cadenza but I haven't spent much time on the radio but I did play with the Optima a couple years ago for about an hour.

On the Optima UVO system you can hit the voice command button while a hard drive is hooked up the car and say "Play (insert name of song) USB" (or something like that) Does it work the same way on the Cadenza?

Do all Cadenza's have the same radio head unit?

How well does the streaming work?

Did they install Pandora on the Cadenza at any point?

Does the voice activation work with my phone to run other apps such as Spotify through the radio?

 

[Yooshaw]

I'll try to answer based on my knowledge, but honestly it's hard to keep up with the changes Kia does to UVO from model year to model year,

All the radio head units are the same, but some have variations on functionality. I think in 2015 Pandora compatibility was added, as well as changes to UVO functionality.

You also cannot search for songs on USB media or songs transferred to the internal hard drive (called My Music) or an IPod. Actually you can't even search for songs by artist, title, etc with the touch screen, you have to page through menus. IPod is the only device I've seen that let's you sort by artist, playlist, genre, etc.

Voice command does not interact with the phone to run other apps or read texts aloud. You can give a command to switch to Bluetooth streaming as the input, or voice command to dial a phone number by name.

Bluetooth audio works fine, but haven't used it enough really, I've tried it once or twice out of curiosity mainly. I stick with updating "My Music" or Sirius.

Hopefully someone else can chime in if I've misspoken, or if the 2015s+ behave differently.

Welcome by the way!

 

[David Roberson]

Thanks Yooshaw,

I'm right down the road from you in Lakeland.

That is kind of disappointing. That was my absolute favorite feature of the UVO system.

I read a review earlier where someone said they couldn't even get Spotify to stream correctly over the bluetooth connection without it glitching over and over again.

I might have to go spend a little time at the dealership sitting in a car.

 

[Yooshaw]

Yeah that's your best bet to see if it meets your needs. Honestly I wish it did more, but the other features of the car and the price point made up for it for me.

Good luck!

 

[Vtrich]

I can only speak formthe Bluetooth streaming feature myself but haven't had any issues with it personally. Works flawlessly for me whether I'm using Pandora or even watching a video on YouTube.

Welcome! I'm pretty new myself

 

[rmorris7]

I use Spotify faithfully whether its via IPod connection or Bluetooth and that works flawlessly as well. I know if you have an IPhone Siri does interact with the voice commands on the phone via the Bluetooth. I havent played around with it too much I did get some of those features to work as well.

 

[Scynthyace]

Thanks Yooshaw,

I'm right down the road from you in Lakeland.

That is kind of disappointing. That was my absolute favorite feature of the UVO system.

I read a review earlier where someone said they couldn't even get Spotify to stream correctly over the bluetooth connection without it glitching over and over again.

I might have to go spend a little time at the dealership sitting in a car.

I use my Note 5 to stream via Bluetooth to the headunit. It's flawless for Spotify, Pandora, Slacker, Amazon Music, Google Music, you name it. Youtube as well like stated above.

One thing to note, some android devices have audio enhancement options, like the Note 5 has SoundAlive+ and UHQ Upscaler. These features are not compatible with Bluetooth, and cause the audio to fade and boost randomly. Not an issue with the car, but keep that in mind when you play with a head unit at a dealer.

I may not be impressed with the lack of features the head unit came with in my Cadenza, but the rest of the features and the pure audio quality makes up for not being able to voice-search for music. Especially when Spotify controls my playlists for me.

 

[lacrossewacker]

I find the audio system is perfectly sufficient in my 2014 Cadenza Limited. The ipod/iphone integration is great for my gf - basically USB streaming - while for my android phone i just use bluetooth. Any particular songs that I want to play over and over and over again I just rip to USB flash drive and save it locally on the Cadenza's storage.

Honestly, even if the radio in the optima has a few newer features...I still think you'll find more than enough to love with the Cadenza. I think it's a very special car. Even got props from a couple (mid 50's with a mustang GT) at a TGIF this past weekend. People KNOW when they see an optima. It's a nice looking car - but everybody has one.

 

[J. Dub]

OP, you'll be delighted to hear that the 14-16 cadenza does not get android auto. Yet the 2015 Optima and 2014 soul do get it. I know, wtf is kia thinking?

 

[mycars]

I have a 2014 Cadenza Limited. I love it but do wish they would offer an upgrade to Android Auto. I have a 2007 Chevy Xtreme with a Pioneer AVH-4100NEX with Android Auto in it. I use it all the time. All the voice options make it so helpful to drive totally hands free. Texting too. PLUS my Google Maps displays on the nice big screen displaying whats on my phone screen. The only caveat is my phone is plugged into the head unit. At least it stays charged this way too. !!

 

[sh30469]

I like our nav BECAUSE it doesn't use my phone. I don't like having it be leached off everything, I don't need to have my phone with me to use it either. I like the Uvo system, it's very nice.

 

[Mitty1964]

On my 2017 Cadenza SEL the AM radio doesn't get any reception at all, the rest of the stereo works fine including satelite and HD radio. Does anyone have a clue as to why the am radio wont get any reception? any kind of help is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Yooshaw]

On my 2017 Cadenza SEL the AM radio doesn't get any reception at all, the rest of the stereo works fine including satelite and HD radio. Does anyone have a clue as to why the am radio wont get any reception? any kind of help is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Is your rear window tinted? And if so, is it a metalicized tint?

 

[sh30469]

I thought the AM antenna was built into our sharkfin.

 

[Yooshaw]

I thought the AM antenna was built into our sharkfin.

I'm assuming the '17 is the same as the 14-16. I looked it up in the shop manual last night - the sharkfin only has the GPS and Sirius antennas. The AM/FM antenna is built into the rear glass alongside the heater element. There's an AM/FM amplifier as well that is located behing a rear pillar. Since he says he's getting HD radio fine (which is broadcast on FM), a quick google search on AM rear glass antenna reception revealed that a metal tint can short the antenna to ground of the heater element, rendering it useless. Apparantly doesn't affect FM.

https://www.tintdude.net/totw92.html

 

[funnyman7915]

My Am also sucks especially when im surrounded by tall buildings downtown. Once I clear downtown it is decent not great but decent .No issues with FM or SAT

 

[sh30469]

I did not know that. Good to know though, thanks for the info. I don't really use AM but know they are on different wavelengths.

 

[funnyman7915]

If it is not pretty enough. We need to choose the most suitable for our use, otherwise you may need to add more.World knowledge

This is a very odd post It has nothing to do with the topic that I can determine and there is a link that I will not open nor do I trust . Further the poster has no history does not mention his car and as I said looks rather fishy . I will notify the administrator also

 

[sh30469]

Inspecting the link it goes to ************ufoflicks.com***************** (not full URL so no one clicks)