Sat Nav or Google maps on Phone ?

[Jez]

I've been looking at Satnavs recently, the price of motorcycle specific satnavs vs. car specific sat navs is (for me) prohibitively expensive. I use my phone's Google maps when driving the car which is quite adequate and surprisingly uses very little of my data allowance. So thinking of my alternatives which are:

1/ Phone in plastic bit of Tank bag visual only - No Cost other than a tank bag which I'm getting anyway.
2/ Phone in Tank bag then headphones into helmet for verbal directions - Bit of a faf with wire into helmet.
3/ Phone in Tank bag using Bluetooth device and earphones in the helmet - cost of Bluetooth device.
4 Phone in cradle on handlebars (when not raining)

I've also yet to buy a tank bag and thinking of one of the GIVI XS tanklock range.

Does anyone else use their phone as a satnav ? would it be waterproof in the tank bag? do waterproof phone cradles work?

[hookie]

If you have a 'phone or small tablet that has GPS hardware built in then you don't need (or have to  pay) for any online data charges. There are both free and charged Sat Nav apps for most platforms. Have a look on the internet to find out what's about. Also a lot of people very successfully use car devices in a waterproof pouch and with a charger cable wired into the bike if needed. I've used both old Windows 'phones with Tom Tom Sat Nav S/W and a Garmin car device fitted on a proper mount with a plastic bag over it to keep the water out. Both were fine and were lost cheaper than the dedicated bike units.

[grumps]

Try the BT Interphone headsets. Not really that expensive and work well.

IIRC about £30 for a single one

[boac]

I went on a long trip across Europe a couple of months ago using Google maps on my phone in the top of my tank bag so here's a few thoughts from my experience...

Google maps is great and the integration with Waze can be useful.
Position in the tank bag is not ideal. It's OK for the occasional glance but if you need to keep looking at it, say in a busy town or city, it's a long way to look down and means taking your eyes off the road too much. Having the audio cues would definitely help here - Bluetooth has to be the way to go, I think wired earphones would just be too much faff and uncomfortable in my helmet.
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S5 which is water-resistant anyway but overall the top compartment of the tank bag stayed dry. The issue you will have is getting the phone into the compartment as dry as possible as drops of water on the screen can register as touches and weird things will happen. This gets quite annoying when it's raining and you need to take the phone out for any reason.
If you're riding for any length of time you need to think about power as running the GPS and having the screen on will drain your phone battery. I used a USB battery pack in the main part of the bag with the cable running up into the clear compartment. I could ride for a full day and the phone would still be fully charged at the end, just charge the battery pack over night. Google Maps does have the option to turn the screen off between turns to conserve power but this is only really an option if you have the audio as you won't notice when the screen turns on to give you directions.

So yes, it can certainly work as a cheap/free alternative to bike specific satnav. Improvements I'll be considering for the future will be bluetooth audio and a waterproof phone case mounted above the clocks with power run off the bike.


 

[karlandbev]

I also use my Galaxy S5 with Google maps.....but I also have the hard case which is waterproof and has loads of different mounting options available....I bought the case which came with a handlebar mount from Ultimate Add-ons....its a bit pricey but not when compared to proper bike sat navs....really happy with this set-up.   

[Jez]

Interesting that rain drops can activate the touch screen, didn't think of that one! It is with a view to a Europe trip in the summer that I have in mind. My phone is a HTC One M8 which has a good size screen but I really think I need the audio especially in towns.

So to use a waterproof handlebar mount, some form of power source possibly a permanent USB socket either mounted or in tankbag and a Bluetooth connection to my helmet would work. This would save about 300 squid on a motorcycle satnav ?

[Jez]

Grumps, just looked up the BT Interphone headsets - good shout

[karlandbev]

Look here....http://www.ultimate-mobiles.co.uk/Consumer_Electronics/Mobile_Phones/HTC/One_M8/motorcycle
 
They have all the power cables required too......

[UK_Vstrom650]

Personally I'd go for mounting above the clocks rather than handlebars so you can see whilst looking ahead.

[Jez]

karlandbev - good link thanks

[Yoyo]

Have you thought about using a cheap chinese Sat Nav? I use a Peaklife and find it great, the screen isn't brilliant in bright light but the audio to a Bluetooth headset is great. £100 well spent

[Andy M]

I got rid of my Sat Nav box two years ago. I don't miss it. Expensive, another thing to charge, constant demands for upgrades and unlock codes and the rest. I use a Samsung Galaxy. Mostly the phone stays in my pocket and just listen to the instructions via earphones. If I need to see it I have a bicycle mount.

BT is good but I also use a pair of basic ear buds with the foam from a make your own earplugs kit round them. The volume can be lower as they seal to the outer ear not the side of the head.

Power is the only issue. The phone running GPS while charging gets hot. Without charging it won't last all day. I bought a second battery on eBay for a tenner. On a longer trip I'd get a second phone with no sim, cheopo repaired or obsolete and use it as the wet day GPS and to charge the second battery. It would still be smaller, cheaper and have more functions than a TomTom box.

Andy

[Tiny]

One thing to consider is data, not in the sense of cost as most phone contracts come with an abundance these days however signal is a problem.
Google maps, Waze, Apple maps etc do not work on downloaded maps, instead they download constantly. This year I found that in the lakes, up through the central lowlands & back through the borders region into Northumberland these packages did not work consistently as there would be little or no data signal to download the next section of the map.
Camping in the Etterick region was like being on the moon as far as data went. Even when there is a phone signal you may find that the data is insufficient to populate the map.
If your in an area that only offers 2G, GPRS or EDGE, the software may not function correctly.
A better option may be to download Tomtom, CoPilot, Garmin Street Pilot etc onto your device, then you only need GPS.
The latest iteration of Tomtom seems to be widely slated at the moment however these are just examples, there are quite a lot of app's that use downloaded maps instead of data.

For sound, I use a Sena SMH10, haven't been able to fault it. I did order the SMH5 initially however FCMoto offered me the 10 at a discount as the 5 was OOS, result!

[Mick_P]

Have a look at Co-Pilot, it's a free download and if you don't want voice direction it's free altogether. There are various options that do cost (voice is £17.99) including traffic alerts (£7.99 a year) and maps that cover Europe, USA etc. There are premium versions as well.

No data connection needed.

I just put my phone in my jacket pocket and use the spoken directions to be honest and it has a music player that fades when directions are given.

[ozziesda]

After years of experimenting with various forms of navigation systems, I have settled on a Garmin Zumo 390LM (bought for €250 in a Halfords sale) and have it paired with an Interphone F5MC Bluetooth headset (bought as a twin set with a mate for  €170 each).

The Zumo came with a direct to battery charge cradle and a RAM mount system. I have mine mounted over the clocks on this ram ball.

Not a cheap set up but bulletproof,  reliable and free lifetime map updates.

In Ireland with the pockets of limited data or phone coverage, the phone was crap. All the free android navigation apps are quite basic and hammer the battery life.

As a rule, I always carry a paper copy of a map as a back up or even a screen shot of the general area from google maps.

[firestrom]

Try the BT Interphone headsets. Not really that expensive and work well.

IIRC about £30 for a single one

which model would you recommend as there are different ones?

[grumps]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BT-Interphone-2-x-800m-motorcycle-Motorbike-Bluetooth-intercom-Headset-helmet-UK-/231502625763?hash=item35e6a1bbe3:g:yGMAAOSw~bFWKg-Q

I, my wife and son have these.

They work and can be bought singly.

HOWEVER. They do say in the instructions not to get too wet  but we have done that and they still work

[Chris Graves]

THE BT headsets flagged up by GRUMPS look good value.  I have a Garmin Zumo 340LM, when I bought it the supplier could only offer some very expensive Bluetooth headsets/earphones so I've managed with a conventional earpiece. So my question as a complete ignoramus is:
Will a BT headset work with my device?

[Jez]

Chris,
As I understand it Yes any Bluetooth device will communicate with any other Bluetooth device. they just need to be 'paired' with each other.

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/phones-tablets/bluetooth-explained-11363811086865

[spender]

Not all Bluetooth devices match up in my limited experience !