mobiles as a bike gps

[cyberknight]

Argos have an entry level smart phone for £40, bought the lad one for x mas as it is still a big upgrade from his samsung bada OS phone .
Now any thoughts on it as a basic bike gps device ?
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5327018.htm
nternal memory 8GB.

• when using microSDHC card slot.

Technical specifications:

• 1.2GHz quad core .
• Operating system: Android lollipop (5.1).

Battery:

• 130 hours standby time.
• 350 minutes talk time.
• 1300mAh battery capacity.
  Connectivity:
  
  • Wi-Fi.
  • Bluetooth.
  • GPS.

 

[keithmac]

Battery capacity isn't very high, depends how long you want it on for I suppose?.

I had an app a while back that gave commands through the headphones so you could in theory turn the screen off and save battery power.

If you want one that will display all the time I think that battery won't be up to the job?.

 

[MarquisMatsugae]

A Smartphone for 40 bucks
The 512mb ram would make the maps a bit stuttery I think.Although surprisingly it is Quad core.You might ,just might get away with the GPS.
As a phone though ?
Seems to be not a bad little phone and carrying lollipop Android seems not a bad bit of software in the budget category.

 

[StuAff]

That battery is tiny, you'd probably need an external power bank of some description for rides of any length. GPS is a pretty power-hungry task anyway. Osmand (and other mapping apps) can use maps stored on the SD card, much better option than using all your data allowance. I have used an Orange San Francisco/ZTE Blade (probably lower spec than this 'Alba'- actually an Archos, apparently.) to log the last stretch of a ride with Strava when my Garmin battery conked out & didn't have the USB pack's power plug.

 

[JtB]

Phones are good for tracking rides but not that great for navigating. Having the display permanently illuminated drains the battery very quickly, the displays themselves are usually quite difficult to see in glare conditions,, the touch screen most likely will not work when it's wet, the phone itself is probably not waterproof and you probably need a continuous internet data connection. All of these are reasons why you would be much better off with a dedicated cycling SatNav, and keeping your phone for when you may need to make an urgent call.

 

[NorthernDave]

The battery capacity doesn't look great - however power packs are cheap enough and widely available. Even IKEA are doing them (3000 mAh for £7 which would triple the battery life).

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I have a LG K4 phone I sometimes track my rides with an app called My Tracks. I export to my Google Drive then download to the computer and upload to Ride With GPS. I tried Ride With GPS on the phone but it tended to kill the battery, My Tracks has been very easy on the battery.

 

[cyberknight]

I dint think so , i have a garmin 200 and 500 anyway , it was just a thought.

 

[MarquisMatsugae]

I dint think so , i have a garmin 200 and 500 anyway , it was just a thought.

Buy one anyway.
It wouldn't do any harm having a wee back up or in case you don't want to take a more expensive one out on rides

 

[cyberknight]

Buy one anyway.
It wouldn't do any harm having a wee back up or in case you don't want to take a more expensive one out on rides

My phone was £70 brand new , 1st gen moto e.

 

[MarquisMatsugae]

My phone was £70 brand new , 1st gen moto e.

Ok,just a thought.