GPS Android phones

x3man

Hi all

Looking for some advice on buying a pay-as-you-go Android phone. I absolutely hate mobile phones so really can't be arsed spending much money on one, or much time researching them. Basically I'm interested in one mainly for the GPS tracking apps as I'm conscious of spending a lot of time riding alone. So I'm after a device that can track my position and upload to a website.

Have anyone of you learned gents/ladies got any recommendations for suitable phones and apps?

concorde

Endomondo is a great app for tracking your ride with GPS. Phonewise, go for one with a good battery life. My HTC Desire HD lasts about an hour and a half with Endomondo running on it. Not good at all.

broona

I use Allsports from Trimble - https://market.android.com/details?id=c ... rtle&hl=en

We were out for three and a half hours yesterday, GPS on all the time recording our trip, and my Galaxy S II used less than 20% battery!

concorde

Will try that next ride, I'm betting its my phone more than the app mind. Never get a HTC.

andrewjoseph

x3man wrote:

Hi all

Looking for some advice on buying a pay-as-you-go Android phone. I absolutely hate mobile phones so really can't be arsed spending much money on one, or much time researching them. Basically I'm interested in one mainly for the GPS tracking apps as I'm conscious of spending a lot of time riding alone. So I'm after a device that can track my position and upload to a website.

Have anyone of you learned gents/ladies got any recommendations for suitable phones and apps?

The endomondo type apps track your route for you to upload AFTER the ride (I think, I'm not 100% sure of that).

If you are not using it to record your route, then you can use google latitude on any android phone. This uploads your position to family and friends you have included in the app itself. it is part of google maps, but you have to agree for it to use your position. Not sure how often it records your position. Also, the other person does not need a mobile to see where you are, they can see your position from any browser.

there may be other apps that that do this, but latitude does the job, not sure about battery life for this. You will need latitude running, also gps and a mobile data signal. So some places under cover or deep valleys may not get a signal, but this would be true for all other apps too.

Latitude would work alongside endomondo and similar.


Hope I've got the correct angle on this.

Anonymous

Do a search here. Many threads on this already.

But, my top list of apps would be: Endomondo, Sports Tracker, Strava, View Ranger.

And in summary,

Most Android phones have GPS these days.
Some are more accurate than others.
Altitude accuracy is often poor unless you have a phone with a barometer (very few of these), which is what most good dedicated GPS devices have.

Battery life - they all suck. Android is not terribly power efficient. Nokia were kings in that department. Worth a look if you just want a basic phone with GPS.

The powerful multi-core Android phones will suck more battery. There's also a trend for ultra-thin at the moment which means less space for a good capacity battery sadly. Generally you have to learn all the tricks required to turn off the power hungry features and apps when out riding. GPS isn't a big drain. If you want it clamped to the bike so you can follow the map then it will be a huge drain. The screen is the biggest battery drain on these phones.

andrewjoseph wrote:

The endomondo type apps track your route for you to upload AFTER the ride (I think, I'm not 100% sure of that).

Endomondo by default will upload to the web site as you ride. Again battery drain with the data connection active all the time. You can turn this off unless you really want people to follow you mid ride on the web.

The rest generally let you upload after the ride.

cooldad

x3man wrote:

really can't be arsed researching them.

Neither can I .

jndb72

I have a Samsung Galaxy S which runs Android and it's give me nothing but grief since the day I bought it. Battery drains from fully charged to dead in less than a day, even with nothing running on the phone. Constantly loses the Wi-Fi connection to the router in the house, even when I'm sat next to it. Takes an age to surf to any website, I could go on but I'm just depressing myself. The ball and chain on the other hand has an I-Phone, which is superb. However, I hate all things Apple so would never buy one of them. When my current contract run's out I'm going back to a cheap pay as you go phone.

As for GPS stuff, take a look at the Garmin Forerunner 305 wrist watch. I've had one of these for a few years and they really are the dogs danglers. Coupled with something like SportTracks (the free version) they give more info than you could shake a stick at.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Forerunner-305-Wrist-Worn-Personal/dp/B000FMQ296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329132327&sr=8-1

Cheers

oodboo

I like the way you ask about phone and everyone jumps in recomending apps! Anyway, on payg your choice is limited unless you want to pay though the nose for a new top end phone. Might be worth looking on ebay for something secondhand but just be aware that you'll probably need to buy a new battery for it as well. I'd be looking for a Motorolla Defy (or the newer defy+) secondhand. Brand new, maybe the HTC wildfire.

Also consider the nokia phones as you can run endomondo on them as well, just need a handset with GPS for it.

prawny

http://www.techradar.com

I'd probably go for a wildfire or a galaxy of some kind

Edit: Strava, definately. Especially fun for trail centres you can see how shite you are, which is fun.

Anonymous

oodboo wrote:

I like the way you ask about phone and everyone jumps in recomending apps!

Huge range and all pretty much the same so difficult really. Android is a heavily fragmented market.

It's between brands mainly, HTC, Samsung etc as they do their own customisations to Android.

FWIW I like my Samsung Galaxy S2. One of the best phones I've ever had and the Samsung specifics in the interface are nice. But I still don't like the battery life. Likely way over budget though. Tracks well on GPS.

Options without a contract are PAYG or buy it SIM free and stick whatever SIM you like in it. If you want cheap, then it's going to be an old model. Will be slower, older version of Android probably, but you may be able to get something relatively cheap, or second hand (though personally I wouldn't trust 99% of the phones you'll find on ebay).

You can also get an old phone that just has bluetooth and no GPS, then use an external bluetooth GPS gadget (£30 to £50-ish usually). They can be better than the built in GPS too.

Thing with Android also is you can get the phones "rooted" and stick whatever firmware on you like then, and these can be more optimised to not load up crap you don't need and save battery like, plus you can get the later firmware.

And yeah, keep forgetting about TechRadar. There's a photography one too. Too many forums already though!

broona

As I stated in my first reply, I used Allsports for over three and a half hours with less than 20% battery drain on a Samsung Galaxy S II (I also made a couple of phone calls, sent a few texts, checked my emails, etc before setting off) probably the most powerful Android phone on the market, with the biggest screen and smallest battery!

A badly configured smart phone of any description will eat the battery, and I'd highly recommend the open source nature of Android over locked in Symbian, IOS, etc.

As for a phone, I'd agree with the Motorola Defy, tough as anything and a fairly decent spec.

john2002

samsung b2710 is good symbian phone (not andriod). battery last for about 10hr with gps running. or days with normal use. but it only has a small screen so not any good if you want to use it for navigation.
not bad for £85 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0042ORU08/ref=asc_df_B0042ORU086492122?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B0042ORU08
and use with one of these programes
http://www.trekbuddy.net/forum/index.php
http://www.trackmyjourney.co.uk/

if you want android and a big screen then i would go for Motorola Defy+ for £217 lots of GPS/Tracking apps avalible http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005HH4FYI/r ... B005HH4FYI

101_North

Mentioned in a similar thread a while back:

http://www.expansys.com/acer-liquid-metal-brown-209791/

Not bad for the cash.

101

andrewjoseph

deadkenny wrote:

...

andrewjoseph wrote:

The endomondo type apps track your route for you to upload AFTER the ride (I think, I'm not 100% sure of that).

Endomondo by default will upload to the web site as you ride. Again battery drain with the data connection active all the time. You can turn this off unless you really want people to follow you mid ride on the web.

The rest generally let you upload after the ride.

Would the other person have to be an endomondo registered user to see the realtime info?

d3matt

I've got a Dell Streak 5" Android phone, but as it is a bit too big for biking, I got a Sony Experia X10 mini pro off eBay for £68. It's tiny and ideal for using when on the bike. The only downside is that I have to take my glove off to use the screen, so next time I buy gloves I'll find some with touch screen friendly fingertips.
Battery life on Android phones can be improved greatly with a little bit tweaking. A must is run the power control widget on your home screen so you can be sure you only have the services (such as bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, sync) turned on when you need them. Also running JuiceDefender makes a massive difference. My battery now lasts twice as long on my 5" Dell. I even brought the paid version of the app as it was so good!

Anonymous

andrewjoseph wrote:

Would the other person have to be an endomondo registered user to see the realtime info?

To be honest, I've never used or had a need for the feature, so I'm not sure. They might have to be a 'friend' in Endomondo, but I don't know.

x3man

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Anyone got an opinion on the Samsung I5500 Galaxy. It's within the sort of budget I'm looking at <£100.

Interesting thought about Symbian phones. I 'd not really considered any of the non-open source OS phones. I don't object to the idea. I'm only interested in using as a phone and live GPS tracking - I really don't need the other OS functionality and a 1000001 apps. Battery life is also something that I hadn't, but obviously should, consider.

oodboo

deadkenny wrote:

andrewjoseph wrote:

Would the other person have to be an endomondo registered user to see the realtime info?

To be honest, I've never used or had a need for the feature, so I'm not sure. They might have to be a 'friend' in Endomondo, but I don't know.

My missus worries about me so logs into the site as me and watches as I ride home. Then the battery on my phone dies and she panics as I appear to have stopped and she can't contact me. You can watch your friends as well when they are out and have this feature turned on.