Device recommendations for Android auto device and offline maps

Kenny 1

I am asking for recommendations from users that have good experience with certain models of android carplay devices and using offline maps on the phone please. I use MRA and want to buy a Android Carplay unit for my motorcycle. Thanks for any input you can help with.

Ralph Janssen

Why do you want to use Android Auto (AA) ? Why not a rugged device like Samsung Active Tab instead of a AA device?

I have done some research in my quest to "the best solution for me", AA device or dedicated Android device.
First; Some might be MRA related, some are not but I read to many issues with MRA with AA.
Second; I'm pretty happy with MRA on my mobile phone. I have almost 0 problems online and offline so I don't see added value to a AA device.
Third; When I'm traveling I have a bigger device (compared with a phone) with me but not as big as a laptop.

So I decided to stay with a dedicated Android device. I't probably going to be a Samsung Active tab 3 or 5 but other brands are also in consideration.

But if you want to buy a AA device you can look into Carpuride or Chigee. In my research they came recommended. Mostly Youtube and some articles i found on Google but I don't have first hand experience.

I know, its not a (direct) answer on your question but I hope it gives you some information.

Kenny 1

@Ralph-Janssen Hello Ralph, First off thank you for sharing your thoughts here about my question. I was indeed also looking at the tablet type solutions and there are some very good fairly sophisticated purpose built "rugged" types available now. In fact I have been using only rugged android phones for the past 12 years and will attest to their being robust under harsh use. My lean toward the Carplay device is: 1.they are compact as I ride an F 800GS I really don't want a big device. I think 7 inch is max. Ok some tablets fit this requirement. 2 is they are motrcycle purpose built. Specifically they can be operated with gloves and hopefully the glare from the sun would not be an issue. And 3 is do I really need all of that SIM card and computing capability for the purpose ? I mean it's nice to have but I want to keep the cost afforadable and the application practical. So in fact you have touched on some of the information I am looking for but perhaps like yourself, I am stilltrying to decide.

Marinus van Deudekom

@Kenny-1 if you're for a phone try the Samsung S23 ultra or newer. 1650 nits on the screen must be enough to see that in heavy sunlight
It's 6.8 inch big so......

Kenny 1

@Marinus-van-Deudekom Hi Marinus, Thanks for your response. I have a Blackview BV9600 Pro and Ulefone Armor 24 I use. Both give enough brightness. The problem is that the screens are smallish for navigation and working them with riding gloves is challenging in the best case.

Ralph Janssen

@Kenny-1
I'm using a Ulefone 7E for about 4 years and my next rugged phone is on its way (Doogee S200)
And I use them where they are build for because I'm terrible with my phones. (drop them, let them fall them in the pool)

8" rugged tablet is a little bigger then a phone, but not as big as a full size tablet (which does not fit on my bike). I think a 8" just fits above my dashboard but I need to try it out with a 8" tablet.
And because it just bigger then a phone I hope the buttons can be beter used with gloves.

There are rugged tablet without Simcard functionality. I don't need it anyway, I can make a hotspot with my (work) phone if I really want to use 4/5G and for the most time Wifi is adequaat.

And about the cost;
Carpuride is around €250/300 and Samsung active tab 3 is around €400. Other brands are even cheaper.

And with the problems/user experience of MRA with AA its a easy choose for me.

But in the end, you must choose what is right for you and where you feel comfy with.

OGRIII

@Kenny-1 I have a tomtom rider 550. I use MRA for route planning and transfer to the TomTom the MRA navigation is useless in the UK and does not work seamlessly with Android Auto either in my car or motorcycle. You can also purchase tomtom mobile app for a small amount per annum and transfer .gpx files there. This works very well with Android Auto and is superior to google maps and definately better for navigation than MRA.

Kenny 1

@Ralph-Janssen Beste Ralph, I have decided to go with a Samsung Active 3 tablet with an 8 inch screen. I found the unit in a shop that reconditions and gives 1 year warranty for about 200 euro. Now I will find a way to mount it with a lock and so that I can remove it easily. I'm lokking into a Brodit mount for that purpose. This way I won't need a Carplay or the current problems assoiciated with MRA and these units. I thought they were pure phone emulators but they all seem to have their own logig and quirky problems with some apps.

Kenny 1

@OGRIII Hello Ogriii, It seems that there are problematic issues if I understand you correctly. I can't speak about the UK as I have not been riding there using MRA. I was wondering if you have presented the issues you mention to the MRA admins and if so if there are good solutions ?

Tim Watson

@Kenny-1 I have a BMW Nav 6 and I recently bought a Chigee AIO-5 PLAY hoping to use MRA to replace the Nav 6. The current reality is that AA in MRA is a bit flaky and frustrating to use. On top of that, the directions box on the screen is often nonsense. I think this may be UK-specific or more people would complain about it, but I don't know. I've reported it but had no acknowledgement.

As OGRIII says, unfortunately there are better options than MRA with an AA device. However, they all have their downsides. Sygic looks great and doesn't crash, but sometimes the routing it comes up with for GPX files is just nonsense. TomTom GO is much better, but you can't open GPX files on the device, you need to import them via a browser into your TomTom account. For me, that extra step negates the ease of MRA and opening GPX files directly on the phone, so I've gone back to my Nav 6 until MRA works properly.

The Chigee is an awesome device by the way, but quite a few people, particularly GS riders, are reporting frequent AA disconnections that sours the experience. Maybe electrical interference breaking the AA connection.

I think if you don't want early adopter pain, buy a Garmin XT and be happy.

Kenny 1

@Tim-Watson Hi Tim, I think your input is very useful and I am also discovering that there are pitfalls and caveats with the current state of MRA and different devices. I have just now submitted a question ticket for not being able to plan a simple A to B route on my android using offline maps. Sometime I am out in the middle of nowhwhere without connectivity and if I need to change my originally planned destination without internet connectivity, I'm kinda screwed. Maybe it's me and I'm doing something wrong but then I need to know and of course expect an answer in due time to the question. I don't understand that you have not received a response from the admin team. Maybe try again ???
Anyway as I mentioned in a previous response, I'm going for the small rugged tablet solution and then I can run any app I need and get a useful tablet for other things as well. Hopefully this will give some extra independence. I've used both Garmin and still have my TTR but it's getting a bit old now. As the models age the manufactures logically become less and less supportive in order to drive customers to newer models. A trend that is becoming more prevelant. Not crazy about the trend, but like it or not it is what it is.

Tim Watson

@Kenny-1 Hey Kenny. If you're going with a tablet rather than Android Auto, the MRA app is great. It's only the AA implementation that is currently lacking.

The app itself allows you to download maps so you don't need an internet connection, and the latest version of the app can automatically sync any routes you create in the planner or on the app.

I think the combination of the MRA planner and the app is pretty unbeatable, especially if you pickup the lifetime deals to purchase MRA. In offline mode you'd be good to go.

Personally I don't really want my main phone in a bike mount, nor to carry a 2nd "sacrificial" phone, hence going for the Chigee. I think it'll be the solution in due course, but not just yet. The MRA devs are very receptive to suggestions and quick to implement new features, but I think AA is low on the list of priorities unfortunately.

Kenny 1

@Tim-Watson Thanks for you vote of support on the Samsung Active 3 tablet. The AA units are quite attractive but they have their quirks as well as you are aware. There are enough YouTubers "Hawking" the good, the bad and everything in between. There are some strait shooters that have a no-nonsense approach. I liked this presentation because it was truthful and to-the -point. https://youtu.be/mTu5PtbjlBk?si=M5-MyrLU0qSU7PPf
There are some other Scandanavian contributors that are very interesting even if their gear is in the very expensive range. Most of them are hardcore off-roaders and ralleye riders but they know their stuff.
As for the telephone on the bike... I use a older Rugged android unit from Blackview. I refurbished it when I got my latest Ulefone Armor 24. They are really waterproof and very tough for the purpose of mounting on the bike. Cheap if you pick up a used one.

Kenny 1

@Tim-Watson Thanks for you vote of support on the Samsung Active 3 tablet. The AA units are quite attractive but they have their quirks as well as you are aware. There are enough YouTubers "Hawking" the good, the bad and everything in between. There are some strait shooters that have a no-nonsense approach. I liked this presentation because it was truthful and to-the -point. https://youtu.be/mTu5PtbjlBk?si=M5-MyrLU0qSU7PPf
There are some other Scandanavian contributors that are very interesting even if their gear is in the very expensive range. Most of them are hardcore off-roaders and ralleye riders but they know their stuff.
As for the telephone on the bike... I use a older Rugged android unit from Blackview. I refurbished it when I got my latest Ulefone Armor 24. They are really waterproof and very tough for the purpose of mounting on the bike. Cheap if you pick up a used one.

Kenny 1

@Tim-Watson Thanks for you vote of support on the Samsung Active 3 tablet. The AA units are quite attractive but they have their quirks as well as you are aware. There are enough YouTubers "Hawking" the good, the bad and everything in between. There are some strait shooters that have a no-nonsense approach. I liked this presentation because it was truthful and to-the -point. https://youtu.be/mTu5PtbjlBk?si=M5-MyrLU0qSU7PPf
There are some other Scandanavian contributors that are very interesting even if their gear is in the very expensive range. Most of them are hardcore off-roaders and ralleye riders but they know their stuff.
As for the telephone on the bike... I use a older Rugged android unit from Blackview. I refurbished it when I got my latest Ulefone Armor 24. They are really waterproof and very tough for the purpose of mounting on the bike. Cheap if you pick up a used one.

Ralph Janssen

@Kenny-1
I think a excellent choose
I'm only familiaire with Quadlock (for my phone's) but would not trust my tablet with it.

Let me know what kind of solution you have found and how it looks on your bike.

Vincent Curren

Back to @Kenny-1 's original question:

I am using a Weuaste 5 inch AA /CP device - the one without cameras and that comes with a RAM mount. It's inexpensive (currently $140 on Amazon US), and I look at it as R&D -- a cheap way to get familiar with the tech and see if it will work for me. It was a little tricky to get bluetooth working with both my Cardo communicator and the AA unit, but I figured it out. (If you go with this unit, let me know and I can provide you with a software update that took care of the issue.)

If I decide to stay with AA, I may eventually upgrade to a 7 inch unit. One advantage of AA / CP units is that you can have two programs on the display at once, e.g., MRA and Spotify, or even MRA and Google Maps, which is great if you're travelling through unknown areas. It's a bit busy doing this on a 5" unit, though, so I currently run only MRA. Would likely work better on a 7 inch screen. But I also don't want to have a big device on the bars in front of me, and I like the 5" for that.

The screen on the Weuaste is 1,000 nits, which I find is the minimum for visibility in the sun when I am wearing sunglasses. I also have a Doogee rugged Android phone (S41pro) which I tried, but the screen is only 500 nits (which is also true of the Doogee S200 that @Ralph-Janssen mentioned). 500 nits isn't bright enough for me. It's okay on a cloudy day, but not when it's sunny. (Also, I don't think the S41 has enough processing power - I get error messages when I try to use it with the Weuaste AA, but I haven't cared enough to try to figure that out.)

My last big trip to unknown territory was last spring to the South of France (I live in the US near Washington, DC). I used my Google Pixel 6. It was okay, but I had problems related to it being a phone. e.g., issues with raindrops, with the phone getting too hot, etc. And it was a PITA when I wanted to take it off the bars to take a picture. I'm experimenting with AA auto because the devices are specifically designed to work on motorcycles in the rain. But I went with a cheap unit because I'm not convinced yet that AA will be the ultimate solution. BTW, MRA seems to work reasonably well with it now. Although the MRA screen presented by AA is somewhat different than on a phone, and the zooming isn't quite as good, that hasn't been a deal-breaker for me so far. Not for a $130 unit.

The other option out there is a Zumo XT, but the thread just after this one showed why I want to avoid that. Very expensive unit (although a beautiful display) but a really difficult learning curve with even experienced users needing weird and complicated work-arounds to make it function with MRA..

Lots of different opinions about all of this, and that's great -- hope my few thoughts are helpful.

Vinnie

Kenny 1

@Vincent-Curren Hello Vincent, Thanks for your helpful input and your offer to help with the software on the AA. I mentioned in a previous response, I'm going for the small 8"rugged tablet solution and then I can run any app I need and in addition have a useful tablet for doing other things off the bike as well. Hopefully this will give some extra independence. I will initially just mount everything to to an operational check to make sure all is working properly and afterwards I'm planning to mount the tablet up above the instrument cluster ov the 800GS. I'm looking for a good mount that won't break the bank.
In my original question, I wanted to find out about people running MRA and AA that were completely happy and what combination of hardware is being used. To my surprise, everyone has expressed pitfalls and caveats. This has been very useful in my decision to NOT buy an AA device. Some YouTubers have been honest and revealed that there are big problems with some apps and some have even explicitly mentioned that MRA and AA don't work at all together. There are some other good reviews but I liked this presentation because it was truthful and to-the -point. https://youtu.be/mTu5PtbjlBk?si=M5-MyrLU0qSU7PPf
He mentions that the tablet is 800 nits and this is perhaps not excellent but still quite good.
The Doogee S200 is a very rugged phone but built for very long battery life and ruggedness. The best screen I've seen so far is on my old Blackview BV9600 Pro. But a phone is a phone and not a real motorcyclists navigation device. My old TT Rider 400 still provides good service. Being 8 years old now and it's time to update to a better way but I will still keep it for a back up. I rarely listen to music on the bike. I would not buy another satnav device because of their limitations and price.

Vincent Curren

@Kenny-1 Hello Kenny, The world of GPS seems to be one of trade-offs -- it's rare to find anyone completely happy with their solution, myself included! (And I always carry a paper map as a last resort when I'm travelling through a new area!)

I will be interested to see how your approach works out!

Vinnie

Ralph Janssen

I use MRA on a Samsung A32. Ik believe its under 500 nits (450). General speaking i think it good enough. Yes in direct sunlight or very bright condities it can be better.

I did not buy de DooGee S200 for navigation purposes btw

I think to buy a Samsung active tab 3 or 5 which is 800Nits. I'm looking into other 8" tablet but there are not that many on the market with high Nits and who also is consider cheap