Phone sat nav advice...

Author
Discussion

qska

Original Poster:

449 posts

128 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
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Hey.

I'm using my Galaxy S5 for a number of years now as a sat nav, always plugged in in the car, on a 3.5h commute (round trip).

The phone is old and knackered, on its fifth battery, I think the car charging just kills the batteries.

Now the conundrum - get a new phone, or keep the beater... The trend of irreplaceable batteries is ridiculous, I have very limited options, just a few Lag handsets offer a user swappable battery...

Anyone else with this problem?

My S5 lost almost all chrome, and is heavily dented. I paid £120 for a new screen about 3 months ago, the old one cracked when dropped for the tenth time smile

DoubleD

22,154 posts

107 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
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You could always buy a sat nav from Halfords or similar.....

qska

Original Poster:

449 posts

128 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
quotequote all
DoubleD said:
You could always buy a sat nav from Halfords or similar.....
Waze doesn't work on it, plus still a faff to remove or a theft risk....

sebhaque

6,402 posts

180 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
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Why not buy an el cheapo Android handset and just use that as a dedicated nav? You won't need to worry about battery life and if you hotspot your own phone you won't need a sim. Just a thought.

Snappy89

356 posts

127 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
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I use a Note 4 at the moment, with both Waze & Tom Tom Go which look fine on the 5.7 inch screen.

You can also get Android based head units for various cars now, which would allow you to also have the same apps on them, albeit you'd need a separate sim card unless you don't mind removing the one from your handset.

qska

Original Poster:

449 posts

128 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
quotequote all
sebhaque said:
Why not buy an el cheapo Android handset and just use that as a dedicated nav? You won't need to worry about battery life and if you hotspot your own phone you won't need a sim. Just a thought.
That's what I'm leaning towards.

But laziness prevails, would need to disable wifi, enable hot spot every time....

Maybe just get a Pay as you go mobile SIM with lots of data... and keep that in the car as nav.

qska

Original Poster:

449 posts

128 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
quotequote all
Snappy89 said:
I use a Note 4 at the moment, with both Waze & Tom Tom Go which look fine on the 5.7 inch screen.

You can also get Android based head units for various cars now, which would allow you to also have the same apps on them, albeit you'd need a separate sim card unless you don't mind removing the one from your handset.
My dash looks fine (E350) smile

Although yes, having a thing glued to the windscreen is not that great either.

The car itself has Audio 20 with no navigation btw.

ashleyman

6,962 posts

98 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
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If you're on Android read up on NFC tags and tasks.

You could then get a cheap phone or tablet for car use that's on wi-fi only. Set up a NFC tag in your car so that when you get in the car, you tap the tag it activates the task. The task can do things like change settings, open apps or activate profiles amongst loads more stuff. The car-phone is then able to connect to your normal phone and use it's data. This would save the faffing with changing settings. You could have another one for exiting the car that reverts everything.

It would depend on your carrier and if you're allowed to tether though.

qska

Original Poster:

449 posts

128 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
quotequote all
ashleyman said:
If you're on Android read up on NFC tags and tasks.
Ooooohhh.... the geek in me loves that idea. Will check that out, thanks.


Overall I was I guess looking to compare experiences around charging in the car killing the battery, that surely has to be a very common problem, particularly with these stupid phones where you can't just replace it. I blame Apple smile

ashleyman

6,962 posts

98 months

Tuesday 20th December 2016
quotequote all
qska said:
ashleyman said:
If you're on Android read up on NFC tags and tasks.
Ooooohhh.... the geek in me loves that idea. Will check that out, thanks.


Overall I was I guess looking to compare experiences around charging in the car killing the battery, that surely has to be a very common problem, particularly with these stupid phones where you can't just replace it. I blame Apple smile
You could always try using a power bank instead of the car port? The ones below are super cheap but awesome. I have 3!
http://amzn.eu/5Qm2cpX

Alex@POD

6,133 posts

214 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
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ashleyman said:
If you're on Android read up on NFC tags and tasks.

You could then get a cheap phone or tablet for car use that's on wi-fi only. Set up a NFC tag in your car so that when you get in the car, you tap the tag it activates the task. The task can do things like change settings, open apps or activate profiles amongst loads more stuff. The car-phone is then able to connect to your normal phone and use it's data. This would save the faffing with changing settings. You could have another one for exiting the car that reverts everything.

It would depend on your carrier and if you're allowed to tether though.
That is a good idea, I have an Android head unit which I can tether to my phone but didn't want to mess around turning hotspot on and off... If I can make it as a hotspot "automatically" when I'm in the van, that would be a neat solution!

ETA: I downloaded an app (called Trigger I think) that "should" automatically enable hotspot when my phone is connected to the head unit via Bluetooth. If that works, it makes it fully automatic without tagging in and out...

Edited by Alex@POD on Wednesday 21st December 09:04

tejr

3,101 posts

163 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
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Buy a decent battery. Don't buy a stty 2.50 off eBay as it won't last. Try to find an OEM one.

donkmeister

7,998 posts

99 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
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tejr said:
Buy a decent battery. Don't buy a stty 2.50 off eBay as it won't last. Try to find an OEM one.
This, plus a decent charger. Anker and portapow are decent yet cost-effective brands.

I binned a cheapo ebay special that was so dodgy it killed much of the FM band with spurious RF emissions.

bodhi

10,333 posts

228 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
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Whilst my commute isn't quite as long as yours (2 hours rather than 3.5) I haven't really had an issue with leaving the phone plugged in killing batteries - I've always used the Brodit mounts, which seem to have high quality chargers attached - used these for about 4 years or so and not had to replace a phone battery - phone gets used for Google Nav and the built in MP3 player, streaming to Bluetooth.

Might be worth looking into a) the Brodit mount, and b) a 2nd hand Sony Xperia, as there are the phones I've had permanently plugged in with no real issues. They also have an app called Smart Connect, which I use to automatically disable WiFi and start the music player when it detects my Bluetooth receiver in the car. YOu can also use it to set up hotspots, read out text messages, etc etc.

Both worth checking out.

mygoldfishbowl

3,691 posts

142 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
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Maybe it's just the way I read it but do you need a crap nav if you're on a regular commute.

feef

5,206 posts

182 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
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mygoldfishbowl said:
Maybe it's just the way I read it but do you need a crap nav if you're on a regular commute.
It's handy for recalculating routes when there's an accident or traffic jam on the usual route.

Alex@POD

6,133 posts

214 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
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feef said:
It's handy for recalculating routes when there's an accident or traffic jam on the usual route.
yes I never use the satnav for directions (I hate to rely on it alone for the route), only for having an ETA, traffic information and for directions near my destination (in an unfamiliar town for example).

Alex_225

6,234 posts

200 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
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You are better off with any phone, disconnecting it once the battery is at 100%. Apparently keeping them on charge once they hit 100% puts stress on the battery and eventually knackers them.

I use an iPhone and admit I put it on charge over night which as never adversely affected the battery but I'm cautious of it.

I'd say go for a new phone, keep using as a sat nav but don't charge it for the entire length of the journey.

mygoldfishbowl

3,691 posts

142 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
quotequote all
Alex@POD said:
feef said:
It's handy for recalculating routes when there's an accident or traffic jam on the usual route.
yes I never use the satnav for directions (I hate to rely on it alone for the route), only for having an ETA, traffic information and for directions near my destination (in an unfamiliar town for example).
Fair enough but I drive a lot & disabled the traffic info because I found it less than useless on my garmen ( I think there is more than one service available though). If I'm not using it for directions I must admit to leaving it on just for mobile camera locations.

What I originally getting at was, you do get people who buy the, must have item, even though they don't really need one. Not suggesting the op is that way inclined but I think a lot of people are.

Alex@POD

6,133 posts

214 months

Wednesday 21st December 2016
quotequote all
Alex_225 said:
You are better off with any phone, disconnecting it once the battery is at 100%. Apparently keeping them on charge once they hit 100% puts stress on the battery and eventually knackers them.

I use an iPhone and admit I put it on charge over night which as never adversely affected the battery but I'm cautious of it.

I'd say go for a new phone, keep using as a sat nav but don't charge it for the entire length of the journey.
FWIW, I just got a new Sony Xperia and it has a "smart charge" mode to make the most of the battery. I don't know much about it and I'm sure this is common to most phones nowadays, but it's likely a new phone will not have the same battery issues with being constantly plugged in.