Latest Road Angel Offering

[bad company]

I didn’t think many were still using this stuff but:-

https://www.roadangelgroup.com/road-angel-pure-tou...

[RobbyJ]

I just read the email from them advertising that. I just don’t get it these days. Other than laser detection which is arguably not needed if you have a decent community based update system what does it really give you that Waze does for free?

Back in the day I used to love them but I don’t think now they justify the cost or having an ugly device on your dash.

[bad company]

RobbyJ said:

I just read the email from them advertising that. I just don’t get it these days. Other than laser detection which is arguably not needed if you have a decent community based update system what does it really give you that Waze does for free?

Back in the day I used to love them but I don’t think now they justify the cost or having an ugly device on your dash.

Exactly that. I have Apple CarPlay in my BMW so Waze is constantly on the screen without something on the dashboard.

I do have a Cheetah in the TVR though, no chance of CarPlay in that.

[bolidemichael]

RobbyJ said:

I just read the email from them advertising that. I just don’t get it these days. Other than laser detection which is arguably not needed if you have a decent community based update system what does it really give you that Waze does for free?

Back in the day I used to love them but I don’t think now they justify the cost or having an ugly device on your dash.

I do find Waze warnings in France are inconsistent and/or misleading. The continual warning over 'entering average speed check zone' is a false flag in most instances, so a more definitive device would be helpful in that regard.

[BaugetteauFromage]

^ It’s illegal for gadgets like this to give an exact location of speed cameras in France. So on Waze, the tricky Frenchies will report it as police, which will show up.

I don’t know why Waze and Roadhaek day average speed areas though. They can be marked legally as danger areas, which is what Tom Tom does.

[Johnnytheboy]

I had two of them 5-10 years ago. They proved very fragile.

[beko1987]

My dad had a few road angels, the old blue and black screens, tiff needell shouting from the tiny speaker...

Worked well back in 2003, but I can stick my phone into my £4 dash mount and give me 1997 ZX more functionality for alot less with Google Maps, the tomtom speed camera app, google music etc.

Amazed there's still a market. Road Angel and TomTom (the physical device side of the company anyway) are still going

[BobSaunders]

Waze relies on another individual to identify and mark the position.

Road angel product seeks to detect prior to preempt detection through radar/laser detection.

Completely different kettle of fish.

[rxe]

BobSaunders said:

Waze relies on another individual to identify and mark the position.

Road angel product seeks to detect prior to preempt detection through radar/laser detection.

Completely different kettle of fish.

Given that by the time you've detected the laser, you've got about 2 nano seconds to decelerate to the correct speed, thus pulling 150G and separating your heart from its blood vessels, I'll stick with Waze.

I really, really, want to be the first to report a camera van in Waze, but I've never managed it. Every single time I've encountered a camera van in the last 2 years, Waze has warned me in advance. All on my phone, for free.

[bad company]

BobSaunders said:

Waze relies on another individual to identify and mark the position.

Road angel product seeks to detect prior to preempt detection through radar/laser detection.

Completely different kettle of fish.

My Road Angel is constantly warning that I ‘may’ be heading into a speed trap. Waze only warns me when it’s been seen by other Wazers. Much better imo.

[BIRMA]

I've got one and have had Road Angel products since 2006 when I did loads of miles and it has in the past saved me from countless hassle from those sneaky speed traps in areas that I travelled to and didn't know the location of cameras.
They went through a phase when the excellent Gem + unit was rubbish and failed. The new unit is okay as it displays road speed limits as well as your speed, it does work for me and as someone who doesn't get on with apps like Waze on my iPhone it does exactly what I want. It is expensive but for me it's my go to device.

[vikingaero]

The best ever Road Angel unit was the Classic. Everything else afterwards was dire. The Classic got near instant GPS location every time in seconds without fail and was made from quality plastic. I won a Road Angel 7000 from work and once drove from Kent to North Wales before it picked up a GPS signal. Then I bought a Professional Connected which didn't connect because RA never activated the SIM. And the Gem - I looked at it in Halfords and it was made from 5p Chineseium Kwality plastic.

[Zedboy]

BIRMA said:

I've got one and have had Road Angel products since 2006 when I did loads of miles and it has in the past saved me from countless hassle from those sneaky speed traps in areas that I travelled to and didn't know the location of cameras.
They went through a phase when the excellent Gem + unit was rubbish and failed. The new unit is okay as it displays road speed limits as well as your speed, it does work for me and as someone who doesn't get on with apps like Waze on my iPhone it does exactly what I want. It is expensive but for me it's my go to device.

Same for me too... I usually double run with Waze, but new Pure is at last reliable, though I’d have a RoadPilot Micro back in a heartbeat. Pure average speed function is still unavailable with any other device I’m aware of.

[faa77]

From what I understand mobile camera units can only operate in certain areas, which must contain camera signs so many yards before.

Therefore, what's the point of relying on someone reporting a camera to Waze when you can just have a detector which warns you you have entered such a zone?

If you rely on Waze, the first person will be caught. If you rely on detecting the camera sign zones, you will slow down regardless of mobile unit or not.

[bad company]

faa77 said:

If you rely on Waze, the first person will be caught. If you rely on detecting the camera sign zones, you will slow down regardless of mobile unit or not.

The first person will usually see the speed trap being set up and will warn others.

I’m a fairly recent convert but now Waze can be viewed on the car’s screen using Apple CarPlay I think it’s brilliant.

[Johnnytheboy]

People rave about Waze on here but I'm not sure how it is superior to Google Maps.

[bad company]

Johnnytheboy said:

People rave about Waze on here but I'm not sure how it is superior to Google Maps.

Does Google update when speed traps are setup?

[Johnnytheboy]

bad company said:

Johnnytheboy said:

People rave about Waze on here but I'm not sure how it is superior to Google Maps.

Does Google update when speed traps are setup?

Yes, it's got the same report function as Waze.

I'd be interested to know who has the bigger user base (guess: Google Maps), and also the intangible one: who has a user base more likely to report camera vans (guess: Waze).

[bad company]

Johnnytheboy said:

Yes, it's got the same report function as Waze.

I'd be interested to know who has the bigger user base (guess: Google Maps), and also the intangible one: who has a user base more likely to report camera vans (guess: Waze).

Looks like I’ll have Google Maps on CarPlay. I’ll give it a try.

[Dave Hedgehog]

bad company said:

Exactly that. I have Apple CarPlay in my BMW so Waze is constantly on the screen without something on the dashboard.

I do have a Cheetah in the TVR though, no chance of CarPlay in that.

if you have a single din head unit: