Anybody running a Carplay display on their bike?
A Chinese company recently contacted me and asked if I wanted me to try one of these out. I've been asked before to do that stuff and I normally don't but this is something that's been discussed on here and I want to see if it can replace my GPS on the bars. So I'm going to test it out and do a video of what I think. I wanted to mention it here to see if any of you have experience with one of these and what did you think of it? My idea is to leave my pricey cell phone in my pocket or tankbag where it's safe from damage but be able to take advantage of the smartphone based Nav software. Most of these units rely on the processing power in the phone including it's GPS receiver to provide data to it's 5" touch screen.
Link
I did some research and these are basically android phones in a ruggedized water resistant case (according to the manufacturer). This one uses a stripped down version of android 6.0 that links to a phone wirelessly and starts up Android Auto or Apple Carplay automatically. Any of the carplay aware apps should run through one of these. That being said the number of carplay apps is limited, for navigation I've been using Gaia, there's the typical other options like google maps, apple maps and waze. I also downloaded a music app that's carplay aware so I can listen to offline MP3s stored on the phone for when there's no cell signal. I can still control the music and phone with the sena that's redundant. I mainly wanted the display for navigation but it can be handy if you're stopped and want to scroll through the map, browse a music library or call someone from your contact list. Ideally my phone will come out when I need to take a pic, otherwise it'll be put away.
This is one of the more basic versions of wireless carplay out there, there's others that can hotspot into the phone or a access point and download apps and data directly to the device.
I don't like the mounting system, it's stout enough for a street bike but it's not what I'd use on a dual sport, sits up too high IMO. The sun visor is a nice touch, I use one on my montana and it helps.
The manufacturer should have gone with a typical ball mount, much simpler IMO. The mount that came with the unit wasn't going to cut it for offroad. I had some stuff laying around and it wasn't hard to come up with something more appropriate.
It's made of durable plastic and feels solid but anything goes in a serious crash and I don't plan to test that.
So far all I've done is some couch testing. Boot up is slow, 40sec from the time the key is turned on to when everything is connected and running. I can live with that if everything is automatic and it has been so far. I've seen where connecting two bluetooth devices to a phone at the same time can be problematic, with this I was able to connect the Sena and this carplay box to a google 8 phone with no issues, once it's set it's automatic from then on. The carplay function opens up whatever apps were open when it was powered down so everything resumes including music with no user intervention.
They claim 1000 nits brightness, I haven't been able to test it in the sun yet so I can't comment on that.
The power cord is decent quality with a power connector that's attached with 2 screws and the cord has a built in 12V to 5V DC regulator and fuse. They claim IP67 water resistance.
There's enough power wire to run back to the the bike's battery if needed. If the power source is nearby the screen like mine is you'll have to bundle some cord.
I measured the power draw and it's pretty low, 211ma.
There's 4 buttons, only 2 are used in this version, one is the unit's power switch, the second is the home key, that kicks you out of carplay to the underlying OS for setup and connections, once it's setup you'll rarely need to go there. This unit communicates via Bluetooth 5.0. The box and the manual that this came with it was for a similar but different version of this device and were typical Chinese directions. I requested the correct manual and received the same incorrect version. It wasn't difficult to figure out. The screen is a touch screen but it won't do 2 finger functions like zoom. Also some of the features in apps are limited when they are used through carplay. I can start/stop a track recording and create waypoints from the screen, other more in-depth functions require they be done from the app on the phone itself. I used Gaia through car play to the stereo screen in my truck on a overlanding trip and it worked well for following tracks on a topo map in the truck.
So far:
The Good
The Bad
Anyway I thought I'd share the details of one of these with you guys, I'm hoping it works for my DS bike. I've got a good mount figured out and that was it's main drawback that I could tell. When our weather gets a little better I'll take it out and navigate some and see how bright it is.
If you've used one of these types of carplay devices on the MC I'd be interested in what you thought of it good or bad and it might help me test this out better.
A Chinese company recently contacted me and asked if I wanted me to try one of these out. I've been asked before to do that stuff and I normally don't but this is something that's been discussed on here and I want to see if it can replace my GPS on the bars. So I'm going to test it out and do a video of what I think. I wanted to mention it here to see if any of you have experience with one of these and what did you think of it? My idea is to leave my pricey cell phone in my pocket or tankbag where it's safe from damage but be able to take advantage of the smartphone based Nav software. Most of these units rely on the processing power in the phone including it's GPS receiver to provide data to it's 5" touch screen.
Link
I did some research and these are basically android phones in a ruggedized water resistant case (according to the manufacturer). This one uses a stripped down version of android 6.0 that links to a phone wirelessly and starts up Android Auto or Apple Carplay automatically. Any of the carplay aware apps should run through one of these. That being said the number of carplay apps is limited, for navigation I've been using Gaia, there's the typical other options like google maps, apple maps and waze. I also downloaded a music app that's carplay aware so I can listen to offline MP3s stored on the phone for when there's no cell signal. I can still control the music and phone with the sena that's redundant. I mainly wanted the display for navigation but it can be handy if you're stopped and want to scroll through the map, browse a music library or call someone from your contact list. Ideally my phone will come out when I need to take a pic, otherwise it'll be put away.
This is one of the more basic versions of wireless carplay out there, there's others that can hotspot into the phone or a access point and download apps and data directly to the device.
I don't like the mounting system, it's stout enough for a street bike but it's not what I'd use on a dual sport, sits up too high IMO. The sun visor is a nice touch, I use one on my montana and it helps.
The manufacturer should have gone with a typical ball mount, much simpler IMO. The mount that came with the unit wasn't going to cut it for offroad. I had some stuff laying around and it wasn't hard to come up with something more appropriate.
It's made of durable plastic and feels solid but anything goes in a serious crash and I don't plan to test that.
So far all I've done is some couch testing. Boot up is slow, 40sec from the time the key is turned on to when everything is connected and running. I can live with that if everything is automatic and it has been so far. I've seen where connecting two bluetooth devices to a phone at the same time can be problematic, with this I was able to connect the Sena and this carplay box to a google 8 phone with no issues, once it's set it's automatic from then on. The carplay function opens up whatever apps were open when it was powered down so everything resumes including music with no user intervention.
They claim 1000 nits brightness, I haven't been able to test it in the sun yet so I can't comment on that.
The power cord is decent quality with a power connector that's attached with 2 screws and the cord has a built in 12V to 5V DC regulator and fuse. They claim IP67 water resistance.
There's enough power wire to run back to the the bike's battery if needed. If the power source is nearby the screen like mine is you'll have to bundle some cord.
I measured the power draw and it's pretty low, 211ma.
There's 4 buttons, only 2 are used in this version, one is the unit's power switch, the second is the home key, that kicks you out of carplay to the underlying OS for setup and connections, once it's setup you'll rarely need to go there. This unit communicates via Bluetooth 5.0. The box and the manual that this came with it was for a similar but different version of this device and were typical Chinese directions. I requested the correct manual and received the same incorrect version. It wasn't difficult to figure out. The screen is a touch screen but it won't do 2 finger functions like zoom. Also some of the features in apps are limited when they are used through carplay. I can start/stop a track recording and create waypoints from the screen, other more in-depth functions require they be done from the app on the phone itself. I used Gaia through car play to the stereo screen in my truck on a overlanding trip and it worked well for following tracks on a topo map in the truck.
So far:
The Good
- Powers up automatically and connects with the phone and resumes whatever was running with no user intervention.
- Uses very little power.
- It's not impossible to mod the mount to something much better.
- Quality seems good, it's not cheap feeling.
The Bad
- The mount isn't really appropriate for anything off-road and it could be improved.
- Boots up kind of slow; 40sec.
- Power cord can't be shortened easily and it's min length is about 4'.
Anyway I thought I'd share the details of one of these with you guys, I'm hoping it works for my DS bike. I've got a good mount figured out and that was it's main drawback that I could tell. When our weather gets a little better I'll take it out and navigate some and see how bright it is.
If you've used one of these types of carplay devices on the MC I'd be interested in what you thought of it good or bad and it might help me test this out better.
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