Dear STW Hive-mind,

Anyone know anything about cheapy android phones? I’m a numpty who knows nothing about this stuff.

What do they need to be able to function as a gps with an app like viewranger?

Looking at stuff like this. Or am I way off?
http://www.everbuying.com/product463173.html?currency=GBP&gclid=

Have a look on JustGoRide.
There used to be an excellent article on there.
APF

There is a massive thread on this somewhere, can’t remember the title and the search function on here is rubbish.

Does that phone even have a GPS?

Screen resolution looks a bit low.

Android phones in general are great for GPS based stuff because Google Maps is so good, easily the market leader where it comes to tracking, mapping etc etc….and most Android phones come pre installed with Google’s core services including Maps etc.

The only issue you may have is that Google is banned in China….therefore some Android phones from China dont come installed with the Google Play store meaning you will struggle to get hold of any apps, i have read that the Play store can be installed on these phones but its not straight forward.
I believe some Lenovo phones dont have access to Google Play, just their own app store (which is crap by the way and almost all in Chinese!)….make enquiries to the seller to see if it comes with Google Play….if it does then go for it, £30 for a smartphone is ridiculously good value and perfect for just tracking your rides.

Been on Amazon recently looking at some phones from Chinese manufacturers i’ve never heard of and some of them are incredible, we’re talking decent sized batteries (3000MaH), quad core processors, HD screens etc etc for about £100.

Be careful with chinese phones. i got myself what i consider to be an excellent phone with only one downfall and thats the GPS.

Its crap on this phone, takes forever to lock and is really sketchy at best. its not useable as a gps, i believe its a chipset issue.
luckily i dont need the phone for that as i have garmin devices. The reviews i checked out said the gps was fine.. its works but it certainly not useable by todays standards.

I use my old HTC wildfire, though the battery life isn’t the best using the phones GPS, so I also use a cheap (£10 ebay job) blue tooth GPS receiver.

Both my kids have Huawei asend y300 phones – dirt cheap from CPW, and are really good little phones, and seem pretty reliable as well.

£49 at CPW at the moment, including £10 top up on PAYG.

I was going to do this but opted for one of the Garmin Etrex 20’s on the Amazon sale and when I get a decent phone keep it secure in my camelbak. Figured something with a very sensitive GPS, tougher and better battery life for £85 was a better option instead of finidng myself completely out of phone battery or with a smashed phone in an emergency.

I have a Monte Carlo with the Orange stuff stripped out and just Back Country Navigator installed. Was a bit crap as a phone, but with it’s decent size screen it makes a good gps device. They go for £30 on ebay. Only downside is the screen isn’t the best in bright sunlight, but good enough for viewing maps.

andyl – Member

I was going to do this but opted for one of the Garmin Etrex 20’s on the Amazon sale and when I get a decent phone keep it secure in my camelbak.
That’s pretty much what I’ve concluded. I’ve got a cheap Android phone and the GPS works, but the battery life with GPS enabled is only 2-3 hours, and it’s impossible to use in the rain.

I might be wrong but I didn’t think it was worth getting a cheap pay as you go phone? as I thought for the gps to work you needed a internet connection and that would be expensive on pay as you go. seems much cheaper to get a cheap contract phone for around £15 a month.

No Internet connection required for using gps only if you want maps to be downloaded in real time but you can get around that by downloading them at home beforehand.

This is the thread to read

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/home-made-gps-with-mapping-and-tracking

I’m pretty happy with mine