Chigee AIO-5 Play for BMW - Review vs Nav 6

[patm]

The idea of having my expensive phone, with all my personal info, on my handlebars is a no starter. Yes I could get a cheap second phone for navigation, no sim and use pre downloaded maps but how is it any better than a real gps? Without network, it's isn't any better.
Those mirror devices are a good compromise but have their drawbacks. Even the most recent Gamin zumos use phone apps.
What I would love is to have a dedicated, rugged GPS device, that I can load apps on to complement what's already there.
I think BMW missed the boat when they produced the ConnectedRide Navigator.

 

[riderr1150gsadv]

Are there any CarPlay units with a gps built in for navigation?

 

[alrockaz]

Are there any CarPlay units with a gps built in for navigation?

Doubt it. The Chigee 6 can have built-in GPS and 4G LTE. That said, it cannot work as a standalone device, it only mirrors your phone.

 

[riderr1150gsadv]

For me personally it makes no sense to have navigation just based on cell service. There are plenty of dead zones even for the biggest carriers to make it of questionable use but to each their own. YMMV.

 

[PGlaves]

For me personally it makes no sense to have navigation just based on cell service. There are plenty of dead zones even for the biggest carriers to make it of questionable use but to each their own. YMMV.

We have no cell service at our house. If I go south 23 miles I pick it up for a few miles. I can find it in a handful of spots in the Big Bend National Park or the Big Bend Ranch State Park to itw west. Going to town we have no service for the first 47 miles but then pick it up a few miles south of Alpine. Loading local maps would not be a problem. If I go to El Paso, or Midland, or San Angelo or Amarillo or Houston or Dallas or back to Kansas I have service maybe half the time. Granted, this is west Texas and not Baltimore or Miami but the coverage here is typical of the Great Plains and the Mountain West. It is OK in most towns and along the Interstates but spotty most places people actually want to ride motorcycles.

If as we have done many times, we were to ride to the Pacific Northwest, fuutzing with loading maps every day or so would just be more hassle than I am willing to put up with. Garmin, for all its faults, and other dedicated GPS brands too, beat cell phone coverage in my mind. But I'm old.

 

[CaptCF]

The backup to my Chigee is a BMW connected ride cradle with an old Galaxy S10 that hasn't had cell service in years. I just run the BMW connected ride app on there and have all the maps for the states that I ride in downloaded. I have never had it not work and it packs small enough. If the Chigee or my primary phone fails I'd throw that in the nav mount and be back in business. That said, I don't love the cradle either. It killed a phone or two before I gave up on it (vibration), but when you use it with one of your old phones that you don't care about and remove everything from it except the BMW app who cares if it breaks the camera or the haptic stuff. I think I still have OsmAnd installed on it as well as a backup to the BMW app, but haven't had to resort to using it for years.

 

[kickstandsup]

We have no cell service at our house. If I go south 23 miles I pick it up for a few miles. I can find it in a handful of spots in the Big Bend National Park or the Big Bend Ranch State Park to itw west. Going to town we have no service for the first 47 miles but then pick it up a few miles south of Alpine. Loading local maps would not be a problem. If I go to El Paso, or Midland, or San Angelo or Amarillo or Houston or Dallas or back to Kansas I have service maybe half the time. Granted, this is west Texas and not Baltimore or Miami but the coverage here is typical of the Great Plains and the Mountain West. It is OK in most towns and along the Interstates but spotty most places people actually want to ride motorcycles.

If as we have done many times, we were to ride to the Pacific Northwest, fuutzing with loading maps every day or so would just be more hassle than I am willing to put up with. Garmin, for all its faults, and other dedicated GPS brands too, beat cell phone coverage in my mind. But I'm old.

You don't "have to load maps every day." You can, if you want, load them once and be done for any/all areas you ride or travel. On the TomTom Go Expert app, you'll also get a notice when they've updated them, worldwide, at no cost. For $30/year. You don't need cell service at all, just a gps signal...just like a Garmin. It really is that simple.

 

[cruisincruzan]

From the various answers on this and many other forums, the navigation answer is obvious, whatever works best for you. That is a combination of what hardware you’re using, what type of riding you do and how you like to plan routes. For me I have used Basecamp since the beginning and my capabilities and understanding of the program grew as it matured. I have always planned my routes on the computer and then transferred to my GPS. I use a Nav6 that I purchased when they first came out and it is still in use without any issues, just lucky I guess.

In ‘21 I purchased the new RT with the big TFT. I went through the painful growing pains with that system but now it is everything I need from a nav system. I bought a used Samsung phone, just have the BMW connected app, MyRoute and Spotify. Works great I have no need for a separate GPS, again YMMV. The only time I’m on an unpaved road is by accident. I tried myRoute because I could create routes on my tablet and leave my computer at home. I now use it as my primary trip building tool.

Last year I purchased a ‘25GS and the 6” chigee My phone sends my MyRoute apps to the chigee and so far it has worked all the time. I do like having access to CarPlay and overall am very happy with the setup. Again two different setups but both meet my needs and I have no reason to try anything different at this point. If you have the desire and ability to try different methods do it see what you prefer.

 

[Roy.Jackson55@aol.com]

I have been usining the Make Life a Ride app on my phone to my TFT and helmet. It fits my need, and in 3 years has never failed on me. I wish I could add more way points would be my bigest complant. Works great with the wonder wheel. Just my 2Cents.

 

[masupert]

It's not GPS. It's that Google Maps (or AllTrails, or whatever app your using that has the downloads) decides it needs a "check in" and won't start correctly without service. Or your phone just decides it's nap time. I'd absolutely LOVE to get rid of my Garmin devices, my wife always has her phone with her and has all the apps we like (and downloaded maps for all of them). And when it works, it's great! But at least 10% of the time, something will just decide "nope, not today" (generally related to cell service) and it's game over, no maps for you. I have my issues with Garmin, my Oregon (for hiking/mountain biking) is about as nice to use as a potato to navigate compared to a phone, it's like using a Commodore 64 today. But it works, every single time, and it'll get you in/out of the woods.

I use a phone 90% of the time (or more) for navigation and I agree, it's great. But if it really matters, have a backup.

This is a non-issue if you use the right GPS app designed for road trips. Scenic for example will hold the GPX route even if you don't have offline maps downloaded. I had this happen on a road trip last year. Lost cell service, no maps downloaded so I couldn't see the "roads", but the pink routing line maintained and my bike icon continued to follow it.