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Recommendations for rugged, waterproof mobile phone

Fergus Flanagan shared this question 6 years ago
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I'm considering replacing my Garmin with a waterproof mobile phone loaded with locus maps for navigation on my bike. I find too many limiting factors with garmin devices and while Locus is complex it seems to me to be a far better solution.

So can anyone recommend a rugged phone (ideally with a handlebar mount, but that may be asking too much) has to be waterproof and is Android of course.

Replies (7)

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I'm very happy with the Blackview BV6000s, which I've been using with Locus for the better part of a year now. Cheap and indestructible, available from various sellers on AliExpress.com.


Combined with Locus, I consider it a complete Garmin replacement, and with advantages that Garmin can't hope to match - such as frequent updates, with no risk of bricking the unit. My old Garmin now collects dust.


I posted a few pictures on my geocache log here: https://www.geocaching.com/...

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Hi Fergus,

I'm sorry but this is not a topic for Locus helpdesk. We are here to help users with Locus, not for mobile equipment advisory. For this, we recommend forum.locusmap.eu or https://www.facebook.com/locusmap/ or https://www.facebook.com/groups/186161395287819/?source_id=161976683889538. Thanks for understanding.

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Thank you Viajero for your comment on the Blackview and they seem to go under different names. Garmin haven't moved the goalposts much in the way of usability as regards handheld devices. As a matter of fact I think for marginal improvements they seem to charge far too much. The only advantage I can see the Garmin has is the battery life. Could you comment on this?


Sorry Michal, will observe this in future :)


Could I suggest you put a link to the general Locus forums from the Locus Help Desk?

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That Blackview feels like a brick because it's full of battery. At home and not using it much, I only need to charge it every few days. It's not uncommon to see Android estimating a week! When I'm outside playing, I can get two full days of caching out of a charge. I never need to carry around a power bank anymore.

Different names? I've only seen the Blackview name for phones that look identical, though there are other brands of similarly rugged phones; I have no experience with those. And lots of different vendors on AliExpress carry Blackview, though perversely, I couldn't find the phone anywhere in person in Hong Kong (where the company is based), and had to order it via the internet once home.


Friends of mine just bought a pair of more recent-model Blackviews (8000 I think), and so far they're happy too. But those are twice the price, high-spec instead of low-spec like the 6000s. BTW, even the cheap low-spec version puts the Garmin's screen resolution to shame. A good map on Locus, even on a low-spec phone, is a thing of beauty.

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I believe this is the same phone here. Would you be able to say how many hours you get from the phone with the screen & GPS on all the time? Apparently it has a 3500mah battery so I imagine you could probably squeeze 4-5 hours continous use with the screen brightness turned right down, mobile radio off and just GPS on.

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Um nope, that's a different phone.

My BV6000s might have 50% left after 8 hours of regular use (a good caching day), Locus recording a track so GPS continually on, brightness auto, screen off much of the time.

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Okay thanks but would be really interested to know what I would get hours wise out of the battery if the screen was on all the time (auto) with 2/3/4g radio off incl wifi and only GPS on for navigation. Fed up with Garmin devices so would only use this for Locus maps and GPS.

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Sorry Fergus, it's not possible to redirect this topic to Locus Forum, it's a completely different platform. Create your own thread there and post a link to this topic there.

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Hi Michal,

When I suggested "Could I suggest you put a link to the general Locus forums from the Locus Help Desk?"

what I meant was could you put a link to these forums (and not this topic) on this page!

:)

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