Backcountry Cell Phone recommendations

[bz_711]

Time for a phone upgrade soon - I've always just picked up the best smart phone I could get for free (currently Motorola Electrify M I've had for over 2 years).
Any Pros/Cons of current smart phones out there related to GPS/Navagation and backcountry/maps usage?

I have used my M almost exclusively for my GPS the last 2 years and also downloaded all satellite maps to it...so much faster and handier than GPS (although GPS still always in pack). Looks like I'll have to pay for a top phone this time around. Any thoughts? I'd say the front runners are Galaxy 5 or 6, Iphone 6. I don't care for too big of a phone, but most are good size anymore. I also use phone exclusively for family video, so get a little worried when Iphone only has 16GB storage as I currently fill up 32GB micro card per year just on pics/vids.

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

I love my iPhone 6. I get frustrated that you can't have the iPhone in airplane mode to look at the gps

 

[colonel00]

You might check but I know the new Samsung phones coming out will not have removable batteries or SD cards. I'm not sure if this applies to the S6 or not off the top of my head. I have a Note 3 and really like it. That said, I admittedly haven't used it a whole lot in the backcountry but I can turn on airplane mode and still use GPS, bluetooth or whatever.

 

[FreeRange]

I love my iPhone 6. I get frustrated that you can't have the iPhone in airplane mode to look at the gps

I've posted this on here somewhere before, but with the iPhone 4s and 5 I have been able to enable "SIMlock" to leave GPS enabled and extend battery life. You set a password to unlock your sim card under the Settings menu. When you cycle power on your phone, it prompts you for the password on startup. Don't enter the password and that leaves the sim card turned off, leaving GPS on. I can't see why you wouldn't be able to do this with a 6, give it a try. It helps a ton with battery life.

That said the iPhone is my camera + GPS + alarm clock, I really like it. I hardly use the GPS (which still drains battery) and can easily get 3-4 days out of it. Until I figured out the above trick I was pretty frustrated with it however as it will drain battery fast with the SIM card turned on.

 

[jtw]

I have a galaxy s4 active and my dad has the s5 active. I use it whenever I dont need the radio function on my garmin. Water resistant was what sold me as my last phone died due to exposure to condensation.

 

[muleman]

I like Samsung phones with removable batteries and micro SD slots. I have had great success using a Note 2 and Note 3 for the past few years as my only GPS in the field.

 

[Matt Cashell]

I used the Iphone 6 plus as my only GPS last season. It worked great and the battery life is ridiculously better than the Iphone 5 I had before.

The airplane mode/gps issue with iPhones is the only niggle to the system. I might try the simcard trick mentioned above.

 

[StrutNut]

I love the S Galaxy 5. I have scoutlook on it it as well as a couple other apps. i use it all the time and it has great battery life and charges back up really quick. Much improved over the S3 I had.

 

[charvey9]

The thing I enjoy most about my smartphone is leaving the damn thing in the truck when head for the woods.

 

[Forestryguy]

I am not out West, but in the areas that I hunt without cell reception I just use my Garmin. I keep my old Motorola Quantico turned off and hope I can get reception if I need it.

 

[bz_711]

Thanks for the responses!

I'm aware that the S5 is the only model that gives me the micro-SD card which I like, the removable battery does not matter much as my M has enclosed battery and never been an issue.
Thanks for pointing out the I-phone airplane mode issue - anyone know if that is easily resolved on the Iphone-6 model? Even if battery is OK without it, I have to have airplane mode just so my work emails/texts to not come thru...nothing will ruin time on the mountain faster

I'm with USCellular, and currently the S5 is $100, S6 is $200, Iphone 6 is $200...might try to hold out and see if any of them have a price break soon.

Any other thoughts/recommendations - I'm all ears!

 

[G5Archer]

The removable micro SD card is nice to have but I've done away with it completely and just download all my pics and videos in my Google Cloud and Dropbox . As far as phones both Samsung & Apple are great phones. I'm running the Nexus 6 and I love it!

 

[BOW1144]

I recently switched from an iphone to a Samsung Note 4. at first I thought the size was going to be an issue, but after using it for 4 months now I really like the bigger size. Some of the features I like about it for back country use are; Battery life I can go a couple of days normal use without having to charge it (7-10 on airplane mode easily) and you can pick up an extra battery for cheap, removable sim card (easier to load all of your maps without eating up all of you memory), it would have cost me an extra $300 to upgrade to the amount of memory that I have now with the iphone 6. The best one is the camera! the Note 4 has a 16mp camera compared to the iphone 6's 8mp it takes amazing photo's for a phone allowing me save weight by not carrying a larger camera. Plus the camera has a timer and voice control so that you can take trophy pics while hunting solo. Im excited to try it out this season to see how well it performs on longer trips.

 

[velvetfvr]

The thing I enjoy most about my smartphone is leaving the damn thing in the truck when head for the woods.

Winner right here. They're pos's.

 

[T43]

I use the Kyocera Brigader, water proof, dust proof, shock proof, scratch proof screen... I still shut it off most of the time.

 

[kodiakfly]

I switched from Apple to the S5 Active and am happy. I like the waterproof and the built-in "case" it has on it. It's nice carrying a naked phone and it feels pretty protected. I also like the replaceable battery. If I'm somewhere where I won't be able to charge it, I can carry a spare battery and get several days from the phone.