Cell Phone VS GPS

[RLXFXR]

Following...

 

[Beendare]

Mine isn't a data charge or storage issue. That doesn't concern me at all. It just won't download on cell service. As it stands right now, I don't see a benefit of not using my gps over the phone.

I can tell you I've had no problems downloading maps to my iPhone with cell signal. Some of the large maps take a minute or two is all.

The advantage to me is;

THE MAPS- for sure- they kill the little maps on a GPS....PLUS they are constantly updating these- no need for me to add software GAIA does it for me. THEN its on a big screen that I can manipulate. I get so much more information. I can also view these maps in multiple ways; Satellite, etc. My phone is so much easier to see/use on a bigger screen. I can select scale and modify to suit my needs, zoom in, zoom out...its not the one size fits all of the GPS.

Cost- I'm all in for about $40 as an early adopter......Onx is a bit more...now GAIA is something like $30 a year [?not sure on recent pricing]...early adopters don't pay yearly.......just the one time fee.

Flexibility; Its all on one unit...less weight, less hassle carrying one piece of gear, no additional cords

Accuracy...its every bit as accurate as any dedicated GPS.


IMO, The only reason now to buy a GPS is for 2 way communication without a cell signal.

....

 

[Missahba]

OnX on my iPhone. In airplane mode and low power mode and auto brightness mode, battery lasts for days. Download maps/aerials on the Off-Grid screen in OnX, before you get to the wilderness. No problem downloading ahead of time using cell or WiFi. When I take a trip needing redundancy, I have a bomb proof Garmin Gen1 etrex that runs for months on 2 AA batteries. It will get me to camp, trailhead, map coordinate or civilization if my smartphone fails. Paper map and compass, third tier, are always with me and I can orienteer. If I need coms and GPS redundancy an old iPhone will work, provided I don’t lose or destroy the SIM.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I can tell you I've had no problems downloading maps to my iPhone with cell signal. Some of the large maps take a minute or two is all.

The advantage to me is;

THE MAPS- for sure- they kill the little maps on a GPS....PLUS they are constantly updating these- no need for me to add software GAIA does it for me. THEN its on a big screen that I can manipulate. I get so much more information. I can also view these maps in multiple ways; Satellite, etc. My phone is so much easier to see/use on a bigger screen. I can select scale and modify to suit my needs, zoom in, zoom out...its not the one size fits all of the GPS.

Cost- I'm all in for about $40 as an early adopter......Onx is a bit more...now GAIA is something like $30 a year [?not sure on recent pricing]...early adopters don't pay yearly.......just the one time fee.

Flexibility; Its all on one unit...less weight, less hassle carrying one piece of gear, no additional cords

Accuracy...its every bit as accurate as any dedicated GPS.


IMO, The only reason now to buy a GPS is for 2 way communication without a cell signal.

....

The times I've needed to download maps, I haven't been able to. I've never had any issues when using my gps. To me, it's a lot more handy to have the gps over just using my phone. I guess it's just personal preference.

If carrying the weight of a gps is a problem, then I have bigger issues.

For me, having both makes it more flexible than just having one.

I won't be changing from my current setup up anytime soon, cause it works perfectly for me.

Good info, though.

 

[TripleJ]

I left my GPS with the OnX chip in camp for the 1st time this year and used my phone with OnX. What a difference, I don't imagine myself back to the old clunky GPS. I don't see the battery life argument, I was only ever able to get 1 full day out of my Garmin GPS if I left it on all day. They do last quite a long time if you turn it off after every time you use it. That's a giant pain though, because every time you turn it back on, it has to re-boot and re-establish satellite position, which can take quite a while if you're in a deep canyon or heavy tree canopy. With OnX on my phone, I get several days of battery life easily, running in Airplane mode. Meanwhile, it is on the whole time, and I have real-time up to date info of where I'm at and where I am headed. Also, the aerial photo layer in the OnX app is a total game changer to me, compared to the OnX chip on my old GPS. My long time hunting buddy was skeptical of the whole phone App thing going into our elk trip this year. The 1st day of our trip he pulled out his GPS and turned it on to boot it up several times. It's a 2 or 3 minute process every time just to find out if there's a road or trail in the bottom of the canyon we're dropping into, or to get a better understanding of where the bull we heard bugle is located. Meanwhile, I would know everything I needed to know about where we were at within a few seconds and my phone would be back in my pocket. By the second day, he just looked at my phone instead of pulling out his GPS. By the 3rd day, his GPS stayed in camp. When we got back home, he had the app immediately, and used it the whole time we were on our deer hunt a couple weeks later. The one thing the app requires is knowing the general area you will be hunting ahead of time, and getting the maps downloaded while you have coverage. I've used cellular data to download most of mine, it works just fine.

 

[bdan68]

I have Onx on my phone, for one state, and like it. But I'd never want to be without my Garmin GPS. I live in Washington and hunt Wyoming every year, but I have only paid for Washington on my phone. The extra cost to add another state (Wyoming) is just not worth it to me. I have my Garmin Montana with a Wyoming Onx map, and that works well for me. It would be nice to also have a Wyoming map on my phone, but Onx doesn't let you have a second state for a fair price. It's $30 per year to have Washington, and I think when I checked on it they wanted me to pay $100/year to add Wyoming. No thanks. For just one week of hunting per year I get by just fine with my Garmin. Even here in Washington I rely on the GPS more than the phone, for the same reasons already stated by others. Yes I know the phone GPS works without having phone service. But, very often I find myself in an area which I have not downloaded a map. So it becomes useless. But no worries because I've always got my Garmin which has the whole state of Washington.

 

[wapitibob]

You can bump up to the Elite membership on a month to month basis.

 

[Beendare]

FWIW....GAIA has the world on there all for the same price.

We were in Japan on a bullet train and just for the heck of it I opened the app to check our speed- 178 mph was the fastest I clocked. Not too shabby.....

...

 

[Tmb59181]

I like the phone with a spare charger. Unless you already own the gps. Everybody has a phone and don’t need to spend the extra money

 

[Drew]

Zero experience with basemap, but for the last two years I’ve been running my iPhone with onxmaps and it’s been all I’d ever need.
Just make sure you download the maps ahead of time. I leave it on airplane mode and carry a dark energy Poseidon for charging at night.

I haven’t even looked at my Garmin 64 since I started using OnX on my phone. I’ll sometimes carry the 64 for backup but I haven’t had to use it. I will say the 64 is better at marking exact points, like a trail cam. This year I picked up an inreach and it was to be able to check in. It’s also nice on solo trips when you need to talk to someone to keep your sanity.

 

[Foldem]

OnX on my phone with maps pre-downloaded at home then my old Delorme Inreach with the Earthmate app on my phone.

 

[Blockcaver]

GAIA on the iPhone for 5 seasons, from the high arctic down to the Sonoran desert and a bunch in between. No GPS since my $$$ touch screen Garmin with BC Backroads Maps broke....the 5th Garmin GPS that quit working over 20 or so years. During that past time frame I have not had a Blackberry or iPhone fail in 100s of times more hours of use. I haven’t used a gps since, just the GAIA app.

My original $20 one time subscription to GAIA for 5! devices was still working fine. However 2 days ago I upgraded to GAIA premium for land ownership maps, etc. It seamlessly downloaded the upgraded maps.

 

[bertha]

Zero experience with basemap, but for the last two years I’ve been running my iPhone with onxmaps and it’s been all I’d ever need.
Just make sure you download the maps ahead of time. I leave it on airplane mode and carry a dark energy Poseidon for charging at night.

same with me

 

[Kenai_dtracker]

I used OnX for the first time during the CO 3rd rifle season. I had no issues downloading multiple maps using just cell service, and I used these maps while my phone had no service and in airplane mode. It was awesome having the Sat image with the topo, and I did not use my GPS once.

With the phone (iphone xr) in airplace mode for about 12 hours, I would only go through ~25% battery life using the cached maps.

 

[Fletch]

I have quite a few GPS' and apps on my phone including OnX and Gaia but when it comes down to it I prefer USGS Topo maps (the real ones) and a compass. I take an in-reach to communicate with the wife and as an added bonus I can pull coordinates from the in-reach and plot them on the map to get a little more accuracy and check position.

I feel I get better situational awareness with the map and I take a ton of notes on the maps while I am out. I keep all my maps for future reference and its kind of fun to go back and look at your notes a few years down the road.

 

[Cast-n-blast]

Can't beat the onx map. But I never trust my phone for battery life even with a backup charger so I always carry my GPS just in case.

 

[Johnny_Outdoors]

My phone would die in like one morning haha

 

[Okie94]

OnX but I am going to buy a inreach