My phone will go for about three to four hours of constant gps use with a full battery charge. Replacement batteries for it are about 8 dollars. So, with one replacement battery, it's good for about 6-8 hours. If you can't find your way to wherever it is you're going in 6-8 hours, I can't imagine that you'd do any better with a standalone GPS. Other than a 6 hour white-out, I can't really think of any situations where I'd be using it constantly. I generally navigate with a map and compass, and use the GPS as a back-up and for confirming my location when I'm unsure of where I am. If you're really worried about battery life, you could carry 3 replacement batteries and still be carrying less weight and bulk than a typical standalone gps unit.
No buttons. I prefer the touch screen, but I guess that's a personal choice.
My phone has bulletproof construction. It's waterproof, drop-resistant, crush resistant, etc. You could drop if on talus from head height with no worries. You can drive over it with your car and it will not break (although the screen may scratch) I've dropped it and dunked it and abused it plenty, with no ill effects.
I use my phone as a gps all the time. Never had any "bugs." It's reliable, and doesn't crash. The navigation programs I use are stable.
No pressure altimeter, but I generally have a Suunto watch with an altimeter on it, so I don't care about this point.
My phone has a magnetic compass. It also has a nice inclinometer app for measuring slope angles when skiing.
It's smaller and more compact than any standalone GPS I've used, and easily fits in a pocket.
logsden wrote:I have yet to see a phone/GPS combo that comes anywhere close to the battery life or reliability I'd want in the back-country. Worst case scenario - i.e. using a GPS for non-stop glacier navigation in a whiteout above tree line for a few hours straight...I really do not want to be wondering if my charge is going to last...
My list of criteria that most (or all) phone-GPS units do NOT currently meet.
- long battery life
- replaceable batteries
- actual buttons, no touch screen. Whether or not the screen CAN work with gloves, I prefer real buttons when I'm wearing gloves. Easier to use, imho
- bulletproof construction - capable of handling a drop or two into the talus from waist height w/o crapping out. It will happen. I've shattered a phone's screen from a height I'd sure as heck hope wouldn't kill my GPS.
- completely reliable, non-buggy interface/programming. So far the phone GPS's I've seen can give great, high quality maps...usually. But one or two hiccups from any background programs and I'll chuck the thing in the trailhead trash (think Angry Birds or sleep mode interrupting your plotting of a course in the middle of said white-out with a hypothermic partner and failing daylight...whatever. I have yet to see anything that truly sheds all the extraneous programming when you are actually using it AS a GPS)
- Pressure altimeter - a useful added tool on any GPS
- magnetic compass - even more useful tool with any GPS
- small and compact - small enough to fit in any pocket.
Even several GPS units don't fully meet my criteria.
My current recommendation - Garmin eTrex 30. Simple, small, reliable, easy to use, all the features I want, not much that I don't.