Will the HTC Incredible 4G be a good choice for GPS?

MST.ESQ

MST.ESQ

New Member
I am waiting for the official Verizon release of the HTC Incredible 4G. Is it worth the wait? I plan on running MapMyRide and/or Strava.

I have never owned an Android phone so I ask for input from those who do. My choice is based on the fact that the new phone is not HUGE like the current trend and it runs ICS 4.x which our IT is comfortable with.

Please no "buy an iToy" advice. I need a phone that will accept a micro-SD card, can be charged without a proprietary cable and will allow battery changes on very long rides.
 
get the biggest battery you can. I actually got the droid razor maxx for two weeks and returned it and got the new blackberry instead. I used the navigation function for 45 minutes and it took 50% out of the battery. I need a phone that can last more than 8 to 10 hours on regular usage. And one that doesn't take another 8 hours to charge. I have a garmin for my bike. And as for battery life, Iphones are the worst.

The verizon store gave me a two week return option if I didn't like it, you could probably try one out.
 
I'm assuming your talking about using it as a GPS for riding?

I used an original droid for a while paired with MyTracks i think was the app. It was ok. I don't think it would work well enough to follow someone else's track, at least not in the woods. The GPS antenna just isn't as good as a stand alone GPS device. You can end up with some pretty wild data as the signal drops in and out. It worked good enough though for tracking ride data, I would keep mine in a ziplock bag in my jersey pocket.

Edit: Regarding battery life- turn off the 4g antenna and you can easily use them all day. You may be able to turn the cell/data connection off entirely if you don't need the map functions, the GPS track will overlay onto google maps or wherever when you export it.
 
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I have a Droid X and use AllSportsGPS to map/track my rides. I like the way it works. I did upgrade my battery over the winter because the GPS does have a tendency to suck down the battery and this helped a lot.
 
Yes, I will be using it on the bike, both mtb and road. I carry a cell-phone at all times anyway for safety reasons so I would prefer to continue using it for basic GPS exercise tracking. Also, good point on battery life. I turned off the wifi on my BB since I have an unlimited 3G data plan and the battery life immediately doubled.
 
MST.ESQ said:
Please no "buy an iToy" advice. I need a phone that will accept a micro-SD card, can be charged without a proprietary cable and will allow battery changes on very long rides.
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If it's not an "i" something, it's pure shit! You're just throwing away your money.

Blair said:
I actually got the droid razor maxx for two weeks and returned it and got the new blackberry instead. I used the navigation function for 45 minutes and it took 50% out of the battery. I need a phone that can last more than 8 to 10 hours on regular usage
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FWIW I don't think navigation is regular usage on a phone. I keep my phone plugged in to the charger while using the google nav. Keep in mind you're pulling a constant data stream, GPS stream, and running the screen on top of the CPU resources to coordinate it all.

MST.ESQ said:
Yes, I will be using it on the bike, both mtb and road. I carry a cell-phone at all times anyway for safety reasons so I would prefer to continue using it for basic GPS exercise tracking. Also, good point on battery life. I turned off the wifi on my BB since I have an unlimited 3G data plan and the battery life immediately doubled.
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IMO you'll probably have poor battery life running the GPS constantly even if you switch off the data connection. I can't say for sure but my gut is telling me it's not going to be pretty either way.
 
I would go with the Droid RAZR MAXX (I personally have the Galaxy Nexus and RAZR). It will have much better battery life than the Incredible 4G. HTC has been notorious for providing poor battery life on Verizon 4G LTE (HTC Thunderbolt). The MAXX is also water resistant, which can come in handy if you get caught in the rain. I know you are looking to get something with ICS, but the RAZR series should be updated with ICS within the next month.
 
koolshaggy said:
I would go with the Droid RAZR MAXX (I personally have the Galaxy Nexus and RAZR).
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How do you like the razr vs the galaxy nexus? I like the unlocked bootloader and ROM support for the gnex but the radio and GPS reception (compared with my 2 previous moto android devices) is horrendous. I've come close to smashing my galaxy nexus on the ground more than once. Ok, more than like 5 times. I can have my phone next to my wife's bionic and mine wont have a data connection while she has full 4g strength.
 
no "get an iToy", but why not the Garmin Edge 200? It's a great value at $150 and worth having a specific bike computer.

I understand the "I have my phone on me already" reasoning. I hate riding with my phone in my pocket, but I know the day I don't have it, I will regret it dearly.
 
rlb said:
How do you like the razr vs the galaxy nexus? I like the unlocked bootloader and ROM support for the gnex but the radio and GPS reception (compared with my 2 previous moto android devices) is horrendous. I've come close to smashing my galaxy nexus on the ground more than once. Ok, more than like 5 times. I can have my phone next to my wife's bionic and mine wont have a data connection while she has full 4g strength.
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Love the Nexus, despite it's flaws (GPS, Radio, Poor Battery Life). I'm hopeful that the 4.04 software update will fix the issues (my sources say it will). The RAZR doesn't have those issues, but I also can't root it and remove all of the 32 bloatware apps that are preinstalled on it. (I have my work's corporate security enforced on it).
 
Droid 2 Global

I use sporttracker on my Droid 2 Global with an extended battery. I have no problem going 4 hours plus ride with the cell service and gps service on the whole time. I don't use it for navigation though. Just tracking my ride. Screen use is the #1 killer for the battery life.
 
I used my iPhone for over an year to track rides. It was an OK experience. But it does get old for a variety of reasons. If you're gonna track things once a week or so, I think it'll be fine. But if you're riding like 5 times a week and want to track everything, best to have a dedicated device .. I think it's worth the investment.
 
I tracked sever 6+ hour rides on my OG droid, but that was screen off in pocket, and it was also a 3g phone with respectable battery life.

On the Nexus vs Razr question, I recently picked up a Nexus for myself and a Razr Maxx for the Fiance. Having spent some time on both, I am definitely frustrated at times with the antenna issues on the Nexus, but for the most part its solid and the baseband/radio updates associated with 4.0.4 rollout supposedly improve this. You can grab them now if you're rooted, I haven't bothered yet. Outside of that, I absolutley love the phone- I much prefer vanilla ICS over the skinned Moto (Motoblur?) UI on the Razr, which has some bugs/issues of its own.

+1 on getting a dedicated Bike GPS. I carry my phone as well- but can't ride without the added functionality a garmin GPS provides (more accurate tracks, courses to follow, HR/Cadence data).
 
I looked into the Garmin but decided against it for two reasons. MapMyRide automatically uploads to the system without having to plug a head unit into a computer, etc. Also, I tend to "explore" when riding the road bike so I need some sort of searchable mapping feature such as Google Maps to get me back on course. I already have a cycle computer that does speed, cadence and distance and I carry my phone on every ride (by order of the wife) so the Garmin does not really help in my case.
 
Btw, both Garmin and Strava have Android apps now. I heard they're both pretty good.
 
soundz said:
Btw, both Garmin and Strava have Android apps now. I heard they're both pretty good.
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i use strava to track my runs (on my "iToy") and i find it to be much more reliable than RunKeeper. at least so far.
 
pearl said:
no "get an iToy", but why not the Garmin Edge 200? It's a great value at $150 and worth having a specific bike computer.

I understand the "I have my phone on me already" reasoning. I hate riding with my phone in my pocket, but I know the day I don't have it, I will regret it dearly.
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This is what I would recommend as well. I ride with a Garmin 705, and sometimes my phone when I feel that it wont pop out of my back pocket on my jersey. or if i ride with my camelbak...Even though, i still like having my garmin. You dont want your phone taking flying rocks and sticks...or sweaty fingers....
 
I have a Galaxy Nexus and while I've been able to get great battery life out of it with the tweaks I've done, IMO, a smartphone just doesn't cut it as a bike computer.

I first got the idea to use the phone when I read the thread about putting the trail maps on your Garmin 800. I wanted to find a way to use those same maps on Google Maps and view them on my phone. Long story short, GMaps can't upload kmz files with image overlays, so I traced each trail in a path on GEarth, then uploaded from there. Tried it at 6MR, it and it worked. Somewhat. Perfect for seeing where you are on the trail, but now you have to run another app for stats. I've used Mapmyride, MyTracks and a couple of other apps, that all basically do the same thing, with only a few differences between them.

The main issue I have with using a phone is, they're just too damn big. Even an iPhone. The large screen is great for using the map, but how often do you really need it? The phone is cumbersome, too fragile, either keep it in your pocket, or find a mount that might be secure enough. If you want the most accurate stats, there are very few phones that can use an ANT+ speed sensor.

Bottom line is I'm getting an Edge 800 and keeping my phone in my backpack for if I need it.
 
I have an HTC Thunderbolt with AllSportsGPS to track my rides. I've used it for a little over a year now and I have no complaints. Well, just make sure the battery is fully charged or close to it. My longest ride was about four hours and the battery was able to keep up with the needs of the phone. I keep the phone in my backpack while I ride. Note, that I said "track my rides" as I don't use it to follow a route.
 
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