November 22, 2021
The Umidigi Bison
Finding the Way in the Rain
There was a time when Dodie, our navigator, worked solely from paper maps. This really suited her basic preferences, because she is at heart a hand crafter. Electronic things make her nervous and uncomfortable. It's a big difference from me, who will tinker with anything electrical or mechanical, and who thinks watching "The Eight Bit Guy" on Youtube is ideal for bedtime stories.
The paper maps era began to end when I got a smartphone with installed offline maps. Then, when I decided that we were lost or going in circles, I would switch it on to have a look. The darn thing had a start up tune, and when Dodie heard that, her head would swivel (like in the Exorcist) and she would snarl "Turn that damn thing off!".
But the value of the phone and the built in maps was apparent, and in time Dodie too became an aficionado. In fact she became very adept, and could unerringly guide us to any marker or along any gpx route. We briefly tried dedicated GPS units, but soon found Android smart phones and apps like Osmand+ to be most versatile. But we often ride in drenching all day downpours. How to have a smartphone out where it can be followed in that?
Our answer was in handlebar mounted, custom fit to the phone, waterproof cases. We found one for the Samsung S3, and again for the S5-neo. These worked well, totally protecting the phones in the worst weather, and allowing reasonably easy installation and removal of the phone. But in time the clear plastic case covers became warped, making the phone harder to control, and the S5 itself also began to seem rather slow and dated.
I felt there was an answer in the newish breed of waterproof phones, ones that claimed to meet an IP68 and IP69K rating. IP69 is the highest standard of "Ingress Protection" available. You should be able to go swimming with an IP68 or 69 phone.
Most newer models of Samsung or Apple phones meet this standard. That must be one of the reasons for gluing the darn things shut, making them hard to service. But some also have protective membranes inside.
These phones can be an option, but they also tend to be quite costly. My eye instead was caught by a generation of "ruggedized" phones, with examples like the Ulephone Armour 12 or the Blackview BL6000 Pro. Of this type I liked the Umidigi Bison, which was essentially the lowest priced and had decent specs. To get the phone on the handlebar, there are various styles of mounts. Each of these would hold the "naked" phone out in the rain, where it would presumably be saved by its IP69 rating.
The Bison arrived, and Dodie hated it immediately, though it had been designed for outdoor adventurers, like her! This included extra buttons on the outside. One was for Zello, a walky talky app. Another was multi function, responding variously to one and two touches, and a long press. And the thing had a bumpy lanyard mount on the back.
Of course, I loved it. This included the zippy wallpaper. Dodie hated the wallpaper. She had me take a photo of our dull boring dining room wallpaper, and put that in! And she had me pull out all the apps, leaving just Osmand+ on the home screen. (Not interested in the Compass, Spirit Level, Plumb Bob, NFC, Barometer, etc. etc. )
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2 years ago
Dodie cited the day the Umidigi arrived as the worst day of the week, or maybe month. I'd say this pretty much dissuaded me from calling this her anniversary present, even though 54 years is not supposed to be a special one!
p.s. I think I can report that so far the Umidigi and its mount are working fine!
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2 years ago
Somehow we doubt a cell phone can survive indefinitely on the handlebar but expect our cheap bike computer to be out there season after season.
Hey, did you see my yellow bike helmet on the new gear page!
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