^ Sounds great, might look into that or another similar rugged phone.

Communication solutions
 

Folks, I need ideas! I am an old sod and on my proposed RTW trip I hope to use either a dedicated GPS device (Garmin Zumo 660) or an iPhone 7 to find my way around. Yes, the devices are old by today's standards but will they work today?
Obviously I need in-helmet communication (don't want music, bike-to-bike, radio or person-to-person)- just want verbal directions in my helmet somehow. I wear earplugs, as I have tinnitus. Are there earbuds capable of giving verbal directions loudly enough to overcome the use of earplugs while the earplugs are in my ears or, are there earbuds capable of shutting out outside noise while giving directions , with me leaving the earplugs out altogether?

Basic Bluetooth intercom from the auction site. Mine is TCom, 44 quid. Sena etc. also work and are maybe better made on plug connectors etc. but given they cost way more and are slightly better I'm sticking to the cheap stuff. Voice directions are clear to 50/60 mph and you can tell it said something at very illegal speeds. On a big trip I'd get a spare. I carry a battery pack to re-charge when I'm off the bike, but that's only because I listened to music 10 hours a day.

Watch legislation, most places ban in-ear devices, some ban any, some ban any that can give speed trap warnings. Its easy to pull the plug off the TCom while removing the helmet to show Plod it wasn't in use :nono:

Andoid devices are now so cheap as to be disposable. I carried four on my last trip, tablet for the interweb and editing photos, my phone, works phone (free interweb anywhere) and the ancient, no sim, "burner" I use for navigation if it's too wet to leave a decent one in the tank bag pocket. I refuse to rent my own data from Apple and don't use navigation constantly, so won't carry some huge Garmin thing from the 90's.

Andy

An iPhone 7 will run a navigation app easily enough. However, I can think of a few downsides:

* It will want to do online navigation. Yes, there are offline navigation maps, but smartphones generally want to have an Internet connection, and can get testy in various unexpected ways when they don't have one. A dedicated hardware GPS will probably be better for that.

* Your old iPhone probably doesn't have much battery life any more, unless you've recently replaced the battery. Yes, you have a charger on your bike, but Things Will Happen.

* For use as a smartphone as such... I would go with a multisim device. With a slightly newer iPhone, you can use an eSim for your primary home number, and the physical SIM slot for local cards wherever you are. (The advantage of an eSIM is that the QR code for setting it up is somewhere in your email, or you can ask for a new one... so if you lose your phone in New Zealand like I did, you can regain access to your phone number and two-factor authentications.)

So if you can afford it, I think it would be better to have a separate dedicated GPS that is hardwired into the bike, has a screen that works reliably with gloves and in harsh sunlight, and boots up quickly because it only has one job to do. Keep your mobile phone separate and use it as a GPS backup.

First things first: yes, you can wear earplugs and a modern helmet intercom will sound just fine through it. Navigation directions, podcasts/audiobooks, music, whatever. I ride with foam earplugs and my Cardos do just fine.

In terms of earbuds that go inside your ears AND shut off noise - well there are a few solutions, but they are very individual. (For example, I can't use true wireless earbuds - my ears are a weird shape and the buds just fall out.) There are wired earbuds with speakers and memory-foam tips that do a decent job, if you are okay with a wire running down to your phone/nav unit, for example Koss's The Plug. The best noise-cancelling true earbuds are probably the Sony XM4 buds, if you want to spend a few hundred dollars to try if they fit in your ears and under your helmet well enough... but realistically, also thinking about battery management, I think a fixed helmet intercom and foam earplugs are a much better solution.

In terms of which helmet intercom to get... if you're riding alone and just want a connection between your helmet and your phone/nav, then your choice is really unlimited. You can go for a cheap Chinese unit from ebay/aliexpress... but I would recommend investing a little more and getting a single-rider model from one of the top brands. I currently have a Cardo Spirit HD, and in my experience it pretty much just works without hassle, whereas the Chinese units I've tried have all been annoying in small ways, so the Cardo is worth the $150 I spent on it.

A few things I have found when using smartphones as a Sat Nav.

There are loads of offline maps these days. That don't need internet. They work well and are generally more up to date than Garmin or OS.

Google Maps IS NOT one of those. Even if you download offline maps for it.

I have wrecked two phones charging sockets when charging whilst on the go. These sockets are not designed for movement. So if you use a phone, rely on battery power only. Or charge when in a tank top bag where the cable isn't moving.

Blackview phones are full IP67 waterproof. And they work well as sat navs. But they are also notorious for uploading your privacy to China.

Or use wireless charging. Lots of options for holders with wireless charging pads these days.

Aye. But they're rather expensive aren't they. Do they work in heavy rain too ??

They are getting cheaper very quickly.

I have an SW Motech cockpit mount on my bike, and right now I have modified it to work with an SP Connect puck. The wireless charging module is 60 euros - but that's a branded, moto-specific, weatherproof one. The kit came with a big waterproof case that's way oversized for modern smartphones, so I looked at putting a powerbank under the phone inside a case - and there are already very affordable power banks with built-in wireless charging.

This fella is 40 euros in a local shop, with wireless charging off a 10,000 mAh internal battery:
https://vsf-api.klick.ee/img/806/100.../1/_/1_441.jpg

As for heavy rain, well the default answer is, I would trust a moto-specific wireless charging pad in any weather where I would also feel OK about leaving the phone on the mount, rather than putting it away in my pocket.

I used a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 on a trip last year, mounted onto a Quadlock wireless charging base with the vibration damper. The screen was too dim/small to see very well, the vibration mount allowed the phone to move too much so even if it had been bright enough to see, it was blurred. I could remove the vibration mount but the camera would probanly not survive. I think this solution would be great for off-road or at least slower routes but around France and Italy it wasn't very useful.

I've also got an iPhone 11 pro max which I put in the map pocket of my tank bag but again it wasn't easy to see. Maybe if I'd mounted it better ?

I'm glad I had the Zumo XT too which was always easy to see, bright, stable and fast to recalculate when I made a mistake. A dedicated GPS device is still the best solution especially if you're riding through cities or towns.

But for India I'm going to take the Zumo only for the main roads and use Osmand Maps and iOverlander on the iPhone as Garmin doesn't have the detail for Ladakh. Plus there are fewer roads to worry about :)

If your smartphone cover support wireless charging and fits well into the holder, it will work. Never buy a holder which offers a fixed charging socket, better choose one with a flexible cable to connect the phone.

But be aware that vibrations will kill the autofocus and picture stabilisation mode of your smartphone camera. Apple send out an official warning for this in 2020 but also Android ones who offer same camera features wil suffer from this after some time.

Another point when using a smartphone as a navi is display damage through sunlight. Direct sun irradiation and high temperature damage a display sometimes quicker than you think.(The display of a 4 months old Samsung A52 of my nephew got killed by this 3 weeks ago when he forgot to take out of sun while he was in the pool. 3 hrs of sun and heat to the display were enough...)

It seems a dedicated Sat Nav is still the way to go.

With a smart phone as a back up.

:rain:I was finding that the charging lead kept falling out of the phone when travelling along. I solved it with a magnetic connector that has more give and reconnects without falling away. The only downside with it is that the charging rate is not very quick - it keeps up and charges the phone but the other day it went from 10% to 40% in a two hour ride - two hours would normally take it from 10% to 80+% - but it didn’t disconnect at all so I will stick with it. This is the sort of thing I mean.

Interesting about the phone screen deteriorating - I have taken to removing the phone from its case to reduce the build up of heat.

This wouldn't be a good choice if you want to travel to US. First it doesn't support some common 4G LTE frequencies and second it doesn't support 5G.

US telcos actively rolling out 5G coverage by recycling 3G bands so if phone doesn't support something like band 66 or n71 it would have alot of no coverage outside of urban areas.

I mean yes, that first post is from December 2018 :) I am sure there are modern equivalents.

Irregardless majority of modern phones will have this issue. US carriers are known for using oddball frequencies especially T-mobile or any prepaid service based off them.