What is the best phone for running Strava?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by dustyyoungblood, Oct 11, 2017.


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  1. Technology wise, do any of the currently available smart phones have superior hardware for tracking rides on Strava?
     
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  2. scottay

    scottay Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Gods Country
    Name:
    Scottay
    Old Apple phones give the best times. I've seen Apple watches give great times too.
    .
    Or did you want accuracy? :)
     
  3. Sidewalk

    Sidewalk iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    The road is where I call home
    Name:
    Josh
    Current Bike:
    N+1
    I use a dedicated GPS. Can't stand using a phone for Strava, for a multitude of reasons.

    Currently running an old Garmin 800 I found cheap. It is 2 generations old, but still runs great with lots of fancy stuff on it. Lots of cheap, reliable GPS units these days.
     
    RS VR6, Luis, Mikie and 2 others like this.
  4. Runs with Scissors

    Runs with Scissors iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    West Anaheim
    Name:
    Mark Whitaker
    Current Bike:
    Giant XTC with pedals
    Agree with this ^^. You can get a Garmin 500 Edge for under $200. Battery life is at least 12 hours. Has the ability to track anything youd want. :thumbsup:

    If you want unearned elevation, borrow @Faust29's phone. :laugh:
     
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  5. Faust29

    Faust29 Moderator

    Location:
    irgendwo
    Name:
    B. Bunny
    Current Bike:
    I gots some bikes.
    The newest iPhones use both GPS and GLONASS, which is the same as my Garmin... But, I don't believe they are the same in real life use. The Garmin can lock onto quite a few satellites at the same time, which increases accuracy. I can pull up a screen on the 510 that shows the satellites in use. Also... I believe that the "ping frequency" is slower on a phone to save battery. So, it can miss some smaller ups and downs that a dedicated GPS unit catches.

    Only my personal observations from running both at the same time.
     
  6. riiz

    riiz Member

    Location:
    Redlands, CA
    Name:
    Eric
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Heckler/Killmaleon
    I've had good results from the Galaxy Active lines, I started with a 6th gen cause it was water proof and had a much larger battery than the normal models.
     
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  7. Mikie likes this.
  8. Using an iPhone myself, and ride with guys on Garmins. One things fore sure, while the iPhone may have the same capability, it appears the sample rate is less frequent. I see blips in the data when moving fast through directional changes that garmins seem to pick up better. But this doesn't surprise me. I'd expect the farmin to be "better"

    But phones.... what's better? Or is the hardware all the same and it comes down to software and antenna design?
     
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  9. konakc

    konakc iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    kc
    It doesn't matter. Strava is the same.. whether Android or Apple... Strava will still run when you don't have connection via the GPS..
    Dedicated GPS, my opinion is superfluous... Strava works great for tracking your miles, trails, etc.. even use it to find trails in new areas, to explore...
    works in the Santa Anas, the San Gabriels, Big bear,, etc...
     
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  10. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    iPhones, FTW
     
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  11. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    I'm in the same boat. I use a Garmin Edge 700 Series. Yeah I don't get to look at my stats online while the dust settles, But I too like having a dedicated unit to cycling.
     
    Sidewalk likes this.
  12. doublewide

    doublewide iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    Mark
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Tallcan
  13. UPSed

    UPSed iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Simi Valley
    Name:
    Ed
    Current Bike:
    Niner Jet 9 RDO
    I've had better results with this.PRODPIC-1512.jpg
     
  14. Sidewalk

    Sidewalk iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    The road is where I call home
    Name:
    Josh
    Current Bike:
    N+1
    I miss Wankel phones :(
     
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  15. Cyclotourist

    Cyclotourist iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Redlands
    Name:
    David
    Current Bike:
    Don't fence me in!
    CaptainAmerica1_zps8c295f96.JPG
     
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  16. doublewide

    doublewide iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    Mark
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Tallcan
    Join the "Club"..... :whistling:
     
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  17. scan

    scan iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    fran allas
    Current Bike:
    Scott Spark
    Not so sure about that. I only use my Nexus phone and have compared to other riders on the same rides with other phones, and with those who are using Garmin GPS. It seems to depend on which model phone you have. Location of the ride too is a factor. In Vegas, apparently the canyon walls screwed up my track (and most of mine are good). More often than not, my data is pretty good relative to a Garmin (+/- 200ft elevation, +- 0-2 miles distance)
    Agree with you here from my experiences.

    BUT if you're drinking TW you can expect +20-30% in all categories:Roflmao;);), that's what I hear anyway.
     
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  18. Faust29

    Faust29 Moderator

    Location:
    irgendwo
    Name:
    B. Bunny
    Current Bike:
    I gots some bikes.
    That might be true for shorter rides, but only the monster plus sized phones have enough battery for a good death march. It's the whole reason I switched from phone to GPS. What good is the phone if it dies after 7 or 8 hours of Strava?
     
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  19. konakc

    konakc iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    kc
    Never had battery issues... but never been on 8 hour plus ride...
    Yikes!
     
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  20. mtnbikej

    mtnbikej J-Zilla

    Location:
    Orange
    Name:
    J
    Current Bike:
    SC Chameleon SS, SC Hightower

    You've never been on any of my rides. :sneaky::whistling::rolleyes:
     
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  21. Sidewalk

    Sidewalk iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    The road is where I call home
    Name:
    Josh
    Current Bike:
    N+1
    You can save battery power on your phone by leaving it in airplane mode. Strava does use data while riding and will suck up even more battery power. I have used my 800 on a 13 hour day not having to worry about my phone.
     
  22. Faust29

    Faust29 Moderator

    Location:
    irgendwo
    Name:
    B. Bunny
    Current Bike:
    I gots some bikes.
    And it's considerably less if you run a heart rate monitor... I made the switch to GPS in the iPhone 4S days. I was getting 4 hours max, which left me with a dead phone and incomplete ride record. The smaller phones may be better now, but they won't come close to a dedicated GPS unit for battery life. 12 hours at the Redlands 100 and it still had 40% left...

    With that said, however, the phone has saved my butt a few times with navigation... When my bread crumb line on the Garmin was inconclusive, the MTB Project App provided the answer with detailed maps and accurate position.
     
  23. DangerDirtyD

    DangerDirtyD iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    CA
    Name:
    Chicken Nugget
    Current Bike:
    2018 Guerrilla Gravity SMASH
    I use dedicated GPS for work, it's required for sub-meter accuracy even though I'm not building pianos or bridges. If I'm lucky, I get to use a bicycle to reach the project sites.
     
  24. Runs with Scissors

    Runs with Scissors iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    West Anaheim
    Name:
    Mark Whitaker
    Current Bike:
    Giant XTC with pedals
    Longest ride I've done is 10.5 hours; my Garmin still had over 30% battery life when I turned it off. :thumbsup: I always have my phone with me in my jersey pocket (to cushion my back during falls :whistling:), so if I get unsure of my route I can use it for that.

    Not even an iPhone would last through that long a ride. ;)
     
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  25. scan

    scan iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    fran allas
    Current Bike:
    Scott Spark
    I have a feeling a majority of the riders on imtb ride less than 4 hrs on average. My phone is a couple of years old and handles 6ish hr ride without a problem, and you can go in airplane if needed.
     
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  26. DangerDirtyD

    DangerDirtyD iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    CA
    Name:
    Chicken Nugget
    Current Bike:
    2018 Guerrilla Gravity SMASH
    ...per month. :thumbsdown:
     
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  27. AKAKTM

    AKAKTM Well-Known Member

    Location:
    SCV
    Name:
    Tony A
    For the record, my Apple Watch Series 2 will go comfortable 8 - 9 hours with GPS and heart rate monitoring going. I've tried it on one MTB ride and two 100 mile road rides of that length and still had more than 15% remaining. The watch did better than I expected in all areas. My iPhone 7 will go 12+ hours running Strava NOT in airplane mode. Even with it using data and receiving text messages, it gets 12+ hours with reserve battery. That said, I almost exclusively use the watch now since it does well with GPS and has a great deal of detail on heart performance.
     
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  28. RS VR6

    RS VR6 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Valencia/Simi
    Name:
    Lee
    Current Bike:
    Banshee Shartfire/Chiner 29r
    I've always been paranoid of my battery dying on a ride...even though my rides are typically 2 hours long:sleep:. Phone batteries these days are getting better life than before...but you never know about battery life though. You could have that one rogue app deciding on that day to use a ridiculous amount of power. My GF had an iPhone that lasted no more than three hours on a full charge with heavy use. She later found that it was her email. She has so much junk mail coming in that it was killing her data and battery.

    I would agree with the other guys on getting a standalone GPS. Even the lower cost GPS units have bluetooth...so as soon as you stop the GPS...it'll automatically upload your ride.

    We're coming up in the time of year where businesses will start discounting. I picked up a Garmin 520 for $240 from Evan Cycles in the UK about a year ago...a few weeks later my GF got hers from the same place for $220:rolleyes:.

    If you're looking for something real basic...you can look into the Garmin 20 or 25 (I think the 25 has bluetooth for auto uploads). They are real small. Lezyne also has some smaller basic GPS's.
     
  29. knucklebuster

    knucklebuster Well-Known Member

    Location:
    34.2295° N, 117.2257° W
    Name:
    Dave
    Current Bike:
    Guerrilla Gravity Megatrail
    Derail time.... who was the genius that came up with "911" for emergencies. Seems like it took 5-10 seconds for the rotary dial to return after 'dialing' the 9. And remember the first pushbutton phones, that just mimicked the rotary pulses, so really weren't any faster? Hit the 9 button and you hear 9 clicks.... The good ole days eh
     
  30. Runs with Scissors

    Runs with Scissors iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    West Anaheim
    Name:
    Mark Whitaker
    Current Bike:
    Giant XTC with pedals
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As a former Amazon Associate I continue to get screwed trying to stay qualified as an Amazon Affiliate. So I quit!


Want to donate to imtbtrails?