Smart Phone versus dedicated GPS

On my recent hunt I tried out the cellphone with the onxmaps app. I put my iPhone 6 on airplane mode with low screen brightness, like everyone says to do, turned on the Onxmaps app... my battery life drained FAST! 5-6min. of use and my battery charge dropped 35%. There is no way i could use this setup alone for a full day of hunting. The app worked great, but battery usage sucked. (maybe someone has more tricks to conserving battery life)

I now carry my Garmin 64st as a primary and will only use the cell phone as a backup or for more detailed info.

VikingsGuy said:

Not fan-boying, both are good platforms, but just to add info to the discussion, the most recent iphones are water resistant as well.

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I noticed that. Also - no headphone jack on the new iphones either, which seems like a blessing & a curse depending on your desire to be bluetooth only.

Some days, I miss that old flip phone.

RedRaider13 said:

On my recent hunt I tried out the cellphone with the onxmaps app. I put my iPhone 6 on airplane mode with low screen brightness, like everyone says to do, turned on the Onxmaps app... my battery life drained FAST! 5-6min. of use and my battery charge dropped 35%. There is no way i could use this setup alone for a full day of hunting. The app worked great, but battery usage sucked. (maybe someone has more tricks to conserving battery life)

I now carry my Garmin 64st as a primary and will only use the cell phone as a backup or for more detailed info.

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How old is your phone? Sound like your battery needs replaced.

I use an iphone5, airplane mode, full bright, tracking on, and battery lasts one full day.

utahminer said:

How old is your phone? Sound like your battery needs replaced.

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My phones not that old, year or so maybe. It holds a charge for two days under normal use. OnX just seems to drain it. I'll take the battery replacement under advisement though.

RedRaider13 said:

My phones not that old, year or so maybe. It holds a charge for two days under normal use. OnX just seems to drain it. I'll take the battery replacement under advisement though.

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So we have one vote for "lasts one full day" and one vote for "5-6min" would be good to hear what type of battery life others are getting from onX on an iphone.

RedRaider13 said:

My phones not that old, year or so maybe. It holds a charge for two days under normal use. OnX just seems to drain it. I'll take the battery replacement under advisement though.

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I have an Iphone 7, because it is the only phone that our IT department will work with, and it doesnt seem to me that bad (still not as good an the two year old LG G3 I had before). My Iphone 5 died very quicklyif it was cold. This will be my first season with my 7, so I am interested in seeing how the battery reacts. I should have asked what the temperature was, when your phone died so quickly. I had to keep my 5 in a pocket with a hand warmer. If it got cold it would die instantly, but if warmed up it would turn back on with a decrease in battery life.

VikingsGuy said:

So we have one vote for "lasts one full day" and one vote for "5-6min" would be good to hear what type of battery life others are getting from onX on an iphone.

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My buddy uses it on his Iphone6 and battery will certainly last all day, probably 2.

I have zero use for a dedicated GPS unless I need a backup. Phone with charging pack or spare batteries is all I use. How much crap can a guy carry?

schmalts said:

I have zero use for a dedicated GPS unless I need a backup. Phone with charging pack or spare batteries is all I use. How much crap can a guy carry?

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GPS aside, for some of us gadget hounds if we aren't careful the answer is, "a lot".

I am right in the middle of researching/deliberating on this this issue now. For this season, I will only need one state, and my phone is a Samsung Galaxy. I just finished the OnX trial and used it during a scouting trip. Worked great, other than the fact that setting waypoints via a screen tap seemed imprecise. (This may have been my user error?)

I briefly considered adapting a Garmin Nuvi or an Android tablet for dedicated OnX GPS use, due to the massive screen size, but both reportedly have poor battery life, and the form factor is certainly luxurious, but too big for me.

I run redundant backup gear (multiple lights, extra clothing, lighter plus matches, etc) , and plan to buy a handheld Garmin touchscreen GPS unit and run OnX on both my phone and the GPS. The two largest (screen size) touch screen GPS handhelds to run OnX (for those new to this) are the Garmin Oregon and the Garmin Montana series. The Montana has the largest screen size, and the largest form factor. It is WAY thicker than a cell phone.

For those wanting to run a decent Garmin touchscreen as backup, a factory refurbished 600 Series Garmin Oregon runs $220-$275. The Montana series is more $$.