Transcript
Sam: Now Joe, I want to throw a question to you.
Joe: Yes.
Sam: I want to ask what your thoughts and opinions are on using a phone as a head unit rather than a dedicated head unit.
Joe: Yeah, so it’s an interesting one, isn’t it? I think head units have obviously been in the news quite a lot recently—we’ve had the 1050, we had the Element Ace, which was huge, and I think that was pretty widely agreed. But the thing it always seems to come back to whenever I test a head unit is they’re still a little bit slow and they’re still not as powerful as the computers we carry around in our pockets every single day. In some cases now, they’re nearly as big and as heavy—in the Ace’s case—as plenty of smartphones on the market as well. So there’s definitely a case for it.
Obviously, there are the arguments of mounting being a bit more tricky, especially if you’ve got an expensive phone. There’s also the argument of battery life. But I think, to be honest, the gap is certainly a lot narrower now between a smartphone and a head unit than it ever has been.
Sam: Yeah, well I think that’s really interesting, and I think you’re right in that a phone is packed full of technology, and you just need to unlock all of that technology. But what I think is also interesting is that we’re seeing head unit manufacturers like Garmin and Wahoo start to include features that already exist on your phone, and it could be things like being able to control Spotify—well, you can do that on your phone. Garmin, with the 1050, obviously has Garmin Pay, and you’ve probably already got Apple Pay set up.
I mean, obviously I think the GPS you have within a head unit is much stronger—it can connect to more satellites and you can get a better lock—but your phone, I think, does still make a lot of sense. And the other thing to consider, actually, on your point about mounting, is that recently I took delivery of a Quad Lock. It was actually rock solid and worked really, really well.
Joe: There’s certainly good options out there. I think the other thing that’s really important to note is a lot of these head units are serious money. They’re really not cheap— a premium head unit is very easily £300–£500 now, and in some cases more than that. There’s a lot of people that don’t want to shell out, and actually using the thing that’s already in your pocket (that most people these days have), especially for those who are new to the sport—which typically might be those who are doing less long rides as well—I think there’s certainly more of an argument for it now than there would have been a few years ago.
Sam: Agreed. And like I said, phones have so much capability within them that ultimately what you need is an app to be able to unlock all of that capability and bring it into an interface that is understandable and, to some extent, feels familiar.
There is an app called Cadence, which was developed by some guys in America, and I’ve been using it. One thing I found is that it has fully customizable layouts—you can change all the colors, the layout, the size of everything. There are over 100 different data points that you could choose between. You can have up to 16 [24] metrics on the screen at the same time, or you could just have one if you wanted. You can do whatever you like.
And with Cadence, you can connect Bluetooth sensors—so cadence, speed, heart rate, power—and it’s also compatible with radars. So if you’ve got a Garmin Varia or a Bryton Gardia, that will connect. You can connect it to exercise bikes or indoor trainers, so it’s a really versatile thing.
And ultimately, one thing that we all need a GPS computer to do is to navigate us, and of course Cadence can do navigation and routing as well, so it can do a lot.
That’s not even forgetting Strava Live Segments, so if you want to use it for training and get a little bit competitive when you’re out on the road, you can do that as well.
I think there’s a lot of merit to it, and I think that if you did want to save yourself literally hundreds of pounds on a comparable head unit with those same features, it’s worth getting Cadence. There’s a free version of the app, but there are also Pro and Elite versions that you can pay for.
I certainly think it’s worth trying, because you might find that you just don’t need a head unit.
[Transcript edited for grammar and clarity]
