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The subtle vibration and the ability to glance at the next instruction are pretty helpful. An ear bud is just going to make the voice louder than on my phone or
by rubyfan 10y ago
The subtle vibration and the ability to glance at the next instruction are pretty helpful. An ear bud is just going to make the voice louder than on my phone or when connected to my car audio. The point is, I'm usually not waiting to listen the next instruction and usually listening to music instead. Without the watch I usually miss the instruction or part of it then have to take my eyes off the road. Like I said, the feature is subtle but well done imo.
Also 2016 C-Class is probably not a good investment if that's your killer feature ;-)
Seriously though, some of us are frugal and won't spend our money on new cars. Bluetooth connectivity is nice but not really worth the investment in a vehicle if you already own one in good repair. A watch is orders of magnitude cheaper.
- MichaelGG 10y agoWhy not just mount your phone up in a visible place, turn off audio nav, and leave it in car mode? If you're unfamiliar with the place, surely the map overview is helpful, especially in nontrivial lane/turn scenarios. I get that the vibration is useful to tell you to pay attention, and maybe current map software can't just provide a quick ping sound without screwing up music playback. But I'm not sure why glancing down at your hands is a good idea.
- rubyfan 10y agoYeah I have one of those phone mount things too and Waze is running on the phone with Maps in the background to shout the audio instructions. The pre instruction vibration is great for just that reason, to tell me to pay attention. Usually a few minutes after the most recent instruction I zone out, so when I'm glancing down at the watch I'm looking for mileage until the next instruction. Also, sometimes I play Slacker radio from the phone too, which the phone does a decent job of interrupting the music and speaking the instruction for. Also I have the Automatic OBD plug which audibly alerts me when I'm speeding and a bidirectional dash camera that fits over my mirror, you know just in case an accident or something. Hmm, after writing all this out I'm thinking I might have over done it with car gadgets.
- hx87 10y ago'Frugal' means different things to people with varying preferences--to me, buying an Apple Watch isn't frugal. Even if you're frugal, pretty much every car that doesn't have Bluetooth A2DP has at least an AUX input, and the ones that don't can either add one as a CD changer emulator or have a tape deck (and thus can use a cassette adapter). Pop in a $13 Bluetooth A2DP adapter on the end, mount your phone on the dash or windshield, and boom, you can stream music while car nav interrupts only when it has something to say. Much cheaper and better solution than a vibrating watch.