Ant+ phones; anyone use them for fitness logging?

geebusuk

Don't think I'll be able to justify getting an S4 which I'd like for a while. Current 7" 'fonepad' is a bit large for sports use, so thinking to get an Ant+ phone to go with my HRM/cadence sensor.

Anyone used one with sports apps; if so, what phone and how do you find.

Most are Sony and can be got for not too silly amounts second hand it seems.
Had hoped the Xperia Z would have it - being water resistant etc it'd be ideal.

ze_hombre

I wouldn't put any new money into Ant+ personally because I suspect that BLE will take over in the next year or two. I think the only thing that is truly stopping BLE from taking over is the ubiquity of Ant+ in the current market, but manufacturers wanting to get a larger market spread will gravitate to BLE since Bluetooth is more widely available for consumers (primarily smart phones). I think once Android fully goes BLE that will be the beginning of the end of Ant+. It is already starting to happen, TomTom's new line of sport watches are all BLE,

But then again, I still have a HD DVD player downstairs. :S

geebusuk

Yea, I'm kinda regretting not going BLE - but there weren't really android phones around with it when I got them and I'm not a fan of apple.

However, I could do with a normal sized phone anyway, so I thought if I'm going to spend under £150 on one and can get one with Ant+, it'd make sense to do that.

I do have an Ant+ dongle as it goes (for use on the PC), so could match that to a phone and that's what I'd try if I did get an S4 - suppose I should really get a lead and see how it goes with an existing phone. Might be able to make a mount for the 7" phone on my bike, but not sure it'll work on an arm band for running!

ze_hombre

I recently abandoned using a phone for my runs. I live the in southern US and it gets really muggy and hot here. I have killed two MP3 players and one Droid RAZR from sweat in just the past month. I looked around and decided on switching to the TomTom Multisport watch. Its a bit out of your price range you mention below but you might want to take a look at it before deciding. Its a bit rough around the edges and definitely a 1.0 release but there are supposedly updates coming to smooth some of them out.

Now if I could just find a solid water proof MP3 solution...

geebusuk

I do have a motoactv sitting around somewhere which I REALLY need to get sent back before the warranty is out.
(Claims to be waterproof, but I read up and you do have to be careful - mp3 player included, can use bluetooth.)

The thing is that for longer runs at least and most cycles I will tend to have my phone with me anyway - so it seems a bit silly to then get another device.

Had a look at the Tom Tom, looks nice, especially for being able to swim with it, but overall seems to have less features than the motoactv - including not being able to use Ant+ (the motoactv does Ant+ and BLE, as well as normal BT).

geebusuk

Just seen the xperial z ultra is weather proof and has ant+ as well as a very nice spec.
Reckon I could cope with the size, as dimensions are a good bit smaller than my current one that is only .6" bigger on the screen.

Not an amazing camera though and I was hoping for something pretty good if I was getting an expensive phone.
Price is going to be at S4 levels or so anyway.

Also - other reason for getting a new phone is my current one only has a front facing camera and that doesn't work with MFP!

hfchin

You might be in luck, looks like Samsung has begun adding ANT+ to its products.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/06/samsung-galaxy-note-10-1-2014-edition-reaches-the-fcc/

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/9/prweb11094359.htm

geebusuk

Ooo, cheers.

As it goes, the new Xperia Z1 has it and sounds like a perfect phone for me. It has a pretty good camera (ignoring the silly 18mp), is waterproof, has a good processor and screen and has Ant+ too.
Unfortunately, I found out about it the day after I paid for an Acro HD on ebay (same as the Acro S, but JDM) - need to get an adaptor for my sim that works better, but will give this a go and see if I like the general idea.