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PerthDisco
10th January 2026, 02:55 PM
There may be a better section for this question but I know a lot of you are experts on this and I know virtually nothing.

My question actually relates to an off road motorbike. I want to replace the analog speedo with a 5" rugged android device that can run an independant nav app (recommendations welcome). This will give me a speed reading in any case.

Looking at Aliexpress there is a huge amount of devices meeting the size and rugged spec however they are always focused on Carplay so I can't work out if you can load seperate apps? You'd do this via WiFi connection at home I would imagine?

Because power is in short supply it is better if the Iphone is in the pocket doing nothing so I can focus on powering the android device and not having two devices working hard.

I know the device will need to have a GPS chip.

Can anyone give me some pointers so I can refine the search. At around $50 there's some great options if they will do what I need.

Thanks

loanrangie
11th January 2026, 10:00 AM
If its android based you just load apps from the play store or side load from another website, i wouldn't think anything in that price range would be any good.
A cheap used android phone will do what you need - Got a link to them ?

And i'll move this to the correct section.

PerthDisco
11th January 2026, 11:44 AM
Thanks. My brief searching told me that the IPhone is a dud because you need a naked fingertip and rain causes the screen to react and cameras get damaged with vibration. Not sure if android phone would have same issues. The tablets seem to have a rugged milspec category specifically for outdoor use. Obviously would spend more for good unit but prices seem ridiculous across the board.

The specs never mention storage capacity.

Thanks for moving.

loanrangie
11th January 2026, 12:15 PM
This looks ok for the price, at least with Amazon you can return it easily if its a dog.

Rimoody Motorcycle Carplay Screen Wireless Android Auto for Moto Airplay Android Cast, 7 Inches Waterproof Touchscreen Motorbike Car Play Motorcycle Sat Nav, EQ, Bluetooth, : Amazon.com.au: Electronics (https://www.amazon.com.au/Rimoody-Motorcycle-Portable-Wireless-Bluetooth/dp/B0DSPKNJLJ?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A37CO741OJBB7W)

craigbushman
4th February 2026, 10:53 AM
There may be a better section for this question but I know a lot of you are experts on this and I know virtually nothing.

My question actually relates to an off road motorbike. I want to replace the analog speedo with a 5" rugged android device that can run an independant nav app (recommendations welcome). This will give me a speed reading in any case.

Looking at Aliexpress there is a huge amount of devices meeting the size and rugged spec however they are always focused on Carplay so I can't work out if you can load seperate apps? You'd do this via WiFi connection at home I would imagine?

Because power is in short supply it is better if the Iphone is in the pocket doing nothing so I can focus on powering the android device and not having two devices working hard.

I know the device will need to have a GPS chip.

Can anyone give me some pointers so I can refine the search. At around $50 there's some great options if they will do what I need.

Thanks

It might be worth your while looking at a phone-sized ex-industrial Panasonic Toughpad device. One which might suit your needs is the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-N1. You can get them on ebay out of japan pretty cheap (A$100-ish) or out of Germany or the UK if you want to pay more.

The FZ-N1 is older tech but later Marks of the device (Mk 3) can be progressively updated to Android 11 I believe. If you don't care about the android version because it's just a GPS speedo and a navigator for your bike, then early Android versions should be OK. The device has onboard GPS, wi-fi and 4G/LTE capability (but whether it'll work with Aussie carriers as a phone is unknown).

It's a fully ruggedised device and it has a MicroUSB port for charging - note that Toughpad devices older than this one often require a full 16v charger.

I dunno about the chicom aliexpress specials, but if you're happy to roll the dice, you might find a gem.