AIO-5 Play for BMW Smart Digital Display
Upgrade your BMW with the AIO-5 Play Smart Digital Display, featuring seamless CarPlay and Android Auto integration for effortless navigation and entertainment.
www.chigee.com
It was on sale around the holidays for a pretty significant discount, I think I paid around 400 bucks. I have a Nav 6, why change? Here were my reasons:
1) Building a route in Basecamp makes me want to cry. I can do it pretty well now, but we’re traveling a lot and if I want to just do an impromptu run somewhere following a specific route, it’s a nightmare on the Nav 6. With Android auto, I build a route on Google Maps, send it to my phone, click the link, and off I go. It’s at least 10X faster to build a quick route and ride it.
2) Nav 6 GPS isn’t great. I’d lose GPS signal up in the mountains sometimes, it would get confused, try to reroute me back to the road I’m already one, etc.
3) Nav 6 isn’t that reliable. I’ve had to send 2 of them back now; the new version seems to finally have fixed the ghosting problem, but the number of issues I have had, always in the back of my head “Will I be able to get home” if I’m in an area I don’t know.
4) Nav 6 is pretty slow compared to a modern device. This wasn’t much of an issue for me, but if I had to adjust or find a gas station/etc, it was a hassle.
The Chigee goes right into the same cradle, fits perfectly. The setup was done in minutes, pair the phone, off you go. The screen is good, not great, but good. I can see it in direct sunlight. Would be nice if it was a little bigger. I think the Nav 6 might be a bit easier to see but that could be more map presentation vs the screen itself.
So far, I’m very happy with it. I carry the Nav 6 with me “just in case” because the Chigee is 100% reliant on your cell phone and cell phones are ridiculously unreliable, I just want a backup just in case (not had to use it yet, thankfully). It’s fast, easy to use, looks factory in the mount.
Oh, and for those with “complicated” Bluetooth setups, the Chigee was no issue at all. I have BT connections directly to my helmet and the BMW running at the same time on my phone, no problem at all with the 3rd connection for Android auto out to the Chigee. I was really worried this would be a constant hassle, it’s been anything but, it’s worked every single time, turn the bike on, within 30 seconds it’s mirroring the phone up to the device. Very nice!
So far, so good! I never use the Wonderwheel integration but I did test it, works fine. Works fine with gloves (similar to the Nav6, it’s better without, but it does work).
As I’m reading this, kind of a boring review. It works, nothing to complain about, does what I want it to do and was dead simple to get up and running (and, most importantly, is braindead simple to use when you get on the bike and ride!).
If anyone has specific questions or wants to see pictures of it in the mount, let me know, happy to try to help.