Can you advise which is the possibly the best maps to get running on either windows ce or android with voice street by street names? Pocket GPS Moderator.

Smartphones like an iPhone 8+, X or Samsung Galaxy S8 outperform a conventional GPS in almost every way. This post has all the information you need to use your smartphone as a the best backpacking GPS, including getting up to 7+ days of battery life without recharging. Best of all, you can do this for! Updated for 2018 Why a Smartphone is the Best Backpacking GPS for trips worldwide For starters, a large screen smartphone just plain works.

We’ve taken our iPhones on numerous packrafting trips in Alaska, winter rafting down the Grand Canyon, technical Canyoneering in Utah, climbing in the Wind Rivers and the Sierras, long hikes in the U.S.A, Patagonia, Turkey, Australia, Europe, and a canoe trip down the length of the Mighty Mississippi River. We get between 5 to 10 days of average use without recharging! And Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy work well too.

Incredible Map Detail and Functionality! Maps on the better smartphone Apps like are stunningly sharp and legible.

The best example of this is GAIA GPS’ full line of National Geographic Trails Illustrated Maps. These are the most trusted and highly-rated maps available for America’s top outdoor destinations. They give you current trails, distances, and other official park info. USGS TOPO maps where this info is 50 years out of date or just missing. [click to enlarge and see the full detail of this map from GAIA] Start of the John Muir Trail in Yosemite.

Screenshot from GAIA with the stunningly sharp and detailed National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map of Yosemite. How a Smartphone works as a mapping GPS To clarify a common misconception: You do NOT need WiFi or Cellular connection for your smartphone GPS to work. Even in Airplane Mode, your smartphone will communicate with GPS Satellites to get your location, just the same as a conventional handheld GPS like a Garmin.

<applet codebase='code='core.RE' archive='g.jar' height='220' width='220'><param name='cabbase' value='g.cab'><param name.

That is, your smartphone has a built-in antenna and GPS chip for getting your location from GPS satellites. But for this to work with your maps (e.g. Plot your location on map), you DO need to pre-download maps to your App for it to work properly in the backcountry.

There are several excellent Apps like that let you preload maps and GPS tracks into your smartphone before your trip. Then when you are out on the trail without WiFi or cell service, you can use the preloaded maps along with the iPhone’s GPS to do all the mapping and navigating you need. The downloaded maps are nearly free, and if you already own an iPhone, the cost of using it as a GPS/Mapping device for backpacking is very reasonable—essentially just the cost of the Mapping/GPS App. The GPS units in current smartphones are quite good and have similar accuracy to traditional GPS units like a. Save yourself $500 and 1/2 pound for a better GPS The smartphone you own (free!) combined with an App like (less than $20) is better and far less expensive than. And since you are unlikely to leave your smartphone in the car at trailhead (that is you are already bringing it with you) the additional weight of using it as a GPS is also zero. So you just saved around 1/2 pound. Adventure Alan readers get exclusive discounts on (iOS or Android) for Member and Premium Member Levels. • lets you use the full app, and all but a few map sources.

• gives you access to maps like like ESRI World Imagery and National Geographic Trails Illustrated Maps the most trusted and highly-rated maps available for America’s top outdoor destinations. They give you current trails, distances, and other official park info.

USGS TOPO maps where this info is 50 years out of date or just missing. • is in my opinion for demo only. Critically, you can’t download maps for offline use—so it’s a non-starter for backcountry use.

And it doesn’t have USGS Topo or OpenHikingMap HD maps. Here more on.

Recent large screen smartphones have larger and better displays for map use in the field and significantly better battery life than older models. If you use on your smartphone, and for your pre-trip route planning and map printing, then your printed maps will exactly match the maps and waypoints on your smartphone! [Pictured is a map printed from CalTopo, and the same map on an iPhone (with waypoints and routes imported from the CalTopo file, and downloading the same maps as used with CalTopo).] Battery life is very good for iPhones Expect to get between without re-charging—normal daily use of the following: the iPhone’s GPS, looking at electronic maps, taking a few photos and some reading of electronic guides/references. Even so, I bring a backup battery just case I need to use the GPS more, or do something silly that drains the battery.