iPhone or Android or Windows 7

[+Rotgut]

What smart phone should I buy to use to go Geocaching with?

 

thanks

[+StarBrand]

Don't buy a smartphone JUST for caching. If you are that interested in caching - buy a dedicated GPS like the Garmin eTrex 20.

 

If you have other use of a smartphone (texting, work, data on the go etc) - then I would get a windows phone - but that is just me - buy one for you that suits your needs the best.

[Mr.Yuck]

Don't buy a smartphone JUST for caching. If you are that interested in caching - buy a dedicated GPS like the Garmin eTrex 20.

 

If you have other use of a smartphone (texting, work, data on the go etc) - then I would get a windows phone - but that is just me - buy one for you that suits your needs the best.

 

Well now that you mention it, it is the only one of the three where the official Geocaching.com app is free. It's highly restricted to non-premium members, but if you look at their avatar, Rotgut doesn't have a problem there. Not that I'm sure dropping another $10 or not would be a major factor.

 

Gosh, I don't know that anyone has ever asked this question. It's more complicated than you think. Myself and a couple people I know are convinced that the electronic compasses in HTC phones, whether they are a Droid or WindowsPhone, are garbage. And of course only a certain percentage of either are HTC manufactured phones.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Mr.Yuck

[+The A-Team]

I haven't personally used an Android or WP7, so I can only offer my experience with my iPhone 4s.

I'll start off by saying that I rarely use my phone to navigate to caches. When I have, it has always been in urban or suburban areas, and it has worked well. I wouldn't dream of using it out in the woods, because it just isn't as reliable in such environments as my Garmin Oregon 450.

Most of the time when I'm using my phone for caching, it's using the official app to look up the latest information on a cache, viewing the attached photos, or looking up trackable missions/recent activity. For the ways in which I use the official app, it works excellently. I've seen a few posts in the forums from Android users complaining that their version of the official app doesn't have some feature that the iPhone version has. Someone more familiar with the differences between them can probably give you more information on that.

 

But like StarBrand said, don't buy it just for caching. If you'll use it for many other non-caching reasons, then go for it. If not, a dedicated GPSr will serve you much better (and will be a lot cheaper when you include the phone plan costs).

[+WarNinjas]

I cant really give you advice for your plan but I have verizon. I started off with the droid 1. Worked great and would stick me at GZ. Upgraded to the droid bionic and when I got to GZ it would jump up to 15 meters quickly. Hard to figure out if you were at GZ or not and have to walk around and look crazy in highly muggle areas. I just upgraded to the samsung galaxy 3 and it works great. I was getting really frustrated with the other phone. This one will stick to what is says and seems pretty accurate. Like others said don't get it just for this but I have used many phones and Samsung galaxy seems like a good one if it is offered.

-WarNinjas

[+Rotgut]

What smart phone should I buy to use to go Geocaching with?

 

thanks

 

I am using a Garmin 60CSx for Geocaching but I keep looking on Geocaching.Com and seeing that people are using a smart phone to get notified of newly published caches and then they run out and get a FTF. Maybe the expense of buying a smart phone isn't worth the FTF?

[Mr.Yuck]

What smart phone should I buy to use to go Geocaching with?

 

thanks

 

I am using a Garmin 60CSx for Geocaching but I keep looking on Geocaching.Com and seeing that people are using a smart phone to get notified of newly published caches and then they run out and get a FTF. Maybe the expense of buying a smart phone isn't worth the FTF?

 

Not necessarily. You could have a $20 a month pre-paid non-smartphone, and have the cache notifications converted to text messages and sent to such a "cheapie" phone.

 

This is probably what an FTF hound Smartphone user is doing. Smartphones can receive POP email (standard email, for lack of a better term). Then they click on the newly published cache page link in the email, and view it on the internet, just like you would have to do at home. They then can hit the "send to my phone" button, and use the Geocaching app to find the cache. Probably ALL the same things you currently do, except you have to plug the 60CSX into the computer, hit "send to my GPS", and leave the house.

[Andronicus]

I have recently had an LG (Optimus Quantum 7) with Windows Phone 7.5. Windows is great if you are not into OS tinkering. Very easy to use, and you really can't screw things up. However, the LG has horrible hardware. The GPS is absolutly garbage. The compase doesn't work 80% of the time. If you go with Windows, stay away from LG!

 

I just upgraded to an Android based Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE. So far I love it. Now that the Galaxy S III is out, it is cheep. The GPS is fabulous (exelent for geocaching, accurate, precise, and sensitive). The compase works like a rock star, and the acceleromiter and gyro works well as well. So far I am using the NeonGeo app, and enjoying it. (Just don't install the "GPS Status & Toolbox" app, it will kill your battery; the only solution is a hard reset).

 

Apple is the evil empire, so just stay away from them....

[Andronicus]

...This is probably what an FTF hound Smartphone user is doing. Smartphones can receive POP email (standard email, for lack of a better term). Then they click on the newly published cache page link in the email, and view it on the internet, just like you would have to do at home. They then can hit the "send to my phone" button, and use the Geocaching app to find the cache. Probably ALL the same things you currently do, except you have to plug the 60CSX into the computer, hit "send to my GPS", and leave the house.

POP email? Good Golly! If you are relying on POP email to poll every, what 15 min, you are going to miss 1/2 of your FTFs before you even get the email. If you are serious about FTF, you have to use a push email service. Gmail (and some others) provide this service.

[Mr.Yuck]

...This is probably what an FTF hound Smartphone user is doing. Smartphones can receive POP email (standard email, for lack of a better term). Then they click on the newly published cache page link in the email, and view it on the internet, just like you would have to do at home. They then can hit the "send to my phone" button, and use the Geocaching app to find the cache. Probably ALL the same things you currently do, except you have to plug the 60CSX into the computer, hit "send to my GPS", and leave the house.

POP email? Good Golly! If you are relying on POP email to poll every, what 15 min, you are going to miss 1/2 of your FTFs before you even get the email. If you are serious about FTF, you have to use a push email service. Gmail (and some others) provide this service.

 

Well, I didn't mean like the original POP that came out in the 80's or anything. I assumed while addressing a guy who was looking for a broad answer to "how are people getting FTF's with smartphones"? That was good enough. Is it really every 15 minutes? I don't know, I'm not an FTF hound, I just see them come down when I open my client.

 

Sorry to hear about your windowsphone experience. Weren't you a Beta Tester for the App?

 

EDIT: P.S., I just read up on PUSH email, and all smartphones use that. Well, you learn something new every day. Even if you do totally embarrass yourself in the process.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Mr.Yuck

[+blackhorse221]

I use my Android quite a bit for urban caching. One of the most important factors for me is that I can change out my battery and I always have my second battery on hand and charged up. Can't do that with an iPhone. A quick-charger might come in useful as well.

[+The A-Team]

I just read up on PUSH email, and all smartphones use that.

Actually, push is a function of the email provider, not the smartphone. I'm sure all current smartphones can support push email, but it all depends on whether your email provider offers it or not. For example, my ISP email account doesn't, so my iPhone will only check for new mail on that account every 15 minutes. Gmail does support push, so I get Groundspeak emails within seconds of them being sent.

[+BlackRose67]

I have all my caching related memberships set up with my GMail account, so as soon as I get a message, it's pushed to my phone.

 

If I'm already out caching, I'll check to see where the newly published cache is, to see if it's worth trying for a FTF.

I just want one FTF to say I've done one.

 

I managed to get a STF last week.

[Andronicus]

...This is probably what an FTF hound Smartphone user is doing. Smartphones can receive POP email (standard email, for lack of a better term). Then they click on the newly published cache page link in the email, and view it on the internet, just like you would have to do at home. They then can hit the "send to my phone" button, and use the Geocaching app to find the cache. Probably ALL the same things you currently do, except you have to plug the 60CSX into the computer, hit "send to my GPS", and leave the house.

POP email? Good Golly! If you are relying on POP email to poll every, what 15 min, you are going to miss 1/2 of your FTFs before you even get the email. If you are serious about FTF, you have to use a push email service. Gmail (and some others) provide this service.

 

Well, I didn't mean like the original POP that came out in the 80's or anything. I assumed while addressing a guy who was looking for a broad answer to "how are people getting FTF's with smartphones"? That was good enough. Is it really every 15 minutes? I don't know, I'm not an FTF hound, I just see them come down when I open my client.

 

Sorry to hear about your windowsphone experience. Weren't you a Beta Tester for the App?

 

EDIT: P.S., I just read up on PUSH email, and all smartphones use that. Well, you learn something new every day. Even if you do totally embarrass yourself in the process.

Ya, I beta tested the app. It was really good. I enjoyed Windows Phone, but the LG hardware and Windows lack of bluetooth GPS support really prevented me from fully using it.