Originally Posted by
Brojangles
I’ll go back and take a deeper dive on the models mentioned. The more ‘stand alone’ capability the better, so to speak. I don’t mind hotspotting my phone occasionally for wifi or bluetooth, but required for setup and use is a no-go for me.
The Garmins don't need a smartphone for set-up at all. Keep in mind that setup is not being done regularly.
None of them (Garmins, Hammerhead Karoo, Wahoo) need a smartphone to use for navigation. They'll all work just fine with your smartphone turned off.
For cycling, people tend to load tracks/routes to follow. People tend to use various websites (ridewithgps, for example) to create these tracks/routes. The Garmins and the Karoo can calculate routes on the device but they might not always produce the best routes. The Garmins and the Wahoo let you use a wire to connect to another computer (a PC, tablet, or phone) to copy routes from. The Karoo, as far as I understand, doesn't yet let you do that,
Originally Posted by
Brojangles
Will be doing multi-day trips between fishing holes/camping and such (lots of rural and remote areas, cell signal sketchy). Both road and trails. Of course, I’d like as many features as possible, i.e. color screen, map display, etc., but I’ll take what I can get if it’s solid gear.
Some people prefer using a unit designed for hiking.