BEELINE SMART COMPASS
£99 ›Smart and simple navigation system
THE BEELINE STARTED AS A crowdfunding project, and in 2017 became available for sale through Evans Cycles. This isn’t a computer that will display a route map and give you turn-by-turn directions; it’s a guidance device that tells you in which direction your destination lies, and counts down the distance in miles or kilometres until you reach it, unless you’re using waypoints – see boxout.
The device pairs with an app on your mobile phone using Bluetooth, which means you can have the Beeline on your bar and your phone stashed away.
The main display scrolls between the direction compass arrow, a battery life indicator that tells you the charge levels of both the Beeline and your paired phone, the time and your speed. Press and hold the top of the screen to end the ride, and the data from it is logged on your account on your app, which can be downloaded from the Apple Store or Google Play.
Beeline claims a battery life of 30 hours in use, 10 hours with the backlight on all the time, and around 20 hours with a mix, plus a standby time of two to three months. So far, our experience is on par with these claims. That simple screen uses very little battery power, and while the device doesn’t turn off – it’s always in standby mode until you activate it or the battery drains – at one point we had it sitting around for over a month and it still had battery life to spare. Charging is done via micro USB. The display is clear, and the interface is easy to use, but the navigation is a mixed experience. In the city, where most streets are short and there are plenty of route options, it was useful and fun for getting around, ensuring we headed in generally the right direction. If you hit a closed road or one-way system, which aren’t shown on the map, you don’t get guidance to get around them. In the countryside where routes are often on long and winding roads, you can spend a fair bit of time riding in a direction that contradicts the compass arrow. If you’re happy to trust that the average direction is taking you closer to your destination, that’s not a problem. Rides are stored on the app, so you can check out your route, distance ridden and your average speed in kph.