Android Device + Portable Mount for 1 Week in France

[Jellyroll]

My TomTom Go Undead (it's certainly not Live any more) 950 doesn't have a Western Europe map, and my spare, with Western Europe, has a busted screen. I don't want to risk damaging the good one by swapping screens - ribbon cables and I make poor bedfellows - but I equally don't want to sink 140(!) Euros into adding Sat Nav to the rental car for the sake of a single week in France.

Can anyone suggest an Android (so I can run SpeedTrap alongside CamerAlert - French law acknowledged) device, ideally on O2, with a portable (dashboard) mount that I can at least own when I am finished?

I'm tempted to use Waze, given the small radius within which I'll be driving and the brief time, or Google Maps, but software recommendations are also welcome.

I've tried a forum search, but the word Android appears in the sidebar of every search result, so not too helpful for my purposes.

I don't mind an eBay unknown brand, or a decent retailer, but I won't use Amazon until it starts paying a non-insulting amount of tax to help support road repairs, the NHS etc.

Thanks in advance.

[Kremmen]

You can get some decent adjustable mounts, saves taking the phone case off

As far as which phone, I change mine every 4 years and always get second best. Currently running a Samsung S23+

My daughter has an ageing Samsung A52 and that is very good for the price. No doubt that model is now obsolete so maybe a A53 or 54 may be worth looking at

I've tried Waze and Google Maps and I far prefer Google Maps. I found Waze too Fisher Price for my taste, each to their own though
_________________
Satnav:
Garmin 2599 LMT-D (Indoor test rig)
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3
Car Average MPG :

[AllanKnowles]

Look at Magic Earth. It has downloadable maps, thereby saving on roaming charges. It also allows you to import your own PoIs, which is handy. It has traffic as well.

Best of all, it's FREE!

[Jellyroll]

Thanks, both.

I'm looking at Samsung A5* phones. I'm an Android newbie, almost no exposure, more of an IOS guy (although I am fluent in Linux).

Magic Earth looks remarkably good for something I'd never heard of. Does it play nicely with these here PocketGPSWorld speed camera databases, or are its own sufficiently up-to-date and reliable?

[AllanKnowles]

Its own database isn't that good.

It uses KML files (see N Drive) and installation is quite straightforward (see their website).

[Jellyroll]

Samsung phones are coming in at over 100 quid. While it would be nice to try Magic Earth's ADAS features, I think that'll have to wait.

I can run it, with Camera Alert and Speedtrap, on my ancient WiFi-only Galaxy Tab A6, tethered to my phone (which itself doesn't have enough memory/storage to run the Apps), and I've taken a punt on a second hand Garmin Drivesmart 51 LMT-D, which ought to work without using my roaming data allocation. It might have a dodgy battery, but I think I can replace it - carefully - with one of the ones from my TomTom. Whether that's a dumb move remains to be seen. I'm quite prepared to be told so.

At this point I'm in unknown territory. I got my first SatNav, a TomTom One, around 20 years ago. Autoroute and a printer was my solution before then. Exciting.

We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
Have you considered making a donation towards website running costs?.
Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!