HLT sensor throughput on iOS vs Android - hardware advice

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Short question: How is speed with BT OBD and GPS on an Android? Is iOS the clear winner?


Long question:

I just purchased the dual xgps160 and like Harry said, it is nothing like the dual products I've seen in the past. it just plain works.

Now its time for OBD. I may have options here as I can either run HLT on 64gb iPhone 4s or Samsung GS5

how are you guys making out with the wifi mx on iOS? It seems nearly everyone on the ScanTool forums/amazon is having issues but with with other software. That said, it seems to be Harry's top pick and I'm not finding much when searching here.

The 4s has a worse camera and no removable SD card. However, if the wifi mx stays connected, it seems have highest potential data resolution. Does the 4s have enough processor to record BT/GPS and video or will it overheat/drop data? It seems the 4s is the minimum device Harry has recommended. Is recording data/overlay with no video an option? I thought I saw a post about that somewhere related to importing overlays into other video packages.

The GS5 would be stuck running OBD and GPS through bluetooth. I know OBD speeds as benchmarked will be slower, however, will running GPS simultaneously make both suffer? Any connection issues with the MX BT? Is it going to make THAT big of a difference? A big plus with the GS5 is the camera and I can throw a 128gb SD card in and forget about it until the end of the day.

Ultimately I would rather spend $80 on another RAM mount then a half baked OBD paper weight. And I would wait but...

I have a driving holiday coming up in a few weeks and I really wanted to have HLT along for the ride. If neither combination/ScanTool dongle is ideal, perhaps the short term answer is a cheapie ELM327 adapter for this trip and wait for ScanTool to mature.

Thanks!

[Harry]

That's actually a broad question, and there is no "one answer". Let me comment on some of the items:

When it comes to OBD, update rates are influences by the following factors:

• The car's bus type has the biggest influence, non CAN will hardly go beyond 3 Hz (i.e. 15 PIDs/s) while for CAN vehicle 7 Hz (i.e. 35 PIDs) is the lower end and rates of 30 Hz and beyond (150 PIDs/s) are possible.
• The adapter implementation influences the rate too, but it is a smaller magnitude than the bus influence.
• Connection technology (WiFi/BT/BT LE) and the smartphone's wireless stack can have a big influence too.

The fastest rates I have seen are achieved using WiFi connections, BT LE is the slowest option.

OBD rate however is not everything. LapTimer stores data at GPS sensor rate. So if you run a XGPS160, 10 Hz OBD is enough. Anything beyond will yield faster real time displays, but has no influence on data stored or overlaid. This is the reason I often recommend GoPoint's BT1 for iOS and OBDLink LX BT for Android. They are not the fastest, but fast enough and easy to handle. For MX WiFi for iOS is very fast, but maintaining a WiFi connection in your car can be cumbersome. Especially when running other wireless connections in parallel (XGPS or an action cam).

The 4S has actually a great cam and no newer smartphone matches it for on track use. Newer cams come with more features and start supporting 4K UHD, but they are too sensibel with their sophisticated stabilizers and stuff. Rolling shutter has become an issue lately too. No idea why the 4S didn't show this effect.

I have not tested the 4S with cam+GPS+OBD lately. I think it will still work, but it is getting slow now.

- Harry

[gplracerx]

I'm still using a 4s controlling a Hero3 with a BT1 OBD and a Dual XGPS160. I have the camera in the 4s set for low resolution, though. It works fine using higher resolution, but the field of view when mounted on the inside of the windshield isn't as good as the Hero3 on the driver's side A pillar. Data acquisition works well, mostly. It occasionally loses its mind, but as long as I remember to check that everything's working while I still have time to reboot, it's all good.

I don't overlay on the 4s, though. I use a relatively recent vintage iPad mini.