Roav SmartCharge Car Kit F2 Review

#33

Anyone there using the Anker Roav SmartCharge Car Kit F2? I’m specifically interested in the car location feature.

I’ve read the review by @Nhi on the community and while it mentions the feature, it doesn’t go as deep as I wanted to.

It the feature reliable? How well does it work inside buildings - such as an internal garage? How does the GPS on the charger communicates with the app?

To be honest, from reading the description I’m not even sure the product has a proper GPS or if it just pins your current location on the app once you park the car. If it’s the latter, does the user have to actively push the location or the charger senses the car turn off and automatically send the location to the app?

Thanks for your help!

#34

From what I understand there is no GPS built into the kit itself. It uses your phone’s GPS and sync’s your last location to the app (via BT). When you are locating your car you are using the last reference point in the app alongside your phones GPS.

Perhaps another member can confirm this?

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#35

Yeah, that’s my understanding too. Would you know if the charger communicates the app automatically to pin your parking location - like Apple Maps does - or the user has to manually demand the pin after parking?

#36

Can’t honestly say as I have not used but I would guess it was a manual pin, otherwise how would it differentiate between parking or stopping due to lights/obstructions etc. Perhaps @Nhi can confirm this or you could drop an email to support@goroav.com for confirmation (live support currently offline).

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#37

My android phone automatically pins where I park my car if I remain in the same vicinity for more than 30 minutes. Maybe this does the same and is based on the phones GPS relaying your location after a set amount of time in any given location

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#38

Eventhough it’s a great feature of the F2, unfortunately, it still needs a bit of work. How it works is it pins your last location, therefore, no “real” GPS. As in my video, I found it to be a bit disappointing. I was quite excited about the car location feature. There were times where I would literally be standing next to, if not, be inside my car and the locator would say that my car was somewhere else. Don’t get me wrong, when it works, it works well. When it’s working, it shows you the exact location on a map. And you can take a picture of the location, say, parking structure in a mall. But overall, hopefully, there will be a firmware update that would make this feature more accurate.

I recently had my unit exchanged out. As usual, Roav/Anker were very helpful in troubleshooting with me. They sent me out a replacement and had me send in my old unit. Unfortunately, good ol’ post office lost my return… wasn’t even scanned in so we don’t know where it is. :frowning: But Cathy from Roav was very understanding and helpful. I exchanged my old unit out due to a display issue… sometimes it would come on and other times, it did not. I haven’t had much time to test out the replacement but will so this week. On a side note, being able to charge 2 devices while using the F2 is a real plus. I usually have my Roav C1 Dashcam and iPhone 6s plugged in. Streaming feature works well. Calls work well. Btw, a couple of days ago, there was a firmware update. Hopefully, this is what is needed to get a better reading for the car location feature. [quote=“tiagomota, post:1, topic:55733”]
does the user have to actively push the location or the charger senses the car turn off and automatically send the location to the app?
[/quote]

The location works via the Roav Charger app. When you turn on your car, the unit connects to your phone’s bluetooth and notifies you that you are now connected. And that’s how it knows when you’re driving or whatnot. When you turn off your car, it pins your last location.

Hope that answered your questions. Let me know if you have more. :slight_smile:

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#39

Thanks a lot Nhi! It completely answered all my questions. :slight_smile:

#40

@tiagomota Ok, so I finally had a chance to go out to my car and play around with the F2 since the app update. I’m happy to report that with the app update, one can turn off the “automatically play music” feature. This made my day because I was always concerned that my iPhone’s battery was draining in the background, even when I didn’t have the car stereo on for streaming… before, as soon as the charger connected to my phone, it would stream even if the radio wasn’t on. How did I know? When I went into my Music app on my iPhone, I could see that it was playing but no sound was coming out of my iPhone’s speaker. It was a pain in the butt to have to go into my phone to turn this off.

The location feature seems a bit better with the update. This time, when I was actually sitting in my car with the engine on, it knew that I was “in the car.” Unfortunately, when I got out and walked across the street to see if it could locate my car… let’s say it still needs a bit of work. Yes, it is correct that my car is across the street BUT my locator (pin for me), pointed me in the wrong direction. My car was parked North and I was facing West. So unfortunately, I still stand by what I said about the location feature that I made in my review video. And that is, it still needs work. I think perhaps if the F2 actually had a built in GPS system/chip, or whatever you call it, it would be more accurate.

And one important thing that I found out this time around too… if you get the pop up message telling you that your GPS is not turned on (iPhone), even though you have it on, it’s because you need to allow location access to “ALWAYS” vs just the “while using the app.”

Other then all this, I’d still recommend the F2 for music streaming, making calls, and being able to charge 2 other devices while using it. And if you just want a “general” idea of where your car is. For the price, you’re getting a lot of features. You never know, maybe with the next app update, the Find My Car feature will be even better. :slight_smile:

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#41

That’s Great, Nhi! You should update your review with both your answers to this topic, I’m sure your experience will be valid for many people!

Thanks a lot!

#42

Gonna order this for my wife for Christmas, she’s been wanting bluetooth function in her car but refuses to let me change her radio so this is the next best thing for her.
Thanks @Nhi for your awesome review

1 Like
#43

Will do. I just have to find it. LOL.

Thank you. This would definitely be perfect for her. I wouldn’t want anyone messing with my radio stations or car for that matter. :stuck_out_tongue: For sure a lot easier to use now with the app update. :slight_smile:

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#44

Hey now, I have changed almost everything on my car from the motor to suspension and even the audio system. The only thing stock on my car is the frame and body shell haha. I can do anything

#45

@Nhi link to your video?

#46

Don’t forget to check out the youtube video. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#47

I won’t forget! thankyou

#48

Due to limits of editing older threads by users (no idea why this setting is in place), thread merged with @Nhi original review thread to help keep the questions/answers in context with what was asked, for future members.

1 Like
#49

@ndalby Thanks :slight_smile:

#50

I like the extra features on this compared witha normal car charger

#51

Tonight, I got an email from Roav, informing me of the firmware update. Eventhough I already did the update a couple days before, it was good to be notified. Here’s what it said…

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#52

Nice. Will make it even more usable (when it finally get to the UK)