Which smartphone is required ?

[Zwerius]

Hi,

Upto now, I only used my mobile phone for calling and SMS.
Since I bought the i3 (scheduled for delivery by the end of February), I want to be able to use all it's possibilities, so I need a smartphone.
I will probably rarely use the phone for internet, e-mail etc.
Asked the i-genius at my car dealer which phone was required and he answered most of them will do, but the easiest to work with is the i-phone. Since the BMW software is more or less designed for the i-phone.
Since my probably very limited use of the phone (except for calling), I think this is an expensive solution.

What 's your experience so far?

 

[i3me]

Hi,

Upto now, I only used my mobile phone for calling and SMS.
Since I bought the i3 (scheduled for delivery by the end of February), I want to be able to use all it's possibilities, so I need a smartphone.
I will probably rarely use the phone for internet, e-mail etc.
Asked the i-genius at my car dealer which phone was required and he answered most of them will do, but the easiest to work with is the i-phone. Since the BMW software is more or less designed for the i-phone.
Since my probably very limited use of the phone (except for calling), I think this is an expensive solution.

What 's your experience so far?

The iPhone 4S model will suffice and can be had for no more than another brand smart phone.

 

[AndyW]

I've got an iPhone 5, but I can't get emails to show up on the i3 display, although it seems like you should be able to. My dealer says that facility only works with Blackberrys. Anyone know better...?

 

[SanSerif]

I'm hoping the car will work with Android (not being a fan of the lock-in to the Apple ecosphere) but need to upgrade my ancient phone which doesn't even want to run the BMW i app!

I'll probably plump for a Samsung S-something. Unless someone tells me otherwise.

 

[Pio]

iPhone or Android devices can be used.. but beware not to buy a very cheap low-budget andriod phone as this will cause many frustrations and it will probably not run the iRemote app from BMW.
BMW advice you to buy the iPhone. sadly i did.... (sorry, i'm not an apple fan at all! see the post about WP support for the i3)
So your choices are:
iPhone model 4S or newer.
Android (Beware that the phone you buy runs at least Android 4.0.3 or a newer version of Android.)
Depeniding on your budget and other use of the phone i think an Android device would be good enoug, although an iPhone might be easier to work with if you have no experience with smartphones at all..

 

[Fencer]

Will iPad Mini suffice?

 

[AndyW]

Yes, but it's still the iPhone app, just zoomed in to make it fill the screen. Works fine though - obviously the iPad has to have an internet connection.

 

[agj]

This is just to let you know that my iPhone 5 (iOS 7) works very well with the Pro Nav (609).
- Siri is operational through a long click on the "voice" button on the steering wheel.
- Audio stream via Bluetooth works fine
- Artwork is displayed on the screen!!!!

No need to spec "Enhanced bluetooth preparation" (6NS) for that. :ugeek:

 

[sbobet]

Sumesung mega

 

[Ross]

This is just to let you know that my iPhone 5 (iOS 7) works very well with the Pro Nav (609).
- Siri is operational through a long click on the "voice" button on the steering wheel.
- Audio stream via Bluetooth works fine
- Artwork is displayed on the screen!!!!

No need to spec "Enhanced bluetooth preparation" (6NS) for that. :ugeek:

That's very interesting and great news! I haven't specced 6NS on my build but assumed that bluetooth streaming wouldn't work!

What does 6Ns actually give you then?

 

[agj]

What does 6Ns actually give you then?

Among other things, 6NS should add the possibility to access emails received on the phone through a new menu on the main screen ("Office"). BUT ... it seems that this feature is not compatible with iOS.
Not sure about this though. I hope that another owner can confirm.

 

[MikeS]

I struggle to understand why I would want to access email in the car. Moreover, I would consider such a thing to be very distracting and hence hazardous as is assessing texts.