Which (Android, ideally) phone for use with i3?

The i3 will be my first BMW so I'm not totally familiar with which phones integrate best with the info-system of BMW cars. Reading around the web, the simple answer seems to be iPhones.

However, I'm really not a fan of getting locked into Jobs' proprietary closed garden world - however good the interface is. So Android is my choice of phone (and, to complete my contrarian-ness; Linux is my PC OS).

Any suggestions as to which phones work well and which don't? Currently we have Samsung Galaxy S2s.

Also, I've specced the upgraded phone fit option but am a bit unclear as to what it actually does above and beyond the base fit. Any clues as to what I've bought would be welcome!

Many thanks.

SanSerif said:

Also, I've specced the upgraded phone fit option but am a bit unclear as to what it actually does above and beyond the base fit. Any clues as to what I've bought would be welcome!

Many thanks.

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My understanding all it does is allow 2 bluetooth devices to be connected at once i.e. Phone and BT Tablet (or Work Phone and Private phone). Pretty essential if you need that .... rather expensive if you don't - (and BT streaming I think - not sure about that) and that's it. Not sure what happens if 2 calls come in together - but as its £350 it should handle it.
Everything else I was told that was included in the upgrade voice recognition etc is actually contained in the core Professional system .... so I decided to pass on the upgrade.

Re Phones my thoughts are any Android handset should do the trick. I have an Galaxy S2 too and I'll get a cheap Android PAYG for my partner (technophobe). The joy of the remote app is I will be able to see and manage the car ..... wherever I am and whether I'm driving the car or not.

SanSerif said:

Any suggestions as to which phones work well and which don't? Currently we have Samsung Galaxy S2s.

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If you haven't seen this link you can see how compatible your S2 is with other BMW's which should give you a fairly good idea. I'm sure they'll add the i3 soon enough.

http://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/owners/mobile-devices/compatibility.html

Interested to read your comment that the Professional upgrade includes voice response. I have ordered the £350 enhanced bluetooth option because it included the phrase "and voice control" I have an iPhone5 and want to be able to use the new Siri integration feature. Have no particular need for bluetooth audio as I intent to physically connect my phone and certainly have no need to connect an additional handset by bluetooth. I am guessing I should therefore cancel this £350 option?

Davidfromdigswell said:

Interested to read your comment that the Professional upgrade includes voice response. I have ordered the £350 enhanced bluetooth option because it included the phrase "and voice control" I have an iPhone5 and want to be able to use the new Siri integration feature. Have no particular need for bluetooth audio as I intent to physically connect my phone and certainly have no need to connect an additional handset by bluetooth. I am guessing I should therefore cancel this £350 option?

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My understanding from this thread on another forum is that a number of people have received their 2014 model year cars with Professional Navigation and all the functions they need are voice addressable (from the car's internal system) ie Sat nav post code input, dialling phone numbers, changing from DAB to USB ..... somebody did mention Apple Siri but nobody seems to know if it works yet.

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=878201&page=3

Nice quote.....

"The dealers in general have little idea what the tech can do on the pro nav, whatever the variant or year. I was told I needed EBT for voice control of phone on 2013 NBT. Clearly that was at best incompetence and at worst a way of getting an extra £350 off me.


Incidentally, when I ranted into the voice control "nuke those thieving b@stards", the reply came "that function is not currently available" suggesting that, at some point, it would be." ........Nice