Top Hat or XC Soar and new Samsung Galaxy Devices

Hello, Does anyone have experience running XC Soar or Tophat Soaring on the newer Samsung Devices?
The note 10 and S10 are reported to have brightness levels over 1000 nits. I’m guessing the previous 8 and 9 generations may also be pretty close for a lot less$
Cannot find much information out there on running tophat and XCSoar on newer hardware, which appears to have progressed quite a bit recently in display technology.
Also wondering if there are any issues running Tophat or XC on the newer android platforms? Since these open source programs are updated at a slow pace.
Thanks! Jason

I have run tophat as well as XCSoar on the following devices and they both work great: Samsung Galaxy S8+, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, Samsung Galaxy 6, and Samsung Galaxy Note 4. They all work with no issues. The 8+ has the biggest and brightest screen, but the note 4 has the advantage that you can buy an extra large battery thus extending the battery life to around 16 hours. One thing to note on screen of higher aspect ratio then 16 by 9 they both create small black wedges on the top and bottom of the screen to get the aspect ratio to 16 by 9. Not a huge issue but I would rather the whole screen be used.

Jason,

Total noob here. Well, maybe not total noob. Been hacking hardware and software and programming since the '70s.

Take a look at Kobo. It is not color. But the daylight readability is hard to beat. Price ain't bad either. There are a few steps too hijacking them but there's ENORMOUS support in the community at large to implementing and for the money it's awfully hard to beat.

I am a huge android fan and there are certainly platforms that might deliver color performance but at 2 to 3 times the price.

You can get a decent refurbished S8+ for around $250. I just did.
The screen brightness is even better than my old Dell Streak and the screen is slightly bigger even though the overall size of the phone is significantly smaller than the Dell Streak.
I can’t imagine a need for any brighter screen, nor a justification to compromise the additional functionality which color provides vs the Kobo. I understand that an option to overlay with skysight is coming, so one more reason to have a color screen. Not to mention the advantage of modern touch screens and gestures vs the Kobo which I believe is pressure sensitive touch screen.
I also ran it at home for 8 hours and it only used half the battery capacity. It was in flight mode and the screen was on all the time. I am not sure if it takes more battery when in flight. Hope to try it in the air soon.

Ramy

On Sunday, January 19, 2020 at 9:55:09 PM UTC-8, Ramy wrote:
You can get a decent refurbished S8+ for around $250. I just did.
The screen brightness is even better than my old Dell Streak and the screen is slightly bigger even though the overall size of the phone is significantly smaller than the Dell Streak.
I can’t imagine a need for any brighter screen, nor a justification to compromise the additional functionality which color provides vs the Kobo. I understand that an option to overlay with skysight is coming, so one more reason to have a color screen. Not to mention the advantage of modern touch screens and gestures vs the Kobo which I believe is pressure sensitive touch screen.
I also ran it at home for 8 hours and it only used half the battery capacity. It was in flight mode and the screen was on all the time. I am not sure if it takes more battery when in flight. Hope to try it in the air soon.

Ramy

I have an S9+ which does seem to work well in sunlight (I think similar screen as the S8+). The problem I experienced was the connectivity to the CAI302 via the K6bt Bluetooth as they don't have the same protocol. I guess running the phone on it's own gps should work just fine but of course not as desirable as having it sync with a flight computer.

On Monday, January 20, 2020 at 12:55:09 AM UTC-5, Ramy wrote:
You can get a decent refurbished S8+ for around $250. I just did.
The screen brightness is even better than my old Dell Streak and the screen is slightly bigger even though the overall size of the phone is significantly smaller than the Dell Streak.
I can’t imagine a need for any brighter screen, nor a justification to compromise the additional functionality which color provides vs the Kobo. I understand that an option to overlay with skysight is coming, so one more reason to have a color screen. Not to mention the advantage of modern touch screens and gestures vs the Kobo which I believe is pressure sensitive touch screen.
I also ran it at home for 8 hours and it only used half the battery capacity. It was in flight mode and the screen was on all the time. I am not sure if it takes more battery when in flight. Hope to try it in the air soon.

Ramy

People's eyes differ. What I've seen of the Dell Streak did not look usable in sunshine to me. I use Tophat on a Nook Simple Touch with its large monochrome e-ink reflective screen. That's despite the hassles of getting a GPS data source (and external power) attached to it, although now that I have it set up with a direct cable to the FLARM it has advantages over a standalone phone. I sometimes use a Samsung J3 or J7 for Gliderlink and IGCdroid and as a backup copy of Tophat, but wouldn't want to squint at it for long.

On Sunday, January 19, 2020 at 10:31:35 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Hello, Does anyone have experience running XC Soar or Tophat Soaring on the newer Samsung Devices?

I have seen a Samsung Galaxy S10+ using Top Hat. My view was in bright sunlight and I thought it was outstanding! Mind you, I have not flown it.

Years back when I was looking for a device, I went to Best Buy and asked
if I could take one of their devices out to the parking lot to see it
perform in the sun.Â* You might find a store that will let you do that,
escorted or otherwise.Â* Good luck!

On 1/19/2020 8:31 PM, wrote:
Hello, Does anyone have experience running XC Soar or Tophat Soaring on the newer Samsung Devices?
The note 10 and S10 are reported to have brightness levels over 1000 nits. I’m guessing the previous 8 and 9 generations may also be pretty close for a lot less$
Cannot find much information out there on running tophat and XCSoar on newer hardware, which appears to have progressed quite a bit recently in display technology.
Also wondering if there are any issues running Tophat or XC on the newer android platforms? Since these open source programs are updated at a slow pace.
Thanks! Jason

--
Dan, 5J

You can get a new Note 4 on eBay for $140. It has a bright screen that I've used for soaring for years. You run it on auto brightness to get it's brightest output.

On Sunday, January 19, 2020 at 9:31:35 PM UTC-6, wrote:
Hello, Does anyone have experience running XC Soar or Tophat Soaring on the newer Samsung Devices?
The note 10 and S10 are reported to have brightness levels over 1000 nits.. I’m guessing the previous 8 and 9 generations may also be pretty close for a lot less$
Cannot find much information out there on running tophat and XCSoar on newer hardware, which appears to have progressed quite a bit recently in display technology.
Also wondering if there are any issues running Tophat or XC on the newer android platforms? Since these open source programs are updated at a slow pace.
Thanks! Jason

I've been running XCSoar with TopHat on a Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2016 vintage) Model # SM-T280, and the brightness level with this older unit has been fine. Even in full daylight, I have not had an issue, although I put it under a home-made shade device to keep it cool. I can only imagine the performance on the newer units would be better, but you don't need to spend the $ to get very acceptable performance. I bought my unit for $100, when it was on sale as last year's model.