Top Hat or XC Soar and new Samsung Galaxy Devices

Like the other Samsung users, I’ve found that newer Samsung devices running Android work well for Top Hat Soaring, XCSoar (and more) in terms of display quality, functionality, and battery life. My usual setup is a Tab S2 8.0 tablet running Top Hat and a J7 Crown (Tracfone) smartphone running Avare ADSB Receiver Pro and XSoar (as a backup to Top Hat). The Tab S2 8� is generous for the soaring app’s displays but is nicely cockpit-compact. Both tablet and smartphone can be suction cup mounted to the canopy. So they're easily movable between different gliders, giving me the same familiar setup.

A few related notes:

- Before takeoff, turn up the screen brightness, deactivate any screen lock, start the software/app, clear out unneeded background apps, turn off the display (device is still on), and shade the device from sunlight if possible, especially while on the ground. I typically turn the screen back on after tow release.
- Wear non-polarized sunglasses if you want to see the display in landscape format (depending on your lenses' polarization, I guess).
- Long flights on sunny days really drain the device’s battery. I’ve used a lithium ion car booster/jump battery’s USB port to recharge the tablet and phone. Tested this on the ground and over several flights and feel reasonably safe using this lithium resource for device charging.
- When practical, turn off the screen to extend battery life. XCSoar / Top hat can give certain audible alerts (e.g., airspace proximity warnings) even while the screen is off.
- Cell phone mounts are plentiful. But a suction cup mount for the 8� tablet was harder to find. This one is working acceptably well:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1