It doesn't want to charge whilst using any of these!
Ok so recently I went on a trip from Christchurch to Dunedin, the perfect opportunity for me to play with my TomTom car kit and really give the tun-by-turn apps a run for their money…. or so I thought.
I have been in New Zealand for a while now and whilst I know it’s not that hard to get from Christchurch to Dunedin (SH1 all the way) I figured it would be good to give everything a run, so I programmed everything and off I went.
Everything was going great, I had my music playing from my iPhone whilst getting directions from ‘Serena’ (I don’t think my wife likes Serena because she knows too much), that is until we hit Timaru. We pulled in to get some coffee and lunch and when I disconnected my iPhone I noticed that the battery level had dropped. CocoaLove had posted about this on our forum so I wasn’t overly suprised but as you can see from my comment, it was my belief it was actually charging and there may have been a setup error. Well let me be the first to say I was wrong.
As CocoaLove metions, and I now agree, I think that it is charging but not with enough power to compensate for the fact the TomTom app is running and the charging just can’t keep up with the drain (i.e it is charging 1 1/2 units of power but is using 2 units of power to run the app). The reason I believe this is that I made it all the way to Dunedin, whilst using the app and playing music on some parts of the journey.
As you can see in the image below, the screenshot on the left was taken at 15:24 and has a battery level of 56% whilst charging. The screenshot on the right was taken 3 minutes later at 15:27 but has a battery level of 55% whilst charging. Now I am no rocket scientist but I am pretty sure a battery level is supposed to increase when charging, not decrease.
Image on the right shows the battery charging but with less power
I have read, on other sites where people seem to have a similar issue, some people suggesting you switch off Wi-Fi, Location Services, 3G or Bluetooth and while some of the suggestions may work (Bluetooth & Location Services are needed for GPS & the car kit and 3G is a requirement for XT) it shouldn’t be necessary to do this. I should be able to use my iPhone as per normal when it is plugged in to a power source.
I also tested this with the other turn-by-turn apps, Sygic, CoPilot and iGo and got the same result. So it’s not that the TomTom app is using more power than one of the others, it’s that the car kit doesn’t charge enough.
So here’s the heads-up for anyone thinking of buying it…. it holds your iPhone, takes calls via Bluetooth and plays your music through your car stereo but when you want to use a GPS/turn-by-turn app you need to make sure you have enough battery in your iPhone to sustain the journey. I should note that it does charge when not using an app but still… this really isn’t good enough and while it doesn’t make the car kit completely redundant I must say I am extremely disappointed.
I have written to TomTom to ask for the comment and as yet I have had no reply. As soon as I hear I will update the post, but in the meantime how has everyone else found the kit? let us know in the comments below.
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Poor effort from TomTom really. My Belkin cradle can keep up well, surprising their own product can’t.
(Mak has made 158 comments)
Even crappy DSE car charger can keep up very well with navigation apps running. I can’t wait to see reply from TomTom.
(cocoalove has made 6 comments)
I was very happy to find this post. I also purchased this product and found the same result. I logged a fault with TomTom support and have been getting the run around.
Looks like the product is going to be return for a full refund. Under the consumer guarantees act the product is not suitable for its intended purpose.
(TranceManNZ has made 7 comments)
As others have said. This is not only with the TomTom Car Kit. I have a Philips Car charger for the iPhone and the same thing happened. My iPhone was at 100% and 30mins later, after using TomTom and Charging, my phone was at 99% battery. akawoz might be correct though, I have noticed my iPhone getting rather hot whilst using TomTom, plugged in, and using another holder I bought. Something Apple needs to sort out…
(lnr1 has made 10 comments)
daba> You make a good point. I did read somewhere that a user changed his TomTom power cord for another brand that had a higher mA rating. According to him this solved the issue. I do not have any other mini usb car charges to compare the outputs with.
(TranceManNZ has made 7 comments)
Don’t waste your money for an higher output charger. I’ve tried with a 2A charger which is made for tomtom navigation systems and I found it overheated my iPhone very quickly. Also it didn’t charge battery at all before overheating happened. So I think the problem is the cradle itself.
(cocoalove has made 6 comments)
Yup, just got back from a weekend in Mahia – noticed exactly the same behaviour, around 60% batter upon leaving – used the TomTom app + cradle all the way for ~2 hours, ended up with about 35% on arrival. Disappointing to say the least!
(RedJungle has made 1 comment)
I've had an issue with charging in a cradle (not Tom Tom) while using Google Maps (streaming) and music. Turned out MY problem was the battery was over-heating. I've tested this a number of times. My solution was to point the air vent towards the iPhone which keeps my battery temperature low. That way I get to charge it to 100% every time.
(akawoz has made 1 comment)
Besides which you shouldn’t have to mess around with different chargers or have to switch off the GPS in the iPhone (@TraceManNZ & @daba). It should work as expected and as advertised. Without having to jump through hoops switching features off, buying new chargers or turning my air con on.
Come on TomTom where is your reply…. I know you are reading
just remember that this tom tom cradle (unlike others) contains a extra gps reciver that too uses power from the single lighter plug.
If you turn of the gps on the iphone, it should charge more effeciently.
(daba has made 15 comments)
Dan, I totally agree that we shouldn't have to mess around with things. It should work out of the box (at $200 it should). The only good thing with testing is that we can tell the muppets at TomTom what the issue is.
At the end of the day I will be returning mine for a full refund and may also request a full refund for the app.
(TranceManNZ has made 7 comments)
I tested this in both a Mitsubishi Outlander 2007 and Mazda Capella 2000. Both of them charge my iPhone whilst using all the other features but instead of using the TomTom car kit having it sat in a universal holder/mount or on the seat next to me, plugged in via a Belkin charger and connected to a Bluetooth earpiece.
I have the same problem the Tom Tom charger cannot charge qiuckly enough to keep up with the current going out, they need to replace them ASAP
(gregorybp has made 4 comments)
No problem with charging here, after many trips up to Auckland and back I always arrive with a fully charged phone. Thats with Tomtom app running, iPod music play through and the occassinal phone call.
After reading this article I tested the car kit, after a 12 minute drive to the kebeb shop my iPhone had charged 2%, thats with GPS turn by turn and music playing.
Could the type of car being have some influence on the results?
My Tomtom car kit was purchased from UK and being used in a MKIV VW Golf.
(jasetaylor has made 10 comments)
I too have noticed that any charger will not keep up once the phone gets warm. Mine is black and sitting in the windscreen it picks up even more heat from the sun. I discovered the trick of pointing an air vent at it a couple of weeks ago, but have not had a chance to test that on a particularly warm day and a long trip.
I have also noticed in the last couple of days that when you get below 20% the battery appears to be used up much faster than when it’s above that.
(stephenb has made 4 comments)
Contacted TOMTOM ph 0800450973, they advised it will hold the phone charge not recharge it
(gregorybp has made 4 comments)
@gregorybp That’s shocking answer from TomTom. “Always on the go? Dock your iPhone in the mount to charge it as you drive, so it will always be ready to go, wherever you’re going next.” Yeah.. they didn’t say it would charge iPhone while using the TomTom app. But this is so frustrating.
(cocoalove has made 6 comments)
@lnr1 I have several other chargers, Belkin, DSE, Griffin, Kensington and ALL of them charge the iPhone whilst connected to a Bluetooth car kit/headset and whilst using a nav app.
There is an issue with the car kit. Whether it be because the iPhone gets hot while charging or whether it uses too much power with everything running, it should and it is advertised to charge the iPhone whilst using the nav app.
Yes people are getting different results but even so… TomTom advertise it as though it charges, therefore it should. It is what is expected. They should have compensated properly for the fact it uses more power whilst using the app, being connected via bluetooth and playing music.
I have had no issue with my iPhone in either of my cars with any of my other chargers so it seems very odd to me that suddenly it doesn’t work correctly with the TomTom car kit and that it *may* not be the car kit, I just don’t buy it.
I am still waiting an official response from TomTom although I have had contact with their “Marketing Communications Manager” for Australia & NZ. He has passed this through to their WHQ in the Netherlands and once we get a response I will post to the site.
Now Hang on. Before you ALL get all angry at TomTom (I don't work for them). At least read the other comments before dissing the holder. While it does suck that the holder doesn't charge the phone whilst using the TomTom App (or any other GPS app). But from what I see, and from my own experience, not many chargers at all charge the phone whilst using the TomTom App.
SO its not JUST their holder, but its just chargers in general… Or more specifically, some balls up on Apples behalf
(lnr1 has made 10 comments)