Garmin GLO 2 vs. BL-1000GT/BL-818GT

Zaudi

Wich one to buy?

I need support for Android (motorcycle smartphone) and iOS (privat/daily use automtive smartphone).
So the two best in year 2021 are GLO 2 and the two Qstarz (I think, after reading about that, a lot!)

Using for 0-100 / 100-200 and sometimes trackdays/racetracks

Android: (Huawei Mate 10 Pro)
Garmin GLO 2 - 8Hz - 95€
Qstarz BL-818GT - ? - 150€ (very difficult to find a dealer)
Qstarz BL-1000GT - 10Hz - 219€

iOS: (iPhone 11 Pro)
Garmin GLO 2 - 4Hz
Qstarz BL-818GT - ?
Qstarz BL-1000GT - 10Hz

Wich one is it worth to buy?
Wich one you guys have?

219 Euro vs 95 Euro... Thats a lot...
Maybe BL 818GT sweet spot?
But it seems like, no one have this one... (I would fear bad support than?)

Greetings
Zaudi

aol_of_RaceChrono

@Zaudi, the new Qstarz models are quite good, and the improved accuracy over Garmin GLO is noticeable. They are a bit pricey, but you will get better data too.

BL-818GT and BL-1000GT are both 10 Hz, and the BL-818ST is 1 Hz.

timurrrr

@aol Were you ever able to compare various GPSes side by side?

I know XGPS160 is one of the recommended GPSes on the website, so I got this one a couple of years ago. My friend more recently bought a Qstarz BL-818GT after seeing the recommendation on this forum.
We went to the same track day once, and compared our data afterwards.

Here's T2 at Laguna Seca, speed (cyan)/lat (green)/long (orange): https://imgur.com/1CM5RTC
The reference lap (darker lines) is XGPS, the current lap (brighter lines) is Qstarz.
The data from Qstarz GPS has a "ripple" that makes the data more questionable from what I get from XGPS160.

Here's T5, speed (cyan)/lat (green)/long (orange)/combined (purple): https://imgur.com/wwtJEwU
Same ripple.

I was also curious good is the data from accelerometers.
Here's T6. The data channels are lateral G's from Qstarz vs XGPS GPS (yellow), and lat G's from the Qstarz accelerometer (cyan) vs lat G's from the ESC module of my Subaru BRZ (acquired from the CAN bus, green): https://imgur.com/TqlfTZl
The accelerometer of the Qstars jumps between -0.5 Gs and 2 Gs at 1.25 miles...

Having done this "experiment", I'd personally recommend XGPS160 over the Qstarz.

aol_of_RaceChrono

@timurrrr I haven't written any articles about it, but I frequently compare the devices I have here. IMO, you should be looking at the position accuracy when comparing the devices. This is where Qstarz shines.

No idea how good accelerometer the Qstarz has (Dual XGPS does not have any). Probably the data from the phone's accelerometer is more useful, as the data rate is not limited to 10 Hz. But it's 100% normal to have a lot of noise there, with occasional spikes and all.

timurrrr

I don't think I agree about position accuracy either.
Looking at T6 at Laguna, the positions from Qstarz vs XGPS are almost identical, and both are off track according to the satellite imagery
https://imgur.com/a/DkhsRU8

aol_of_RaceChrono

You cannot judge it by one corner. Also everyone is allowed to have their own opinion My recommendations are always my honest opinions; I do not receive any money from the manufacturers.

timurrrr

Gotcha, fair enough