“I give a 4 star rating to this one because the Hudly is a great device, however for it to work properly I needed to get the navigation software, the mobile/cell phone and the vehicle to play ball as well, and that is where the problems were.
Software: I found that all the Goggle Maps based apps played up. The two main problems were that the audio was mute and the Miracast link kept breaking. I put this down to Google Maps not liking Miracast and the fact that Google Maps can not restrain itself surfing the web while you drive and just snapping the Miracast wifi link so that it can surf to its hearts content. Young Gen XYZers will undoubtedly be able to sort that one out but this 70-year-old retiree playing with Gen XYZ toys gave up and concentrated on the old-fashioned offline map software versions. I settled on Sygic with the HUD add-in. This one works very well for me. It casts audio well and the HUD add-in is great because it presents the relevant information big and bold on the screen as either a mirrored or non-mirrored image. I obviously cast the non-mirrored image to Hudly. Also, the Hudly projects the image sufficiently well to be visible during the day. The only time it is not visible is when the sun is shining directly into the screen. But then no HUD will work under those circumstances. If I wish to see the maps during the day I use Sygics night time display to get that nice dark background that does not glare on the Hudly.
Phone: I have an LG G4 Android phone. At first I had problems casting. As the phone had other problems as well, I reluctantly entered the world of the “hard reset” which sorted most of my problems out. The most important thing I learned about casting is that Miracast sets up a Wi-Fi connection with the Hudly totally independent of the normal Wi-Fi one uses to access the web. BUT the two get mixed up at times. I find the best way to connect the Miracast is to turn Wi-Fi off, then hit the Miracast button and make the connection to Hudly. When it is all connected I find that both “Miracast” and “WI-FI Direct” are visible as icons on the top of the home screen and as notifications in the notification window. If WI-FI Direct is not showing I use: Settings/Wi-Fi/menu(three dots top right)/Advanced Wi-Fi/Wi-Fi Direct to make the connection. When that is all done I find that the normal Wi-Fi has reconnected on the phone and the Hudly has vanished as a device available in the normal Wi-Fi selection screen, and I can use any available Wi-Fi to connect to the web without breaking the Miracast connection to the Hudly.
Another very useful setting I found in Android is the Colour Inversion setting. If the background of the app being displayed on the Hudly is too bright, I invert the colors. The background goes dark and the foreground sticks out in nice bright colours.
Vehicle: I have a vehicle which has been designed to cut power to the cigarette lighter while it turns the starter motor. That has the undesirable effect of turning the Hudly off during starting and of course breaking the Miracast link to the phone. I solve this problem by using the following procedure: Firstly, I sort out as much as I can in Sygic before setting out (store destination in favorites etc.). Then I start the car and link the phone to the Hudly while the car is idling. When the connection is established I start Sygic and set up the route. I prefer to do this while Miracasting because I feel any connections Sygic makes to audio etc are best done while it knows it is in Miracast mode. Then I head off and everything works well.
As I need to use a navigation app only on odd occasions the setup described above works well for me. For anybody needing to use the app more frequently and whose journeys have a lot of stops and starts, I would recommend getting a power connection to the Hudly that is not interrupted when the engine is started.
With all of that solved, I have my ideal navigation setup: Good audio, and an excellent simple bold head up display.”
“I give a 4 star rating to this one because the Hudly is a great device, however for it to work properly I needed to get the navigation software, the mobile/cell phone and the vehicle to play ball as well, and that is where the problems were.
Software: I found that all the Goggle Maps based apps played up. The two main problems were that the audio was mute and the Miracast link kept breaking. I put this down to Google Maps not liking Miracast and the fact that Google Maps can not restrain itself surfing the web while you drive and just snapping the Miracast wifi link so that it can surf to its hearts content. Young Gen XYZers will undoubtedly be able to sort that one out but this 70-year-old retiree playing with Gen XYZ toys gave up and concentrated on the old-fashioned offline map software versions. I settled on Sygic with the HUD add-in. This one works very well for me. It casts audio well and the HUD add-in is great because it presents the relevant information big and bold on the screen as either a mirrored or non-mirrored image. I obviously cast the non-mirrored image to Hudly. Also, the Hudly projects the image sufficiently well to be visible during the day. The only time it is not visible is when the sun is shining directly into the screen. But then no HUD will work under those circumstances. If I wish to see the maps during the day I use Sygics night time display to get that nice dark background that does not glare on the Hudly.
Phone: I have an LG G4 Android phone. At first I had problems casting. As the phone had other problems as well, I reluctantly entered the world of the “hard reset” which sorted most of my problems out. The most important thing I learned about casting is that Miracast sets up a Wi-Fi connection with the Hudly totally independent of the normal Wi-Fi one uses to access the web. BUT the two get mixed up at times. I find the best way to connect the Miracast is to turn Wi-Fi off, then hit the Miracast button and make the connection to Hudly. When it is all connected I find that both “Miracast” and “WI-FI Direct” are visible as icons on the top of the home screen and as notifications in the notification window. If WI-FI Direct is not showing I use: Settings/Wi-Fi/menu(three dots top right)/Advanced Wi-Fi/Wi-Fi Direct to make the connection. When that is all done I find that the normal Wi-Fi has reconnected on the phone and the Hudly has vanished as a device available in the normal Wi-Fi selection screen, and I can use any available Wi-Fi to connect to the web without breaking the Miracast connection to the Hudly.
Another very useful setting I found in Android is the Colour Inversion setting. If the background of the app being displayed on the Hudly is too bright, I invert the colors. The background goes dark and the foreground sticks out in nice bright colours.
Vehicle: I have a vehicle which has been designed to cut power to the cigarette lighter while it turns the starter motor. That has the undesirable effect of turning the Hudly off during starting and of course breaking the Miracast link to the phone. I solve this problem by using the following procedure: Firstly, I sort out as much as I can in Sygic before setting out (store destination in favorites etc.). Then I start the car and link the phone to the Hudly while the car is idling. When the connection is established I start Sygic and set up the route. I prefer to do this while Miracasting because I feel any connections Sygic makes to audio etc are best done while it knows it is in Miracast mode. Then I head off and everything works well.
As I need to use a navigation app only on odd occasions the setup described above works well for me. For anybody needing to use the app more frequently and whose journeys have a lot of stops and starts, I would recommend getting a power connection to the Hudly that is not interrupted when the engine is started.
With all of that solved, I have my ideal navigation setup: Good audio, and an excellent simple bold head up display.”
“I received my Hudly as part of the Indiegogo campaign. The campaign advertisement looked promising, but I was anxious about the final product. When i received my Hudly I was pleasantly surprised. The image is sharp and bight, however there are a few minor issues that should be fixable with new firmware. There are connection issues, where I connect via WiFi but the screen is completely jumbled and psychedelic. I usually have to quit the Hudly app and reboot the Hudly itself to get it to connect correctly. The Hudly app itself has issues with the speedometer losing connection with the OBDII dongle after a few seconds. The app’s map feature is very basic at best. Hudly would have done better joining forces with an established navigation app. The app needs a lot of work. These issues should be easily be fixable. The firmware upgrade process is fairly clunky and there no message when no new firmware is available. THe onl other issue I have is that I cannot use the WiFi from my car or another device set up to tether WiFi because the Hudly connects via WiFi. I have to use the data plan on my phone. The sound on the Hudly is not very loud and sometimes does not work. It would be nice if it were louder.
I give the hardware a 5 and the firmware and software a 4.”
“A Wickedly Good Product
My smart phone is the best source for directions I have. The problem is looking at the face of the phone without becoming a distracted driver. When I read that Hudly would project the screen of my phone at eye level it seemed to good to be true. I bought one and it is true. The Hudly can be placed anywhere on the dash that I choose and when the Hudly screen is flipped up I can see my phone face AND see through the Hudly screen to the driving view at the same time. I can use any mapping App that I have on my iPhone and it shows on the Hudly screen just as it appears on the phone screen. I like it so much I have ordered a second unit for our second car.”
“I'm a little disappointed that I have to "jailbreak" my Nexus 6p for the mirroring to work. The Google phone's mirroring app is coded to only work with a Chromecast. It will not cast to anything else without adding code. I don't remember this being mentioned, but I may have missed it. So, I have yet to use the Hudly setup. Looks great though.”
“I missed this in kickstKicks but found it in mee. It is really as advertised. Ordered it immediately and got.
Initially it might feel distracted, but one will get used to it. I have blocked light sensor so that I can keep brigtnebri fixed. Which I prefer. Don't know if I can set it via software settings. Good if can get that. It is safe as now I file look at car dashboard for speed and phone for maps.
Only problem is pure Android phones like Nokia 8 doesn't connect as miracast is hot supported. I found third party app screen stream mirroring that works with Nokia 8, but app is buggy and sometimes won't connect sometime.
it will be good if Hudly updates their to make this work with pure Android phones. Otherwise, I am completely satisfied with product and customer care”
