Originally Posted by
cafzali
My only "knock" against smartphones for navigation is there often seems to be a slight lag between where you actually are and where the phone puts you. In most cases, it won't be big enough to make much of a difference and/or cause you to turn early, but it seems funny given the processing power of a typical smartphone that that happens. I still think nothing beats a Garmin Edge, especially when it comes to battery life. I like that I don't have to think much about charging it and it works pretty effortlessly. Whether it's worth having a separate device for this purpose is a subjective thing, obviously.
One can make the decision based on objective reasons. But the decision might not be the same for different people.
If you are a "fair weather" rider doing short-ish rides, the smartphone might make sense (especially, if the economics of spending $250, the cost of a Garmin Touring, don't work for you and you already have the smartphone).
There's some cost to a mount and weather "proofing" a smartphone.
I don't see a lag using my iPhone 5 for navigating in the car. If there's a lag, it isn't due to the processing power (using any reasonably "high-end" phone).