Originally Posted by
PaddleFoot
Phone-free mode: When you’ve broken your phone, it’ll use the speed sensor for speed/distance
Phone-mode: When you have your phone, it’ll use that for GPS (and thus speed/distance)
Above was from a link.
If you are talking the Wahoo Mini, yes, the GPS track comes from the phone and is required. With the Bolt and Elemnt, the GPS is internal to the device and does not need a smartphone to function. You do not need a smartphone, other for the initial setup, to get GPS position on the devices.