Gadget Review: TechBrands Wireless GPS Speedometer

With two ongoing motorcycle projects in my garage, I’ve been reading and thinking about gearing versus vehicle speed a lot lately. With those thoughts comes the keen awareness that old-school mechanical speedometers can be wildly inaccurate, and even many modern OE digital speedometers have a built-in “fudge factor.” The proper tool for accurately determining vehicle speed is via GPS. There are plenty of GPS tools available, including smart phones and sat-navs, available in various automotive, adventure/outdoor, and wearable varieties. But what if you want just a speedometer? I went looking for a compact, straightforward GPS speedometer, and while there were plenty of choices, most of the examples I found had one or more drawbacks.

  • Marine GPS speedometers are popular, high-quality instruments, but their price reflects that quality, and they are designed to mount permanently in the dash. I wanted to make less of a commitment on both counts.
  • Aftermarket HUD displays. These tend to be cheaply made, gimmicky looking, and cumbersome to use: press Button A one for this function, twice for the other function, and hold for two seconds to switch modes. This was, again, more than I was looking for.

Throughout my online searching, I kept running across one unique, attractive option: a wireless GPS speedometer from Australian vendor TechBrands. It’s refreshingly straightforward, robust-looking, and has gotten good reviews from users. At 2″ x 2.5″ x 1″, it can fit in a shirt pocket. Instead of a plethora of settings and modes, it has exactly two switches: on/off and kph/mph—how elegantly simple. Wireless, pocket-sized, and even affordable, it was exactly what I had in mind.

I initially hesitated to order something from halfway around the globe: surely it or something similar was available in North America. But no. After many fruitless Google, Ebay, and Amazon queries, I determined that this was, indeed, a uniquely antipodean offering. I placed my order with an Aussie vendor for $84 USD, including shipping. I was fortunately able to complete the transaction through Fruugo, a U.S.-based, third-party aggregator storefront that charged my credit card in U.S. funds. About a month later, my box arrived (strangely coming from New Zealand, not Australia).

The TechBrands speedo comes with a charging cable, lighter-socket plug, two mounting options, and a thin manual you probably won’t ever read.

What It Does (and doesn’t do)

The TechBrands GPS is a wireless GPS speedometer with an LCD display. GPS positioning? No. Data logging? Nope, not even max speed recall. It is not waterproof or ruggedized; it’s designed ride along in your car, not in your kayak, jet ski, or backpack. This thing displays your speed digitally, and that’s all it does. You may see that as a drawback, but for what I want, it’s perfect. No special functions to learn, no app to download, no firmware updates. There are no modes or adjustments to mess with while driving. It solves a very specific need with no fuss, no complexity.

The reverse LCD display remains legible in direct sunlight.

As I already mentioned, it has exactly two switches. This means there are no contrast or brightness controls for the display, something that initially concerned me. But, happily, the reverse LCD display has turned out to be easily readable in every condition from pitch-blackness to direct sunlight. The backlight isn’t dimmable, which might be distracting to some drivers at night, but I found it no brighter than my Suzuki Kizashi‘s LED audio display. The viewing angle is somewhat limited when the backlight is needed, but in daylight there is no such limitation. There’s is no auto-on/off functionality, so you’ll need to manually switch it on and off, regardless of whether it is plugged into power or not.

It’s limitations are why it’s easy and unobtrusive

Another advantage to the LCD display technology is a manufacturer’s estimated twenty-two hour continuous run time per charge. The internal, non-replaceable battery charges automatically when the standard USB mini-B cable is plugged into a power source, and the battery can charge concurrently while the unit is on. Keeping with the device’s KISS design, there is no battery indicator, just a low battery warning and a charging icon. The backlight glows amber initially at start-up, but switches to green once a satellite fix is acquired. That acquisition, by the way, is impressively quick. It often takes just a few moments, up to perhaps 30–40 seconds max, averaging about 20 seconds. This compares very favorably with an older Garmin ForeTrax 101 I once had, which would take upwards of two minutes to connect (that is, before it decided to stop connecting at all).

The suction-mount gooseneck caused the unit to bounce around a bit. The vent clip mount is very secure. The unit quickly slides out of ether.

My only possible criticism is that the display updates once per second, so it is very good at indicating your speed at a steady cruise, but the lag means it can’t provide any usable information when accelerating. Overall, however, I am very happy with my purchase. It cost me not much money and negligible time getting it set up and running, if you don’t count the month of waiting for it to arrive. It is quick to connect, effortless to use, and does the one thing I wanted it to do flawlessly. That seems like money well spent.

Techbrands’ product page: techbrands.com/store/category/634/product/la9025.aspx
Fruugo order page: fruugo.us/techbrands-lcd-gps-rechargeable-speedometer/p-28118202-60225542

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20 responses to “Gadget Review: TechBrands Wireless GPS Speedometer”

  1. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    What is the advantage of a just-a-speedometer, when, for about the same price, you can get an off-brand unlocked ruggedized and waterproof Android phone, and run a speedometer app that has more functions? I’m not suggesting using that phone with a wireless carrier’s service, and for that price you certainly won’t get stat-of-the-art processing hardware, but for speedometer use it should be more than enough.

    1. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar

      I have a speedometer app on my iPhone. My dislike for it is what drove me to buy this.
      – The phone is unnecessarily large, blocking something on my dash or too much of my outward vision, no matter where I mount it.
      – This comes with specific mounting hardware. With a phone, you have to buy an additional dash mount, which is often big, clunky and clumsy.
      – When you power on the phone, you then have to wait for it to boot up, then launch the app.
      – Does the display go to sleep after so long? Is it too bright, or too dim? Futz with this setting, futz with that setting.
      – How long does it run on a charge? Certainly less than 22 hours.
      I want to be able to turn it on instantly, have it do its job with zero input, and switch it off. Period.

    2. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar

      I have a speedometer app on my iPhone. My dislike for it is what drove me to buy this.
      – The phone is unnecessarily large, blocking something on my dash or too much of my outward vision, no matter where I mount it.
      – This comes with specific mounting hardware. With a phone, you have to buy an additional dash mount, which is often big, clunky and clumsy.
      – When you power on the phone, you then have to wait for it to boot up, then launch the app.
      – Does the display go to sleep after so long? Is it too bright, or too dim? Futz with this setting, futz with that setting.
      – How long does it run on a charge? Certainly less than 22 hours.
      I want to be able to turn it on instantly, have it do its job with zero input, and switch it off. Period.

  2. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    I think the lag is normal for GPS-derived speed display, every navigation unit I’ve used has done the same thing and from the way it operates it is not measuring your speed directly.

    I have seen a bike speedometer on a car (to improve on a dodgy old mechanical speedo), but that involved some work installing and then calibrating it.

  3. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    I think I’d rather keep the $84 (that’s pricey for as little as it does) and do without a speedometer. I’ve driven cars before with broken speedos and it really didn’t bother me much, and I can usually guess my speed within 5 mph or so anyway.

    1. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      Some of that depends on how many different types of vehicles you’ve been in recently. If you return from a lengthy highway trip behind the wheel of a leaf-sprung, unladen COE and immediately jump behind the wheel of a quiet luxury sedan, it’s very easy to glance at the dash and discover that you are nearing triple digits.

      1. Zentropy Avatar
        Zentropy

        That’s a fair point, but even within my own ratty collection, I’ve never concurrently had two nonfunctional speedometers.
        I guess I just don’t see the point of these devices, period. Why is the redundancy needed?

        1. 0A5599 Avatar
          0A5599

          The pictures show it being used in a car, but the article indicates the purpose is for project bikes. Those bikes might have speedometers that are MIA or calibrated for a different size tire. So, a primary device, not a redundant one.

          Last time I had a broken speedometer (the pointer snapped off), I just read the tach and converted rpm to mph. Of course, that was when I was still good at math…

          1. Zentropy Avatar
            Zentropy

            Ahh… in my typical ADD-fashion, I skimmed right past the “motorcycle” part. My CJ-7 had oversized tires, causing the speedo to read incorrectly low, but I just knew the conversion factor and would do the mental math on the fly. I too used the tach reading for my car with the broken cable, but because it was a manual I only memorized the scale for top gear.

            I guess I just would have guessed that repairing or recalibrating the motorcycle speedometer would be cheaper than $84.

          2. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar

            Yes, you’re mostly correct. The ultimate use for this is verifying that the calculated speed in gears is actually correct. Mechanical speedos are especially suspect when the wheel, the drive gearbox and the actual meter are all from different models.

        2. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar

          There are lots of vehicles that are not permanently equipped with a speedometer. Having one you can temporarily reference for testing is quite handy.

    2. mdharrell Avatar

      A guesstimate to within five miles per hour is already better than most of my working speedometers, so I generally don’t worry about it beyond that.

      1. 0A5599 Avatar
        0A5599

        A guesstimate OF five miles per hour probably gets WITHIN five miles per hour of the maximum speed of a lot of your stuff. No need to worry.

        1. mdharrell Avatar

          I would angrily dispute that point if it weren’t quite so self-evidently true.

          1. Zentropy Avatar
            Zentropy

            Another example of why I try not to ever miss any of the mdharrell comment strings.

  4. dead_elvis, inc. Avatar
    dead_elvis, inc.

    I don’t have a need for this at the moment, but I like it! There are a bunch available via eBay for closer to $70, shipped (from Australia), so for a project with a generous deadline, that seems like the way to go.

    Their GPS/OBD version is closer to $50 & offers more features (via OBDII connection only), so I’d probably go with that unit, ’cause I’m kinda cheap frugal. It shares the clean, uncluttered design of the GPS-only setup.

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Maybe I am spoiled by having been an Aliexpress junkie for the better part of a decade, but 50-80$ sounds really, really expensive to me for a 1 task dedicated unit.

      1. dead_elvis, inc. Avatar
        dead_elvis, inc.

        I think Pete laid out pretty clearly why he wanted a good single-task device. And after browsing eBay & some of the other usual places, I think $50-80 sounds pretty reasonable – most of the sub-$50 stuff sounds like garbage, and the positive reviews are oddly uniform & poorly written (read: most likely bogus). Like a lot of people, I’ve got a couple elderly phones floating around that might be able to serve if used in a car, but they’d need to be plugged in constantly, and would be an abject fail on a motorcycle.

        1. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          Yes, I agree he explained it well. It’s still a fair bit of money given what it does, to me. As I understand it, there is no IP certification or anything along those lines that would justify a high price. Maybe the market for these is just very slim.

  5. Pierre Deveaux Avatar
    Pierre Deveaux

    Dear Peter,
    I have been looking for a while for a GPS speedometer to equip my vintage BMW R45 (1979) which I use for travel. Actually my search was for a “speed limit indicator”, not a radar indicator and even less an illegal radar detector but the “My Speed” by Snooper already seems to be out of production. To be expected in a world apparently expecting any device to perform 1001 useless intricated tasks (and brew coffee atop of them). Your article was a trigger : I instantly ordered the item from fruugo.be (yes, there is a Belgian connection).
    OK, it’s for inside a car, so it isn’t waterproof but it’s rechargeable, removable, handy. It doesn’t warn about speed limits but that’s what road signs are made for and if it indeed gives accurate speed, it’s the driver’s job to respect them. The BMW’s instrument accuracy (or lack thereof) being what it is, it’s the perfect simplistic tool I was looking for !!
    Many many thanks for sharing this information. My next travel will be Gibraltar through Switzerland and Andorra next September, so I’ll be patient and wait for its delivery.

    Friendly thoughts from Belgium,
    Pierre Deveaux, Brussels