Saphe Drive Pro Speed Camera Detector Starter Pack with Colour Display, CarPlay and Android Auto Compatible, Detects Upcoming Speed Cameras and Hazards, Includes 12 Month Subscription

Advance apologies for this very lengthy and comprehensive review. If you are serious about finding a device that may well protect you from unintended speed and camera contraventions, then I think you'll find it helpful.... Here I am at the wrong side of sixty. Perfectly safe on the road and make an effort to stay just within speed limits, but thought I'd been snapped coming into a 30 that was only seemingly announced by the appearance of a painted tarmac "30" sign rather than a roadside one. Looked in the mirror and hidden behind me was the dreaded mobile camera van. Realised I was doing 37mph in my habit of being just under the limit in what I was convinced was still a 40, and so what went wrong? On arriving home I reviewed my dash cam footage. I had in fact passed the two "30" road signs but they were almost completely obscured by late Spring leaves from encroaching trees. It wouldn't be getting me off a ticket and in truth I should have seen them... Probably my age .. Being a completely safe driver otherwise (honest) I started a search for a solution. I wasn't that interested in a fixed or mobile camera alert device, as my intent is always to stay within speed limits anyway. I'll go over as much as 10% on dual carriageways and motorways, but only because it is well known that on those roads you are safer keeping up to the general traffic speed. As a retirement ICU registered nurse I know that speeds above 30 do kill pedestrians and want to be no part of that. It seems there are 4 options in the UK right now. The first is the free Waze app which I feel would likely be the choice of youngsters who know they are speeding and just want to get away with it. This app is free, but needs to always be on and open on your phone (preferably with the phone mounted, volume up and screen on). It's got a massive UK following and so mobile speed cameras are always quickly logged by users. It also has the entire database of fixed cameras. A plus of the app is that you can set it to alert if you go over the speed limit and (crucially) to warn you of an approaching lower speed limit... Just what I really needed... I therefore downloaded the app... Unfortunately it's a very fussy app, easy to forget to turn on and requires maybe a little more tech savvyness and patience than I can muster. It also uses a lot of data and drains the phone battery quickly. Far too much hassle... The next item I looked at was the Snooper speed Camera alert GPS (not sure exactly what it's called, but it's expensive and the reviews aren't great). As far as I could see it has a nice clear big screen showing current speed limit, gives the standard fixed camera alerts and does have a reporting modality in which mobile cameras can be added to its database. Not terrible, but research showed nowhere near as likely to have mobile cameras reported on it as Waze plus costing a lot of money! It was out for me.. Option 3 was Oono... A cheap little device at £30 that simply alerts you to fixed cameras and mobile ones IF others before you have reported them... It does seem though for all of these type of devices (and Waze being so much more popular) that not many mobile cameras are ever reported on it, so for me the Oono was absolutely no help in actively informing me if I was within the limit in addition to no likely use whatsoever for the mobile camera vans likely to prey in areas where motorists might be less likely to know they are in a 30. That one was out for me... The Oono is apparently subscription free for the first version, but there is a second edition out now for which a subscription I think will be applied... That (finally.. sorry) brings me to this item.. Saphe have a slightly confusing array of devices, this (drive pro) being their supposedly better one.. The downside of it is that it carrys a subscription of £30 per year... You can buy it here on Amazon for either £60 (subscription included) or indeed for just £30 without... I'm not sure why you'd bother with the latter, because as the many disgruntled reviewers here state it is useless without the subscription. Please take their reviews with a pinch of salt as it seems they've all only given the negative reviews following exactly one year and in relation to the fact that they expected and hoped it would still have functionality after the subscription expired. One night presume they thought it great before renewal was due... On that basis the cost of running the device is just over 8p a day. For me that's not a deal breaker... Please note however that Saphe do still sell their "mini" version of this that has no subscription at the cost of some functionality and a smaller visible size. So what does the Drive Pro do? 1) Displays current limit and can be set to advise you of a deviation from that limit by anything upwards of 1mph. 2) Gives a visual (crucially visual only.. criticism below) indication of upcoming speed limit changes. 3) Audibly and visually alerts of any upwards deviation from the speed limit. 4) Reliably informs of all UK fixed speed and traffic light cameras. 5) Allows one button push advice of discovered mobile camera traps (criticism below.. read on)... How well does the Drive Pro do it?? By now you'll have probably seen that the average review score for this device is not great.. But why? Is it a fair appraisal?? Most of the reviewer's state: 1) The device doesn't alert to a fixed camera if your coming in the other direction... Well... No it doesn't at all of the Gatso camera sites in the UK and for good reason... Those cameras cannot detect speeding vehicles coming towards them and so when you are approaching a Gatso its camera facing towards you it may as well not be there.. The lines on your side of the road are there to record cars using that lane when coming from the opposite direction in order to escape detection... It's a common misconception in the UK... Ignore these reviews as I've tested it extensively and it does not ever get fixed cameras wrong. None of them... 2) Those disgruntled only due to the subscription cost and the fact it's basically a brick if not renewed... Well... Saphe are fairly open about this.. What did the buyers expect? 3) Those saying it often shows the wrong speed limit and sometimes fails to connect with the phone or won't Bluetooth connect with the phone... True... This can happen, but follow the setup instructions EXACTLY and always ensure your phone is put of your pocket, fairly close to the device with a clear and unobstructed line of sight and you will find that this is not the case at all generally. The app actually gets a big plus from me for this as other apps that rely on Bluetooth often self close. Saphe advise you to allow the app to force a permanent Bluetooth connection with the device when it's close by and this really does work very well indeed. The best place for your phone is up close to it in the windscreen dash where your phone always has the best GPS signal possible. The device boots up on the vibration of opening and closing your car door and requires Zero thought. This works really well... 4) The other complaint is of course that it's not yet a widespread device in the UK and is trumped by Waze here, and this criticism is actually true. The device has a great following in the EU, but sadly not here (yet)... What is my biggest complaint about it? Well... that is simply that although the speed alerts (both visual and audible) are easily set up by a single switch in the app, you cannot set an AUDIBLE (a soft chime, for example) alert to warn of upcoming speed limits... There is a visual cue of this (the upcoming speed limit in a muted grey), but not audible. This can be set as standard on Waze, but would obviously have helped me avoid my above speed camera scenario (which prompted me to buy this unit). I've spoken to Saphe product development on this and I believe they see it as a great extra option and they assure me they are currently looking into it. Other things to note.. The volume can be adjusted to very loud if required. The charging time is slow but when full it does last for a very long time indeed. Any glitches are almost always due to the need to update (easily done and I'd suggest doing this every now and then regardless). My conclusion: This is the very best and most comprehensive device on the market. Sure it costs, and sure it has a subscription cost, but set it up right, leave it in the car and it will serve and serve well... It's not a boy racer device... Serial speeders would be better looking to Waze and taking the time to ensure the app is set up on their phone for every journey. Myself? I'm a conscientious driver who wants to do the right thing, wants to avoid hurting anyone and wishes to keep my licence clean, but not to have to mess around with an app or device for every journey.. This unit tells me fairly reliably if I ever stray from these self imposed rules .. You'll note I've given it 5 stars, but feel it closer to 4.5. if Saphe updates the device to chime a warning of approaching lower speed limits AND it's popularity reaches a point that most mobile camera units get reported on it (which I feel will happen eventually) then it's a full fat 5 stars from me. Read the negative reviews here with caution and just think about exactly what you want from the device... Apologies for the longest review I think I've ever written, but I feel sure it will be helpful to at least a few.

A great little product and really helps keep an eye on speed and speed cameras

Just to provide some context behind my review, I was trying to find a product that would replace the roadangel device that sat on my dashboard that would display the speed my vehicle was travelling at, in miles per hour, due to my vehicle being an import and having it's odometer in kilometres per hour. Unfortunately the roadangel device had been pinched and I was left needing a display for the speed of my vehicle in mph. Upon searching for replacements, this device seemed to be a good and much cheaper alternative. The speed camera alerts were a bonus, but my main purpose from this device was to display the speed my vehicle was travelling at in mph. Upon receiving the device and installing, I noticed that there was a subscription that was required, the first year being free as a form of gift or incentive by the company. I thought it may have been like my previous device, the road angel which also came with a subscription, but this was just for the extra features such as speed camera alerts, etc. once that subscription expired, you could still use the basic functionality of the speed monitor. The saphe on the other hand, does not function, even as a basic speed monitor, without a subscription, but also, (and here is the real dealbreaker for me) does not function without a connected phone with GPS/location enabled and power save switched off. So to put this into context, in order for the saphe device to even function in it's most basic sense, you are required to download an app, synch with the saphe device, disable power saving mode whilst using the app to ensure your phone doesn't shutdown the app or relegate it to a background service, and have your phone running to have this saphe device provide speed monitoring and speed camera warnings. Now, I'm not sure how this device really made it out of the planning stages of product development, due to the fact that I can do all of the things the saphe can do, but just with my phone. My main purpose was that I didn't want my phone on and I definitely want it running an app that is forcing it to remain on and not enter a power saving state, just to run another device. Why would anyone opt for this device, when it forces you to have your phone on? When I could just have the same functionality by just omitting the saphe device, it's app, it's yearly subscription, and instead just use an app like Waze that provides all of the same functionality as the saphe device? I genuinely do not understand the purpose of this device, I'd be more than happy for the company to explain what it does over and above the scenario I just described above about using just my phone with Waze. This is a badly thought out product that forces you to include phone and subscription, and questionable power settings, for which you might as well ditch the saphe and keep your phone running without the saphe app and subscription but just have an app like Waze running.

Typically, I tend to use Waze as a reliable indicator or cameras and hazards... I was hoping this lovely piece of kit would replace Waze.... It doesn't. Firstly it's a very nice and well designed piece of kit and cat be fitted in multiple positions. Having just two dedicated buttons makes reporting cameras and hazards far easier than Waze. I have had the device for a week or so travelled 1000 plus miles from Scotland to London and back. I have also run Waze and Saphe side by side. With Saphe, the app on your phone does all the work, so expect battery life to decrease a fair bit... And will no phone signal Saphe probably won't work. Waze picked up every camera accurately, hazards on the road and a mobile speed camera... Saphe didn't pick up any hazards or the mobile camera. Frustratingly, Saphe was very wrong on numerous occasions. Telling me about average 40 mph cameras on a 70 mph dual carriageway for many miles made me want to lob it out the window. This was on two very different roads hours apart. It didn't detect speed cameras on fixed roadworks, Waze did. Also shows me several fixed speed cameras that aren't there. It's a good device, easy to use from the box, easy to place on the dash etc.... But just not accurate enough. Speed limit reminders are good... And the app is highly customisable for the phone and device separately. I understand mobile cameras and hazards are crowd sourced, but fixed cameras etc. should be accurate.

A good unit Works well

Compact little unit, with clear display and good battery life. Easy to setup and connect. It seems to work OK, for the price which included a 12 month subscription, however it caused a lot of false alarms. I intended to just use this for camera alerts but it does not appear to distinguish the direction of travel, so on the M1 if there is a camera on the other side of the road - you are getting alerted about it. I also got a lot of random alerts on my recent 8 hour drive, suddenly a siren goes off and no idea why. Also worth noting the default alert is a Siren, which solo driving around the M25 I was not able to change due to driving became rather annoying. Yes, there are other alert options thankfully which are configured whilst connected over Bluetooth via the app. Overall its OK, but think I will spending a little more and getting a Road Angel setup.

Very pleased with this - I hesitated due to some snippy reviews and the thing about a subscription. But having been done for speeding (77 on the motorway, overhead police van zapping us, new-to-me car and the speedo harder to read than my old one which had the numbers displayed digitally rather than via the swinging arm) it looked a good bet. And it is. I hadn’t realised it linked with my phone so I have both it with the map and the info up AND the little tiny device itself. For me having the actual speed being driven alongside the current speed limit is very important. The limits change all the time on some roads round here so having Saphe sort it out for me, given so many speed signs are covered over by foliage, is very useful. So far it seems pretty good at spotting the cameras but really just the visual of the speed / my speed is so useful and not offered by all the devices out there. It is very small, a breeze to set up and pretty perfect. Recommended.

I wasn't expecting great things from this device, but I'm so disappointed. Where do I start. Firstly the database is so out of date it's pointless. It didn't identify any 20mph zones in my area that have been in place for a year. It didn't pick up on any average speed zones in the area either, also in place for about a year. It did alert me to removed GATSO cameras, not a lot of good really. The speed indicator is sort of accurate but does lag a bit and the overspeed warning works. Overall this really was a waste of money and I cannot recommend. The only reason for buying it was because my Road Angel Pure had to go in for repair and with quite a lot of driving to do I didn't feel safe without a speed awareness reminder to nudge me if I get close to the limit. And no I do not speed and yes I have a clean licence, but with the chaotic roads these days it's nice for a bit of assistance to stay within the law. However, this is no help at all.

Efficientissimo. ..per mantenere il limite di velocità . E autovelox attivi..

Funktioniert einwandfrei. Man kann sogar neue Blitzer hinzufügen.

Perfetto .

Richtig gut und im Vergleich top. Vergleich zum Ooono ;-) Hatte seit einem Jahr den Ooono Mist. Zuerst noch annähernd ok, mit Updates immer schlechter und zuletzt nur noch mies. Ohne Ankündigung dort nur noch Signal auf Autolautsprecher, wenn Musik gestreamt wird und nicht über Radio. Zudem nur einmal kurz in der Entfernung gewarnt und viel zu weit vorher. Einstellen in der App Fehlanzeige. Der Saphe ist hier um Klassen besser. Alles einstellbar, die Anzeige zusätzlich top,auch die Anzeige Geschwindigkeit derzeit und die vorgeschriebe Höchstgeschwindigkeit. Hab das Auch im BMW, aber nicht beim Motorrad, da wird es eine nette Funktion sein. Die Anzeige Annäherung an Radar ist sehr gut. Großer Unterschied ist auch die App selbst. Beim Saphe alles zum einstellen, funktioniert auch ohne eingeschaltetem Gerät. ooono ist Schrott, ohne Gerät funktioniert nichts, Einstellungen minimalst. BIN FROH, DASS ICH GEWECHSELT HABE

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