[General Topics] joey_phatone:
All, please forgive me if this has been discussed in other threads in the forum. I have searched and did not find any threads that really related to it.

As we all know our android devices have become quite powerful little computers, often incorporating features our computers don't even have without additional internal or external hardware, and are far more portable.

My own personal phone is an old VZ Galaxy S5. I have chosen and will continue to use VZ simply because I find they have the best service area for me. I love to go on road trips, via auto and motorcycle, I go out camping and dirt bike riding in some pretty remote areas and tbh I have been amazed at some of the places I still have service, long after family and friends have lost service on other carriers. For several years I kept and maintained an old Nokia TDMA AT&T Wireless phone simply because they still had "analog/digital" service in some pretty remote areas, and in the case of an emergency I find it beneficial to be able to make a call or send a text message in the event someone needs to be airlifted out. But I digress ..

I am not an experienced developer, and I have no experience rooting however I am interested in and believe I can learn a lot in this area. I am fed up and disgusted with bloatware, apps that after being disabled or force shutdown restart upon power cycling the phone, etc and I am watching closely to determine my next daily user phone based on Stock Android OS, hardware specs, and the users ability to determine which apps they actually want.

However, this thread is actually in regards to something completely different from that altogether.

I am in the market for an action camera, almost all of them have WiFi connectivity to control them. I have also started using GPS Apps for chart plotting and track recording using Enhanced Geo Referenced PDF Maps to track my rides the trails I am on (many of which are not mapped by DNR or US Forrest Service). I love to listen to music etc and often use Blue Tooth to stream audio from my SD Card, and as we know the internal cameras on these devices continue to improve and take some incredible pictures, almost to the point that there is not a lot of need to carry a higher end camera anywhere. None of these functions require a carrier. I can use any IOS or Andriod Device to load these apps on and use it to control my GoPro, as a GPS Enable Map/Chart Plotter, a Media Player, a Point and Shoot Camera, but in using it as such there is no need for all of the other "stuff" loaded on it by the manufacturer and carrier for voice service, for bs marketing, for ... I can install a handlebar mount on my dirt bike to hold the device and even install a power cable to maintain a constant charge so power/battery life isn't exactly a problem.

I currently have my VZ S5 which will probably be retired in the coming months, a Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Wifi Only (SM-T800), a Galaxy Note 2 VZ (retired a few years back but still functional), and my wife has a Tab 4 8.0 Wifi Only. The Tab S 10.5 is probably overkill and I think would prove to be challenging to manage mounted on the handlebars of a dirt bike. The Note 2 I think is probably just a little outdated. I am considering picking up a new tablet for my wife and re-purposing her tab 4 for this but I wanted to reach out to a community of experienced users to see if any of you have recommendations on an Android Device that would fit this purpose, something I can have control over exactly what is loaded on it, trim all the fat, and load up exactly what I want. Something that will be reasonable fast/responsive, and has an SD Card slot so I can store maps, pics, media, etc externally. If this requires rooting and loading a custom ROM to achieve, then I get to learn some new skills.

Open to listening to and considering all suggestions. Please provide supporting info for your recommendations ie specs, efficiency, simplicity, etc

Thanks,

Joey