Disclaimer
I don’t usually do product promotions. In fact, this is the first one I’ve done. I’ve had lots of offers, but until now, nothing that really fit my vision of what I’m doing with this channel. And to be completely honest, I’d rather just be making videos about motorcycle riding. But I had this empty GPS mount on my BMW, and I was going to convert it to hold a phone when I got this offer from Aoocci. In full transparency, they sent me this unit in exchange for this promotion, and if you use the link below, I get a commission, and you get a discount. However, they did not get to approve this content, and I’ll be honest in my evaluation. And as a very small channel, I don’t expect to make a lot from promoting this product..
What is It?
So, what is the Aoocci C6 Pro? It’s a screen that can do three main things: It runs Android Auto or Apple Carplay, depending on your phone. It can run any app that has Carplay or Android Auto functionality. That includes most mapping apps, plus music and some podcasting apps. If you’re listening to your phone through a headset, you can answer calls and see text messages. That’s the same as most similar devices. The C6 Pro adds front and rear cameras, which can automatically save footage in case of a crash, which can be useful if any legal proceedings arise. I’ll talk more about the video later. It also has tire pressure monitoring. I’ve already got that built into the BMW, but it’s in bars only, and even though Canada is on the metric system, I’m still thinking in PSI, so I have to convert when I’m checking my tire pressure. A few years ago, I bought an after-market TPS monitor for my Africa Twin that cost almost as much as this unit. I know, I could have paid less, but the point is that at around $300 Canadian before my discount, this unit is very well-priced considering all that it does. It’s made in China, as most of our electronics are today, and it took about 2 weeks to arrive at my door. If you’re in a major city, it might be a bit quicker.
Why would You Want it?
So why would you spend $300 on this kind of device? Just to compare, a dedicated GPS costs more than double that. Your phone probably costs triple or more. There are pros and cons to all the choices, and if you’re as old as I am, you’ve probably ridden thousands of miles with nothing but a paper map, and that’s fine. A dedicated GPS is ideal when you’re off-grid and you need new information because it’s got a built-in database. You can set a new route, and you can search for the nearest gas or campground. A phone or the C6 requires a data connection. But with this, you can still set a route and then ride off the grid. This device and your phone both have GPS connections that will continue to guide you when you’re in the great unknown. For example, OnX Offroad is Carplay compatible, so you can view your OnX route and all the OnX data no matter where you are, as long as you have downloaded the off-line map in advance. You cannot download a map to this device, but you can download maps to your phone apps and use them off-grid with the C6.
But your phone is vulnerable when it’s mounted on your bike. It’s exposed to the rain and heat. Someone pointed out to me recently that all iPhones have been waterproof for a few generations, but I have found that raindrops will affect the touchscreen, changing what it’s displaying in unexpected ways. More problematic is the heat, which will cause the screen to go blank. And I’ve had that happen many many times. Finally, the phone camera is susceptible to vibrations, which can affect the autofocus. So you may want to have your expensive phone tucked in a safe place and display your routing information on the C6. Finally, God forbid, you have a crash, you have enough problems without adding a broken phone to the mix.
I don’t think any one of these functions justifies buying this type of unit, but when you consider all of them together, it’s a reasonable value proposition.
Unboxing
There’s a lot to unpack from the box. It’s helpful that the different systems come in separate bags. I like to save these little ziplock bags to organize spare parts. There’s the main unit, which has clearly labelled connectors for the power, cameras, and remote. The cameras are round and have little brackets that hold them and attach them to the bike. All the cable connectors have nice water-tight connections that screw in and are very secure. My unit came with an SD card.
Installation
There are two things I can say about the installation. It’s easy and it’s complicated. Easy because the device itself is simple: it just needs power and the supplied connections. Complicated because few instructions are given. That’s because every bike is different, and you can mount the unit in several different ways, so they don’t really give you any installation instructions. It’s basically a Ram mount system, and they include three balls, two for your handlebars and one that can go on handlebars or a GPS mount. Since I have clip-on handlebars, there’s not a lot of room. My bike originally came with the GPS mount low on the handlebars, but I added a GPS mount up on the windshield bracket, so that’s where I mounted it.
The other challenge is finding power. If you hook the unit up directly to the battery, it won’t turn off, so you need switchable power. The instructions state that you should find a switched accessory power circuit even though the power cables come with ends that look like they can go right onto the battery. If you have a newer bike with a Canbus system, you can’t just tap into a power circuit without —at minimum—causing a warning light to come on. You need to find the accessory port. The one on the R1200RS requires a proprietary plug that I haven’t been able to source in Canada. I already installed a Denali Cansmart controller for some auxiliary lights, and it has a couple of circuits available, so that would be a great option, and I might change the connection to the Cansmart controller.
I already had a cable from the battery with an SAE connector on it for the Quadlock mount I used to have. So I used this Quadlock adaptor that is supposed to switch off when the battery is below a certain charge. The C6 comes with an optional USB A connector that was able to connect right to the Quadlock. I wrapped the connection with some electrical tape for extra security and water resistance, although it’s all tucked below the fairing to keep it secure and out of the weather. The main issue with this connection is that the C6 provides sufficient wiring to reach the electrical components of just about any bike, and the Quadlock also has a lot of wiring, so I ended up with quite a bit of extra wiring to tuck away. The other minor problem is that the Quadlock doesn’t turn off with the bike like I expected, and I’m not sure how much it will let the battery drain before it does turn off, so I always turn it off with the switch on the Quadlock.
Once you’ve figured out the mounting and power, everything else is simple. The cameras mount with little 3M adhesive pads, like GoPro mounts. I once had a GoPro fall off my bike after it had been mounted on the front fender for a year, but these cameras are so light that the force on the pads is minimal. Also, I attached the pads to the bottom of the fairing and rear rack, so they’re not very exposed. Screws are also provided, if you want more security and don’t mind drilling into your mounting location. Note that the white dot should be at the top of the camera. I spent a while trying to find a software solution to rotating the image 90 degrees before I realized that I installed the camera rotated. The front camera easily connects back to the main unit. The rear camera requires you to find a route through the body of the bike and secure the wiring with zip ties. A bunch of zip ties are included.
Features
The main function of this unit is to mirror your phone, but there are a lot of details as to how that works. These are the things that distinguish the Aoocci C6 from the competition. I haven’t used other products, so I’m not doing a comparison. I just want to give you the details on the C6.
Set up. When you first set up the C6 with your phone, you connect it via Bluetooth. But then, it creates its own WIFI connection to your phone. You don’t have to do anything. After that, it will automatically pair with your phone whenever the unit turns on. However, it takes about 30 seconds, so be patient.
Screen. The C6 states its maximum brightness is 1000 nits. That’s similar to my iPhone 14. My first road test was on a sunny day in April, and the brightness was fine. There’s an optional sunshade that I hadn’t installed. The brightness can be set to automatically vary, so as you go into darker conditions, the screen doesn’t overwhelm your vision. You can also lock the screen to prevent any raindrops from accidentally triggering actions on the screen. I found that the screen was a little less touch sensitive than my phone, so I’m not sure how much it will be affected by raindrops.
Remote. There’s an optional remote control with three buttons.
- Answer calls
- Play or pause music
- Turn the camera on or off
Built-in GPS. The built-in GPS records your speed, direction, location, and altitude on the recorded video. I couldn’t find a way to display it on the screen except when displaying the video. But if that data is important to you, then you’re probably using a mapping app that displays the appropriate information. You can turn on and off each of these data points individually, but if you need the video in case of an accident or legal dispute, then having them embedded in the video file will be very useful. When you turn on the GPS data, it takes a moment to locate you, and the direction might be incorrect until you start moving.
Apps. You can operate any app that has Carplay or Android Auto functionality. I’ve got quite a few installed on my phone because I’m always trying out different mapping apps. Here, you can see Apple Maps, BRMB, Calimoto, Detecht, Gaia, Google Maps, OnX, Rever, Scenic, Stegra, and Waze. You can just launch any app straight from the C6 screen, and do whatever you normally do with it.
Camera. The camera records at 1080p at 30 fps. It’s not going to replace your action cam, and it’s not meant to. It has enough detail to capture a license plate of a car in front or behind you. There’s a bit of vibration, which can be worse depending on your bike or where you mount the camera. The camera records in discrete segments that can be 1, 3, or 5 minutes long. When the SD card is full, it simply records over the existing files. You can mark a file as locked so it won’t be recorded over. You can also set a G-force trigger that will automatically lock any footage that was recorded just before an accident.
To access the footage, you need to download a third-party app, which seems to work well. There’s a QR code included in the instructions to find the app. I’d prefer if Aoocci developed their own proprietary app just because it feels more secure. The process to download footage is a little slow and takes a couple of steps. When you open the app, you can see all the segments that have been recorded on the SD card. Of course, you need to be connected to the device at the time. Then, you have to save the images or videos to an album on the app. Some people have complained about this being a slow process, but I found that it took about 30 seconds to save a 3-minute video to the app. You probably don’t want to copy all the files, even if you are using them as B-roll for a travel video. You can just select the ones you want. Once they are downloaded into the app album, you can download them into your photos album or app on your phone, or if you have an iPhone, airdrop them to your computer. You don’t need to be connected to the C6 anymore.
You can also take the SD card out of the device and transfer everything you want manually, but removing the SD card requires you to remove two tiny screws from the cover, which sits on the bottom of the device, an awkward procedure and one that could result in dropped screws in your garage or driveway. I’ve already lost enough nuts and parts into the bushes off my driveway to build a small motorcycle, so I prefer the software method.
TPS. The TPS is pretty straightforward. You can set the units to bars or PSI. You can select a maximum and minimum to get a warning when your pressure is out of range. I like having a TPS just as a safety factor. A few seconds warning of a sudden deflation can give you a chance to prepare for a quick stop or head to the shoulder. A slow leak is just as bad, and a warning can let you know that there’s a problem before you suffer tire damage or a loss of control due to low pressure. I also like that it shows the tire temperature, so you get an idea for when you might consider a break in hot conditions so as not to overstress your tires.
Anti-theft. Don’t be fooled. This feature makes it hard to steal the unit from your bike. It does nothing to prevent someone from stealing your bike. Use the normal precautions. The way it works is that the unit is mounted with a special kind of hex bolt. Aoocci provides a tool. It’s just like a hex wrench, except there’s a little dimple that fits around a bump in the bolt. A normal hex wrench won’t fit in it. It’s a pretty simple solution since not many thieves will have one of these wrenches. Nothing is going to stop a determined thief, but I think the risk is reasonable considering the price point.
Conclusion
The Aoocci C6 Pro is a fully functional alternative to putting your valuable cell phone on your handlebars. At its price point, it provides a lot of value for the money. If you only want the screen function, there’s another model from Aoocci that omits the cameras and tire pressure monitors. For me, it’s a worthwhile addition to the motorcycle. Now let’s get back to riding.
Use this link for Aoocci products: https://aoocci.goaffpro.com with the coupon code RAR22
Watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lvORI-gM2vc