Chigee AIO-6 MAX: First impressions

Since the return of my fourth BMW Navigator VI, I have been driving without a dedicated navigator on my motorcycle. With only my phone attached with a QuadLock system, I knew this was not going to be solution for me. After careful consideration of my options, I went for the new Chigee AIO-6 MAX with a BMW Quick Release module.

About half-way through my Eastern Europe trip this summer, my BMW Navigator VI stopped logging my GPS track. When I returned it (it was the fourth one in five years) I got most of the money paid for it back and was thus free to choose another option.

The BMW Connected Ride Navigator was never really an option. Although made for BMW by TomTom this time instead of Garmin, the reviews suggested a product with a lot of flaws. Probably the most expensive option too.

The Garmin Zumo XT2 looked to be a decent 6" alternative with 1280x720 resolution and 1000 nits brigtness. It fits the BMW Nav cradle with an 3rd party adapter that does not add much to the thickness of the device.  The drawback for me would be the use of Garmin Basecamp software which is basically useless and something I wanted to move away from. Of course, there are software options that works with the Zumo.

The alternative to a dedicated GPS is of course Carplay devices. With a lot of decent apps for planning, navigating and logging trips, this is today an interesting option. For apps, I had been testing Sygic and MyRoute-App in the car, while testing Calimoto on the motorcycle. Impressions were good, and I ended up paying for lifetime subscription for MyRoute-App. The downside to Carplay options is that they drain your phone battery, so while using the unit powered by the bike, you need to provide charging of your phone as well.

There are quite a few Carplay (I have an iphone, so only consider this option) units to consider. I wanted BMW WonderWheel integration, so this limited the options to a few: Carpuride and Chigee. From reading the reviews of these units, I considered the Chigee to be the higher quality, albeit the most expensive option. Carpuride offers 7" screen, but with the danger of obstructing the bike's TFT. From what I could read, the screen responsiveness is much better on Chigee than Carpuride.

Chigee had two units to consider: The AIO-5 and AIO-6, the digit indicating the screen size. The AIO-5 benefited from having a dedicated BMW unit that fit straight into the BMW Nav cradle. The new AIO-6 has the same CPU and 1280x720 screen resolution but the brightness is increased from 1000 to 2200. It also has a higher IP rating for dust/waterproofing. The downside it needs an adapter for the BMW that adds to the thickness.

Since the AIO-6 was just released and there was waiting time on delivery from Chigee, I decided to wait my investment in a new unit and use my iPhone 15 Pro Max for navigation.

Since my 2020 R1250 GS is out of warranty after five years of service, I have been looking for a new motorcycle. The R1300 I never found to be much of an improvement (read: boring). The F900GS "dirt devil" I liked a lot on the test drives, but downsides are the wire clutch and chain and perhaps a bit less torque.

With the new R12 G/S I immeditially fell in love with the looks. Specs was amazing too according to my needs with 21/18" wheels. The problem was that the bike could not be tested in Trondheim. Checking with MCO in Oslo I managed to book a test ride. I planned nice, scenic routes both from and back to our cabin at Tynset.

I started out in pouring rain. Connecting my iPhone to the charger, I got water in the USB-C connection so the phone could not be charged. A ways down Rendalen I had the display starting to do weird things of it's own (well-known from the BMW Nav VI). The MyRoute-App has a lock-screen option so that was resolved. Passing Våler race track (good memories!) I headed for the Sør-Odal dirt road towards Sand and eventually Eidsvoll and the weather cleared. With no 5G reception the app managed navigation from the pre-downloaded maps. The weather had cleared, so with phone battery down to ~30 % I managed to start charging. The downside in hot weather is that the iPhone dims down the display so it was really hard to see the screen.

Quite frankly, I was annoyed from looking at the empty BMW Nav cradle. Not happy with the phone navigation option at all.

After a good night's sleep I set out for MCO Vollebekk for the R12 G/S test drive. The Quadlock could not be transferred from my bike due to different hadle bar dimension, so my test drive would have to be done without navigation (the bike had a SP Connect phone fixture). Anyways, the bike was a treat! Lovely engine, stock exhaust grunt, and tall.  It's a lighter bike than mine, agile and with great offroad capabilities.

R12  G/S with 21/18" wheels.

I must say that is is very likely to be my next bike. In white/blue and with red seat that is. And with a higher windscreen/tower.

MCO Vollebek is by the way and excellent store. In the display cabinet at the counter I saw to my surprise a Chigee AIO-6 as well as a BMW adapter. Not in their web store this was a surprise. I was allowed to take the unit out of the box and see that the BMW adapter did not add much to the thickness. After checking the 6" size would not obstruct the Bike's TFT, I was sold. I brokered a small discount and went for it.

After attaching the BMW adapter, I connected the unit to my bike. I powered up the unit, gave it a WIFI hotspot for activation. Then connected WIFI, bluetooth and the unit was good to go. No reading of manual, basically no configuration and everything worked, BMW wonder wheel and all. I was a very happy customer driving up the nice covered roads towards Nannestad and Hurdal. Screen brightness was amazing, even in strong sunlight.

Hurdal Verk

From Hurdal to Lena I drove excellent dirt roads. Crossing Mjøsbrua, I then crossed from Mesna to Imsroa on fantastic dirt roads. Here the rain started pouring down. Really pouring down. The Chigee worked well under these conditions; the cradle fixture solid and providing very little vibrations.

Back at the cabin, I was really happy with my new navigation unit. Navigation, phone, media were tested. Even the Chigee displays showing lean angle, engine rpm and trottle opening worked great. I inserted a SD card for future unit software upgrades.

Chigee AIO-6 installed on my bike.

Hindsights

Wonder wheel implementation: it should be mentioned that in its current implementation, this feature does not add much functionality. It allows for scrolling through menus and selecting options, but does not allow for e.g. zooming maps.