Very important point! I’ve used a 90* charging cable to connect to a portable battery pack beneath my front mount, which seems to work really well. Something like THIS.
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I received the King Kong Mini 2, it looks great, I’ll try it outdoor as soon as possible (bad weather).
I’m waiting to receive a 3M sticker I don’t know if stick it on phone or buy a cover. Can you give me a suggestion?
One question: after pairing with power meter, it appears this message. What’s means?
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Today I got to test Xert EBC on new King Kong Mini 2 on outdoor run.
The app works very well, the data is clearly visible on a 4" screen and I didn’t have any problems to report.
I’ve kept the screen always on, at maximum brightness and after 2h and 30’, the battery was at 47% (520 Plus battery was at 49%).
Additional data fields (eg right / left power balance) and the load of gpx track, would improve the app.
There is only one downside, that I think depends on the smartphone hardware, it concerns the detection of the total ascent. After 60 km ride, the difference between the 520 Plus and the King Kong was 250 meters (quite a few)
Once the activity is uploaded to Xert online, the difference is greatly reduced (about 80 meters) but during the race I would like to have that more reliable data.
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That screen sends the calibration command to power meters.
Correct, this will depend if the unit has a barometric altimeter or not (in which case it will use elevation from GPS data).
Did my first indoor workout with EBC (do we know what that stands for yet?) on my Karoo 2 and it went really well. Think I actually prefer it to using my iPhone.
One little piece of feedback - seemed like tapping the timer paused/restarted the workout but that part of the interface design was a bit mysterious.
Tapping the timer does indeed pause the interval. It will be more obvious in a future update.
EBC: Android app - XATA view missing - Support - Xert Community Forum (xertonline.com)
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Sheesh. Just bought a Garmin 530. Wondering if I should return and just use a phone.
That depends. 
If you are not married to Garmin Connect and you want to avoid the pitfalls and limitations of Connect IQ, the answer is clear IMO. 
There are other pros and cons to consider, but if you want the best experience with Xert workouts you can’t beat Xert Mobile on a phone.
EBC on an small form factor Android phone/device is shaping up as a serious contender as your bike computer.
Cons include no ANT+ and radar or live track is not integrated.
BLE works fine for me (HR, power, trainer, cadence).
I ordered a radar display unit for my RTL510.
I’ll rely on a separate live track app on my phone (in jersey pocket).
I decided not to insert a SIM card and will use my small phone as a dedicated bike computer. If I want cellular access when traveling I’ll go with a low cost month-to-month service just for a data connection.
Also consider the Garmin does tons of other things but I never used most of them on my 1030 so I don’t miss them. YMMV
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Does your new android phone have a built in barometer or does it rely on gps data for altitude which isnt great?
It depends on your definition of great.
I doubt the Palm or King Kong Mini includes a barometer chip.
I live in a hilly area but am not interested in tracking VAM or altitude gain for workout purposes. Post ride stats are fine with me.
I’m more concerned whether the route is hilly or flat before I head out on a new course. That’s easy to determine by viewing the route profile on a GPS app.
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Thanks for the comparison. In past years, I’ve done some very long distance riding and so the battery part also plays in to equation. There’s also the fragility of a phone and the fact that it’s nice to get away from them.
On the other hand, I’m loving Xert, having just started using in January. It will be hard to just go out and ride, now. And so the functionality of the workout player outdoors is pretty key.
My ideal would be to have the connect IQ app expanded but it seems Xert is putting energy into android. That’s okay, can’t do everything and I’m sure it’s way easier to work with. I would even be happy if the workout player could function as a data field. I.e. I could scroll to other screens while running a workout.
Hello, With EBC, ANT+ is not functional ?
Should have said no ANT+ unless your phone supports it.
None of my phones (Pixel 2, Palm, or KingKong Mini 2) have ANT+.
BLE works fine for me and I find it more reliable than ANT+.
If I plug my old ANT+ dongle into any of the phones, I can connect EBC with that protocol. However, there’s no need unless your sensors don’t support Bluetooth. In that case you need an Android phone with built in ANT+ (some Samsung models and other brands) or an ANT+ dongle (will be awkward to use outdoors).
…or you can use a Viiiiva HRM or Cable from NPE to convert from ANT to BT is another option.
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Most phones have Ant+, hardware-wise. But they disabled it, firmware and software, since Android 9.x. With my phone I was using native Ant+ with Android 8.x. Since it was updated to 9.x and then 10.x, Ant+ is disabled.
Still, I will buy a USB OTG adapter and use my Ant+ dongle this year. Ant+ is the easiest way to use several apps simultaneously.
Hello, respectable group;)
I have been using “Xert EBC” on my smartphone for several days and it looks pretty good.
I have an inquiry or a suggestion:
- is there a chance that it will be possible to set the “MPA EXPECTED” value from a given workout and block / section in the configurable fields on the screens (indoor section)?
Such a field (it cannot be edited in this regard) is in the old version of the application (for Android) and above this field there is a field with the current “MPA” level.
I think that such a field with “REQUIRED/EXPECTED MPA” in the new version would be good, it just motivates me and I know in real time whether I am doing the work at the intended and required level.
Of course, I know that you can configure data fields, but there are just a few values/data from the old application (e.g. TTE, TTR, MPA expected, VI, Work kJ, StrainRate etc.)
regards
Artur
Does that mean this list isn’t accurate if the phone is upgraded to Android 9.x or higher?
Directory - THIS IS ANT
Or is disabling ANT+ determined on a per model basis?
My guess is most if not all the small Android phones on Aliexpress won’t have ANT+ enabled even if the chip is onboard.
As you mention an ANT+ dongle is the solution for users who want several apps connected simultaneously. For example, Fulgaz on your Windows laptop with ANT+ dongle, Xert EBC on your phone. Or Apple TV users can add the ANT+ dongle to their phone.
Outdoors BLE-only should be fine unless you have an old sensor that only broadcasts on ANT+.
It is not true that Android 9 and newer have ANT+ modules completely blocked.
ANT + worked on Andoid 9/10 without a problem, so in “HTC 12+” “HTC11”, “HTC10”, “HTCOne m9” and on Android10 in “OnePlus 8Pro”.
Unfortunately, after updating to Android11, the ANT+ driver does not work: /
I reported it to the author’s support but he didn’t make any reference to it.
In A11 under “OnePlus 8Pro” the problem is that “ANT+” cannot be granted - but there is a module displayed in the manager.
greetings
q.
Here’s King Kong Mini 2 mounted with Garmin Phone Adapter https://komcycling.com/collections/garmin-bike-mounts-1/products/garminphoneadapter the smartphone is stable and clearly visible.
I connected the power meter and heart rate sensors via bluetooth to the KKM2 and via ANT+ to the Garmin 520+, Xert EBC works well (excluding the already known problem of total ascent).
It would be really nice if the Varia 510 could also be connected, I will keep using Garmin 520+ (I don’t want to spend 100 euros for the display unit) and so I have to say good bye to the “all in one” idea.
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The problem with BT, is that it’s only “1 channel” connection, so once one app is connected to the device, you can’t manage the device from another app.
For ex., if I need to use RideWithGPS to get navigation directions - RWGPS is exclusively BT compatible, so after I connect my sensors to it, Xert won’t have access to them.
With Ant+, I can use my sensors with different apps. BTW, all my sensors have both BT and Ant+. So with Ant+ enabled, RWGPS can use BT, and Xert will receive the data from the Ant+ protocol.
PS: today I tried a USB OTG plug on my phone, and I can confirm, Xert EBC is fine with Ant+ 
Ugly trick: I plugged a male USB C <-> female USB micro, then a male USB micro <-> female USB 2 then the Ant+ plug. Something I would not play with, while riding outdoors !