Firstly, let’s look at the Saphe Drive Mini as fitted into my car while in Spain. I’m showing you a photo of the unit in it’s box as the morning we left Spain it was a bit too dark to show mounted on the dash. SO, the idea is simple enough and is a slight variation on the sat-nav you may already have on your mobile phone – that is, a Saphe unit is initially paired with the Saphe APP on your phone but the phone can then be in your pocket. I’ll point you to the Saphe website for the full technical explanation. I’m not entirely sure why they have a unit for the UK and another for Europe but no doubt if you are interested, the English-language website will have that info. Support also speak English.
By the time I was on the road in the UK there was plenty of light hence the in-situ shot of the UK Saphe One+ below.
So what is the purpose of these devices? Well, the RED side button in each case can be easily pressed without taking your attention off the road, to report an accident or other hotspot – the blue side (camera button) is used to report speed cameras. As these devices make use of a huge and ever-growing user database and NOT radar, they are perfectly legal in the UK and parts of Europe (I can only vouch for Spain). I understand that a speed camera or event is not recorded unil 2 people report the same item at the same location.
As we travelled all the way up from Granada at the bottom end of Spain to Santander at the top in our car, I clicked to report a couple of accident/roadworks scenes and lots of cameras – most but not all of which were already in the Saphe database. Slight pause for a 24 hour+ hour ferry crossing- then we were back in the car in Portsmouth and began our long trip up to the Northeast of England during which I reported another accident and several cameras using the UK version (Saphe One+).
Both units come with a variety of mounting options – as they are cordless – Saphe Drive Mini (Europe) is rechargeable via USB, Saphe One+ (UK) has a battery claimed to last 18 months so you can fit them on the dash, in a grill or on the window. I chose the dash in each case.
They emit a long-ish beep when you first come into the car and a shorter beep when you turn on the APP. Initial phone pairing is easy and takes only a moment.
The company is based in Denmark. And at this point before people ask ME questions, I’ll point interested parties back at their website – note – as usual I am not on any form of commission. They sent me the gadgets, I said I’d bring them to your attention – that’s it. I do of course have Google Maps on my phone but this is a handy and easy way to actually be part of the party – not so easy on the phone – even less easy (and dangerous) to interact with the phone if you’re driving 🙂
So not only do you have a bang-up-to-date speed-camera and accident spotter but you can easily do your bit to help improve the available information. You are also encouraged to click to report cars on the hard shoulder. Units can apparently be paired with multiple Smartphones and are compatible with Android and IOS. Correct me if I’m wrong butI believe these should NOT be used in France.
The Saphe Drive Mini can be bought from the Saphe site directly or from Amazon. Either way you can if you wish get a discount using a code they sent me for you to use… scargills15 note this code is not for my benefit – and merely gets readers a discount.