Hi guys! Bosch sent me three press releases, and I spent time talking with two of their reps about the new "Smart System" to get a deep understanding and then share with you here. Check out this in-depth video, and some high resolution images below. Bosch Smart System was announced at their annual press event recently, which was streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Future Bosch electric bike hardware will be Smart System enabled, but unfortunately none of the older drive units, batteries, or displays can be upgraded. This is a new generation of ebike technology for them... The first round of hardware includes a new display, button pad (which can operate the bike without a display), battery, drive unit, charger, and smartphone app. My goal in creating this video was to be impartial and thorough; to explore the current generation of products from the perspective of an owner and review, and contrast that with the changes and my own hopes and observations of competing brands.
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- While the LED Control Pad only has 5 squares, I was told that each square can go from blue to orange when that portion is about half full... so there are effectively 10 steps vs. 5, offering more precise battery estimation to users.
- The new PowerPak 750 battery is 36 volt, 20.1 amp hours, 723.6 watt hours. All of the battery math seems to work out as less than advertised on Bosch batteries, but I was told that this is because they are actually running at higher voltage than advertised.
- Riese & Müller, CUBE, Haibike, BULLS, Centurion, Ghost, Pole all have Smart System models listed for sale now.
- My Bosch contacts said that the LED Control Pad does not appear to be dimmable, it has not been mentioned as a feature.
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- I think it would be easier to find the smartphone app if it were named "Bosch Smart Systems" instead of "Flow".
- The Flow app is currently setup to adjust the bike and do mapping more than act as a display while riding... but that could change with future updates.
- The Kiox 300 display panel is removable, and the bike can be operated purely with the LED Remote.
- I suspect that the Kiox 300 runs entirely off of the ebike battery and does not have a rechargeable coin battery inside like the Bosch Intuvia and original Bosch Kiox displays.
- Both the LED Remote and Kiox 300 adjust to ambient light automatically so they won't be too dim or too bright.
- The Kiox 300 screen is about 2" diagonal, which isn't as large as I was expecting, the glass is wider and taller than the actual screen below.
- The Flow smartphone app lets you adjust Eco and Turbo assist levels, including top speed. The Tour+ and eMTB assist levels are not adjustable.
- The bottom edge of the LED remote has a USB-C port that is labeled for diagnostics and 5 volts and 600 ma/h but it does not provide charging support for portable electronics. I confirmed this with a Bosch representative. To me, this is too bad considering the new high capacity PowerTube 750 batteries, and the prior generation of displays that did offer charging (Intuvia, original Kiox, and Nyon). With this information, the positioning at the base of the control pad is less important... originally I was frustrated that a charging cable would interfere with a dropper lever and get in the way of the left grip depending on your hand position.
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I was definitely in that camp. IMO, they need to scrap this stuff and instead make what they have better. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi exist already on the Nyon not sure why OTA couldn’t work on existing devices? Why not make the motor they have more power efficient and smaller? To me another bigger battery that‘s heavier is not the way to go here. 
