The SmartphoneHub is new to everyone but...
we can draw inferences from the most similar product available for years already which is the COBI.BIKE that you can retrofit on any bike and is especially great on Bosch powered e-bikes. Bosch bough COBI a few years ago and now released the SmartphoneHub which is even more integrated.
The COBI allows riders to attach any smartphone to their bikes and use it as the display by running the free COBI app. If you use a separate smartphone holder on your handlebar this system will replace it, thus making your handlebar less cluttered. It will also charge the phone directly from the main bike battery with no cables for the iPhone and just a small supplied cable for Android phones, which is great.
On top of the usual indications of the Intuvia Bosch displays (speed, power assistance level, etc) the COBI adds several other great functions, such as:
*digital voice description of the power assistance selected (no need to look at the display to know the assistance level selected)
*digital bell ringer (loud!) via a built-in speaker (index walk button - very useful)
*heart rate displayed (if you connect a Bluetooth HRM to your smartphone or use iWatch)
*pedal cadence displayed (readout directly from the Bosch motor)
*the power your legs develop displayed (readout directly from the Bosch motor)
*records all the parameters above and sends them to Strava at the end of the ride (and/or Komoot, Apple Health)
*integrated GPS maps (free download your area)
*plays music from your phone (loudspeaker)
*make calls from your phone (loudspeaker)
*switches lights on/off
*integrated weather forecast
*you can lock the bike
*charges your smartphone
It uses the Bosch thumb controller seamlessly and adds extra functionality such as bell rigging by pressing the ‘walk’ button.
However, the COBI.BIKE isn’t problem free, so I’m looking forward to the SmartphoneHub hoping it will fix the issues of the original product.
I hope this helped to give you an idea of how great the SmartphoneHub potentially can be.