BeaverHunter
WKR
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2018
- Messages
- 972
I have had BaseMap for about 5 months now and had Onx for 2 years and thought I would do an unbiased review of my experience with both thus far. Im a 34 year old hunter who typically spends 30 plus days a year big game hunting and another 30 plus shed hunting and hiking/scouting.
First off I was very excited to see something to compete with OnX as I hunt multiple states so I end up paying almost $100 for OnX a year and BaseMap was available for $30. I was pretty quick to buy it after discovering it and figured at the very least it would make my wife happy, so I paid my $30 and thought if BaseMap was the real deal, I would be saving $70 a year and appeasing a wife who thinks I spend way too much on hunting stuff (Probably just find something else to spend it on but she doesn't need to know that).
First thing I noticed was the sheer number of different maps on BaseMap compared to OnX. BaseMap has way more and it's not even close. Onx has 3 basic maps with multiple overlays and BaseMap according to my count is 14 maps! I will say it's easier to switch between maps on OnX as it's right on the main screen and to switch on BaseMap you have to open a "Layer" menu to change it. But there is tons of maps and an almost endless number of "layers" to display over the maps. Love all the maps on BaseMap. By far my favorite layer is 3D earth and one of the main reasons I wanted to try BaseMap to begin with. It didn't disappoint, it's awesome. The ability to drag and look at the map in a 3D way is awesome. Very cool and a major advantage over OnX in my opinion. I was a little disappointed to learn that you can NOT download the 3D maps for use in offline mode but still cool to look at when I'm at home. And only available on Apple operating systems. Speaking of offline mode, BaseMap has a lot of work to do in this area. To use BaseMap in offline mode you have to choose which map that you previously downloaded you want to view. So if you downloaded multiple maps the night before you have to try and remember which one it is. Furthermore, if you hike/move outside that map area, you have to then go back in to your downloaded maps and pick the new map that is for that area you hiked into. Very clunky and downright annoying when you have to switch between multiple maps all in one day of hiking. OnX clearly wins out in this area as it's seamless to use your offline maps and uses your downloaded maps automatically when you put it in offline mode.
Search functions works very well. I was able to find most areas I knew the name of without having to manually find them on both apps. This is a big time saver for me and very helpful. Gps tracking seems to be spot on when I use both Onx and BaseMap. Never have I had a problem with either so I have never been in want of a "backup" gps. One word of warning about BaseMap is you do NOT have the option of orientating the map to move around the direction you're facing like you do on Onx. BaseMap will show you what direction your facing on your location dot but will not move the map at all to orientate the direction you are facing. Quite frankly this drove me nuts. I thought I was doing something wrong but after researching it and talking to another buddy (who was also a beta tester for BaseMap) I was able to confirm this is correct. This seems stupid to me and was very annoying.
Lastly, I had a problem with BaseMap refusing to open at all yesterday when I was going on a scouting trip. The BaseMap home screen would come up and then shut the app down after anywhere from 1 second to 10 seconds later. I tried manually closing all apps on my phone, restarting my phone and even tried it again when I got back home on my WIFI. Nothing. Would not work. This made me very mad and I was forced to use OnX in its basic mode since I have let my Premium membership expire in the last few weeks. I sent an email to BaseMap and have not heard back yet as of the time of this review. I'm trying to not let this cloud my review but it's honestly tough because if that had happened when I was out hunting on a backpack trip, I would have been extremely upset. I have never had an issue with OnX not working for me. Reliability is very important to me in a GPS app so OnX is better for me in this area.
Overall I would have to say I like some features of both apps. OnX is more user friendly and more reliable but BaseMap has a few features I like and is much less expensive. Based on my experience with both apps, Ill be reactivating my OnX and not renewing/recommending BaseMap. If BaseMap fixes a few things on its app and reliability improves, I'll switch to BaseMap.
What do you guys think? What has been your experience? Hopefully my review was helpful to anyone looking at OnX or BaseMap. Any questions for me don't hesitate to ask. Good luck this Fall!
First off I was very excited to see something to compete with OnX as I hunt multiple states so I end up paying almost $100 for OnX a year and BaseMap was available for $30. I was pretty quick to buy it after discovering it and figured at the very least it would make my wife happy, so I paid my $30 and thought if BaseMap was the real deal, I would be saving $70 a year and appeasing a wife who thinks I spend way too much on hunting stuff (Probably just find something else to spend it on but she doesn't need to know that).
First thing I noticed was the sheer number of different maps on BaseMap compared to OnX. BaseMap has way more and it's not even close. Onx has 3 basic maps with multiple overlays and BaseMap according to my count is 14 maps! I will say it's easier to switch between maps on OnX as it's right on the main screen and to switch on BaseMap you have to open a "Layer" menu to change it. But there is tons of maps and an almost endless number of "layers" to display over the maps. Love all the maps on BaseMap. By far my favorite layer is 3D earth and one of the main reasons I wanted to try BaseMap to begin with. It didn't disappoint, it's awesome. The ability to drag and look at the map in a 3D way is awesome. Very cool and a major advantage over OnX in my opinion. I was a little disappointed to learn that you can NOT download the 3D maps for use in offline mode but still cool to look at when I'm at home. And only available on Apple operating systems. Speaking of offline mode, BaseMap has a lot of work to do in this area. To use BaseMap in offline mode you have to choose which map that you previously downloaded you want to view. So if you downloaded multiple maps the night before you have to try and remember which one it is. Furthermore, if you hike/move outside that map area, you have to then go back in to your downloaded maps and pick the new map that is for that area you hiked into. Very clunky and downright annoying when you have to switch between multiple maps all in one day of hiking. OnX clearly wins out in this area as it's seamless to use your offline maps and uses your downloaded maps automatically when you put it in offline mode.
Search functions works very well. I was able to find most areas I knew the name of without having to manually find them on both apps. This is a big time saver for me and very helpful. Gps tracking seems to be spot on when I use both Onx and BaseMap. Never have I had a problem with either so I have never been in want of a "backup" gps. One word of warning about BaseMap is you do NOT have the option of orientating the map to move around the direction you're facing like you do on Onx. BaseMap will show you what direction your facing on your location dot but will not move the map at all to orientate the direction you are facing. Quite frankly this drove me nuts. I thought I was doing something wrong but after researching it and talking to another buddy (who was also a beta tester for BaseMap) I was able to confirm this is correct. This seems stupid to me and was very annoying.
Lastly, I had a problem with BaseMap refusing to open at all yesterday when I was going on a scouting trip. The BaseMap home screen would come up and then shut the app down after anywhere from 1 second to 10 seconds later. I tried manually closing all apps on my phone, restarting my phone and even tried it again when I got back home on my WIFI. Nothing. Would not work. This made me very mad and I was forced to use OnX in its basic mode since I have let my Premium membership expire in the last few weeks. I sent an email to BaseMap and have not heard back yet as of the time of this review. I'm trying to not let this cloud my review but it's honestly tough because if that had happened when I was out hunting on a backpack trip, I would have been extremely upset. I have never had an issue with OnX not working for me. Reliability is very important to me in a GPS app so OnX is better for me in this area.
Overall I would have to say I like some features of both apps. OnX is more user friendly and more reliable but BaseMap has a few features I like and is much less expensive. Based on my experience with both apps, Ill be reactivating my OnX and not renewing/recommending BaseMap. If BaseMap fixes a few things on its app and reliability improves, I'll switch to BaseMap.
What do you guys think? What has been your experience? Hopefully my review was helpful to anyone looking at OnX or BaseMap. Any questions for me don't hesitate to ask. Good luck this Fall!
