Jager
Gold $$ Contributor
Last fall I reviewed the then-new AndiScan A3 doppler chronograph.
(https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/andiscan-a3-can-a-chronograph-be-too-small.4134788/)
My conclusion was that it was a nice piece of hardware handicapped, like its A2 predecessor, by really awful software. I suggested, given that the A3 had been reduced in size to the point that interacting with it with fingers was less than ideal… that it needed a clean, simple smartphone interface.
Well, SQi-AndiX, the manufacturer of the AndiScan, has now delivered that app. And its introduction raises the obvious question… does it change the landscape of micro-sized doppler chronographs?
The good news is that the new AndiScan app is simple and well designed. Is it as intuitive as interacting with the Garmin Xero C1 Pro out in the field, and then subsequently with the Garmin ShotView app when you get back home?
No. But then it’s doing a few more things and interacting with the A3 at a somewhat deeper level than does the Garmin.
The AndiScan app is available for both Apple iOS and Android. All my testing was with the Apple version, using both an iPhone and an iPad.
Like the Garmin ShotView app, the AndiScan app uses the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol for communicating between the app and the chrono itself. Your smartphone needs to be within a few feet of your chrono.
There are five tabs to the app, displayed at the bottom of the screen.
The start-up screen has you on Measr Device. That tab is where the app is essentially presenting a second display of the chronograph. And it’s where you’ll be when you’re actually shooting.
The first time you use the app you’ll need to enter the serial number of your chrono – A30107D0 in my case. Happily, that field is persistent so any time you open up the app after that it will be pre-populated.
You tap “Connect” and, voila, a couple seconds later the app and the chronograph are talking to each other. The app’s screen will then display the main screen from the chrono, with the current shot series in progress. In my example here, I’m on file F031 – a series that has ten shots recorded. If I touch the “Arm” button on the app, the chrono will arm itself. And if I then send a round downrange, that eleventh shot would be displayed both on the chronograph and the app.
The whole process is clean and simple. It takes only a few seconds to set up. And there’s not a lot to go wrong.
When you’ve completed one series and are ready to start another, you simply touch the “SaveFile” button on the app. That’s it. And that’s one area in which the AndiScan app beats the Garmin – as changing series on the Xero takes a handful of button presses.
The second tab on the AndiScan app is Data Device. That gives you access to your series data actually on the chronograph. You can filter the display of that data in a few different ways, but it’s important to remember that you’re looking at remote data – that data is not held within the app itself.
To copy a file from the A3 to the app, you simply touch the desired filename. That downloads it from the device into the app.
And as the second picture below shows, you can quickly get a macro view of the series and how the shots compare to one another.
Once you’ve downloaded any desired files from the chrono to the app, the Process App tab gives you access to those. That’s where you’ll export them to another device, like a laptop. That export process is quick and simple – I use Apple’s Air Drop – but you still have to export each shot series one at a time.
With the Garmin ShotView app you can tick a single checkbox that allows you to export all the shot series on a given date – a much faster and cleaner implementation and one that aligns with how most of us actually use a chronograph.
The Config Device tab is beautiful. First, it allows you to see at a glance all your chronograph settings. And, second, it allows you to change any of those settings with a few quick finger taps.
The difference between making configuration changes via this app screen compared to the slow, clumsy process of trying to work through the physical buttons on the A3 itself is like night and day.
And, finally, there is the System Info tab. Its purpose is to display the current firmware versions; and then to update those firmware versions, if desired.
Updating firmware is very straightforward. Touch the “FW Check” button and the app will connect back to the AndiScan’s home servers. You then select the desired FW-US and/or FW-TXR file (the A3 contains two separate firmware files) you want to load. And then you touch the respective “Load FW-US” or “Load FW-TXR” button.
The screen will then show you status as the firmware update proceeds. It is an excellent implementation.
The new AndiScan app absolutely changes the micro doppler chronograph landscape. It takes the A3 – a solid hardware design crippled by agonizingly poor software – and transforms it into something actually usable. Something a shooter might actually consider.
But the elephant in the room has always been the Garmin. The Xero C1 Pro has owned the market for serious, doppler chronographs since its introduction eighteen months ago. For good reason.
And so the question becomes where does the A3 sit, given that its new smartphone app cuts through most of the software interface issues that bedevil the A3 when used by itself? Would I now choose the A3 over the Xero?
I’m quite fond of the AndiScan A3. It’s diminutive size and understated elegance are very compelling. It has a better screen the Garmin, one my, ahem, older eyes can appreciate when both it and the Xero are up near the muzzle on a shaded bench. And the new app finally makes the A3 entirely usable.
But… no.
For me, the Garmin Xero is still the one I’ll reach for. It is still the benchmark.
A lot of it boils down – again, for me – not wanting to deal with another device on the bench. The AndiScan app, for all its benefits, still requires that you have your phone there in front of you.
I’d rather be watching the wind flags.
(https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/andiscan-a3-can-a-chronograph-be-too-small.4134788/)
My conclusion was that it was a nice piece of hardware handicapped, like its A2 predecessor, by really awful software. I suggested, given that the A3 had been reduced in size to the point that interacting with it with fingers was less than ideal… that it needed a clean, simple smartphone interface.
Well, SQi-AndiX, the manufacturer of the AndiScan, has now delivered that app. And its introduction raises the obvious question… does it change the landscape of micro-sized doppler chronographs?
The good news is that the new AndiScan app is simple and well designed. Is it as intuitive as interacting with the Garmin Xero C1 Pro out in the field, and then subsequently with the Garmin ShotView app when you get back home?
No. But then it’s doing a few more things and interacting with the A3 at a somewhat deeper level than does the Garmin.
The AndiScan app is available for both Apple iOS and Android. All my testing was with the Apple version, using both an iPhone and an iPad.
Like the Garmin ShotView app, the AndiScan app uses the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol for communicating between the app and the chrono itself. Your smartphone needs to be within a few feet of your chrono.
There are five tabs to the app, displayed at the bottom of the screen.
The start-up screen has you on Measr Device. That tab is where the app is essentially presenting a second display of the chronograph. And it’s where you’ll be when you’re actually shooting.
The first time you use the app you’ll need to enter the serial number of your chrono – A30107D0 in my case. Happily, that field is persistent so any time you open up the app after that it will be pre-populated.
You tap “Connect” and, voila, a couple seconds later the app and the chronograph are talking to each other. The app’s screen will then display the main screen from the chrono, with the current shot series in progress. In my example here, I’m on file F031 – a series that has ten shots recorded. If I touch the “Arm” button on the app, the chrono will arm itself. And if I then send a round downrange, that eleventh shot would be displayed both on the chronograph and the app.
The whole process is clean and simple. It takes only a few seconds to set up. And there’s not a lot to go wrong.
When you’ve completed one series and are ready to start another, you simply touch the “SaveFile” button on the app. That’s it. And that’s one area in which the AndiScan app beats the Garmin – as changing series on the Xero takes a handful of button presses.
The second tab on the AndiScan app is Data Device. That gives you access to your series data actually on the chronograph. You can filter the display of that data in a few different ways, but it’s important to remember that you’re looking at remote data – that data is not held within the app itself.
To copy a file from the A3 to the app, you simply touch the desired filename. That downloads it from the device into the app.
And as the second picture below shows, you can quickly get a macro view of the series and how the shots compare to one another.
Once you’ve downloaded any desired files from the chrono to the app, the Process App tab gives you access to those. That’s where you’ll export them to another device, like a laptop. That export process is quick and simple – I use Apple’s Air Drop – but you still have to export each shot series one at a time.
With the Garmin ShotView app you can tick a single checkbox that allows you to export all the shot series on a given date – a much faster and cleaner implementation and one that aligns with how most of us actually use a chronograph.
< Had to remove image for this tab, as forum software only allows six images >
The Config Device tab is beautiful. First, it allows you to see at a glance all your chronograph settings. And, second, it allows you to change any of those settings with a few quick finger taps.
The difference between making configuration changes via this app screen compared to the slow, clumsy process of trying to work through the physical buttons on the A3 itself is like night and day.
And, finally, there is the System Info tab. Its purpose is to display the current firmware versions; and then to update those firmware versions, if desired.
Updating firmware is very straightforward. Touch the “FW Check” button and the app will connect back to the AndiScan’s home servers. You then select the desired FW-US and/or FW-TXR file (the A3 contains two separate firmware files) you want to load. And then you touch the respective “Load FW-US” or “Load FW-TXR” button.
The screen will then show you status as the firmware update proceeds. It is an excellent implementation.
The new AndiScan app absolutely changes the micro doppler chronograph landscape. It takes the A3 – a solid hardware design crippled by agonizingly poor software – and transforms it into something actually usable. Something a shooter might actually consider.
But the elephant in the room has always been the Garmin. The Xero C1 Pro has owned the market for serious, doppler chronographs since its introduction eighteen months ago. For good reason.
And so the question becomes where does the A3 sit, given that its new smartphone app cuts through most of the software interface issues that bedevil the A3 when used by itself? Would I now choose the A3 over the Xero?
I’m quite fond of the AndiScan A3. It’s diminutive size and understated elegance are very compelling. It has a better screen the Garmin, one my, ahem, older eyes can appreciate when both it and the Xero are up near the muzzle on a shaded bench. And the new app finally makes the A3 entirely usable.
But… no.
For me, the Garmin Xero is still the one I’ll reach for. It is still the benchmark.
A lot of it boils down – again, for me – not wanting to deal with another device on the bench. The AndiScan app, for all its benefits, still requires that you have your phone there in front of you.
I’d rather be watching the wind flags.
