Hudify is a transparent GPS device that sits on your dashboard, allowing you to keep your eyes on the road. Find out how Hudify works today in our review.
What is Hudify?
Hudify is a Kickstarter-funded project launched by a Toronto-based company. At the time of writing, Hudify was one third of the way to its $120,000 CAD goal with a full month to go.
Hudify is a transparent GPS device that looks like it’s straight out of a science-fiction movie. The device sits on your dashboard and displays ordinary GPS information – but it does so using a transparent screen.
The benefits of Hudify are obvious: you can keep your eyes on the road and your surroundings while still monitoring your GPS.
Instead of having a chunk of your field of view blocked by an ordinary GPS, you can see through Hudify, reducing your chances of being surprised by another vehicle or pedestrian.
Hudify may look futuristic but it’s actually pretty straightforward. It’s essentially a reflective, transparent screen that reflects your phone.
Hudify uses your phone for most of its technology, which means the total cost of the device is surprisingly low.
You can buy a Hudify kit for around $60 CAD (about $45 USD). You can get early bird special deals for even cheaper.
Is Hudify worth the price? Let’s take a look at its features and how it works.
How Does Hudify Work?
Hudify is essentially a piece of transparent plastic attached to a dashboard mount. The transparent plastic screen faces back towards the driver. You place the plastic mount over your steering wheel, where it sits securely at all times.
Then, when you’re ready to drive, you open the Hudify app, then press a few buttons to create a mirror image of that data on your screen.
That mirror image is reflected in the transparent plastic screen, and you get an effective HUD.
Hudify calls itself “the most affordable HUD that actually works”. The device was built on the idea that conventional GPS units are big and chunky, block your view, block your air vents, or are positioned too low. Hudify solves all of these problems.
Hudify uses your phone to display information like turn-by-turn navigation, current speed, speed limit, and safety camera notifications.
You can use the smartphone you already own. Hudify actually uses Navmii, an existing GPS system, to power its navigation and GPS features. Navmii has a community of 24 million members.
It’s not the biggest GPS community, but it’s large enough. The app is available for free on iOS and Android.
Navmii has cool features like a red light camera alert system, so you can receive a warning before you cruise through a red light over the speed limit.
There won’t be a standalone Hudify app: it will just use Navmii. So you don’t need to worry about Hudify building a community from day one.
There’s already a community. With Hudify, you’re paying for the dashboard mount and the reflective piece of transparent plastic.
The app works online and offline, although you’ll need to download a whole country map from the Navmii store to navigate fully offline. For the record, Wired named Navmii the best navigation app with offline capabilities.
Navmii gives you five customizable UI options from which to choose, each of which displays driving information in a different way.
Some modes emphasize speed and speed limit, for example, while others emphasize navigation.
The five modes include:
- Navigation
- Digital Speedometer
- Classic Speedometer
- Sport Red Speedometer
- Sport Blue Speedometer
You can switch between UI options simply by swiping left or right.
The Hudify device itself attaches to your dashboard using a high-strength adhesive. Hudify uses the same adhesive found in other smartphone and dashcam mounts.
Meanwhile, your phone is held in place by two separate strong neodymium magnetic systems.
How to Use Hudify
Using Hudify is very easy. Here’s how:
Step 1) Download the Navmii app (or any HUD-based app)
Step 2) Place Hudify on your dashboard
Step 3) Place your smartphone on Hudify
Step 4) Start driving
Hudify Pricing
Hudify is priced at the following rates:
- Super Early Bird Single: $35 USD
- Early Bird Single: $40
- Kickstarter Single: $45
- Super Early Bird Double (2 Units): $69
- Early Bird Double (2 Units): $80
- Kickstarter Double (2 Units): $89
- Kickstarter Family Pack (5 Units): $186
Note: Hudify is based in Toronto, so a lot of the final prices are expressed in Canadian dollars.
However, the official Kickstarter price list is also listed in USD. The Kickstarter funding target ($120,000), however, is expressed in Canadian dollars.
To put that price in perspective, Hudify claims that aftermarket HUDs cost $400 to $800, while luxury car HUDs are available as an extra for $1000, which makes Hudify the cheapest way to add a usable HUD to your vehicle.
Some of the early bird prices have already been claimed. Estimated delivery date for all orders is July 2017. Shipping is available anywhere in the world.
All purchases come with full access to the premium Navmii World app for iPhone or Android.
Who Makes Hudify?
There’s very little information about the manufacturer, Hudify Inc., available online. The company’s Kickstarter bio explains that they’re in partnership with Navmii, “the second biggest social navigation app available with 24 million users worldwide”.
They claim their company goal is “to bring the safety and convenience of automotive head-up displays to every car on the road.”
The name attached to the Hudify Inc. profile is Aron Joshua Tolentino.
Hudify Review Summary
Hudify is an interesting and creative concept. It looks like a futuristic device – but it’s actually a straightforward piece of technology.
It’s a dashboard-mounted device that uses a transparent, reflective screen to display information from your existing smartphone.
That information comes from the Navmii app, a popular navigation app with 24 million users around the world. The app works online and offline.
Priced at $45 USD, Hudify is a cheap way to add HUD functionality to your vehicle. It’s not going to look as good as $800 aftermarket solutions – but it costs you significantly less money.
