HEMA HX2 Unboxing and Review

[@petem6533]

Great Video as I’ve had exactly the same issues over the past 2 years and hardly use my HX2 anymore. The one you will eventually see is the black screen of death that shows 5 rows of Chinese characters on the screen and locks up. 1st time this occurred I was at the top of Blue Rag and the unit was only 4 weeks old. Had full mobile signal so I called HEMA but they had never heard of this. (Had to send the unit to QLD) It happened again a few weeks ago and I was quick enough to get a photo and the HEMA help line now say I triggered a hidden mode and needed a hard reset to clear. Did this and it worked. Agree the bigger issue is the battery and power cutting in and out. The Help Line said what you have re my USB ports not being powerful enough to charge the unit. Have found once the unit has totally died you need to use a Wall USB Charger to get the unit restarted as no amount of time on a USB port will get it going again. My work around is to plug a wall charger into my inverter to recharge the unit. And the cloud mapping system is not friendly at all and very frustrating to use. For the cost of the unit I expected so much more. Keep up the great work as I’ve been a subscriber for years as I have a 2008 Pajero and the old girl just keeps going ☺

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

Thx for chipping in. Sounds like you've had a worse run than me with yours. There is no doubt the power issue with it constantly resetting is extremely annoying. When I get mine on a solid rather than suction mount planning to try hot glueing the connector in. Thx for watching and commenting!

[@steve.rhonda_azzopardi]

I had the exact same issue with my own X2. Flashing screen and not charging and I was ready to throw it out the window. I replaced the usb power cord which I purchased from Jaycar. Problem is now solved no more issues and I am very happy with it.

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

They can definitely be picky with power source. In my case running of hard wired USB ports that were put in by my auto elec for the purpose. Makes no difference which one I run it off. Same intermittent problems....

[@steve.rhonda_azzopardi]

I guess I was lucky. Now waiting for the latest fix from Hema to rectify the last update stuff up!!! Supposed to be ready within the next 10 days.

[@admin_OutdoorEd]

Great review, thank you. Swayed me to wait until something better is available. I sold my HX1 a couple of years back, regretting that about now.

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

thx mate appreciate the feedback. Yeah I actually preferred the HX1 but the power connector on those was not a great design.

[@HLsab]

Travelling mainly in the Victorian High Country I’ve never been a fan of Hema maps and always used Rooftop paper maps . In fact I’ve never been entirely happy with any digital maps of the vhc , they all seem either to complex to use or contain misleading info . I find I get a way better understanding of an area through paper maps rather than looking at a small screen . Top video Jason , your honest reviews are most valuable , I’ll definitely be sticking to the old paper maps for the meantime.

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

Agree rooftop ate great maps. I personally really like the Hema maps just the delivery in the HX2 isn't perfect. Agree a large format paper map is ideal for route planning!! Thx for the feedback

[@bobbyb9371]

Great honest review Jase. I was seriously going to buy a HX2, but after being informed it won't work with IMACs (for planning purposes), I dismissed the purchase. After a bit more thought, I went with the Hema paper maps for the VHC and they have served me well. It is, however, nice to drive off road and get positioning and topographical information on the fly, but for over $700 and an intermittently working system, I think I'll stick to what I have for now. Perhaps later down the track (pun intended) I may upgrade to the electronic system, however, it would have to improve drastically for my investment. Many thanks for your review. I'm sure it will help many. Cheers, BobbyB.

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

Glad it was helpful. I started with the Hema high country atlas then added some rooftop maps before picking up my HX1 on marketplace. If you want to go digital an ipad running memory maps for all might be a good solution.

[@misdamagoo213]

Great video. Appreciate your honest assessments. Cant believe such expensive equipment relies on shitty suction cups that fall off at the sight of any corrugations. Would never purchase unless it was able to be fitted to an existing sturdier ball-mount or equivalent.

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

Yeah looking into a more permanent. Mounting solution. There are some non hema options for mounts out there. The unit is pretty robust. Mines fallen several times without breaking but yes its far from ideal.

[@jjexplore9678]

Hi mate. I’m using a mount for my Garmin Overlander which is made by a company called Industrial Evolution. Their mounts use existing bolt holes in your dash in which you do not have to drill or cut into your dash. They are used by police force Fire Brigade and Ambos all over Australia to mount their laptops and tablets and the best bit they are Australian made and reasonably priced@@OffTheBeatenPathAus

[@misdamagoo213]

@@jjexplore9678 Yep anything with solid fixed ball-mount is ideal ..... some are better than others but a lot are also vehicle dependent & what you are prepared to modify if needed. Nonetheless if you gunna fork out big $$$$ for Hema Nav I'd expect something better than a suction cup. @OffTheBeatenPathAus

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

thx for the heads up will look into that. the one I have is from Kimberley2Cape.

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

fair point.

[@TJ_Beam]

I seriously find it astonishing that HEMA didn’t troubleshoot this sort of stuff before releasing the HX2… Extremely disappointing. 👎 Great honest review mate. 👍

[@andrewford80]

This is the agile way. Get it to market and iterate any problems out down the track, or not. This style of development is the bane of my life.

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

Yeah me too. I have heard that a software update may have addressed several of the issues but have to agree with the other comment here that it seems so often (not just in this case) that it's about getting the minimum viable product to market and fixing it later.

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

So true. Good for the company not always good for the customer.

[@poida]

Really! Hook it up and Update your maps and software and learn how to use it. Most problems people have seem to be user error. I'm no expert but that's my experience.. Keep up the good work ..

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

The update possibly fixes the on road navigation, and if that use was important to me I would. It doesn't solve the power connector issue, or the fact that it no longer records tracks on the screen like the HX1 did...

[@admin_OutdoorEd]

@@OffTheBeatenPathAus What do you mean? Are you talking about a snail trail that shows where you have been. That would be one of the main features I’d use when exploring new off road trails.

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

@@admin_OutdoorEd exactly. Like the HX1 used to do. The HX2 will record it, and show it on screen. Until you stop recording and then its gone. Will apparently sync to the cloud and you can look at it offline but it's not on the actual unit, which to me is what you want.

[@dperk1757]

I wouldn’t download the latest software if I were you. Somehow Hema has now managed to release the latest operating system so that the device becomes reliant on internet! Every time you boot the device you can not access maps unless you have access to the internet and can confirm your license agreement. There is no immediate fix for this that’s easily available. If you’re happy to wait months Hema will attempt to roll back your system to the previous OS. This is on top of the Hema cloud now not being available with no plan to change this.

[@gregdavis3246]

My HX2 has had the same problems. I sent it back to Hema and it was replaced. The new one is not much better. I purchased a Garmin overlander which is better but the Hema of road maps it uses is 150k which has not the detail that the HX2 has. I will not purchase the new Hema device. My last trip awayI was running the Garmin and the HX2 ended up having power issues with the HX 2, it stopped charging. nut has came good. Not happy with the Hema product

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

Thx for the heads ip. Can you get higher resolution maps for the garmin? It's what I'm considering as a replacement down the track

[@davidtully4970]

Why are you not reviewing the latest hema hx2 plus that came out this year

[@OffTheBeatenPathAus]

Because I don't have one, nor am I going to spend $700 - $800 to buy one.... someone wants to send me one happy to review it.

[@davidtully4970]

@@OffTheBeatenPathAus ok just thought it was strange to buy the old one when there's a new and much better one out. I got a hx2 plus on special for $559