The Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime has a unique feature – the Bike Mode (S bike mode) – and that’s what we will take a quick peek at.
The smartphone is a decent device and works quiet satisfactorily. The power-saving mode keeps your battery for long without disabling the most used features. The metal body finish is nice, the phone has an easy mode, abundant accessibility features, useful one-handed operation, fingerprint scanner, and so on. On the flip side, the J7 Prime lacks a gyroscope, camera is not great, and design is normal. The phone is okay overall.
However, here am not out to review the phone – just want to write about the S Bike Mode and the associated Online Help.
The bike mode was developed for two-wheeler riders. Many ride two-wheelers to work every day. When driving a car, the driver can afford to answer phone calls by using a hands-free headset or through the speaker. However, with bikes, the key element is driver balance and the need to use both hands to control the bike. Of course, even on cars drivers must be careful and not get distracted by phone calls. Yet, comparatively, car drivers can answer important calls unlike bike riders who will take a risk if they answer mobile phone calls.
Therefore, Samsung has developed the bike mode that will let callers know that the person who they called is riding a bike. The rider too will not be able to answer calls when in that mode. Callers can press 1 to let the rider know of urgent calls. The device rings at the highest volume and vibrates in case of urgent calls. However, the rider can answer the call only after slowing down the bike or stopping.
The rider can use preset messages to auto answer callers.
At least this is the intended way for the bike mode to work.
Okay I put the bike mode to test – and these were my initial observations:
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In the mobile phone, I noticed this…
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In J7 Prime Online Help, I looked up for more information…
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1
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The urgent mode works only for one of the SIM cards! The J7 prime has two SIM card slots. If the caller calls the second number, they hear the message that the user is busy. Auto answer works only for one number.
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After a bit of tinkering I realized that callers get the same message on both the SIM cards if I just switch on the ”Reject Calls while Roaming” option within the S Bike Mode settings.
Unfortunately, online help does not mention this. Incidentally, this is not the right solution for auto answer on both SIM cards.
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2
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Am not sure how the motion detector works. The device works in much the same way when not riding. So if a caller calls, they get the same message that the person is riding a bike. Does it mean that the motion detector is a gimmick? Maybe it is just not smart enough to detect stationary objects!
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Could have mentioned this in Help.
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3
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I was unable to set up any custom auto answers for selected contacts.
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Would have been a good value addition as I would want only certain people to know that I ride a bike (or my location).
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4
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I was also not able to create my own specific text messages for selected contacts. Nor did the recipient get location-related smart replies when their calls were not answered.
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The bike mode needs a data connection to work. However, they should have included offline help. Maybe a video or demo would have been useful. Remember in this case the user is the rider.
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So the S Bike Mode is okayish but nothing great. Fundamentally, the urgent calls feature should be reconsidered as the idea is not to use phones while riding. Unless the urgent call automatically slows down the bike or provides some such physical warnings, this is not a safe option. Moreover, in some parts of the world, the streets are noisy and it is very tough to hear or feel a mobile vibrating. Even at the loudest, the urgent calls might go unanswered.
Looks like Help was not field-tested.
Neither the bike mode nor the Online Help is useful.
I Work As A Technical Writer. However, 