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Bosch in motion – new SmartphoneGrip mount, locking via eBike Flow app and several new updates

11.04.2022
by Rudolf Fischer

Bosch stay on the ball and release new products and updates around their Smart System. The German tech giant just announced the new SmartphoneGrip mount, a locking-mode for the eBike Flow app and several small Quality-of-Life updates. Are Bosch on the right path to taking user experience to the next level?

The vision around the Bosch Smart System is slowly taking shape. When the German tech brand introduced the new Bosch Smart System last year, it was not yet clear how the new system would have evolved compared to its predecessor in terms of user experience. The Bosch Smart System motor in particular is based for the most part on the Performance Line CX motor, which was introduced back in 2019. From a user’s point of view, the innovations mainly concerned peripheral elements such as the larger 750 Wh battery, the Kiox 300 display, the new LED remote and the eBike Flow app. However, these last two received very little attention from both the manufacturers and the media and are now intended to serve as the gateway to a digitally-networked user experience. To make this possible, Bosch are adding more and more life to them.

The new Bosch SmartphoneGrip – new intelligent universal smartphone holder with remote

For trekking enthusiasts, the Bosch Smart System may have seemed more like a bitter compromise than an upgrade from the previous Bosch system. Although the 750-Wh battery allowed for even longer tours, the new Kiox 300 display didn’t offer the practical map navigation features available with the Bosch Nyon or Bosch Smartphonehub. Now, the Germans make up for this with the SmartphoneGrip, a universal smartphone holder that can be clipped onto the standard Kiox 300 display holder. The SmartphoneGrip not only uses the same mount but also the same interface to the Bosch Smart System. On one hand, this means that you can save yourself a trip to your Bosch dealer for the upgrade, because installing the SmartphoneGrip is just as easy as switching from the Bosch Intuvia display to the COBI.Bike Sport mount. The retrofit kit is available for €49,90. On the other hand, the SmartphoneGrip allows you to power and charge your smartphone directly from the main battery while riding – either by cable or wirelessly by induction. While riding, the new “Ride Screen” of the Bosch eBike Flow app can be controlled remotely from the handlebars via the LED remote.

Moreover, the eBike Flow app has been given a new navigation feature with special route profiles. Depending on the profile, the navigation system suggests itineraries for commuters, leisure riders or trail riders. The map display also changes depending on the preset rider profile; for example, commuters are shown a city map with 3D building-view, while leisure rides can recall all relevant information about route condition or upcoming climbs. If you want, you can also upload your rides on Strava and komoot and share them with the online community. The system also displays other data such as cadence and personal performance.

Before starting your ride, you can choose between three profiles: commute, leisure and trail.
The “Daily” profile displays a map with 3D building-view.
The eBike Flow app now has an interface to the popular Strava and komoot online portals. If you upload a ride, you can round off your stats with other data like cadence and personal performance, which are taken directly from the Bosch motor.

Locking via smartphone – the eBike Lock function

Until now, you could activate the premium Lock function for the Bosch Kiox display and current Bosch Nyon display for a one-time fee of € 10. The display was the key to the Bosch motor, with the Lock function enabling motor support to be deactivated by removing the on-board computer and thus rendering your eBike useless for potential thieves. Not even an identical display could start the motor functions. For the new Smart System, the Bosch team has come up with a similar function, albeit with 2 differences. Firstly, the key is not the display itself but the smartphone linked to the eBike with the associated eBike Flow app. The smartphone connects to the eBike via Bluetooth and unlocks it. You can even set the app to unlock the bike automatically with the phone in your pocket or backpack – which is extremely handy in everyday life. If you’re a fan of the locking sound on your car, now you can activate a similar acoustic feedback on your eBike. The second fundamental difference between eBike Lock and the existing lock function of the Kiox and Nyon displays is that the former is completely free of charge!

Quality-of-life updates for the Kiox 300 display and other Bosch systems

The Kiox 300 display gets a mini system update too: from now on, the status bar can be freely-customised and programmed to provide basic riding data such as battery status, speed or even just the time. Bosch also updated older systems: already since March 2022, Bosch eBikers with a Nyon display are able to access new functions, to define a long-term fitness goal and follow their progress on their Nyon display. The eBike Connect app also allows you to synchronize fitness data with your Apple Health or Google Fit account. The navigation function on the Nyon display has also been revised. Now you can start the navigation to POIs (points of interest such as sights, restaurants, etc.) simply by tapping on the map. A speed-dependent auto-zoom helps you keep an overview while riding.

The new Bosch Smart System is slowly coming to life. When Tesla unlocked almost 5% more power overnight for its 2019 customers via a software update, the response was huge and extremely positive. Although the SmartphoneGrip and software updates such as the eBike Lock may not have such a huge impact, they’ll definitely make Bosch users a little bit happier. We’re excited to see what else Bosch have in store for the future and what their idea of a digitally networked e-bike looks like.

For more information, please visit bosch-ebike.com

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Words: Rudolf Fischer Photos: Bosch

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About the author

Rudolf Fischer

In his previous life Rudolf was a dab hand at promoting innovation, putting his brain behind big-ticket patent assessments that easily ran into six-or-seven-plus figures. These days, the self-confessed data nerd’s role as editor at DOWNTOWN and E-MOUNTAINBIKE is no less exciting. Given his specialism in connectivity, Rudolf’s often placed on the front line of future mobility conversations, but he’s also big into testing new bikes–both on the daily as a committed commuter and intensively for our group tests. The business economist graduate is as versatile as a Swiss penknife, and that’s no hyperbole. Away from two wheels, his background in parkour means he’s a master of front, side and backflips, plus he speaks German, English, French, Russian and a touch of Esperanto. Japanese remains woefully unmastered, despite his best home-learning attempts. Good to know: Rudolf’s sharp tongue has made him a figure of fear in the office, where he’s got a reputation for flexing a dry wittiness à la Ricky Gervais... interestingly, he's usually the one laughing hardest.