I carry both. The smartphone "google maps" app is great, but you need to find another app to keep the screen on continuously: on android I use "Keep Screen On". If you do, you must keep the unit plugged into power. As others have said, you must be in cell tower range to update maps as you move. There are free apps that allow you to pre-download maps, "CoPilot" is one of them, but the maps are 6-8 years out of date. My neighborhood was annexed 6+ years ago and it still shows up in the old city it used to be in.