CHIGEE AIO-5 Lite: Come for CarPlay, stay for automatic video capture

Welcome to 9to5Mac Gearbox. While Gearbox is primarily written for motorbike riders, you’ll find that riding technology isn’t always just for bikers. Stay safe and enjoy the ride!

Apple CarPlay is becoming more common on motorcycles, but infotainment systems are typically only offered on high-priced touring bikes. Fortunately, there’s a fantastic aftermarket solution for adding CarPlay to almost any motorcycle. I’ve been testing the CHIGEE AIO-5 Lite, an all-in-one system that includes a CarPlay/Android Auto display, front and rear cameras, and an integrated safety system to keep riders alert. 

Easy enough upgrade

Specifically, I installed the CHIGEE AIO-5 Lite on a 2020 Honda Rebel 500, a standard cruiser that’s spec’d well for new riders. 

With its front and rear cameras, the AIO-5 Lite makes for a great safety enhancement for new and experienced riders. Installation is simple enough if you’re comfortable with running wire and accessing your battery. A few YouTube videos helped me along the way.

Camera benefits

My friend and fellow rider Jon had a great description for one benefit I described. AIO-5 Lite lets you see your rearview while sitting at an intersection and looking forward toward the stop light.

Or as Jon put it, AIO-5 Lite provides a rearview mirror. And he’s exactly right. Side mirrors can give you a glimpse of your surroundings, but there’s nothing like a rear-facing camera that can alert you of oncoming traffic. Fortunately, I didn’t need to test how quickly I could evade a vehicle racing toward me. Still, the peace of mind of a 360-degree view while sitting at a stop light provided reassurance.

Both cameras also act as presence sensors including while riding. This is useful when riding in traffic or groups. When a vehicle or bike gets too close, both visual and audible cues will alert you. 

Record every part of every ride

But the one thing that riders I met while testing the AIO-5 Lite appreciated was the onboard camera system for always capturing video.

The AIO-5 Lite has 32GB of onboard storage, and you can expand it with additional storage. The unit accepts up to a 256GB microSD card that is secured with a rubber door that latches with hex screws. The unit includes the required screwdriver. The unit also attaches to your bike in such a way that someone can’t just walk by and steal it.

Now back to the always-on video capture: So long as the bike is powered on, the AIO-5 Lite is automatically recording video from the front and back cameras. This provides two separate video files that you can wirelessly send to the iPhone or Android app. 

While it was CarPlay that initially caught my attention, it’s this always-on video and audio recording that made me love the AIO-5 Lite. Seriously, recording starts moments after you engage the power switch on your bike — before you even crank the engine. When paired with a high capacity microSD card, this lets you use the camera system as both a dash cam for capturing incidents and a way to record your rides without thinking about it.

Considerations

The Sony sensors used by the camera are rated for 1080p, and the footage it captures includes overlays at the top and bottom, but you can easily crop in slightly and have a clean video clip to share on social media. If you’re looking for higher quality to capture and share your rides, though, a nice action camera may be a better fit. Moto vloggers, of course, typically capture multiple angles for more interesting perspectives.

If there’s a way to disable the video overlays, I missed it. I also had no luck transferring the video using the microSD card and a card reader on my iPhone or Mac; app transfer only. But if I could add one feature, it would be some onboard low power video capture to monitor your bike when parked in public places. While the unit always records while powered on, it can’t record when your bike power is switched off.

Motorcycle CarPlay

And finally, the CarPlay experience. CHIGEE supports wireless CarPlay so there’s no requirement to mount your iPhone and connect a cable. Instead, the AIO-5 Lite will automatically and wirelessly connect to your iPhone and display CarPlay on the 5-inch LCD screen.

While this was certainly the smallest CarPlay display I’ve ever tested, it was also perfectly usable and certainly useful. There’s not much fiddling around with a display that you need to do while riding, but having a compact CarPlay screen made using Apple Maps as good as in a car. Google Maps and Waze also work with CarPlay.

As for audio, I used my usual setup with my iPhone in my pocket and a single AirPod in my ear. Having visual access to the Music and Podcasts at stop lights was much quicker and safer than pulling out my phone. Spotify, Overcast, and other music and podcast apps are also compatible.

Alternatively, I could have powered up the Sena headset with my helmet — it pairs to my iPhone just like Bluetooth earphones — and used CarPlay to control and hear navigation, entertainment, and phone calls.

All in all, CHIGEE makes an impressive all-in-one solution for adding CarPlay or Android Auto to almost any motorcycle without paying touring bike prices. Just cruising around with the AIO-5 Lite attracted some potential customers as fellow riders were impressed with the value. 

You can take home the CHIGEE AIO-5 Lite for $598 for the full camera experience. If you only want the CarPlay/Android Auto experience, CHIGEE offers the AIO-5 PLAY with no cameras/safety features for $399.