As a starter to the connected bike world, the C3 is hard to beat, especially at the discounted price. It appears to deliver the full iOS/Android experience.
I recommend it.
Still, there are caveats, Some of these may be down to the iOS/Android functionality but without another device I cannot make that call.
The eye opener (for me) was that the available apps are severely limited by whether the developer has added integration. As an example, Calimoto does not work. Check first.
The iOS interface is much, much better. It's cleaner and adds many more apps.
Spotify was mercilessly pushed from my Android phone, such that I deleted the app. Is this the Aoocci profile, or Android Auto? I simply don't want media apps, please allow them to be blocked.
The connectivity is fine when if works but my OnePlus 8 pro really struggled at the outset, so much so that I thought I would be returning the C3. I have twice resorted to power cycling both phone and C3. things appear to have improved although I have made no changes.
The lack of an on/off switch, plus the captive power lead, is a real pain... It's an economy too far. There is a plug in the lead but the C3 side of the lead is too long and I doubt the quality of the plug will allow many disconnects.
I bought the C3 pro. This has the 3 point mount, and was significantly cheaper. If this is a long term buy (not a test of the technology) then go for the plus. That said the literature is very obscure as to what you are getting with the Plus and the Pro mixed up on the same page - with the non-existent Basic?
I expected a sunshade and a USB connector. This is probably down to the poor presentation on the website, it really needs improving.
The Pro has great (metal) mounting hardware if you want a permanent mount to a bar clamp. With the captive power lead I don't see that anything other than a permanent mount is an option. Fortunately at the low price (and with the excellent mount) this is a reasonable risk.
It's a very light unit, you can feel it's built to a price point, but the screen is great, even on the (slightly dimmer) C3 pro.
I have not tested the TPM yet, but that is a great bonus.
Delivery and the supporting tracking was fantastic. It was fun to watch the journey. The external packaging was also good, but the C3 and accessories were rattling around inside the box. There's real scope to improve the internal packaging!
My last point needs more investigation, but Android Auto appears to put the phone into a local hotspot mode to establish an ad-hoc connection to the display.
This is absolutely not a C3 issue, but it's another aspect of the auto connectivity game that I have not seen mentioned. If so then it will increase battery drain on the phone and needs to be considered for long long rides.
Given a second chance I would have bought the C3 Plus but, notwithstanding the comments here, I can totally recommend the C3 (pro or plus) as a great introduction and possibly long term keeper to connected bikes.
