Database Users

Gps

Haven't seen this yet... Hows the gps vs the epic 4G touch?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

First use outside, took about 20 seconds to lock in.
Second time, about 2 seconds. Inside, it locks in in about 30 seconds. Locks on about 18 satellites, which is about twice the number epic touch would lock in inside.
Haven't actually tried navigation yet.

averaging about 3 seconds inside and outside, here in nyc

Locks on much better then my old Epic 4g(non-touch)

much better than epic touch 4g

Almost instant with mine
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

Closest I could get to is 4m accuracy, almost instant lock. SoCal

9 foot accuracy out and 24 inside with nearly instantaneous lock inside and out, average 22 sats in view in or out...more in us when outside of course.
Blows my $260 Garmin signal lock away as that takes at least a minute.

I was told the SGS III also locks onto Russian GLONASS satellites making gps much much better

eyecon82 said:
I was told the SGS III also locks onto Russian GLONASS satellites making gps much much better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does have GLONASS which helps a lot. I'm ready for mine to come in, the last two devices I purchased pretty much bombed in the GPS area.

Indoors - 1 second/20 meters.

Can you guys please post some GPS TEST screenshots that show the SNR bars and values?
example from the SGSII E4GT is attached. This was the best I've ever had. I thank you guys for your accounts, I'd appreciate seeing some screenies of the quality.
GPS TEST APP https://play.google.com/store/apps/...GwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5jaGFydGNyb3NzLmdwc3Rlc3QiXQ..

Heh, I should go run some tests on my OG Epic.
I've had accuracy to 3 or 4 feet before...
Though that's not what this thread is about

Bluerai said:
Heh, I should go run some tests on my OG Epic.
I've had accuracy to 3 or 4 feet before...
Though that's not what this thread is about
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, it makes very good sense to do some baseline GPS testing with another device so you will have some benchmark. Most people here are just reporting lock times, which is just a threshhold metric that shows if the GPS works at all.
Another thing that is useful is to do some comparable tests of actual accuracy (not just the imputed accuracy reported in GPS Test) by running real-world tracking tests on identical courses. It is even more useful to include both driving-course tests and walking-course tests. Use the My Tracks app to capture these tracks and upload them to your Google My Places, which overlays the captured tracks on maps. Then you can view the before-and-after tracks, and even post links here.
Then you have an intelligent answer to the question of how well the GPS works.

I was INSIDE of a restaurant last night and did side by side GPS lock test on a GS3 and epic touch 4g.
GS3: almost instant lock and about 15~20ft accuracy
ET4G: never got a lock until we were done eating and left the restaurant.

halmo20 said:
I was INSIDE of a restaurant last night and did side by side GPS lock test on a GS3 and epic touch 4g.
GS3: almost instant lock and about 15~20ft accuracy
ET4G: never got a lock until we were done eating and left the restaurant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ouuuch
Sent from my EPIC TOUCH!

I get locks pretty quick on the S3

What about Navigation? It's beyond horrendous on the Epic Touch!
Sent from my EPIC TOUCH!

I'm curious how this compares to the EVO LTE.
The GS3 teardown reveals it uses a Broadcom GPS chip.
The EVO uses the integrated GPS supplied by Qualcomm.

ubigred said:
What about Navigation? It's beyond horrendous on the Epic Touch!
Sent from my EPIC TOUCH!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used navigation about 4 times since I had it and it works and locks in seconds pretty well. Just as good as the EvoLte. I had the EvoLte for about 3 weeks before I switched to the S3.

[Q] GPS sensitivity?

Hi everyone,
Potential N10 buyer here. I'm considering it for a bicycle trip in April, currently waiting to see if some of the SW bugs get worked out, and if there will be a price drop by March when the next iPad is rumored to be announced.
One thing I haven't been able to find in my research thus far is an assessment of the N10's GPS sensitivity. The Nexus 7 was praised for its excellent GPS, and ability to get a lock even indoors. I believe the 10 uses the same GPS chipset, but the antenna and RF design can have just as much influence on actual performance. Is there someone with both the N7 and N10, who could place them side by side running GPS Test (showing the satellite signal-strength bars), to see which one is "hotter"?
Thanks!
Mark

mark04 said:
Hi everyone,
Potential N10 buyer here. I'm considering it for a bicycle trip in April, currently waiting to see if some of the SW bugs get worked out, and if there will be a price drop by March when the next iPad is rumored to be announced.
One thing I haven't been able to find in my research thus far is an assessment of the N10's GPS sensitivity. The Nexus 7 was praised for its excellent GPS, and ability to get a lock even indoors. I believe the 10 uses the same GPS chipset, but the antenna and RF design can have just as much influence on actual performance. Is there someone with both the N7 and N10, who could place them side by side running GPS Test (showing the satellite signal-strength bars), to see which one is "hotter"?
Thanks!
Mark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excelent gps in nexus 10.
It locks with a lot of satellites fixed in indoor.
And it lock glonas satellites.
Enviado desde mi Nexus 10 usando Tapatalk 2

I have both a Nexus 10 & 7. They both will lockup indoors reading the same number of satellites. Their gps seems pretty equal to me sitting & testing in the same spot indoors. In comparison my GNex can't begin to lock & sees nothing, while my sgs3 locks but seems a little weaker than the 2 tablets. Don't see any difference in any of them outdoors with a clear view of the sky. I run the same scripts & locking aids on all to help with lock speed.
My work is in my places with no service & gps is used constantly. I recommend Backcountry Navigator for those places.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

djd338 said:
I have both a Nexus 10 & 7. They both will lockup indoors reading the same number of satellites. Their gps seems pretty equal to me sitting & testing in the same spot indoors. In comparison my GNex can't begin to lock & sees nothing, while my sgs3 locks but seems a little weaker than the 2 tablets. Don't see any difference in any of them outdoors with a clear view of the sky. I run the same scripts & locking aids on all to help with lock speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! This was the sort of comparison I was looking for.
Can you tell me more about the "scripts and locking aids" you're using? I haven't heard of that before.

The app Faster Fix seems to help. Maybe plecebo, but it allows North American servers to be selected if that's where you are. The main script I always run tho is "Mitch0115 optimal gpsconf" zip. There's a thread on Rootz about it. It has worked great for me & I've used it since the OG Droid. It used to be a script you'd paste in /etc, but about a year ago he made a flashable zip. It must be reflashed with each rom, so I keep it on the SD card. It aids in lockup speed. Check all that using GPS Test. It's a neat app which shows all satellites & their strength the device sees at that moment.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2

GPS accuracy in GS5 vs. GS4?

I was wondering if anyone who has both the GS5 and the GS4 has compared the accuracy of their GPS positioning using something like Google Maps to determine if either is closer to the actual position as shown on Maps? My GS4 doesn't seem to indicate any closer than about 30-40 feet of my actual position under a clear sky. This is sometimes a problem when driving along the freeway where there is a street running parallel, and Navigation tells me to make a turn where there is none, and vice versa. I am thinking about upgrading to the GS5, and was wondering if there is an improvement in that unit's GPS system.

My neighbor has gs4 I have gs5. His accuracy is 10 to 5 metres. Mine often goes down to 3 metres. Also lock is faster.
Same with and without mobile data. No modification on both devices regarding gps.

IamSirius said:
I was wondering if anyone who has both the GS5 and the GS4 has compared the accuracy of their GPS positioning using something like Google Maps to determine if either is closer to the actual position as shown on Maps? My GS4 doesn't seem to indicate any closer than about 30-40 feet of my actual position under a clear sky. This is sometimes a problem when driving along the freeway where there is a street running parallel, and Navigation tells me to make a turn where there is none, and vice versa. I am thinking about upgrading to the GS5, and was wondering if there is an improvement in that unit's GPS system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S5 processor, the Snapdragon 801 uses the gpsOneGen 8B GPS module. While the S4, I believe used the earlier 8A iteration. The S5 GPS is said to have faster locks and be capable of 2M accuracy as well as support for the Chinese constallation.
Keep in mind that performance is quite dependent on firmware, making even head to head comparisons challenging.
.

ogremount said:
My neighbor has gs4 I have gs5. His accuracy is 10 to 5 metres. Mine often goes down to 3 metres. Also lock is faster.
Same with and without mobile data. No modification on both devices regarding gps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like a worthwhile upgrade to me. Thanks.

fffft said:
The S5 processor, the Snapdragon 801 uses the gpsOneGen 8B GPS module. While the S4, I believe used the earlier 8A iteration. The S5 GPS is said to have faster locks and be capable of 2M accuracy as well as support for the Chinese constallation.
Keep in mind that performance is quite dependent on firmware, making even head to head comparisons challenging.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know. Thanks for the info.

GPS is great, only 10 ft. (3 meters) discrepency.

gee2012 said:
GPS is great, only 10 ft. (3 meters) discrepency.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Much better than the S4 I have now. Thanks.

I had the G2 and it was on a phone ever terrible. Worst gpa
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Note 4 GPS

Hey all. I was wondering if anyone heard anything about the accuracy (or simply how well it works) of the Note 4's GPS. I remember my Note 3 would drop location repeatedly and it would annoy the crap out of me while I was on my motorcycle. It was really the only reason I got rid of the N3 for my One M8 in the first place. I needed that reliability for my "adventures" . If the GPS is rock solid on this new Note, I will be making the change back. Any info uncovered or indication that it is improved would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA mobile app

i never had gps issues on my note 3 i just had signal issues. radio sucked

I'm sure it should be fine. I have had a Galaxy S2, S3, Note 2, S4 all AT&T models except the first s3 I owned it was international, then AT&T once my area got LTE.
Anyway never had an issue with GPS.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

The GPS on my T-Mobile Note 3 isn't very good in comparison to all my previous Galaxy phones.
I can't even get it to be accurate and it does drop out from time to time.

alpinesun said:
Hey all. I was wondering if anyone heard anything about the accuracy (or simply how well it works) of the Note 4's GPS. I remember my Note 3 would drop location repeatedly and it would annoy the crap out of me while I was on my motorcycle. It was really the only reason I got rid of the N3 for my One M8 in the first place. I needed that reliability for my "adventures" . If the GPS is rock solid on this new Note, I will be making the change back. Any info uncovered or indication that it is improved would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was frustrated with the GPS on the Note 3 as well. Couldn't get a decent lock while I was using it in a sports armband while running though it was much better if I held the phone in my hand during the runs. (not the most comfortable thing given the size) Finally took a look at a schematic to find out where the GPS chip was located. Turns out it is on the back side of the phone near the camera. So, it is blocked very well if being used in a sports armband as the back is generally pressed against your body that way.
Not sure where it was on previous devices, but either it was closer to the edge or the chip was better..
hope they realized this and did a better job this time

All antennas sacked on my Note 3. GPS wifi and network signal. Really hoping new antenna breaks in the casing of note 4 helps.

alpinesun said:
Hey all. I was wondering if anyone heard anything about the accuracy (or simply how well it works) of the Note 4's GPS. I remember my Note 3 would drop location repeatedly and it would annoy the crap out of me while I was on my motorcycle. It was really the only reason I got rid of the N3 for my One M8 in the first place. I needed that reliability for my "adventures" . If the GPS is rock solid on this new Note, I will be making the change back. Any info uncovered or indication that it is improved would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, my Note 3 gps is very bad every 10 min losing location
Now I wanna try to get European version of Note 4 no more American

Bump... Just in case any new information on this topic has risen

alpinesun said:
Bump... Just in case any new information on this topic has risen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here [emoji4]

Nothing new yet... not many in the wild as of yet.
But my Note 2 refused to point the right direction in Google Maps. The little blue arrow was always randomly wrong, really annoying. I'm told it was a compass problem and not the GPS. (Thats why navigation worked so well, it uses GPS rather than the compass). It is, soon to be was, really annoying.

It depends... and Sammy has a spotty record when it comes to GPS
alpinesun said:
Hey all. I was wondering if anyone heard anything about the accuracy (or simply how well it works) of the Note 4's GPS. I remember my Note 3 would drop location repeatedly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TL;DR?
Googled myself silly trying to find this out and failed. I don’t think there’s an easy answer to this until someone buys both variants of the Note 4 and tests them out. Samsung is famous for having a whole bunch of variants per product model, as will be the case for the Note 4, so it depends:
Which SoC you get (Exynos or Snapdragon, as was the case with the Note 3 too). They come with different GPS solutions deep down.
What was done with the GPS antenna, and how well various tweaks were done to phone and radio firmware, which can also be carrier dependent and make your ‘mileage vary’ for things like A-GPS – pun intended :silly:
From what I've read, the Exynos version of the Note 4 might have the most room for improvement (or regression) because it’s incorporating a newer generation GPS hardware chip, but the Snapdragon version already incorporates a tried and well tested GPS hardware module. (Maybe look for a review trying to comparing GPS accuacy on the S5 Snapdragon vs. S5 Exynos to suport or debunk this point)
General notes about smartphone GPS on Android
Before getting into what I deem a plausible explanation of why Samsung GPS solutions are hit and miss, a brief general note about my understanding of GPS smart phone operation. From what I've read, getting a GPS fix and keeping it, with reasonably accuracy has a whole host of complicating factors. Some of them are:
GPS hardware and software in phones is probably optimised for 1) low power consumption, 2) time-to-fix and 3) accuracy, where accuracy is the lowest priority. So it’s likely to disappoint, but a less accurate GPS is better than no GPS (device with no power left)…
Sounds like A-GPS can matter a whole lot. Is A-GPS actually working? This depends on 1) signal coverage, 2) reasonable data connection, and 3) phone’s firmware properly configured to use A-GPS. Some people claim flashing different radios (often related to different carries or regions) improved or degraded how reliable GPS was. So it’s possible the GPS hardware is okay, but the radio/mobile operators setup has borked A-GPS implementation. And maybe A-GPS would help not only getting that first fix fast, but also helps to quickly recovering from a lost satellite lock when in a jungle (concrete ones and natural ones, given tall buildings and trees mess with GPS signal).
Determining a location can also rely on complex algorithms with even more inputs. Speeding up finding a location uses A-GPS, mobile network signal and wifi-signal (with triangulation). But keeping a lock and 'smoothing' out your location can use extra inputs from accelerometers, etc to compensate for and compliment the inaccuracy GPS signal readings.
Substantiating the above claims
GPS could work well for some Note 4 variants and not as well for others? What GPS solution comes with which SoC? In summary:
For the Snapdragon SoC variants of late, Galaxy S5, Note 3 and Note 4 share the same GPS hardware chip component design within the Qualcomm 800 series SoCs, so there probably won’t be any GPS improvements coming from this SoC… If we’re lucky, maybe antenna placement or firmware improvements were done, but otherwise, we could be in for more of the same (as I detail later, Snapdragon SoC’s GPS should be decent).
For the Note 4 Exynos 5433 version, a discrete GPS module is provided by Broadcom. This was the case also for a Galaxy S5 Exynos variant? Could this one bring some improvements?
I believe the Qualcomm GPS hardware component in the SoC is unlikely to be a major cause for concern, and the differences will come from the phone vendor (Samsung) specific build and/or the carrier/network operator specific radio firmware tinkering and support of location services.
Based on my own interests and experience
I’m also super keen to see an answer to this, as I'd be interested in getting a Note 4, but not if it has the same woes with GPS as my Galaxy S2 has. The S2 has multiple posts complaining or offering various hacks to try improve the GPS. And before that, I read the S1 had a particularly poor GPS hardware. After the S2, I think the Note and S3 started officially supporting GLONASS, which in theory gives the newer models a larger set of satellites to grab a fix from. But hearing the Galaxy Note 3 also has some GPS problems makes me worry that GPS is a neglected topic for Samsung (assuming the Note 3 you complained about was a Snapdragon version)… Assuming it’s not Qualcomm, it’s either Samsung or the carrier/mobile operator’s radio firmware at fault.
If Samsung messes up the antenna placement (as I saw alluded to in a previous post), it may not matter that much which SoC/GPS solution is beneath it (Qualcomm gpsOne Gen 8B vs Broadcom BCM47531). Antenna location and interference can be a serious issue. For example, my old disastrous Nokia N97 had a defect where the GPS antenna wasn’t properly shielded from signal interference of nearby components on the PCB and I was tempted to throw the device out of my car most of the time I tried to use GPS!.
If your carrier writes dodge firmware or has crappy network support for A-GPS, it’s going to take long to get an initial lock. Here in South Africa, I’m pretty convinced my carrier/mobile network operator MTN, or ‘<empty>N’ as I like to re-brand them, could care less about how well my GPS works. Sometimes with MTN I’ve got a full 3G signal with ping latencies of more than 30 seconds and no hope A-GPS can even talk with the servers it needs to reach
…
More details about which Variant has What GPS pieces, etc?
For those who like the tech details and background, I did a fair bit of Google digging about the S4:
GPS is integrated into the Snapdragon 805 SoC, but it not integrated into Exynos 5433 chip.
Snapdragon 805 has iZat/gpsOne Gen 8B with GLONASS support (www<dot>wpcentra<dot>com/snapdragon-805-processor-at-CES).
For all previous Snapdragon 80x’s, the GPS chip hardware component design is the same Gen 8B. Snapdragon 800 and 801 were used Note 3 and S5 variants respectively.
Qualcomm are tried and tested? Given Qualcomm are 1) the market leaders for providing low cost integrated GPS chipset solutions, 2) probably have the same lineage of GPS components delivered in iPhones (via the LTE modem chipset apple gets from them) as well other Android vendors who used the Snapdragon SoCs with GPS solutions integrated. If there are any issues on the Qualcomm GPS module design, it’d be a very wide-spread problem… (www<dot>qualcomm<dot>com/products/izat claims 3 billion devices use iZat tech and www<dot>anandtech<dot>com/show/8004/htc-one-mini-2-review/10 shows this GPS played well in an HTC. QUALCOMM claims it gets as good as 2m accuracy)
Dedicated GPS for Exynos 5433? Broadcom BCM47531 (www<dot>techinsights<dot>com/teardown.com/samsung-note-4-galaxy-alpha).
Broadcom BCM47531 is the new kid on the block that claims to support more Satellite constellations, but millage will vary again, as I’m not sure those extra constellations are going to help yet given some of them are being developed or are region specific (www<dot>zdnet<dot>com/broadcom-announces-new-five-satellite-constellation-location-chip-7000024098). American GPS and Russian GLONASS are the only fully fledged online GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) solutions to date and the Qualcomm chipset already supports them as well.
Recall reading Broadcom have 2nd place in market share behind Qualcomm.
My suspicions of why Samsung GPS is hit and miss (Samsung’s history is quite spotted)
With Samsung pushing so many other sensors and features, several of which seem gimmicky, I worry that core use cases like navigation with GPS accuracy isn't the best implemented and tested feature… Kudo’s to Samsung for innovating, but I wish they’d also push more for refinement of important features/sensors that need to work well.
Another important consideration is that fairly testing and comparing GPS accuracy is difficult and time consuming. Benchmarks for CPU and GPU are easy to perform and repeat and other comparisons, while a bit more effort, such as screen quality, photo/video quality, or audio, which can be done in a lab with measuring equipment, etc. But testing a GPS usually requires going outdoors and driving or running / cycling around in various scenarios and places, and comparing the GPS track/results to a very well-known path or the track of professional grade highly accurate GPS device.
Maybe Sammy is smart and knows GPS is not easy to test and compare like other smartphone features, so they don’t focus on it that much? Hence it’s hit and miss between models and variants?
Some sites have aimed to try measure and compare phone GPS accuracy, but nothing I’ve found has a big/accurate enough sample. E.g. gpserror.azurewebsites.net only has a handful and test methodology is questionable? Please share if you happen to find a better example for this, as I didn’t look all that hard to be honest.

Interesting post. Question: did you research satellite coverage for S Africa vs US or Europe (in contributing to speed of lock, strength of signal)? I've always had great gps on my Note 2 but I'm in California. (I use it for golf all over and it's fast and accurate to a yard. Travelling in a vehicle only issue is when on a highway travelling fast, google nav sometimes gets confused and thinks I'm on a side street bit then correects itself a couple seconds later). I'm getting the Note 4 next Mon and I had hoped it would be at least as good.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317

I am very curious to know this issue as well.
My phone history has been an unlocked Telus note 2 (same as at&t model) for the last 2 years and have never ever had any problems with GPS losses. About 3 weeks ago I bought an unlocked used bell version (same as at&t) 4 month old Note 3 for $400 and instantly noticed the loss of GPS coverage on a regular basis. I'm ready to throw this thing out the window and pay to go up to a note 4 but NOT if it has the same GPS issues. I'll pull out my note 2 again from my desk and just keep using that.

Dumbo53 said:
Interesting post. Question: did you research satellite coverage for S Africa vs US or Europe (in contributing to speed of lock, strength of signal)? I've always had great gps on my Note 2 but I'm in California. (I use it for golf all over and it's fast and accurate to a yard. Travelling in a vehicle only issue is when on a highway travelling fast, google nav sometimes gets confused and thinks I'm on a side street bit then correects itself a couple seconds later).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't research the geographic difference between South Africa and other regions, but noticed that my iPad 2 is much better with Navigation (using Waze) compared to my Galaxy S2. And on my S2, I also noticed Waze gets confused and jumps around to onto different streets, annoyingly often in fact. It also struggles more the faster I'm going.
But my S2 setup is miles away from what one can expect on the Note 4. The point was that in my esteem, the S2 GPS was improved compared to the S1, but still quite inaccurate and unreliable (depending on other factors like the ROM/A-GPS, etc). So I was sad to hear people had issues with the Note 3. It was part of a weak inference that perhaps Samsung doesn't prioritize testing and refining the GPS accuracy as much as we'd hope for... It's much harder to do than ace CPU/GPU benchmarks.
Seeing the various other folk post about how the GPS worked well for one variant and carrier combination versus another affirms my estimation that it may be hit and miss for the Note 4 too - and many of the variables like the carrier specific ROM and plus a the reliability of the network supporting A-GPS will be a significant factor over and above the base GPS hardware stack.
Bottom line question: Can we reasonably expect consistency in the Note 4 line up (independent of carrier and variant)? I'm betting not.

Yup, my Sprint Note 4 (910P) can't lock my location inside my house, whereas my S4 had no problem.
I also noticed that it dropped mobile data in spots on my drive home yesterday that my S4 was able to hold.
No case yet on my Note 4 either...

Note 4 on Tmobile gps not good
So i recently gave up an iphone 6 plus for this note 4. Before that i had an htc m8 and lg g3 and one plus one. I did not have gps issues at all with any of these. I had a gs5 which the gps sucked. The note 3 was horrible too. This noye 4 gps is terrible. It will not pick up the direction im going. Often times thinks im going backwards. When it does work its brief. I am very worried and uncomfortable using the gps in this phone. I cant afford these kinds of glitches while doing 65 - 70 on the highway. I travel a lot for work and this isnt reliable. Im going to be returning this phone and switching to the Nexus 6.

Nexus 6 better alternative? Lets hope we get a review of the GPS
jettienne12 said:
So i recently gave up an iphone 6 plus for this note 4. Before that i had an htc m8 and lg g3 and one plus one. I did not have gps issues at all with any of these. I had a gs5 which the gps sucked. The note 3 was horrible too. This noye 4 gps is terrible. It will not pick up the direction im going. Often times thinks im going backwards. When it does work its brief. I am very worried and uncomfortable using the gps in this phone. I cant afford these kinds of glitches while doing 65 - 70 on the highway. I travel a lot for work and this isnt reliable. Im going to be returning this phone and switching to the Nexus 6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like other vendors did a better job of their GPS integration (might be easier when not trying to tack on so many different features and sensors, etc). Also waiting to see Note 4 vs Nexus 6 GPS.

thank you butternutty for digging all these gps related details. i'm also waiting for some more in-depth reviews on that matter. just to confirm your thoughts on past devices, my experience with the predecessors weren't pleasing.
during 6months i checked the accuracy of a note 1 & a note3 next to each other w/o a-gps (as you would use when travelling abroad and avoiding roaming charges) with the following apps: gps test+ & gps status. roughly 3 times a week while travelling by car between 1 to 3hrs. the note 3 (qualcomm) was far worse than the note1. loosing fixes and badly inaccurate (12-17m in average) within cities, out on the open and anything inbetween, as well as in different weather scenarios i.e cloud coverage. i used 5 different note 3 devices during that time period and 2 note1. btw, i also checked it on a bike, walking, as well as on different continents and have used "professional" gps devices before. these results plus the annoying compass calibration issue (after each start, so basically every morning) resulted in me selling the note3.
it's a pitty, because i like & use the stylus on the note line. thus i thought the note4 would cure some of these problems. reading in the forums the experience of early adopters, it seems, that we're facing again compass calibration issues after each start (not an issue on the note1) and the gps w/o a-gps doesn't seem to be very strong or is on par with the note3. so basically no changes as you stated.
depending on which region you live, you get the qualcomm chip and have to pay overprice to get the arguably better spec'd n910c with exynos because it seems it uses hopefully a better broadcom gps, cat6 bands, (if i read correctly) a wolfson chip a/d sound converter, uses probably (i'm not sure-just stating the experience of others in this forum) an isocell cam with pdaf and therefore faster autofocus like the s5 and not what's found on the qualcomm which uses sony's imx240 chip and it's contrast detection. moving along comes the issue with lollipop & 64bit, which should be "available" on the exymos version in 64bit if sammy releases it or "opens" it from 32 to 64bit. even though the discussion on 3gb vs 4gb ram using lollipop in 64bit will follow. all this puts the buyer in a situation in which he's uncertain if he got the "right" note4 version.
sammy, quo vadis on the note line? imho they should start concentrating on quality sensors instead of adding new ones. is qualcomm's 810 the answer? will it be rootable? wait another year? every year and before the launch i fall for all the hype of what we should expect specwise/ supposed leaks. once the device is officially introduced, we supposedly didn't get this or that specific because time or manufacturing process or whatever were an issue. but by the end of the day - as in this case with the note4- i'm a little disappointed that such and such item didn't make it in the final draft (e.g. ip 68).
hope to read more gps real life experiences of either qualcomm or exynos note4 users here.
p.s.: reading thru the posts here, i hope it's clear, that i'm not talking/writing about car navigation software (e.g. tomtom/sygic) which corrects via likelihood calculation your position and puts you on the next available street and therefore doesn't indicate your real position but your "expected" position in accordance to the navigational map/grid and where you "should" be.

I've got the 910F and gps test shows the accuracy at 3m and I'm indoors. Google maps places me inside my house. No complaints when navigating.
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

I usually get a "3d" lock and 10 feet accuracty within about 10 seconds on mine. Im using GPS Test for this.
Here's a Video, I Just made.
.

Wifi and GPS Performance Worse Than 4 Years Old Phone

Hi Wonderful People at xdadevelopers,
I'm puzzled on how my new Axon 7's wifi, data, and GPS performance lags behind my Samsung Galaxy S3, which was released 4 years ago. I got this phone thinking that it would be an overall upgrade from my S3 but instead I'm left with a device that is slower in performance in terms of GPS accuracy and online speed. (Both data and wifi connection are slower). Is this something that ZTE can improve/fix with software updates/tweaks or it is bad positions/sub-par hardware? Any inputs on this is greatly appreciate it, thank you!

What model do you have? My A2017U was alright on B20, and the B27 made it even better

projectseahorse said:
Hi Wonderful People at xdadevelopers,
I'm puzzled on how my new Axon 7's wifi, data, and GPS performance lags behind my Samsung Galaxy S3, which was released 4 years ago. I got this phone thinking that it would be an overall upgrade from my S3 but instead I'm left with a device that is slower in performance in terms of GPS accuracy and online speed. (Both data and wifi connection are slower). Is this something that ZTE can improve/fix with software updates/tweaks or it is bad positions/sub-par hardware? Any inputs on this is greatly appreciate it, thank you!
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I had a look at your profile and noticed you were on T-Mobile in the United States. Where are you located (Southern California, Texas, etc). If you are with T-Mobile do you have the T-Mobile binge-on feature enabled or disabled? I'm a prepaid T-Mobile customer with two Axon 7's in Southern California and before I disabled Binge-on (T-Mobile's YouTube buffering) I suffered with DATA performance. Now I have no issues at all with DATA or GPS (I use Waze and Google Maps every day for about 2 hours in the car). I'm not sure whether this would affect GPS but I have a feeling it might. Either way I'd try disabling Binge-on (can be done through the T-Mobile app under services | opt out) and see if that helps.
If that doesn't solve the issue I would recommend
1. Going through your APN settings and making sure they match up with T-Mobile's recommended settings
2. Making sure that Google has all the permissions it needs to access your location. Go and check your APP Settings and make sure nothing location based is disabled.
3. Resetting your phone.
If that seems like too much hassle just exchange it for a new one and if you have the same problems with it get another phone (Oneplus etc).

Hi All,
I have the A2017U B27 and yes, I'm on T-Mobile and currently located in Nor Cal. Will try out the recommendations and see if there are any improvements. Thank you very much!

I got similar problem
My axon 7 Gps is not accurate indoor.
And i just find it out much later. Dont know what to do QQ

cho9736 said:
I got similar problem
My axon 7 Gps is not accurate indoor.
And i just find it out much later. Dont know what to do QQ
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No GPS is accurate indoor. GPS is outdoor use only.

Are these issues software related?

sipe1 said:
No GPS is accurate indoor. GPS is outdoor use only.
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But compare to my older phone it is far less accurate indoor though:crying:

indoor next to the window or balcony it finds fix in 20-60s, my colleague xiaomi 4c is faster, outdoor they both perform very good. I wouldn't call it bad gps
Wifi I was scared once I turned my axon for the first time, wifi signal was jumping, disconnecting every 5 sec, after reboot now it works very stable, I have to test maxium range from router, comparing with other phones, but I think it's decent

Locklear308 said:
Are these issues software related?
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Yes they are. They can and will be fixed eventually by ZTE and for sure by CM (in time).
I used to have the exact same experience when I was porting my old phone to CM. GPS issues for the Axon 7 are all software related.

celoxocis said:
Yes they are. They can and will be fixed eventually by ZTE and for sure by CM (in time).
I used to have the exact same experience when I was porting my old phone to CM. GPS issues for the Axon 7 are all software related.
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do you think camera has also room for improvments? I am very happy with shots taken in a broad daylight, also with strong LED lamp they look very sharp and nice, the worst case scenario is when its greyish but not night time yet, not enought light, much noise, sometimes not sharp fotos, white balance is mostly ok for me

simsonavo said:
do you think camera has also room for improvments? I am very happy with shots taken in a broad daylight, also with strong LED lamp they look very sharp and nice, the worst case scenario is when its greyish but not night time yet, not enought light, much noise, sometimes not sharp fotos, white balance is mostly ok for me
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I think there is. I saw pictures taken with Isocells on par with Sony's IMX sensors. It's all about how good the devs (ZTE) code the Camera software.
I agree that in low light conditions the "snap and shoot" can do better. I was able to take good low light conditions pictures in manuel mode.
What we as users need to do is to keep contacting ZTE and state that we want those improvements. Especially in the early month's of release. Because after a year or so. Their dev team will be focused on the next ZTE Flagship and the Axon 7 will be almost forgotten in term of Software updates.
But that's what we paid for a 400$ Chinese Flagship.

after long time spending time with the zte support in germany my a7 still can´t connect to wifi. (B03) also its not possilbe to use LTE with this phone. (soundcloud or youtube most time stuck...), i think i will return it this week and wait for the V20 oder zenfone 3 deluxe....

I saw your same post over on the ZTE forums under the mrfobber username, so I'll just copypasta my response:
The thing is, other people disagree with you (myself included). I realize that you're not the only one claiming that WiFi and cell service is "bad", but it doesn't seem to be universally true.
Obviously some devices are going to be better than others. Hardware, software, and overall design play a role in this. But some comparative tests show no issue with my phone in my area. I get identical cellular reception with my G3, Zenfone 2 Laser, and the Axon 7. I get slightly better WiFi throughput and signal strength with the A7 over the other two, all of which are maxing out my 50Mbps service.
I'm wondering if there's a QC issue here, or if it's just very much dependent on where you live. I mean, where you live obviously plays a role in what your service is like, but it does seem strange to get wildly different performance from two phones under identical circumstances.
I haven't tested the GPS, specifically, just using Google Maps and it's been fine. What sort of test are you doing to compare the two? Cold-start fix times? Number of satellites? What app are you using?

martinmagnus said:
after long time spending time with the zte support in germany my a7 still can´t connect to wifi. (B03) also its not possilbe to use LTE with this phone. (soundcloud or youtube most time stuck...), i think i will return it this week and wait for the V20 oder zenfone 3 deluxe....
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I have a Fritz.Box 7490 WiFi running with an Fritz. Box repeater to extend my WiFi. I have no issues connecting to 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz (AC).
The only issue I have is that it doesn't roam between those to cells seamlessly.