Moto X and the GPS

[onthecouchagain]

No one is really talking about it and I'm curious to know how it is.

My Nexus 5 can't lock onto GPS nor keep it very well when using Google Maps Navigation. Does the new Moto X fare better?

 

[someguy01234]

It's very good, I've been doing a lot of highway driving this weekend, and that is challenging for locking when you're traveling faster, the MotoX have no issue locking quickly.

I'm pretty much verry happy with all the radio signal related stuff on the X.

 

[drew_sf]

I did a GPS test while bike riding and results from top to bottom. Garmin Edge 500, Moto X 2014 with Strava app, iPhone 6 with Strava app. I was riding in a counterclockwise direction and the path crosses under US-101. I was shocked to see the iPhone 6 gps trace flip out when I went under the freeway.

I did some freeway driving today with Google Maps navigation and GPS lock was fine.

 

[prissysox]

No problems here

 

[cgardnervt]

I plan to sue RunKeep when mine shows up....So I do am hoping its a great GPS! I run pretty much every day. The HTC One M7 isn't to bad but it gets the job done!

 

[onthecouchagain]

All very good news! Thanks for sharing, y'all.

It seems to me, marginal though it may be, the Moto X is shaping up to be a better device than the Nexus 5.

 

[Old Stoneface]

It seems to me, marginal though it may be, the Moto X is shaping up to be a better device than the Nexus 5.

Depends upon ones priorities. The Moto X was too rich for my blood, but I could get a GS5, N5 or Moto G for about the same outlay. Looking at the strengths, weaknesses, pros and cons of each: The Moto G was the winner. One of its winning points was indeed the GPS. Nobody does radios better than Motorola. I was not disappointed. I fire up the GPS Status app and it has better than a dozen satellites locked and a position within a couple seconds or so. Not even our dedicated Garmin Marine Chartplotter was this fast.

 

[Funkpod]

THANK YOU for this post! I have a galaxy s3 and when running, i always get the audio message "gps signal lost" or "workout paused" when i have not stopped running. This is with Runtastic. I heard that the cell radios in motorolas were better, looks like the gps radios are, too? Is there somewhere that I can get a comparison?

 

[Old Stoneface]

I heard that the cell radios in motorolas were better, looks like the gps radios are, too? Is there somewhere that I can get a comparison?

Not of which I'm aware.

You could post a question to maybe the General News & Discussion forum, asking, for example: "If you had other cell phones, used the GPS a lot, replaced the phone with a Motorola or Moto X/G/E or whatever, did you notice an improvement in GPS performance?" or the like.

I simply read lots of reviews of the phones I was considering. Noticed mostly either no particular comment at all, or "meh" comments, regarding their GPS', except for the Moto G. For the Moto G I found highly positive comments about the GPS' performance. Between that and Motorola's reputation for good radio hardware (the GPS receiver is, of course, radio hardware): I came to the conclusion the Moto G's GPS was bound to be superior.

 

[dmark44]

THANK YOU for this post! I have a galaxy s3 and when running, i always get the audio message "gps signal lost" or "workout paused" when i have not stopped running. This is with Runtastic. I heard that the cell radios in motorolas were better, looks like the gps radios are, too? Is there somewhere that I can get a comparison?

While the issue is very likely due to your phone's hardware, other fitness apps might deal with it better so that you can avoid those error messages. Also, if Runtastic offers any GPS filtering/accuracy settings that might help.

It's been a while since I've tried Runtastic, but I know the Noom Cardiotrainer app has a couple of GPS settings you can change. On my Moto X I haven't had to tweak the settings, I have it set to the highest frequency and max accuracy and it works great.

Sent from my Moto X