Moto E (2015) as offline GPS navigator - E 2015 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

With our scouting group we're looking into investing in new handheld GPS devices for hiking. A good new GPS (like the Garmin eTrex 25 / 30) is like €200+, so we are investigating the option of cheap (under €150) smartphones. The Moto E has a Snapdragon 410 (so GPS, GLONASS and an electronic compass), decent battery life and is only €90 in The Netherlands.
I'm looking for more information about the GPS performance on the Moto E. The main questions that is have:
How fast can the Moto E (offline / in airplane mode) get a fix indoors or in difficult environments (like in a valley or a forest)?
How accurate is the Moto E once it has a fix and does it hold the fix well?
Does the electronic compass work well?
How long does the battery last (air plane mode, fairly bright screen, GPS on)?
Anyone who could even answer one of these questions is a hero!

EwoutH said:
With our scouting group we're looking into investing in new handheld GPS devices for hiking. A good new GPS (like the Garmin eTrex 25 / 30) is like €200+, so we are investigating the option of cheap (under €150) smartphones. The Moto E has a Snapdragon 410 (so GPS, GLONASS and an electronic compass), decent battery life and is only €90 in The Netherlands.
I'm looking for more information about the GPS performance on the Moto E. The main questions that is have:
How fast can the Moto E (offline / in airplane mode) get a fix indoors or in difficult environments (like in a valley or a forest)?
How accurate is the Moto E once it has a fix and does it hold the fix well?
Does the electronic compass work well?
How long does the battery last (air plane mode, fairly bright screen, GPS on)?
Anyone who could even answer one of these questions is a hero!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am currently using this as a back up phone and have no daily use but my experiences are that the gps works too well. I found your thread searchimg for ways to make it less accurate lol reason being, pokemon go. I am usig a spoofing app on a few phones and the moto e has such a fast gps that i cannot spoof eve when set to spoof every millisecond.

1. indoors with airplane mode: around 15 seconds, gps works very well on this phone
2. endomondo was working very good, there were no gaps in track ect so I think it's good
3. moto e lte with sd410 doesn't have compass!!!
4. battery is very good too, I think it could be around 4,5-5,5 h of screen on time.

EwoutH said:
With our scouting group we're looking into investing in new handheld GPS devices for hiking. A good new GPS (like the Garmin eTrex 25 / 30) is like €200+, so we are investigating the option of cheap (under €150) smartphones. The Moto E has a Snapdragon 410 (so GPS, GLONASS and an electronic compass), decent battery life and is only €90 in The Netherlands.
I'm looking for more information about the GPS performance on the Moto E. The main questions that is have:
How fast can the Moto E (offline / in airplane mode) get a fix indoors or in difficult environments (like in a valley or a forest)?
How accurate is the Moto E once it has a fix and does it hold the fix well?
Does the electronic compass work well?
How long does the battery last (air plane mode, fairly bright screen, GPS on)?
Anyone who could even answer one of these questions is a hero!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just started using moto e as an offline GPS device on my motorcycle. Using CoPilot GPS app with locally stored maps.
Seeing roughly 25% battery use per hour with high brightness in nav use, so 3 hours continuous comfortably, 4 hours maybe. Portable battery pack would be an easy and inexpensive way to stretch battery life. Buyers market for these right now due to the popularity of Pokémon go.
Best reported GPS precision of any android device I've used - often 3-5 meters accuracy. My galaxy S6 with data connection rarely does better than 12 meters.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Related

[Q] Is this good for GPS on the Transformer Prime

I don't use GPS but with all the talk going on about GPS I thought I would try that GPS test program on my Transformer Prime. Is the attached picture a good response? I'm not sure what SNR means but it appears to have picked up quite a few sats.
For a Prime its pretty good as many people including myself get nothing.
SNR means signal to noise ratio. Which is an indicator for signal quality. In comparison to other devices the SNR is not so good.
texstar said:
I don't use GPS but with all the talk going on about GPS I thought I would try that GPS test program on my Transformer Prime. Is the attached picture a good response? I'm not sure what SNR means but it appears to have picked up quite a few sats.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's average, mine is also like this, but it won't ever locate you any closer than that and if you move you lose signal.
Compared to my Galaxy Note...
I got zero's across the board on my prime...for sh*ts and giggles, I decided to compare to my galaxy note.
Note with GPS only accuracy down to about 225-250 feet, SNR on 12-14 satellites ranged from 18-27 or so...
When I add sensors to the mix, accuracy goes to 45 feet... (about same SNR)...
All and all I am continually amazed at the galaxy note... (gps on prime is nice to have for me... my car has nav and clearly the galaxy can do it!)
It seems for a "premium" tablet, they'd have put forth premium components and subsystems like GPS...
on the plus(and unrelated) my wifi has been solid...which is key for me...
Interpreting YOUR numbers
Here is what your pic is telling you:
GPS Status: Green - You have a lock...Your "location (car)" will track you as you move.
Yellow - GPS is active, but you do not have GPS lock and is still searching for satellites
Red - GPS is inactive
Accuracy - 36 ft isn't bad...GPS alone (without AGPS) is going to be about 30 ft. AGPS will improve that number. I have seen numbers as low as 6-10 ft. This also depends on where the "active" sats are...If they are low (at the horizon), the accuracy won't be as good....If your sat's are at about 45 degrees in the sky will give the best reading. As the accuracy gets worse, as you're moving, the map indicator may show you traveling in a median, field, thru houses, etc - so although it shows you, your actual location is off.
Chart - Satellites with SNR below 20 most likely will not lock. Depending on the system (I don't know this one well enough yet) it takes 3-4 above 20 to get a lock (some systems require 5-6 sats)....When most numbers are in the very low 20's, although you have lock....you probably will lose lock at times during your trip....how long is loses lock will vary and depends on when it can pick up some higher numbers...Sometimes, it's only seconds, sometimes it's minutes...when it happens, you won't be tracked. The numbers at the very bottom are the satellite numbers....There are about 32-36 active satellites floating around in space...being able to see 13 means you are seeing pretty much the maximum number available at your location.
Hope this helps your understanding.
Bob
To possibly improve an already decent reading, I'd try the mods found in these 2 threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1520642
and
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1533776

[Q] help - running apps

hi, I noticed that when I activate any running apps(runkeeper, mapmyrun etc) with gps and data(3g) , even though im stationery...the app icons(tat represent me) would move around on its own... clocking distance.......is there anything wrong with my omate? what can I do...pls advice.....
rayblade said:
hi, I noticed that when I activate any running apps(runkeeper, mapmyrun etc) with gps and data(3g) , even though im stationery...the app icons(tat represent me) would move around on its own... clocking distance.......is there anything wrong with my omate? what can I do...pls advice.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The TS GPS can be quite good. It is better than my Garmin ForeRunner 305 (still one of the best GPS receivers) 4 out of 5 GPS points or so. Occasionally though, there is a point far off other times the accuracy just decreases some minutes.
With EPO (use MT GPS app) and A-GPS it locks very fast too.
There is a HW problem though, the GPS antenna can snap. But then you will not get a lock at all.
It is normal that GPS units shows speed when still, especially with bad coverage, you have to compare with a known reference GPS to say if the TS is bad/good
There is minimal difference for apps (most only have some smoothing differences)
I believe IpBike is the best running app.
gerhardo said:
The TS GPS can be quite good. It is better than my Garmin ForeRunner 305 (still one of the best GPS receivers) 4 out of 5 GPS points or so. Occasionally though, there is a point far off other times the accuracy just decreases some minutes.
With EPO (use MT GPS app) and A-GPS it locks very fast too.
There is a HW problem though, the GPS antenna can snap. But then you will not get a lock at all.
It is normal that GPS units shows speed when still, especially with bad coverage, you have to compare with a known reference GPS to say if the TS is bad/good
There is minimal difference for apps (most only have some smoothing differences)
I believe IpBike is the best running app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi, the funny thing is that the distance keep accumulating.......when I havent even started running.
rayblade said:
hi, the funny thing is that the distance keep accumulating.......when I havent even started running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is normal, if you have started timing.
Due to accurracy, the GPS position is not exactly the same everytime, it is like throwing darts.
The GPS can be good.

Smartphone with the best GPS

Hello, hello to everyone, I hope not to have the wrong section, try an Android smartphone to use it primarily as a GPS navigator.
What is the smartphone with GPS more accurate and fast ? Which model do you recommend ?
It is important that the smartphone little warm also used so intense, I need a battery with a good battery life. Smartphone must be robust and durable, while the GPS navigation device will remain on for several hours.
My budget is around 350,430 Euro.

Moto 360 sport information required

Hello.
I was looking to buy a Moto 360 SPORT as it was on sale on amazon.
I just wanted someone using it to tell me if it's worth it.
What features can i use offline and without a phone?
What essential features require me to be connected to the internet or a phone?
How's the battery life?
Is the GPS, heart rate, sport trackings all right?
I've read reviews saying the battery is poor. Any word?
Need help ASAP.
Thanks a ton.
Ashwin
The GPS is SLOW, but works. You need a phone to set it up, and install apps and watch faces without ADB (not 2.0). Battery lasted most of the day for me. If you forget your phone, you can connect to a Wi-Fi connection to go online and even text.
Pix12 said:
The GPS is SLOW, but works. You need a phone to set it up, and install apps and watch faces without ADB (not 2.0). Battery lasted most of the day for me. If you forget your phone, you can connect to a Wi-Fi connection to go online and even text.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How's texting done? Only voice? Or is there a swiping keyboard? Is android wear 2.0 assured?
Thanks.
Android wear 2.0 is not assured. Swiping keyboard is not available. Battery is not great if you keep it connected to phone. Approximately 12 hrs on mixed usage with ambient display on. GPS and heart rate work superb.

GPS quality bad? Have spikes when tracking ...

Hello alltogether,
for the last 5 years I've used a LG G4 a lot for gps-tracking when hiking. Rather seldomly I had spikes in elevation and distance measurement, even in situations with bad signal quality (e.g. in canyons) or no signal at all.
Now with Moto G8 Power GPS-quality is really bad - there are often spikes in elevation and distance when tracking the hike (navigation itself works good - it's only in the recorded track).
I've tried disabling akku optimization for my navigation app, used a cover without a magnetic clip, have exactly the same tracking settings with the same application (Osmand) - no effect. The gpx recording stays bad.
Does anybody know whether there is a possibility to "tune" the G8 Power, or is it simply the bad gps of a relatively cheap device?
Greets and thx in advance!
For accurate gpx files, I use the Qstars BT-Q818XT over bluetooth. It updates 5 or 10 times a second (latter is good for driving) and it is far more accurate than a phone for elevation. It is accurate w/in a few feet where any phone I've had was inconsistent. As a bonus for hiking, it uses a its own battery. I connect it via an app that wires it up over bluetooth using the developer mode and the mock location option. It is something to consider if you want accuracy.

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