topic Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500 in Other/General

GPS-long fix times and accuracy issues.

pradeeprk4 — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 13:52:15 GMT

I have noticed that the GPS in xperia u to be very slow. fix times are too long and position is less accurate. I tried to compare it with my bro 's LG optimus One(p500). We both stood at the same position and started our GPS and then Google maps app. To begin with it xperia u showed an accuracy of 2900 m where as optimus One showed a better (not much but stil.. ) 2500 m. And within 30 seconds his accuracy came to 7 m and my xperia u is still struggling with 2500 m. It Took around 4 minutes to show an accuracy of 50 m.

How come xperia's GPS be so dumb against a cheap phone.

Is this only me or is it the same case with every xperia u.

How can Sony make these terrible GPSs ? Optimus One is inferior in all the specs but is much better travel companion came very handy in our last trip.

Message title was edited by: pradeeprk4

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

anandtapas — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 14:14:49 GMT

One of the reasons I bought xperia u is for using google maps along with GPS. I have not used it extensively but some of my observations are :

1) Since it is aGPS initially the location is decided by using signal strength from cell towers. So in xperia u or any phone its is dependent on how many cell towers are in vicinity and whether the service provider has correctly programmed the tower latitude longitude or not.

I found in xperia u this feature of location(without GPS) inferior to my Sony Ericsson Naite ! But I am still comparing it. So initial location of within 2.5 km or so is ok. But it should locate you on the street if you are moving in car or bus:smileyinfo:, So this is about when either GPS was not on OR just as you start google Maps with GPS on !

2) When I start GMaps with GPS on, it is taking about a minute if i am moving in car or bus. So that satellite signal is good. In stationary condition inside house it takes 3 minutes. But as we know it all depends on sat signals. However XU's GPS location appears to be slow !

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

pradeeprk4 — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 15:08:29 GMT

Even when moving in car my gps seems to be slower. I'm sure that fixing time nowhere near One minute. Even when I'm in completely open area or moving in car it's taking 3-4 minutes of time to fix GPS.

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

anandtapas — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 15:14:11 GMT

Thats not good ! Maybe Sony experts should comment on this

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

pradeeprk4 — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 15:39:45 GMT

is your gps fast?

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

anandtapas — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 15:43:33 GMT

it is ok in some situations. like i got fix (accuracy improved from 2.5 km to 8 metres within 30 seconds while moving in bus yesterday.

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

pradeeprk4 — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 05:48:09 GMT

I don't understant, no body from support replied on thread but it is marked as answered..

How can it be??

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

Kumar_GS — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 06:12:14 GMT

Sorry guys!

For me, the GPS works fine. I'm in india. Xperia U took 14 seconds to find my location with a 6M accuracy but iPhone 4S took 20 seconds.

I think the time taken may be depends upon the Data connection speed.

I checked Xperia U while i travelled in a car at a speed around 60 KMPH. It followed my location by 8 seconds lag. But i ckecked this with a 2G GPRS Connection.

While at 3G coverage area it worked with a 5 Second lag.

My reply may be inappropriate...

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

pradeeprk4 — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:02:16 GMT

contacted xperia u support via phone.

they know nothing.. I guess they never used or even know GPS.

after each of my sentence he puts the call on hold "to check the info"..

first guy disconnected the call after 20 min, and I called again.

He told me a mindblowing thing... GPS takes 15 to 40 mins of time to show the location....LOL:smileyshocked:

he is not convinced that it's wrong even after another 15 mins of discussion.

And when I ask him about accuracy he answers thet it doesn't show exact position.. I know that but no gps shows an accuracy of 2km right?

and even for simple questions he says he doesn't have the info..

I couldn't do anything but getting angry and frustated.

Where does get all these dumb guys for tech support?

I had a lot of respect for SONY before buying this phone but I'm really starting to hate it.:smileyangry:

It seems that only option I have is to repair OS, I can only hope that works.

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:34:40 GMT

I have the same exact problem. To me it seems some kind of software problem involving A-GPS. Even if it is just an impression, it seems that not using A-GPS surprsingly gives better results. My phone is a branded one, it has some presonalizations of Italian operator TIM, so maybe it could be some problem related to that.

I am strongly hoping to find a solution, maybe with Andorid 4 things will be better. Unfortunately if I do not find a solution to the issue i will resell my phone, since, as it is, the GPS is completely useless. It is not reasonable to wait 5 minutes before a fix to have any clue about what direction to take.

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

ghencea-RO — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:01:04 GMT

I don't have this problem either. GPS works ok.There is a little delay for friends in Latitude but not much (seconds). Maybe it's about settings, network or the phone itself. And the accuracy is ok too. There are sometimes big errors like other country or even continent but very rarely and not for long. Just take it easy, there are more issues to discover :smileygrin:

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:37:12 GMT

The phone was a branded one. I debranded it. Doing so software updates were availble. After software update the GPS works well.

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:38:00 GMT

If your phone is a branded one and software updates are not availbale because of this, one solution could be to debrand it.

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

pradeeprk4 — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 10:25:22 GMT

@plolopan, thanks for your reply.

my phone is not branded, i updated it with recently releaed build .184, but GPS is still not working.

I tested it once with gps status, and it took about 45 min to fix. So,became worse after update.

I decided to give it to service center, but couldn't make time for it now. May be a week later.

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

Rado77 — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 11:39:46 GMT

I have 6.0.B.1.564 sw version and this GPS-related problem is only one problem I noticed on my phone. It's exactly the same problem - GPS cannot locate it's position - it takes 5 minutes on free land. I have experience with GPS signal from many other phones brands and each mobile phone catched GPS after 1 minute max.

I checked GPS data through GPS TEST application. Phone is finding 5 satellites ok, but that's all. Sometimes it catch only 2 or 3 satellites. But it doesn't show any other GPS data like longitude or speed. It's just looking for satellites.

It's real bug in sw version 6.0.B.1.564 . But it's only one bug, that's why I don't upgrade sw to newer ver

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

pradeeprk4 — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:47:44 GMT

after update fixing times jumped up to 30 mins or more.

I went to service center. At last they took my phone, but no use, they simply repaired software and gave it back.

I showed then it self that gps is not working, but they still asked me to bear for some more days and come back again if it doesn't work, and then they'll replace handset.

i'll go this weekend again.

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

Bardia — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:59:57 GMT

Repair couldn't help you !!! You knew it, I repaired with SUS and i lost all of my phone's Content !!! but if want to do that,back up your Data with another software instead of PCC !!!

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

egyptiano — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:08:06 GMT

im facing the same problem but i managed to fix it in a very annoying way until sony devs fix it

go to the market and download GPSFIX " you would probably want to turn off the internet cuz of the terrible ads" then set the duration from settings to half hour and let the application fix your location once its done close it and open google maps services will fix your location quickly .. hope i helped

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

pradeeprk4 — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:24:26 GMT

As you already said, it's annoying. I already tried that app and it's like any other gps using app. It is not particularly speed in fixing. It doesn't matter what you open, It takes half an hour, then why not open maps it self? atleast you can see approx position using wireless networks. GPS STATUS or GPS TEST is better (if you don't use your mobile until it fixes to GPS) since thay also show signal strength and some other useful stuff.

Hope it helps.

Re: terrible GPS compared to optimus p500

Bardia — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:03:03 GMT

Oscar (GPS Developer) Told in this Thread http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/45751?start=40&tstart=0 :

Hi All,

In the Android 4.0 (ICS) update the GPS performance in Xperia P, Xperia U, Xperia sola and Xperia go have been improved through software changes.

We believe that this will make a huge difference in time to first fix performance for most users.

Please let us know if you still see these problems after updating to Android 4.0.

//Oskar "

So we can hope and wait for ICS ...