• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Nexus S and Satellite Navigation / Google Navigation

I'm interested to know everyone's experiences of navigation on the Nexus S.

My experiences are that Google Navigation on the Nexus ONE was faultless. On the Nexus S though I have the following issues:

Weak GPS lock. Either loses satellites completely or not accurate enough at busy junctions where the device may put me on the wrong road, exit etc.

Secondly, the Navigation app freezes completely regularly enough to be a pain.

Third, the GPS fix seems to be impaired when the phone is in a cradle (powered).

This is a real deal breaker for me as I do travel for work and don't want to revert to Tomtom.

So, is this the general experience? Or is my device faulty?

Thanks in advance.
 
I'm interested to know everyone's experiences of navigation on the Nexus S.

My experiences are that Google Navigation on the Nexus ONE was faultless. On the Nexus S though I have the following issues:

Weak GPS lock. Either loses satellites completely or not accurate enough at busy junctions where the device may put me on the wrong road, exit etc.

Secondly, the Navigation app freezes completely regularly enough to be a pain.

Third, the GPS fix seems to be impaired when the phone is in a cradle (powered).

This is a real deal breaker for me as I do travel for work and don't want to revert to Tomtom.

So, is this the general experience? Or is my device faulty?

Thanks in advance.

Haven't had problems with mine, but I don't use it enough to notice all the faults you have listed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MartinS
Upvote 0
Ya, i've had some of the same problems with my Nexus S. Sometimes it takes forever for it to start navigating. Other times it will completely loose the GPS signal while navigating. This is my second Nexus S and i have noticed the same problem with both devices. I never had a problem with my Nexus one. Definitely a downgrade in the GPS Quality in my opinion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MartinS
Upvote 0
Thanks for your answers. I had a terrible day with the Nexus S today. It barely got a lock all the way from Newcastle to Banbury in Oxfordshire (200 miles).

I'm going to manually update to 2.3.3 and see if there is a difference, then I may have to send the phone off for repair through CPW. If no resolve then it's definitely eBay time. This is such an important feature for me as I visit customers all over the UK 3-4 days per week. I will have also wasted
 
Upvote 0
I figure this out the other day. The problem is actually a weak GPS signal (caused by inferior GPS chip?).

Discovered it by chance as it always works well in my car and does not have any of the problems you've described. But the other day I was in my dad's car (Honda CRV) and it did not get a lock at all. Understanding this, we stopped the car and stepped out and within 4 seconds, I was able to get a lock.

I am not sure what this means, maybe some google engineer can figure it out
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones