Recomendations for dual SIM phone with good GPS

[Simon]

I have finally decided to return my awful Motorola G6 as it is awful in various ways but the latest show stopper is the GPS being very inaccurate and slow to the point that it is not even that good for driving and when walking nothing can even tell me what direction I am walking in.

So I am on the hunt for a new phone. Preferably dual SIM although I am thinking of giving one up. What i do want is good GPS as I use my phone as a SAT NAV and when walking unknown towns it is very handy.

Suggestions? I'll splash £500 on something really good.

[ataradov]

This is very strange. May be you have unrealistic expectations? I have two phones at the moment Samsung Galaxy S4 (work) and LG Nexus 6P (personal). Both have perfectly usable GPS for driving and walking.

But in my experience all phones struggle with direction when walking. They don't derive it from GPS at low speeds, but from a compass, which is not great.

The advice would be any modern phone, but Motorola G6 is already one of those, so I don't know.

[cdev]

Check to see if your phone is sold in the US, if it is, check the FCC database where you may be able to find a package of documents giving all sorts of info on it. Its entirely possible that some kind of intervention may become obvious at that point, for example, there may be external antenna connections buried somewhere on the unit, or maybe you are unknowingly using it in the wrong orientation.

Anyway, its worth trying. keep in mind that most GPS antennas only have one 'up' direction and they need to be facing that way up to be accurate. the only exception I know of to this are the small quadrifilar helix type antennas made popular by Sarantel. They can be used facing any direction. So a GPS with a patch antenna if used sideways is going to be wildly inaccurate nomatter what.

There may be other manufacturers who make QFH GPS antennas at this point. Internally, they may sort of resemble a barber pole.

[tautech]

Simon, check out some of the offerings from Vivo. They can run 2 nano SIMs + 1 microSD up to 256 Gb. 
http://global.vivo.com/en/products

[Simon]

My expectations are not excessive. Even the person i spoke to to organise the return confirmed she had one with the same issue. I have had it since May and they just organised the return with no fuss. Basically Motorola won't issue a recall on the dodgy thing and just take them back when they get complaints. When you are over 50m off your path of expected travel and after 2 unexpected turns the satnav app has just realised you are somewhere totally different there is a problem. As the person on the phone confirmed the updating is too slow but I also found it inaccurate. I was sitting on a bus by the window and google maps kept moving my location by several hundred metres because the GPS could not figure it out. So no it's not me it's motorola.

[ataradov]

Then it may be just a problem with that specific model.

The normal expectation from a modern phone that GPS works as expected. So I guess any other phone will work for you.

[Simon]

Yes it is indeed an issue with that particular model. The one I had previously (G4) was fine. Yes in principle any phone will do but I took that approach with Motorola which is why i now ask for advice based on real usage, It has other issues but this is the one that put me over the edge.

[Simon]

Simon, check out some of the offerings from Vivo. They can run 2 nano SIMs + 1 microSD up to 256 Gb. 
http://global.vivo.com/en/products

Have you used one? looking at the V11 I see that the OS is "derived" from Android so does it run all Android apps? looks good, the PR department need to learn the definitions of "memory" and "storage"

[cdev]

Could you save a GPX file and use it to make a bitmap image that shows what it thought your position was and what your position actually was?

Please, for your privacy, remove any information that shows where it actually is, just make a graphic that shows the trace and the path you actually were on. If the error is really atypical, it almost has to be the antenna.

Here is what I would look for. Inside the phone maybe there is an internal antenna connector, like a u.fl, very very small, thats falling off or maybe the coax is crushed underneath some other part and non-functional and needs replacement? Check the GPS antenna/ signal path.

[Simon]

Could you save a GPX file and use it to make a bitmap image that shows what it thought your position was and what your position actually was?

Also, inside the phone maybe there is an internal antenna connector, like a u.fl, very very small, thats falling off or maybe the coax is crushed underneath some other part and non-functional and needs replacement?

I don't care it is going back in the next 30 days. I can't get into the thing so aux antenna's are out and so is the phone.

[tautech]

Simon, check out some of the offerings from Vivo. They can run 2 nano SIMs + 1 microSD up to 256 Gb. 
http://global.vivo.com/en/products

Have you used one? looking at the V11 I see that the OS is "derived" from Android so does it run all Android apps? looks good, the PR department need to learn the definitions of "memory" and "storage"

Getting a SH V7 soon I hope.
Looking at the spec for these they list 32 Gb as internal memory and expandable to 256.
You have to hunt through the specs to see all that.

I'm not keen on a whopping big phone like many of the more modern ones so the V7 seems to fits the bill nicely for me. I see no reason why it won't run any Android offering.

[Simon]

Well it seems rather non European I wonder if they even work over here?

[Monkeh]

Well it seems rather non European I wonder if they even work over here?

No, nobody ever thought of making portable telephones work in other countries.

[tautech]

Well it seems rather non European I wonder if they even work over here?

Pick your one:
GSM850/900/1800/1900MHz
WCDMA 850/900/2100MHz
FDD-LTE 700/850/900/1800/2100/2600MHz
TDD-LTE1900/2300/2535-2655/2570-2620MHz

[Simon]

Well it seems rather non European I wonder if they even work over here?

No, nobody ever thought of making portable telephones work in other countries.

You may be surprised to know that different regions use different frequencies and GPS systems..... although most stuff is universal that particular company does not inspire me yet.

[Simon]

I have come across this: https://www.stklife.com/collections/x2-bundles-limited-time-offer/products/x2-with-case-and-tempered-glass but i have to wonder how much marketing versus engineering, I get a bin skeptical when my sense of patriotism is appealed to, obviously not assembled in the UK

[SeanB]

Try one of the Samsung Duos phones, nice units, dual SIM and usable world wide  and which are quite usable. Get a case and screen protector for it right off, I use a full sleeve and that has saved the phone from drops. Buy a large mini SD card as well for it, if you need the capacity. Simple UI, reasonably good GPS, it told me I was in the middle of a dam, which was right, seeing as I was right there triangulating from local landmarks, and gave correct altitude as well, even though it took 20 minutes to boot the GPS from being off for months, as I rarely use the GPS or wireless sides, seeing as data here is expensive, and "free Wifi" is non existent as well, or horridly shaped and has nasty MITM certificates. Wireless on at home, and then I do not need GPS to tell me location.

[Monkeh]

Well it seems rather non European I wonder if they even work over here?

No, nobody ever thought of making portable telephones work in other countries.

You may be surprised to know that different regions use different frequencies and GPS systems..... although most stuff is universal that particular company does not inspire me yet.

I'm not in the least surprised, funnily enough, I have a little experience in the matter.. And uh, no, GPS is GPS everywhere you go.

[cdev]

Sometimes they hide an external antenna jack on the outside, under some rubber thing you might not think was movable. Probably not on the ultra-modern looking ones but sometimes they do. Quite a few of my phones have had one somewhere.

Could you save a GPX file and use it to make a bitmap image that shows what it thought your position was and what your position actually was?

Also, inside the phone maybe there is an internal antenna connector, like a u.fl, very very small, thats falling off or maybe the coax is crushed underneath some other part and non-functional and needs replacement?

I don't care it is going back in the next 30 days. I can't get into the thing so aux antenna's are out and so is the phone.

[Simon]

Sometimes they hide an external antenna jack on the outside, under some rubber thing you might not think was movable. Probably not on the ultra-modern looking ones but sometimes they do. Quite a few of my phones have had one somewhere.

Could you save a GPX file and use it to make a bitmap image that shows what it thought your position was and what your position actually was?

Also, inside the phone maybe there is an internal antenna connector, like a u.fl, very very small, thats falling off or maybe the coax is crushed underneath some other part and non-functional and needs replacement?

I don't care it is going back in the next 30 days. I can't get into the thing so aux antenna's are out and so is the phone.

There is nothing

[JPortici]

I like my samsung J5 a lot. Only app where i may use GPS without data is viewranger and it takes around a dozen of seconds to lock to a satellite. Precision is as good as a phone can be

[Simon]

Well i bought the supa dupa UK designed one.

[tautech]

Well i bought the supa dupa UK designed one.

Cool.
Please report your experiences when you've bashed it around some. 

[Simon]

will do

[Halcyon]

Pretty much all of the big brand smart phones have more than adequate GPS functionality. I even get a GPS fix indoors in a room with no windows and metal roof on my Samsung Galaxy S8. The sensitivity is pretty amazing.

Samsung (and others) make dual-SIM versions of many of their models (Samsung dual SIM models have a 'D' at the end of their model number). The Samsung G950FD (Galaxy S8 Dual-SIM) is currently selling for AUD$699.