First AT&T Samsung Captivate owners report problems with GPS
Posted on 19. Jul, 2010 by aandrew in Cellphone News, News
When we first talked about the Samsung Captivate release date at AT&T we were quite excited to see the feedback coming from AT&T’s customers regarding this Android smartphone. Now, just two days after the official release date, the first user comments and complaints started dropping in. If you plan on buying a Samsung Captivate from AT&T anytime soon, you might want to know that multiple users have reported some problems with the GPS signal on the Captivate.
First AT&T Samsung Captivate owners report problems with GPS
While some users got the Samsung Captivate before the official release date by simply walking into an AT&T store, a simple analysis shows that the Captivate is not actually a “get-on-release” date (like the Verizon Motorola Droid X for example), but if the GPS problem is not fixed (and soon), the Captivate might not be the success a lot of people were expecting.
On the other hand, the Captivate still is a great Android smartphone with a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, a simply gorgeous Super Amoled Screen and a 5 MP camera that gets the job done although with no flash (that’s a downside when taking pictures in low-lighting environments).
Overall, I wouldn’t say that the GPS is a major problem, especially since most owners reported problems when using the GPS indoors, and it’s not every Samsung Captivate user that has this problem. But I would say that this (minor) problem might turn out to be very important in the greater picture of Captivate sales, as the smartphone definitely needed to make a good first impression on US soil to compete against HTC’s rampage and Apple’s iPhone 4 ( Verizon and T-Mobile should get the Captivate in the next couple months or so, but no release date has been specified yet).
But then again, these are just simple speculations. What matters is that the Samsung Captivate is now available at AT&T (price is $199 with a 2-year contract), but you should make an inquiry about the GPS performance if and when you buy this phone.
Related posts:
- AT&T Samsung Captivate Update to Fix GPS Problems. Is It Working?
- Samsung Captivate Android 2.2 (Froyo) Update Finally Rolling Out
- AT&T Samsung Captivate Release Date: July 18. Price: $200
- Rogers Samsung Galaxy S Captivate dropping Next Week
- Android 2.2 (Froyo) for Samsung Captivate leaked online
42 Responses to “First AT&T Samsung Captivate owners report problems with GPS”
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Awais
19. Jul, 2010
I got my Captivate yesterday and so far i’m pretty happy with the performance … i have not seen any GPS related issue so far .. but i will re check ..My only big concern is the placement of USB port. It should have been at the bottom, plus, its micro usb on the phone side so need to be careful in order to make sure that you’re not damaging the port .. overall very good phone .. Love it ..
John
19. Jul, 2010
iPhone guy…
The Samsung series is Galaxy S no Captivate, this is the name for the AT&T´s Galaxy.
The Vibrant is the name for T-Mobile and it is already available from July 15th.
The Galaxy Fascinate is for Verizon and the Epic 4G (a real 4G phone) is for Sprint.
Ron
19. Jul, 2010
“Especially since most owners reported problems when using the GPS indoors” Neither my Tom Tom nor my Wife’s Garmin picks up a signal indoors. Step outside five to ten feet and we get an incredibly strong and reasonably quick signal. If people need to use a GPS in their home, then their house is way too big. Hopefully that is the only problem though, especially with all the hype. My captivate will be here tomorrow.
cj
19. Jul, 2010
got my captivate on the 15th, used it all weekend while up at the lake and the gps did not work at all, the closest it could come to finding me was about 4 miles away
great phone though, bad gps…
rekta
19. Jul, 2010
Good article. I wish that this issue will be raised by the media because Samsung is not even doing anything about it. There was a recent firmware release but it was not an official release. Also, it is not certain if the GPS/Compass was fixed with this latest unofficial firmware.
FYI, the GPS problem started with the first Galaxy S/Pro versions from Korea. Experienced users believe that the GPS chip itself can only lock up to 3-4 satellites even if detects more than 8. Ideal is about 8-10 to get 6-10 meters accuracy. The Samsung Vibrant (T-Mobile version) also has the same problem. They expect that the Verizon and Sprint version will have the same too.
There are temporary fixes out there but it depends in other sources like Wifi and/or Cellular (this also fixes indoor problem). The GPS chip should be enough to get an accurate position. What if you’re in a remote area without cellular or wifi like the Golf Course, mountains, off-shore boat? Screwed right? Other smartphones’ GPS chips are still good without the help of wifi and/or cellular.
If you think that the GPS is bad, wait till they try the compass. It is worse!
There are also reports of a death-grip (iphone 4) like issues with the Galaxy S.
This is a sad day for me because I just returned my Captivate. GPS is very important for me. If you try Yelp or any other GPS dependent apps (Golf apps) which involves walking, good luck to you. You will not be there and it could lead you to an accident. The GPS is only accurate when you’re driving fast, like more than 50mph.
I’ve had high hopes for this phone. I guess I have to wait for a more decent HTC phone, beside the Aria, to be on AT&T. I can also hope for a decent fix from Samsung which has a very bad track record regarding firmware updates.
I hope Samsung could read this as this is not a good start for them here in the US.
Jim
19. Jul, 2010
Yup, I have this problem and the phone is very buggy. Had to remove the battery three times already to hard reset.
GPS Issues? - Android Forums
20. Jul, 2010
[...] GPS Issues? I read a report on cnet that early users are reporting a problem with the GPS reception. Anyone seeing this? First AT&T Samsung Captivate owners report problems with GPS|Free PC Guides [...]
Killface
20. Jul, 2010
A lot of people are angry with at&t. They said the Captivate was going to sell for $349.00 without a contract to get people in and then changed it to $499.00, BAD MOVE AT&T! I’ll wait for the Dell or get the google phone for that price
LinuxNewb
20. Jul, 2010
I got my Captivate on the 18th and I really haven’t had a problem with the GPS. Navigator works pretty good for a Beta and I get 3G for most of where I travel. It hasn’t locked up on me at all.
Where are most people making these complaints? The only thing I don’t like is that the LED buttons (home, search, etc..) are not sensitive and you have to hit to the side of the button.
Henry
21. Jul, 2010
What GPS problem.? All reports I’ver read say Captivate GPS works normally. Step outside guys, good view of the sky, and give it time to find some satellites.
rob
21. Jul, 2010
I just got my captivate today and the GPS simply doesnt work, indoors, outdoors, on google maps, on Att Navigator, no way no how. ATT technical support has passed me around like a hot potato — either they are all retarded, or they simply don’t know how to deal with this issue. I am returning this crap tomorrow and switching to Verizon — maybe i’ll get the droid X. I am so disappointed.
Ric
26. Jul, 2010
My gps didn”t work at all at first. I downloaded GPS Test from the market and left my phone outside for quite some time. Eventually after about 15 mins it got a fix. I then left it out some more. I’m guessing the phone needs to download the GPS almanac data, which takes it at least 12minutes, once it has found its first fix.
I can now get an indoor fix in under 10s.
George
21. Jul, 2010
I have no experience with gps on other phones. However, it takes between about 90 seconds for the gps to lock on outside. Then the lock is not steady. It will fluctuate between 15 and 50 feet. My Garmin locks much faster.
Chris
21. Jul, 2010
I have had the GPS problems over the past 2 days. Inside there’s no GPS signal (my iPhone 3G got GPS just fine from my desk in the office) – which is nice for things like FourSquare. I did use RunKeeper tonight and it was in a yellow state under trees (where, again, the iPhone did not have the problem.) Not asking for it to be identical to the performance of the iPhone, but would like a better GPS experience. Overall, after 2 days, I can say that this is definately a great phone. Just the GPS issues are the only ones I’ve seen.
ApolloGenX
22. Jul, 2010
There’s a fix out on the net. Just Google it. There’s a set up you can change that fixes it, no download required.
Rachel
24. Jul, 2010
I just got the captivate. The gps doesn’t work on mine. Using google maps on my eternity worked perfectly. So far I don’t like this phone at all. The pricing issue is pretty lame also. I was told the price without a contract was $375, $499 and $565…lol Not one person gave me the same price. I’m returning it and going to try the Aria.
Dave
24. Jul, 2010
If your gps isn’t working at all try turning it on in settings. GPS works fine on the Captivate. Sweey phone done let all of these peeps full you,
Darrion
24. Jul, 2010
I have the captivate. The phone is great. But my gps never works.no matter what I do. I’ve already done so much customizing and downloading. Hate that I have to return it. Hopefully the next captivate they give me has working gps. I’m actually writing this from my captivate using swype
Kojiro
28. Jul, 2010
Go exchange it. They will do it, no hassle, once they see it isn’t working. Now I have a working GPS, and I love this phone.
Murcii
26. Jul, 2010
I got the Captivate minutes after it was released on the 18th. I wanted the phone for its free turn-by-turn navigation because I travel often. I bought the phone, went outside the store, and the first thing I tried was the Google Maps —> Navigate feature to take me home. Guess what? It worked perfectly! I have no idea why people are complaining about GPS issues; however, I have not been out of 3G coverage yet, and maybe that makes a difference. My only gripes so far have been that twice the browser just sticks as a white page and I had to pull the battery to fix it, and the other is that the 4 home keys do not stay lit long enough. Still happily using the phone 8+ days straight now.
s919rider
26. Jul, 2010
I got the AT&T Galaxy S (Captivate?) on Friday. I have tried the GPS all weekend, to no avail. It is HORRIBLE. Tried multiple settings, every way imaginable. I have a very long commute and travel to various new job sites, and was really looking forward to the maps, navigation feature of the Android OS, FAIL.
Today’s commute was a real test of the Galaxy S gps system. It regularly lost gps signal and quite frankly, just didn’t work. This is a SERIOUS problem. If you do not use the gps function of your smartphone, then you will have no complaints. Other than the GPS, I have not complaints about the phone, other than the screen has a slight blue tint to it all the time, probably something to do the Super Amoled, that will allow me to view it in direct sunlight (which it does very well btw). I will not be keeping this phone, strictly because of the terrible gps issue.
I currently have an iphone 3Gs and an HTC Aria, I swap the SIM based on my mood. I use the Aria all the time and the iphone is my morning alarm clock only. I have the HTC Desire on order at Amazon. The HTC Aria gps works flawlessly and I am ooking forward to the Desire.
Beowulf
27. Jul, 2010
Nonsense. No signal indoors is normal. The problem with the Samsung Galaxy S is that it has a relatively fast fix (TTFF) but then doesn’t seem to be able to “hold on” to satellites and keeps jumping around and picking others, even those with a lower SNR.
You will not notice this much while driving (as the software corrects it according to your path) except in certain sharp turns or less obvious spots, but you WILL notice it on complex navigation and if you use it while walking (for instance geocaching) you will see that it is extremely imprecise.
Samsung is laughing at Apple but should be worried with its own issues. The SGS has a useless GPS and it might not be just a matter of tweaking firmware… perhaps it is fault hardware.
Shame, shame, shame… just google “samsung captivate gps problems” and you’ll see the huge amount of users reporting problems.
As for getting fixes indoors, that is a totally useless test.
Kojiro
28. Jul, 2010
I had this problem, it was a defective phone. It would never acquire satellites while I held onto it. If I had it in a cradle in my window, it would work. A friend bought the same phone and it would acquire in <4 seconds. So I took mine back and exchanged it. Once they tried it out and then compared to a new one, they swapped it for me, no hassle. Was very impressed with AT&T.
Samsung Captivate vs. Motorola Droid X - All My Little Words
31. Jul, 2010
[...] GPS may have problems. While a fix is rumored to have been created by Samsung, nothing has been officially announced. [...]
Steve
03. Aug, 2010
If you think* your GPS works on your Captivate and every one else is just stupid (i.e. expecting it indoors, etc.); then you are mistaken. Things that assist GPS work (triangulation by cell tower and wifi) on the Captivate but the pure GPS doesn’t work properly, if at all. The fixes available out there only adjust the assisting items, but do not fix the actual GPS issue.
Samsung has announced a patch, but where is it? It may be that the hardware has an unsolvable flaw. They might not know what to do.
Please understand what GPS really is before cluttering the net with your comments.
*It’s fairly likely your GPS doesn’t work either and you are just seeing the assist stuff.
Baba
05. Aug, 2010
Does anyone know how to uninstall or permanently disable ATT navigator on Captivate. It randomly turns on and uses data in the background. Even email turns on by itself and starts using data even if the backgrounding is turned off. I love the phone but this random data usage is very annoying. I also installed task killer (ATK) and APNdroid and its a hit or a miss.
I am thinking of rooting this OS and using my apps. ATT apps are completely useless .. may be except one or two. I wish the Froyo allows us to remove the bloatware.
Melanie
09. Aug, 2010
the only problem i have with my captivate is the battery life and the usb. The battery life doesn’t last very long. And every time i try to charge it the thing to charge it slips off if i move it! It ticks me off, and i woke up this morning to find the charger thing to charge it slipped off and didn’t charge it at all leaving it on low battery STILL! and thats the 2nd time! i wish they didnt put the charger thing on top of the phone, and battery life was longer. it seems to only last less then a day,sadly.
Joel
12. Aug, 2010
Melanie…I had the same problem with the USB cable slipping off and discovered (via an online post) that I was not completely opening the little “hatch” that covers the USB port on the top of the phone. Just make sure you fully open the door (you’ll feel a little click) and the charging cable will stay in place just fine!
elizabeth
08. Sep, 2010
thanks i was having the same issue!!!
mindy
10. Aug, 2010
My main problem is that I can’t connect to any wi-fi networks. I’ve tried several, and it just doesn’t work. Had no wi-fi issues with the Aria (exchanged for Captivate — mistake??).
Mike
11. Aug, 2010
Here’s my take – the bug is “If you have wireless enabled, it messes with the GPS” -case in point – I sit at home next to my PC and router – if I have wireless on with the Captivate – the GPS maps show me as 2 streets over – if I disable wireless – then the GPS maps show me right where I am, including showing me as moving around in my front yard if I zoom in with Google maps. Samsung/Google/ATT/whoever can probably fix this pretty quick!
Mike in Southeast Louisiana
Van
12. Aug, 2010
I had to return my Captivate yesterday. It was a shame too because I really like this phone. The phone had alot of great features and abilities. The ONLY reason I returned it was because of the GPS issue. I tried the 4 recommended GPS settings to fix it and it did improve a little but no where close to where it needed and should be. When they resolve this issue, I will buy the phone again but till then, I will have to wait for something else. The GPS is to vital for me to have to settle for the next 2 years on a contract.
Angel
24. Aug, 2010
i live in nc and i went to myrtle beach sc i had the captivate 3 weeks everything on the phone worked perfect until i turned on gps and that was the main reason of getting the phone. i kept it on while at the beach it never got a gps signal or when it did it would say i was 15 miles away from where i was supposed to go. very bad gps. and it kept dropping the signal bar the whole time i was down there. they need to fix the gps i took my captivate back im waiting on something better to come out.
elizabeth
08. Sep, 2010
does anyone else get practically no internet connection with this phone?
raj
24. Sep, 2010
I had used a blackberry for years and decided to switch to something that is less business and a little more “fun”. I decided to try the Captivate and found it to be a beautiful phone with a great screen. However, the battery life is extremely short – the charge does not seem to even last a few hours. I returned my first captivate after 3 days of frustration and the store seemed to think that there was a problem with this particular phone and gave me a new captivate. The second one holds charge somewhat better but still does not last more than about 5 hours. I am frustrated and am planning to get the iphone instead. Any one else having battery issues?
CARMEN
07. Oct, 2010
The iphone dosent last any longer!!! another ridicouls magical responce for i phones! they will cook you dinner!!!
And go to work for you and the battery lasts for three months on a single charge its just crazy.l Iphone sucks compared to android and its a fact. Just ask all the people who bought them since it was launched(most of them i phones users before)
Bobbie
11. Oct, 2010
I have the same problem and it’s very frustrating. The store changed the battery, thinking it was defective but the life of this one is no better.
dan
27. Sep, 2010
In the same way that people should have stopped posting ‘the config fix’ that didn’t fix GPS, they need to stop saying that this update fixes GPS, when for the vast number of folks I see complaining online- it may make it better, but it sure isn’t a fix.
e.g.: GPS not really fixed with the update, not for me anyway.
Turn on Google Maps with clear view of 6+ sats and watch myself bounce around on the map. And I’m not moving.
AFAIK- I do not live in the middle of the Hudson River. This phone thinks I do. Fail.
Red
02. Oct, 2010
Forums have dug up the fact that the phone ships with a disconnected server name in the ASISSTED GPS configuration, and that changing this to Google’s supplemental server will make the GPS work better in ASSISTED mode. That’s great as long as you have internet connectivity.
But if you are out of internet range, and need to use the STANDALONE GPS MODE, the GPS is blind. It sees only a weak GPS signal when in fact there is good GPS coverage.
This appears to be a defect in the GPS hardware, very much like Apple’s bad antenna design on the iPhone4.
Don’t let AT&T fancydance their way out of this, this appears to be a real hardware defect on all the Galaxy S phones.
Joe
04. Oct, 2010
The late September AT&T I897UCJH7 update for my Samsung Galaxy S Captivate did not fix my phone’s GPS problem. The lack of accuracy, and the inability to determine its location, makes the phone’s navigation and mapping functions almost useless.
I was able to compare satellite reception, locking, and position tracking with a side-by-side test between my Captivate and an HTC Nexus One. The Nexus was able to consistently hold location while driving around town, with an accuracy down to 6 feet. The Captivate would freeze while I was in motion and wonder off when I was stopped. Often it would jump to several blocks away, in a different direction, with computed accuracy of only 64, 32, and in rare instances, 16 feet.
My recommendation to every prospective buyer is do not purchase the Samsung Captivate or any of its other carrier siblings, unless a real fix is made.
Bobbie
11. Oct, 2010
Got my Captivate about a month ago and love it with one exception…..no battery life!!!! Just sitting on my desk while I’m at work will drain the battery! I’m finding that I have to recharge about every 18 hours on my best day! It’s really frustrating……..don’t dare go anywhere for any amount of time without a charger!
Ryan
14. Nov, 2010
if you are having trouble with battery life you likely have way too many applications running in the background. get the app “advanced task killer free” you can set this up to kill all unnecessary app’s that run in the background. for example at startup almost half of the applications loaded onto your phone will run. if you let these applications continue to run throughout the day they will drain your battery. see if that helps your battery life.