N95 and external GPS

One of the great features of N95 is it's integrated GPS receiver. Unfortunately, the performance of the internal GPS receiver is not even close to the performance of some of the best GPS receivers. The GPS chipset inside N95 is a low power version. It's obvious that low power consumption is preferred in a mobile phone. Otherwise the battery would be empty in no time. The GPS chipset inside N95 is in no way a bad one.

If you want better GPS performance, you can always use an external GPS receiver. To configure your N95 to use an external GPS receiver go to: Tools -> Settings -> General -> Positioning -> Positioning methods -> Options and make sure you enable the "Bluetooth GPS" (see the screenshot below).


GlobalSat BT-338 is a small Bluetooth GPS, which uses SirfStar III chipset. SirfStar III is known for it's great performance. Compared to N95 the BT-338 is much more sensitive. After you switch the BT-338 on, it locks to satellites very quickly. This became very clear in testing. In the test, the N95 was set up to use internal GPS. Then the Maps application was started and the time to first fix was measured. This was repeated several times at different locations. Another N95 was set up to use the external BT-338 and the time to first fix was measured simultaneously. In ideal conditions, the fastest time the N95 acquired a lock was just under one minute - not so bad! However, in the worst case when the N95 was inside a moving car, it took N95 almost 12 minutes to acquire satellite lock. That's a long time! On average the BT-338 acquired a lock in just under 30 seconds in close to ideal conditions. Even in less than ideal conditions inside a moving car the longest time recorded was 63 seconds. A big difference compared to 12 minutes of N95. The excellent sensitivity of the BT-338 also helps in maintaining solid performance under difficult conditions (tall buildings, lot's of trees and so on).

Knowing that the GPS chipset inside N95 is designed for low power consumption, it's no surprise that the BT-338 is a clear winner of this comparison. I could imagine using an external Bluetooth GPS receiver while driving a car but taking it with you at all times is not as convenient. The great thing about N95 is that if you have your phone with you, you also have your GPS receiver available. In my own use, the internal GPS of N95 has already proven itself useful. If you need better performance, you can always use an external Bluetooth GPS.