Galaxy S20 GPS Lock Issue Joins Growing List Of Problems

Samsung's early 2020 flagship is shaping up to be quite a controversial handset and not because it's easily scratchable or breakable. While the phone's durability isn't in question, its internal reliability is. From day one, people have been reporting a growing number of issues with the phone, ranging from wireless charging to its much-boasted cameras. The latest to join those complaints is the Galaxy S20's GPS which is reportedly having difficulty locking into a user's location.

This day and age, location data is important and not just for advertisers. Although several cities and countries are on lockdown, knowing your current location in Google Maps, Waze, and even social media can be critical in navigating through these difficult times. Unfortunately, it seems that the Galaxy S20 won't be your trustworthy partner in this case based on a growing number of user complaints.

Several owners of Galaxy S20 phones are reporting on Reddit, Twitter, and the Samsung forums that their devices are unable to get a hold of their location until after a few minutes. Even then, the location jumps around, making its data unreliable. One user reports that Samsung claimed the issue was limited just to the Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G model but others are experiencing the same problems on the Galaxy S20+. One common factor, XDA observes, is that all these are happening on the Snapdragon variants of the phone.

This new issue is just the latest of what seems to be a slowly expanding list of complaints about the Galaxy S20 phones. It started with autofocus problems, especially with the spanking new 108MP sensor on the Galaxy S20 Ultra but also recently included speed and overheating problems with wireless charging. The GPS issue isn't mentioned in the leaked information about the next firmware update.

Given the high price that the Galaxy S20 asks of consumers, these pain points, which are in no way minor, make the phone less convincing as a flagship product. While these can be fixed with software updates which, to Samsung's credit, are being rolled out quickly, it still doesn't inspire confidence that the company put its best foot forward right from the start.