How accurate is phone GPS? Location accuracy explained
You tap "find my location" and the map drops a dot — sometimes dead on, sometimes half a block away, sometimes drifting. So how accurate is it really? The honest answer: it depends on your device, where you are standing, and how it worked out your position in the first place.
What "accuracy" actually measures
When a device reports your location it also estimates a radius of uncertainty — a circle it is fairly confident you are inside. A 5-metre accuracy means a small, tight circle; a 2,000-metre accuracy means the dot is really just "somewhere in this neighbourhood." The number matters as much as the dot.
How your device figures out where you are
"GPS" is shorthand for several methods your browser or phone may blend:
- Satellites (true GPS/GNSS): a phone with a clear view of the sky can be accurate to a few metres.
- Wi-Fi positioning: nearby networks are matched against a database — good in cities, tens of metres.
- Cell towers: a rough triangulation, hundreds of metres to a kilometre.
- IP address: the fallback on a desktop with no GPS — often only city-level, and sometimes wrong entirely.
What makes GPS worse
- Indoors: roofs and walls block satellite signals, so you fall back to Wi-Fi or cell.
- Tall buildings: signals bounce off concrete and glass, throwing the fix off.
- A cold start: the first fix after opening an app can be coarse, then sharpens after a few seconds.
- Desktops and laptops: most have no GPS chip at all and rely on Wi-Fi or IP.
How to get a sharper fix
- Step outside with a clear view of the sky.
- Wait a few seconds and try again — the estimate usually tightens.
- Allow precise location if your browser or phone offers an approximate-vs-precise choice.
- Use a phone over a laptop when you need real accuracy.
See it in My Location
When you find your coordinates with My Location, the reading reflects whatever your device could manage — sharp outdoors on a phone, coarser on a desktop. If a position looks wrong, move and retry. For more on the numbers themselves, see decimal degrees vs DMS.