Xiaomi S1 Active : GPS Accuracy Isn’t Too Bad
In regards to the matter of tracking your GPS location, can you confirm whether or not the Xiaomi S1 Active is accurate? After conducting three tests on the device, it was determined that the S1 Active performed exceedingly well and received a score of 10 out of 15 with respect to its accuracy.
Having conducted a number of tests on a variety of GPS devices, I can confidently say that the S1 Active performed admirably, scoring a 10 out of 15. This places it alongside many of the current top-rated devices that I have tested to date. In conclusion, I feel that this is a fantastic score. Nevertheless, here is a brief summary of my final results.
| GPS Difficulty | Rating | Comments |
| Easy Level | 5 | Excellent precision |
| Hard Level | 1 | Not good |
| Very Hard Level | 4 | Very good precision |
Every single test that I have conducted has scored at least a one out of five in the hard test category. This includes some of the most reliable devices that are currently available on the market. In this article, I will share with you my results at each level of testing, including how I go about testing the accuracy of the device and how the S1 Active rates in the market.
What Location Sensors Does The S1 Active Have
In testing, it has been found that devices with a greater number of location sensors tend to perform more accurately. I will be sharing with you later on in this article a list of my results which show this to be true.
The S1 Active device is equipped with five different location sensors, including a dual band frequency feature which allows it to work with multiple frequencies simultaneously. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive list detailing each of the five location sensors that are built into the device.
- GPS Navigation (American satellite)
- GNOLASS Navigation (Russian satellite)
- Galileo Navigation (European satellite)
- BeiDou Navigation (Chinese satellite)
- QZSS Navigation (Japanese satellite)
- Dual bad frequency.
During my testing period, I am unable to connect to QZSS or BeiDou satellite navigation systems due to my location in New Zealand. However, the S1 Active is still capable of utilizing the GPS, GNOLASS, Galileo, and Dual Band frequency. After my most recent testing results, it is clear that the device performed exceptionally well.
How Do I go About Measuring Accuracy
Before I present my results, I want to emphasize the importance of how I test the accuracy of the device. I have created a simple set of test criteria that I use to ensure consistency in my testing. It is important to note that my test criteria may vary from those used by other testers. Nonetheless, my aim is to provide you with valuable information. Here is a list of the testing criteria I use for all devices.
GPS Accuracy Rating System
| No of Stars | Description | Comments |
| 5 | Zero mis alignments, no errors | Excellent precision, no errors, tracks correctly |
| 4 | Up to 3 minor mis alignments | Very good precision, some minor errors |
| 3 | 4 – 5 minor mis alignments | Average precision |
| 2 | 6 or more minor mis alignments | Below average precision |
| 1 | 1 Major mis alignment | Not good, |
| 0 | More than 1 major mis alignment | Way off |
Easy Test : S1 Active Scores a 5 out of 5
The first test I perform is the easy test. I plan my route where there is no interference’s or obstructions that could affect the results. The point of this test is to replicate a situation where someone is going for a walk, run or cycle through their neighbourhood.
My expectations for this device is very high because of the number of satellite systems it can connect to with dual band frequency. In the end the S1 Active performed very well, and I was impressed with the accuracy of the device at a basic level. There were no obvious differences in the way the device performed. Here is a is a summary of my results at this level.
| Misalignments | No of Errors |
| Minor | zero |
| Major | zero |
The green line is the Xiaomi S1 Active tracking, and the red dotted lie is the actual planned route I have taken. I have just drawn it on the image so you can see the alignment as a comparison. As you can see the S1 Active has performed really well at this level, so if you plan your route similar to my test, I am confident you will get a similar result.
Hard Test : S1 Active Scores a 1 out of 5
In the hard test, I like to transition through different areas. For example I will begin in a area where it’s very easy to track, then transition into a challenging area, and then back to a very easy to track area so I can measure it’s ability to recapture your location.
The ideal situation for testing would be maneuvering through a town, as it presents a challenge due to the many obstructions, such as tall buildings, awnings, and high-density areas, that could hinder accurate location tracking. This scenario is likely to be faced by most people, making it a suitable test case.
In the end the S1 Active performed just like the other devices that I have tested, and failed very badly. The real challenge is definelty in the township area because of the many obstructions that can block the signal. I have highlighted the town area with a red rectangle and a comparison of the results is shown below.
| Misalignments | No of Errors |
| Minor | zero |
| Major | 1 |
One of the positive things that came out of the test was the S1 Actives ability to recover when it could not get your location accurately. The red dotted line is the actual path and if you compare it to the green line, it’s out by a lot which is what i would call a major misalignment.
A lot of the time I was walking close to the edge of the road. I didn’t want to walk under awnings because if you cant see the sky above you, your location cant be tracked accurately. If accuracy is important to you, avoiding these types of area’s would be helpful.
Very Hard Test : S1 Active Scores a 4 out of 5
In the very hard test, I prefer to traverse an area where there is at least 80% coverage above me, which poses a challenge for the device to locate me. To replicate this scenario, the best test setting would be to move through a densely forested area. The test results are illustrated in the images provided below.
I was very surprised of the devices accuracy in this test area and performed just as well as the other devices I have tested. The device tracked nicely until the last 100 meters, it started to get a little erratic. Here are my final results.
| Misalignments | No of Errors |
| Minor | 1 |
| Major | zero |
The second image is the last 100 meters and you can see the slight misalignment. It’s about 5 meters from the green line to the red line at the worse end. If it was within a few meters I would have let it go, but it’s very good tracking considering I was under cover 80% of the planned route. The S1 Active deserves its rating of 4 out of 5 in the very hard test.
How Does The S1 Active Compare in the Market
After completing the test the Xiaomi S1 Active is ranked number 3 on my list. Please note that the rankings are based on my test’s only, never the less it’s a good result. I did mentioned earlier in this article that the more sensors the device has built in, the higher your chances of accurate tracking. You only have to compare the S1 Active with the Fitbit devices to give you an idea.
| Rank | Brand | Series | No of GPS Sensors | Rating |
| 1 | Samsung | Galaxy 4, 5, 5Pro | 5, Assisted GPS | 10 |
| 2 | Samsung | Galaxy Watch 6 Classic | 5, Assisted GPS | 10 |
| 3 | Huawei | GT3 | 5, Dual band | 10 |
| 4 | Huawei | GT3 PRO | 5, Dual Band | 10 |
| 5 | Xiaomi | S1 Active | 5, Dual band | 10 |
| 6 | Apple | Watch 7 | 5 | 10 |
| 7 | Polar | Ignite 3 | 5, Assisted GPS | 10 |
| 8 | Huawei | Watch Fit 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 9 | Garmin | Forerunner 55 | 5 | 9 |
| 10 | Fitbit | Versa 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | Fitbit | Charge 5 | 1 | 2 |
Final Conclusion
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have learnt a lot about the S1 Active’s GPS tracking capabilities. In the end the S1 Active performed just like the top brands that I have tested which is a great result considering the price tag. One other thing to mention also is that I dont have access to only three of the five sattelite navigation systems due to my location in New Zealand.
I am of the opinion that if you are someone who enjoys going for a hike in the great outdoors, you will find the S1 Active to be more than capable of tracking your movements all the way to your intended destination. It is worth noting that during a particularly difficult test I conducted, which involved traversing a route that was 80% covered by thick and dense forestry, the device performed admirably and was able to navigate through the challenging terrain with ease.
I think also if you are someone who likes to go for a run or cycle around the city, just consider some of the findings that I have discovered from my testing, especially in the easy and hard level test. I think if you plan your route carefully, you too can gain similar results to me.
Lastly I want to end with another aspect that I feel needs to be mentioned which is the GPS battery consumption rate. Many people in the know that do a lot of GPS tracking that GPS tracking is a massive battery life drainer. In the case of the S1 Active, it excels in this area, and only consumes 5% of battery life per hour of tracking. This put’s the S1 Active as one of the top devices in the market for GPS tracking based on my testing results.
