Power consumption of turning on Galileo?

How much additional power does turning on Galileo actually use? Are there certain situations in which having Galileo can be dramatically advantageous or be a disadvantage? 

  • Not sure it requires much more power to Rx Galileo SV than GPS only, but I find my location to be more accurate using Galileo any time I am near obstructions that block any portion of the sky around me. Galileo alone is more accurate than GLONASS or GPS Classic (newer GPS SV will match accuracy of Galileo).

    Do what I did, and test for yourself. Find different locations, some out in the open, some near hills, mountain, cliffs, under heavy tree cover, around tall buildings in a city, and then check your location quality for the same position both with and without Galileo enabled... Won't take but a few minutes each time.

    What do your results suggest?

  • So there is no question that having it on increase accuracy for me, especially in challenging conditions. The question I’m trying to figure out though is what impact this has on battery. If turning Galileo and WAAS on has minimal battery impact, then sure, I’m happy to run them constantly. If turning them on however has a 30% hit on battery life, then the few extra feet of accuracy isn’t worth it to me. I suppose I could try to set up some experiment where I see how quickly the battery drains with it on and off, but there’s so many variables, and I’m hoping someone has already done this.