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According to a colleague who has the new Nexus 7 (2013) model already, there is a GLONASS sensor in addition to the GPS one in the device. Is this true? I was unable to find any reference to this alleged fact in the official documentation and via a casual web search.

Please state your sources in your answer(s).

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    Seems to me it should be your colleague providing the proof for his allegation.
    – ale
    Commented Aug 28, 2013 at 14:32
  • @AlEverett: he just did. We work in different time zones. He says there are 21 sats available (which the existing accepted answer shows means GLONASS) and the GLONASS sats are marked differently in the GPS diagnostic app he uses.
    – 0xC0000022L
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 15:40
  • Would you mind sharing a screenshot of the GPS diagnostic app displaying glonass satellites?
    – Flow
    Commented Sep 12, 2013 at 0:10
  • @Flow: followed up on your request by putting up my own answer. But the accepted one will be kept the way it is, since it was very helpful in finding out the details I was looking for.
    – 0xC0000022L
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 10:58

2 Answers 2

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According to Ifixit's teardown, the Nexus 7 2013 uses the Qualcomm 8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC. Qualcomm's specs show that SoC uses their IZat Gen8A GNSS chipset, which according to their overview does include GLONASS support, though this doesn't necessarily mean GLONASS support is actually active and available in software.

A simple means to test whether you've got GLONASS is to use GPS Status and Toolbox and see how many satellites it shows for you. If it shows more than 13 satellites, you're getting both GPS and GLONASS.

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    very useful answer. Shows 21 sats, and the GLONASS ones differently marked than the GPS ones according to my colleague. So together with your answer I conclude that GLONASS is available at least in the US models of the Nexus 7 (2013).
    – 0xC0000022L
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 15:41
  • I'll add to the above that the Nexus 7 is very fast in geolocating the user, even though it has no cellphone support so must rely entirely on GPS + Glonass.
    – Gulbahar
    Commented Feb 9, 2015 at 15:27
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The definite answer is yes. I received my Nexus 7 (2013) a few weeks ago and today went outside to catch a few satellites. I'm using GPS Status & Toolbox whose user guide states:

The sky grid (G) shows the GPS satellites above you as the receiver in the phone detects them. GPS satellites (with IDs 1-32) are represented by small circles while GLONASS satellites (with IDs 65-92) are shown as rectangles. The size of the symbol depends on the signal strength received from that satellite. The color shows what data is available for that satellite and how it is currently used by the phone.

Emphasis mine.

Here's the left side of the screen shot I took:

GPS Status & Toolbox showing GPS and GLONASS sats

The Nexus 7 model would be the European one, if there are any differences.

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