Gaia vs Onyx Image Quality
General Topic
Contributors to this thread:
brettpsu 08-Oct-20
Pyrannah 08-Oct-20
Ermine 08-Oct-20
midwest 08-Oct-20
brettpsu 08-Oct-20
luckychucky 08-Oct-20
WapitiBob 08-Oct-20
cnelk 08-Oct-20
WapitiBob 08-Oct-20
Jaquomo 08-Oct-20
GrantK 08-Oct-20
standswittaknife 08-Oct-20
WYelkhunter 08-Oct-20
Jethro 09-Oct-20
huntabsarokee 09-Oct-20
skookumjt 09-Oct-20
squid 09-Oct-20
From: brettpsu
08-Oct-20
For 3-4 years now I've been using nothing but Gaia for my GPS and been pretty happy with it until this year. After I shot my bull in Wyoming I marked waypoints on my Gaia app. Shot location, animal location, last location spotted after the shot and I created a track out for easier packing through all the deadfall. When I got a couple Wyoming buddies to come help pack it out we was comparing my Gaia app with his Onx app. I've got to say the Onx image quality blows the Gaia away and his tracking was more accurate than mine was. Was times Gaia was off 50 yards or more while try to stay on my original track and when standing side by side in a small open meadow his onx was spot on and mine was off by quite a bit. I spoke to another Onx user that week and he said his app was off all week so maybe it was just a satellite issue. I really like the price and map options of the Gaia better but didn't realize the image quality was off so bad. Anyone else have issues with Gaia accuracy? Any word if Gaia will improve image quality?

From: Pyrannah
08-Oct-20
I saw the same thing iowa two years ago

I though it was user error on my part but maybe not?

From: Ermine
08-Oct-20
I find opposite Gaia to be more accurate than onx when it comes to navigation and mapping. Gaia seems to work better and offer more for much cheaper price

From: midwest
08-Oct-20
Used Gaia for the first time this year for my elk hunt. I was blown away by how much better Gaia was than OnX for a third of the price. I didn't note any image quality difference.

Did you download your maps at the max zoom for the highest detail level and are you sure you had the satellite layer selected for the download?

From: brettpsu
08-Oct-20
Nick the zoom does appear to be the issue with the quality. I just pulled up some of my downloads of the same area from last year, which I know was set a max zoom, and the quality is better than the new maps I made for this years hunt which was not set at max zoom. Thank you.

From: luckychucky
08-Oct-20
they probably all use the same imagery from google earth.

From: WapitiBob
08-Oct-20
Nobody uses google earth imagery for downloadable usage.

From: cnelk
08-Oct-20
Careful Nick. Promoting something other than OnX could get your post deleted

From: WapitiBob
08-Oct-20
My hunting partner bought a Samsung earlier this year and the onX problem with large user data forced him to GAIA; he loves it.

From: Jaquomo
08-Oct-20
I have both and use GAIA about 90% of the time.

From: GrantK
08-Oct-20
I also have both and use Gaia for anything that doesn't require the layers OnX provides, much better tracking, more useful statistics for tracks, better all around, and as of late, way less buggy.

08-Oct-20
The layers in onX are much better.. that’s why u choose to use it but have both.. used to love gaia but got away from it

From: WYelkhunter
08-Oct-20
as far as gps accuracy goes that doesn' have to do with the app it. It relies on the accuracy of the gps in your phone.

I compared both. The only thing I would say Gaia is lacking is better quality aerial imagery. But it is still good enough for what I need hunting. Gaia has all the overlays I need for hunting. Not sure what else they could add to make it better.

From: Jethro
09-Oct-20
I also have both and have likes/dislikes with each. The imagery on Gaia is not as crisp as OnX on my iphone. Not enough that it causes use problems though. I've used Gaia since Dec here in PA and have had no issues with accuracy with waypoints, tracking, or borders. My biggest complaint is their satellite with labels layer is old imagery. At least 4 years old. When I look at my house it still shows the old roof and that was replaced in 2016. Gaia certainly has more layers than I'll ever use.

Last month out west I used OnX since thats what the rest of the gang was running. As long as I remembered to go to airplane mode before opening app, no problems. I do wish the 'here you are' cursor was an arrow and not a circle.

09-Oct-20
I realize the question was already answered but this year I had Gaia, Onx, and Basemap all on my phone with downloaded maps for our area in NM. I tried to like Basemap but just seems cumbersome and slow. Detail is very good but it was annoying and I deleted it by day 3. Don't care how cheap it is. Gaia worked well but some of the features seemed hidden or at least not very obvious although I will admit some of that could have been just me not being very familiar with it. I ended up using OnX the most and found it the easiest to use. Very easy to click between layers and saved maps are saved in imagery and topo. From now on just going to use OnX even if it costs a bit more. Hell I left more money than a years subscription on the mountain in the way of calls. I also agree that the cursor should be a triangle or something like that with a pointer vs having to use the radar function to see which way you are going. My only issue was if I had some service and opened OnX and then lost service it wouldn't function right until I closed OnX, switched to airplane mode, and then reopened OnX. This was mostly with seeing saved waypoints.

From: skookumjt
09-Oct-20
None of these companies use their own imagery. It all comes from local sources and can only be as current as the most recent flight. The county I live in hasn't done it in six years for example.

The accuracy of the GPS is entirely with your phone and the satellites. The app is only using what the phone tells it.

From: squid
09-Oct-20
It's also worth noting with GIA there are six different satellite layers available. Some have better images than others, so suggest you test the different layers before you download them offline for your hunt.

  • Sitka Gear