Is GPS more accurate when android tablet/phone is plugged in

Question

If an android tablet (Nexus 7) is plugged into a power source, does the GPS stay on and therefore provide more accuracy?

I am thinking of when a tablet is in a vehicle, mounted and always plugged in.

Answer 1

Whether GPS stays on depends on the Application.
GPS accuracy is not dependent whether power source is plugged in or not. (But some application could decide to switch off GPS if battery is under a specifc threshold) Technically there is no half power GPS chip mode.
The GPS chip always uses the power it needs.

Answer 2

Plugging into a power source doesn't make the GPS stay on. It's up to the developers whether their apps will use GPS for a moment (to locate user's current position only) or until the app is closed (for navigation).

Counter-example: even if it's not charged, Google Maps can use GPS with accuracy as good as usual until the device runs out of power due to GPS usage.

So, the conclusion is: not really, plugging in the device doesn't make the GPS to power-up and have better accuracy than usual.