•Differences in the Samsung Galaxy series smartphones positioning accuracy.•Brand-new smartphone models do not always provide better positioning results.•No clear positioning accuracy improvement with the third GNSS system (BeiDou).•Compliance with the IMO and FRP17 maritime navigation accuracy thresholds. One of the most popular functions of modern mobile phones is determining the coordinates of the device using built-in GNSS receivers. By using map images extensively available on the Internet, today's smartphones have become basic navigation devices of the average user. Mobile devices with built-in GNSS receivers are primarily used in land navigation. However, marine sailing, tourism and recreation are fields where the use of mobile phones as navigation devices is also very common. The average position errors of GNSS receivers mounted on smartphones decisively influence the ability and accuracy of navigation based on those devices. This publication analyses the accuracy of the dynamic positioning of six Samsung Galaxy smartphones during vessel manoeuvring. As part of the parallel tracking studies, the telephone positions were compared to those of precise GNSS receivers, using corrections from an active geodetic network with an accuracy of 2–3 cm (p = 0.95). As a result of the 4-h measurement, the accuracy statistics for each of the phone models were defined based on approximately 10,000 positions. Studies indicate that there are significant differences in the accuracy of positioning as performed by the models in question.