Geotab GO9 vs GO10: What Changed, and Should You Upgrade?

The GO10 is Geotab's next-generation GO device, and its main changes from the GO9 are built-in Bluetooth, an onboard energy reserve that sends a last gasp alert when power is cut, a more precise GNSS receiver and an installation that always uses a harness. It also drops support for some legacy vehicle protocols, so the GO9 family still has a place on older equipment and in California.

Geotab announced the Next Gen GO on February 11, 2026, at Geotab Connect in Las Vegas, and said it would be available in North America in the second quarter of 2026. Several things did not change: both devices use LTE Cat 1 class cellular in North America, both accept up to 5 IOX add-ons in combination, and both are rated to run from -40 °C to +85 °C. High Point GPS is a Geotab partner in Montreal; we install and support both devices for fleets across Canada and the United States, in English and French.

Every row below comes from Geotab's own Support Center documents for each device, read in October 2026. The GO9 has several regional variants; the table shows the North American ones.

Bluetooth is the change most fleets notice first. On a GO9, Bluetooth needs an IOX-BT module. The GO10 has Bluetooth Low Energy 5.4 on board and detects Geotab-compatible beacons by itself, so tools, trailers and attachments that carry a tag show up as they travel with the vehicle, with no add-on to fit. Geotab also lists the GO10 as compatible with its GO Focus dash cams; we confirm the pairing for the camera model you choose.

The second change is tamper visibility. The GO10's supercapacitor stores enough energy to write its data to flash memory and attempt a last gasp notification when power is lost, so a device that is unplugged leaves a record of when it happened. Positioning is tighter as well: Geotab rates the GO10 at about 1.5 m CEP-50 in open sky, against about 2.0 m CEP for the GO9.

For hours of service, the GO10 has its own entries on Transport Canada's list of certified electronic logging devices: Geotab Drive on the GO10 for Android (GOELD3, certificate 6T72) and for iOS (GOELD4, certificate 6T73), certified by COMDriver Tech.

Older heavy equipment is the first case. Geotab states that the GO10 does not support the PWM and JPW protocols, which limits its coverage of legacy pre-2010 heavy-duty and off-road equipment. The GO9 document lists legacy buses such as J1850 PWM and J1708 among its supported protocols, so a pre-2010 truck or machine is worth checking one by one before you order.

California is the second case. Geotab says the GO10 and GO10 Plus have not been granted a CARB Executive Order, so they must not be installed on vehicles registered or primarily operated in California until Geotab issues one. Its CARB-compliant kit covers the GO9, GO9+ and GO9 Rugged with listed T-harnesses. For machines that face water, dust and pressure washing, the GO9 RUGGED is a sealed, hardwired unit rated IP68 and IP69K, and Geotab lists no GO10 version of it.

Geotab still publishes the GO9 Support Document. When we read it in October 2026, it marked only the Sprint LTE variant as discontinued and gave no general end-of-life date for the GO9.

The GO10 always goes in with a harness. Geotab's product page says a Geotab harness is required for the Next Gen GO, and its Support Center lists 16-pin light-duty and heavy-duty OBD-II T-harnesses, a 9-pin heavy-duty T-harness and a 3-wire kit for the GO10 and GO10 Plus. In practice the device connects at the OBD-II or 9-pin diagnostic port through a T-harness, with no wires cut. Vehicles and equipment without a usable port, such as older vehicles, generators or golf carts, take the 3-wire kit.

A fleet can install a GO10 itself, but High Point GPS always recommends a professional installer. Our installers work across North America, including Montreal. Before hardware ships, we match each vehicle to its harness and check each IOX add-on you run today against the GO10's compatibility list, so a swap from GO9 to GO10 has no surprises in the yard.

Not all at once, and not every vehicle. A GO9 that reports reliably on a vehicle you plan to keep can stay where it is. Put GO10s on new vehicles and new installs, and swap a GO9 early when you want built-in Bluetooth for asset tags, a last gasp alert for tamper visibility, or a device paired with a GO Focus camera. Keep the GO9 family where the GO10 does not fit: pre-2010 equipment on PWM or JPW protocols, vehicles registered or run mainly in California, and machines that need the GO9 RUGGED.

The next step is a fleet list. Send us each unit's make, model, year and where it runs, and we will tell you which device and which harness each one needs. High Point GPS plans are 3-year contracts with free equipment, add-ons, custom plans and bundles. Use the free quote form on this page to start.