We’ve heard quite a bit over the last week about the iPhone 4 and antenna problems that it has. We have seen a few problems ourselves although overall the experience is better than the 3GS in terms of signal. We only find it drops where signal is bordering on being dead but in those situations the iPhone 4 is still able to keep a call running.
Anandtech decided rather than writing about general observations and trying to summarise it in words, like we have and many other places have done, is in fact, use technical data to see how it actually performs. Using the iPhone 4 and writing based on observation just doesn’t get the same message across as facts do.
The tests were conducted by holding the iPhone 4 in various ways such as a strong grip over the antenna joint, flat on the palm and a more casual hold. Signal strength was then recorded for the iPhone 4, 3GS and the Google Nexus One.
The results are certainly interesting with part of the conclusion being as follows…
“From my day of testing, I’ve determined that the iPhone 4 performs much better than the 3GS in situations where signal is very low, at -113 dBm (1 bar). Previously, dropping this low all but guaranteed that calls would drop, fail to be placed, and data would no longer be transacted at all. I can honestly say that I’ve never held onto so many calls and data simultaneously on 1 bar at -113 dBm as I have with the iPhone 4, so it’s readily apparent that the new baseband hardware is much more sensitive compared to what was in the 3GS. The difference is that reception is massively better on the iPhone 4 in actual use.”
If you are on the fence about purchasing an iPhone 4 we strongly recommend you check out their iPhone 4 review as it certainly goes in to greater technical depth than anything else I have read on the device.
The iPhone 4 signal chart below shows how the meter works on your iPhone and what kind of signal each bar represents.
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