Help with a little experiment....

Tom Dunne

Right, there is some discussion ongoing regarding the fact that the iPhone 4 loses signal when held in the left hand. Details here.

I decided to do some reading around on it, and as it turns out, this is a design feature used in a lot of smartphones. (I'll define smartphones as those that are primarily touch-screen, though may have a keyboard, as opposed the the "regular" candybar shape such as the Nokia 6700 and the 6300).

So, for this experiment, could I ask anyone with a smartphone to try the following:

• Hold the phone in your left hand, with the bottom-left corner in your palm, directly under your thumb
• Observe for approx 30-40 seconds and see if the signal drops

I've tried this on my Nokia N900 and it exhibits the same problem (will post a video when I can). I tried it on a Nokia 6700 and 6300 and did not see the problem.

Please do not use this thread to bash the iPhone 4, it's been done to death already on the Apple Media Devices forum

tallus

Tried it on my N95 8Gb with no loss of signal.

Probably not the right phone for the experiment tho.

Tom Dunne

tallus wrote: »

Probably not the right phone for the experiment tho.

I reckon so. It would appear to be only touchscreen-type phones that exhibit the problem.

blaz

Nexus One has a nice feature: it can show you the signal strength as a number.

Letting it sit on a table it shows -51 dBm. Doing the "death grip" and the signal drops to -63 dBm. Holding it like you suggest also drops the signal to -63. Holding it with two fingers at the top and signal goes back to -51. There is no noticeable difference in the number of bars, probably because the signal drop is small enough.

I would dare to suggest that probably every phone has this issue if you touch in near the antenna, but for the iPhone 4 this issue is much bigger because the antenna is completely exposed.

not_xanthor

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I've tried this on my Nokia N900 and it exhibits the same problem (will post a video when I can). I tried it on a Nokia 6700 and 6300 and did not see the problem.

I may be doing something wrong, but holding my N900 in the way you described doesn't change the signal at all.

Tom Dunne

blaz wrote: »

I would dare to suggest that probably every phone has this issue if you touch in near the antenna, but for the iPhone 4 this issue is much bigger because the antenna is completely exposed.

I reckon you've hit the nail on the head there, blaz.

not_xanthor wrote: »

I may be doing something wrong, but holding my N900 in the way you described doesn't change the signal at all.

Interesting. I've tried it a number of times and it has worked for me.

Try squeezing.

angel01

I have done it on my HD2 and the signal didn't drop.

Domscard

Yes, the signal drops on my N900, but I have to coerce it a bit and wait a while. Maybe you have big hands :pac:

strecker

HTC HD2. Absolutely no effect...no matter what corner.

deadbloke

Tried on HTC Desire - no change.

Alanstrainor

I tried it on my N900. No change, im wondering if im doing it wrong.

allen175

tried on my desire and there is no change in signal.

crimsonfire

Tried it on my HTC Smart and it did indeed drop. Tried it three or four times to make sure it wasn't a fluke too. There was a very noticeable pattern too. Sitting on the desk, 5 bars. Holding the way you said, after a few seconds, 5 bars then almost exactly 10 seconds later, 1 bar.

Intriguing...

globemaster1986

No effect on the Palm Pre, tried all 4 corners:D

You need super hands

not_xanthor

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I tried it on my N900. No change, im wondering if im doing it wrong.

I figured i was doing something wrong..... unless we're both doing something wrong.

Time to compare production dates?

donkey balls

just tried it on my N97 didnt drop signal i even covered the phone completely with my two hands

drunkmonkey

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I decided to do some reading around on it, and as it turns out, this is a design feature

Tom forgive me but you sound like a dodgy car salesman, "it's a feature"!!

It seems the iphone 4 has a serious design flaw, yes there will be a software update but that will only make it appear you have good signal when you don't, it does not fix the problem. Signal problems have been a "feature" of the iphone since launch, Apple should have rectified it instead they made it worse.

I don't think i'll be upgrading as the one thing I wanted fixed is a worse problem.

I can hold my Nokia what even way I want and it works. The 3GS is a disaster in comparison.

opinion guy

HTC Desire

No effect

Kenny Powers

Nokia E52 signal loss I think this might also depend on the signal strenght to begin with.

The Roach

Just tried it on my work phone (HTC Tattoo), and was surprised by the results. Sitting on the table it has 4/4 bars, -63 dBm. By holding it in my left hand with the bottom left corner between my palm and thumb, the signal disappears completely! :eek:

MarkR

Samsung wave on meteor, no difference.

matrim

Tried it on my N900 and when on the table it was a steady 5 bars. When in my hand it varies between 4 and 5 bars so there may be a minor difference.
I also have to fully cup it and almost cover the whole bottom half of the phone to make it drop that bit.

I think you could get something similar to happen with most phones but the problem with the iPhone is that it seems to be easier to reproduce and more drastic in result

neonman

HTC Hero (Meteor) no change when held in left or right hand even covered all four corners and had full bars all the time.

Danbo!

N900 dropped just one bar after about 10 secs, after putting it on the desk for about 10 seconds, back to full signal.

Blackdragon

Tried on all four corners of the desire, no effect

Idleater

Blackdragon wrote: »

Tried on all four corners of the desire, no effect

Same, checked using the testing/info code thing, and the signal strength goes up and down irrespective of placement of hands.