# Comparison of cell phones by antenna strength?



## Azure1203 (Nov 16, 2011)

I've searched all over the place for an actual comparison of cell phones and the antenna strength they have.  Not how much reception they have, or if they lose signal depending on how you hold them, but how strong their internal antenna is.

Example, the Motorola Milestone, from what I understand has two antennas.  Blackberry Torch has two as well.  At least that is what I've picked up from bits and pieces around the internet.  Not sure if accurate.

But, I know for a fact that the Motorola Milestone will have superior coverage compared to my Galaxy S Fascinate.  At least -10dbm, and 5asu better.  Which equals almost 2 bars.  The Blackberry Torch as well.  3 bars better consistently.  So, in this day and age of buying unlocked phones, surely there has to be a comparison somewhere to show which phones have stronger antennas, which ones have the two antennas, etc, etc.  

And I just can't find it anywhere.  Anyone have ideas?


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## AllGamer (Nov 16, 2011)

Bravo!

That's a good wake up call

it's true a lot of people are forgetting the phone main function should be "to be a phone"

yet now in days when people talk or compare a phone, is more into competing power, and how entertaining it's

from personal experience i can say as a PHONE, the Moto Milestone XT720 has absolutely the best reception, vs Nexus S, I9000 and SGS2 i9100, HTC devices, etc

on 2nd place i'll put SGS2 T989 as good reception

3rd place goes for all the others phones


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## GoyoNeuff (Jan 4, 2012)

Any other response to this, on the spot, question?

Cheers !

K.


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## Azure1203 (Mar 25, 2012)

AllGamer said:


> Bravo!
> 
> That's a good wake up call
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Few months later, and I still say the Motorola Milestone has the best reception I've ever seen.

Still looking for an answer to the original question though.  Seems like no one has done any research on it and put together some information.


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## cpumaster (Mar 30, 2012)

*Virtually the same....*

Mobile customers planning to do a cell comparison of phone reception strength are pretty much wasting their time.
The majority of cell phones today are so well designed and competitive that they virtually all deliver the same level of service. Users may notice a difference between carriers due to cell site positioning compared to their homes or offices. The closer the cell site is, the better your phone reception is going to be regardless of which cell phone you utilize. Doing a cell comparison phone reception strength of carriers can be a good idea...


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## flyrocket (Mar 30, 2012)

AllGamer said:


> Bravo!
> 
> That's a good wake up call
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Cause everyone just uses texts now-a-days rather than calling


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## Azure1203 (Mar 31, 2012)

cpumaster said:


> Mobile customers planning to do a cell comparison of phone reception strength are pretty much wasting their time.
> The majority of cell phones today are so well designed and competitive that they virtually all deliver the same level of service. Users may notice a difference between carriers due to cell site positioning compared to their homes or offices. The closer the cell site is, the better your phone reception is going to be regardless of which cell phone you utilize. Doing a cell comparison phone reception strength of carriers can be a good idea...

Click to collapse



Yes, MOST cell phones are more or less the same within a general 'bar' or two.  But there are a few that stand out, like the Motorola Milestone and the Blackberry Torch.  I was just wondering if there are others that have similar exceptional antenna strength and reception.


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## KryPTiCk0d3 (Apr 3, 2012)

I'd like a list like this to, The Nexus S is terrible.


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## johnny893 (Apr 7, 2012)

I've noticed that out of all the phones I have had, Nokia's have the best reception. I still like Symbian over Android, but eh

Sent from my GT-S5830 using xda premium


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## bamx2 (Apr 7, 2012)

Nokia and Motorola seem to have the best signal strength based on my experience regardless of the "antenna strength " indicator.


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## lamborg (Apr 7, 2012)

+1 for Nokia phones on sym.


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## Vip3R85 (Apr 24, 2012)

the best signal phone are those with antenna in exterior, and those are safer for healthy.


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## greeky510 (Apr 24, 2012)

The original Motorola Droid and my current Droid Razr Maxx have the best signal out of all the phones I've ever had. And I'm talking measuring the signal strength with programs not just by bars, as I found them to be inaccurate. 
My HTC phones would have to be held a certain way or the signal strength would drop.


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## bamx2 (Apr 24, 2012)

Motorola is best for me .


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## Adauth (Apr 25, 2012)

In my experience most Motorola phones have great antenna/signal strength.


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## michkan (Apr 27, 2012)

For me Nokia always had best signal but nowdays what to do with their usless phones.


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## WozniaksOtherPhone (May 17, 2012)

If I remember right when the Galaxy Nexus came out people were showing horrible signal strength across the board. So Samsung issued a 'fix' that changed what was previously 2 bars or something to show as 4-5 bars.


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## Azure1203 (Jun 20, 2012)

To bump this old thread again.

Consistently getting 2 bars would be fine.  Probably good enough to call, and for sure good enough to text.

My problem is I get 1 bar maybe inside my home with the Galaxy S, while the Motorola Milestone gets 4 bars.

Is the Galaxy S2 better in terms of reception than the original Galaxy S?  I want to upgrade phones anyways.  It is a bigger phone than the original Galaxy S, so perhaps it has better reception.


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## thatdefault (Jun 20, 2012)

Azure1203 said:


> To bump this old thread again.
> 
> Consistently getting 2 bars would be fine.  Probably good enough to call, and for sure good enough to text.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Try switching modems for galaxy S, I get 1-2 bars using JVU modem and 2-4 bars using JW4.


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## MattyOnXperiaX10 (Jun 20, 2012)

Mostly all Hi-End Motorola phones have the best antennas but if your a modder, stay away


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## Azure1203 (Nov 16, 2011)

I've searched all over the place for an actual comparison of cell phones and the antenna strength they have.  Not how much reception they have, or if they lose signal depending on how you hold them, but how strong their internal antenna is.

Example, the Motorola Milestone, from what I understand has two antennas.  Blackberry Torch has two as well.  At least that is what I've picked up from bits and pieces around the internet.  Not sure if accurate.

But, I know for a fact that the Motorola Milestone will have superior coverage compared to my Galaxy S Fascinate.  At least -10dbm, and 5asu better.  Which equals almost 2 bars.  The Blackberry Torch as well.  3 bars better consistently.  So, in this day and age of buying unlocked phones, surely there has to be a comparison somewhere to show which phones have stronger antennas, which ones have the two antennas, etc, etc.  

And I just can't find it anywhere.  Anyone have ideas?


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## ChangefulFiber85 (Jun 23, 2012)

johnny893 said:


> I've noticed that out of all the phones I have had, Nokia's have the best reception. I still like Symbian over Android, but eh

Click to collapse



I completely disagree, at least with all the Nokias I have used (post 2004). I have found every one of them to have extremely poor reception. They all seem to have trouble keeping latched onto the network; going in and out regularly.

The Sharp GX10 (2003) was awful for reception too, I found.

Whereas I have found the Panasonic GD52 (2000) to have really excellent signal, along with the Sony J-6 (2001).

I've always heard, though, that the older Nokias (pre 2000) and pretty much all Motorola phones have great radios and excellent signal.

My current phone, the Samaung Galaxy S2, has very good 2G coverage.. but since it is only my first 3G phone, I am not as familier with the properties of 3G signal to make a proper judgement, nor do I have experience with other phones to compare it to. I would say that you could quite often have 2 bars (~-104dBm [can't remember the exact number]) and not be able to use data; although that could well be down to the network as much as the phone.


Just my tuppenceworth!


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## chainsawk (Jun 24, 2012)

I have to agree that Motorola has better reception. My Droid Razr makes and receives calls in places that my evo 3d, nexus s, galaxy nexus, or my galaxy I9000 couldn't.


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## rreed87139 (May 17, 2013)

*samwhst s poo*



AllGamer said:


> Bravo!
> 
> That's a good wake up call
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



The Samsung is junk. Had 2. Didn't roam wifi right, could make calls, and bat none the worst communication device I've owned. Between it and a broken pager I would take the pager. And I am not joking. My razor 2 g was better.


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## redskinsjohn (Feb 25, 2014)

*I found something out on this subject*

Folks,

After doing some research online I found that Sprint offers a coverage map per device.  This will help you figure out which phone would work best in your area or vacation spot on the same network.  For instance say you were going to vacation to a cabin in Petersburg, WV.  And you want to see which device works best in that neck of the woods.  Visit the link below (I can't make the actual link because I am a newbie):

"coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp"

Type in the address "Petersburg, WV" and then select the device (one at a time) that you want to compare (you do this at the top right of the page "Get device-specific coverage" ).  So for this test I used the Samsung Galaxy S4 (GS4) and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.  The difference is huge.  The Note 3 gets way better reception for some reason (possibly better antenna).  The Note 3 appears to pick up "Off Network Roaming" where the GS4 doesn't.  Then I tested the GS4 against the iPhone 4s and 5s.  Both Apple phones get better reception then the GS4 due to the same addition of "Off Network Roaming".

Anyway... I hope I didn't make this article to long... but I wanted to pass this information on.  There is indeed a difference between phones within the same carrier.


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## tecnonucleo (Feb 25, 2014)

It is true. All phone comparisons review display size, number of processors and speed, battery, etc. But I've never seen the reception as an additional variable. And it's important not only to make calls, but to stay connected to Internet too.


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## bigmuddaddy (Jul 18, 2014)

*antenna strength*

I don't understand why we are debating providers and 3g vs 4g, It is best reception by device. I stand in my living room with verizon galaxy s3 and can not make contact with a tower to even initiate a call. My wife chose the Motorola Droid Max and sits next to me talking like she is on the land line. The motorola antenna is superior. Same share plan. Same 3g or 4 g service. I have to go outside in the top of 2 story play house to make a call and even then it may drop. 

There is a definate difference. I have noticed motorola difference from other phones for years now.


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## LuckyBBB (Aug 14, 2014)

bigmuddaddy said:


> I don't understand why we are debating providers and 3g vs 4g, It is best reception by device. I stand in my living room with verizon galaxy s3 and can not make contact with a tower to even initiate a call. My wife chose the Motorola Droid Max and sits next to me talking like she is on the land line. The motorola antenna is superior. Same share plan. Same 3g or 4 g service. I have to go outside in the top of 2 story play house to make a call and even then it may drop.
> 
> There is a definate difference. I have noticed motorola difference from other phones for years now.

Click to collapse




Same situation here.. My gf and I have the same service provider I get no signal at all in the house with my S3 but she can call and text without any issue with her samsung galaxy nexus.


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## laptop_from_1992 (Oct 27, 2014)

*Sort by FCC measured SAR*

SAR is a radiation measurement the FCC does (or, rather, forces the manufacturer to do) to determine a dB level and W/kg (watts/kg, some type of density) to the body and to the head.  As a general (but not always) rule, the higher the number, the better your signal  / reception / perception will be that the signal quality is good.  The phones people are mentioning in this post almost all have high SAR levels (>1.1), and the Droid MILESTONE / Droid OG has an impressive 
Head: 1.49 W/kg
Measured in: 1900 MHz
Body:  1.38 W/kg
Measured in: 1900 MHz

I couldn't really find any phones besides the Motorola Rival that has those types of numbers for both head and body.  Nokia 6215i, a very solid phone, has 1.25 W/kg (Head) and its cousin Nokia 6315i has more to the head at 1.37 W/kg.  All the phones mentioned are good candidates.  The FCC limits to 2W/kg so all the manufacturers are limited and those higher power phones I feel will perform equally excellent.  If you think older 1995-2003 phones might be better, it seems like they are all middle of the ball part for output.....and if the frequencies on the very old phones are not at least common ones like 800 Mhz, 850 Mhz, 1900 Mhz....then your phone's ability to get a old compatible cell tower is jepardized.  Stick with this forums suggestions and I think you'll have a great signal experience :good:

This link sorts of SAR, for all currently available Verizon phones (no discontinued ones)...notice all the motorolas and blackberries at tops (page 3 /last page is highest SAR) and Samsungs at the way bottom .....first ones on page 1.  Check out here:
Goto phone arena and append:  /phones/full#/phones/full/carrier/Verizon/page/3/sort/sar/


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## ishaang (Oct 27, 2014)

Azure1203 said:


> ...surely there has to be a comparison somewhere to show which phones have stronger antennas...

Click to collapse



Turns out someone has compared atleast some phones in 2013, its worth checking out - 

http://erhvervsstyrelsen.dk/file/435579/Mobile_Phone_Antenna_Performance_2013.pdf

Also found this image on a random google image search which might be helpful - http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/202371-sigloss4_original.jpg


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## sallystar (Oct 12, 2015)

i live in the country and the closest tower is 6 miles away. my phone is samsing galaxy s4 and ny carrier is att. MYPHONE DOESNT WORK AT HOME NO BARS.  ATT blames it on the trees.


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