Other phones also have reception problems

A lot of phones have reception problems, you just never notice them. I had the E71 for a few months and never noticed this reception issue or had a reception issue. I am assuming once I have my iPhone 4 I also won’t notice any reception problems. [YouTube]

Update: It takes just 1 finger to mess everything up in the iPhone 4…


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44 comments, add your own...


  1. Marco Polo says:

    Maybe your right, If no one brought it up I wouldn’t have noticed it on my iphone 4 but since I did, Its really frustrating to see such a great device suffer from such a simple design error.

  2. gargoyle says:

    my e71 doesn’t do that, full reception no matter how i hold it.

  3. BAJS says:

    I enjoy jumpy service with my 3gs everyday, its not a faulty device, its just the service for wataniya in my area is crap. So I wont be noticing any difference with the iPhone 4 :D

  4. Krishna says:

    The one you saw on this video is the American version, running on AT&T. And, yeah. Tell me once, just once when a helluva users have faced a reception problem on a Nokia?

    Maybe a couple of them. Well, those might be defective.
    Apple here place their antennas on the side rims, and ask people to hold it the other way.

    Dude. Who’s kidding?

  5. Kuwait says:

    ^Agree.

    And lol Mark… maybe you LOVE the iPhone like none other but this is stretching it a bit too far IMO :)

  6. Kidou33 says:

    It seems to me like it’s all related to metal framing or metal pieces surrounding the device. That’s the connecting link between this and the iPhone..

  7. Frankom says:

    did not notice that !
    Steve was right !

  8. K.theKuwaiti says:

    Now everytime we have a dropped call, Zain/Wataniya/Viva will blame it on the phhone.

  9. cajie says:

    You assume wrong Mark.

    It is such a pathetic design error that should have been identified during field trials. I assume they only had 1 device for field trial which got stolen and sold to Gizmodo. lol.

    Of course, everyone will put the rubber bumper and go on with their lives rather than insisting everything is fine in Jobsville.

  10. yuan says:

    as a customer service representative, its not with the unit or device nor the metal framing, its because the phone is using a 3g signal, 3g signal is very complicated bec its always depends on your location… there will be a time that you will have no signal at all, thats why in every 3g fones, you can choose from just 2g signal, 3g signal or both. but the problem is, if you use both 2g and 3g, each of them is pulling the strong signal from your location thats the time reception problem occurs.

  11. eLeeT says:

    Only if your holding it right Mark.

  12. cajie says:

    @yuan. That is utter rubbish.
    Just google “iPhone 4 reception problem” to get more technical details of antenna, skin tissue and design blunders.

  13. yuan says:

    @cajie – we are not actually just talking with one phone unit here, we are discussing in general issue of the reception from “a lot of phones” as mark stated. and bec you are using google to search, why dont you explore your self from some forums regarding the 3g signal, and why 3g signal fluctuates. and try your other unit aside from your iphone4

  14. DarkWolf80s says:

    @Yuan, I don’t know where you’re getting your info from but the fact remains that it is a design flaw on the device. It was even predicted two weeks before launch date by a Danish Prof who is an expert in the antenna field said that the placement of the antenna is a bad idea. {Here)For other sources do check out this (post)

  15. Hellraiser says:

    Since protection is required to your beloved iPhone 4, using the bumper or any kind of sleeve will isolate the problem at hand. Not much to fuss about. I do agree that this should ave been tested rigorously, prior to market release but I doubt it will warrant a world wide recall of the devices.

  16. 000 says:

    I’m not having any reception problems with my E71.

  17. yuan says:

    i will not argue anymore…. the info im saying is in general not predominantly for iphone4

  18. PUX says:

    See youtube, some doesnt suffer from this issue

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzrIPHGce-0

  19. aziz says:

    i am having extreme problems with my E71 reception, i thought i was the only one!

  20. cajie says:

    @yuan: You wrote
    “its not with the unit or device nor the metal framing”

    I am saying the metal framing is the problem, while you say it is not.

    If there are issues related to 3G/2G signals (as you mention) those issues are not relevant as they will be applicable to all phone models including iPhone 4.

    Issue is: iPhone 4 has a SPECIFIC design flaw that causes signal reception failure.

  21. Wyn says:

    Here is some nice techno-fun to Cool off a bit!

    Funny!!! Guess Who got Upset About the iPhone 4 Antenna???

    http://forum.248am.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14569

  22. kadavul says:

    iPhone 4 has reception problem. Period.

  23. Tariq says:

    thank go i didnt pay for that freaking iphone 4 deposit on X-CITE @ the Avenues.

    im really sad of this today im going to test it my self on the iphone they are promoting and launch it on youtube.

    check me out after 4pm today

  24. kwt23 says:

    wow…i use e71 with at&t and never noticed this issue before…

  25. Na9er says:

    Why is everyone making a big deal about the reception problem? Steve Jobs said a software update will be released and it should fix the problem. If that doesn’t, buy an iPhone 4 Bumper. It looks good and will protect your phone. Don’t forget the iPhones front and back are both glass, so if you accidentally drop it, it will break. If you don’t want to use a bumper, get some scotch tape, cut a small piece, and put it right in the line where the calls get dropped when your finger covers it. That will fix the problem.

  26. FYI says:

    ^^ shouldn’t apple do all the things you mentioned before selling the phone??

  27. Sarah says:

    “One slip of the finger can land you in deep shit”

  28. Summer says:

    i think the reception thing with the iphone is just a way to ruin its name.

  29. Name is Bond says:

    @Fyi
    thats a very valid statement! Only steve jobs has the answer to it..

  30. A.Albaz says:

    I do not understand how a patch will fix this problem! I mean clearly this is a hardware problem and has nothing to do with the software.

    Geez apple, Couldn’t you just maybe spent a little extra $$ and installed a better antenna!

    Remember the old days, those stickers which claimed that they increase the signal if you stick them on the mobile, maybe those will fix this problem.

  31. Mark says:

    So now you’re a mobile phone engineer?

  32. fooof says:

    i have a E71 and there was’nt any reception problems

  33. FYI says:

    A.Albaz they can see which specific frequency (HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100) is most affected and create a software patch to utilize the other frequencies.

  34. Ahmad says:

    Guys I have the iPhone 4. Trust me when i say this. The problem is not as big as you see in those videos and blogs. I have tried many times to cover all antennas and using the phone on 3G. The worst case i had doing this test was losing 1 bar out of 5. Trust me i still try it sometimes when i go somewhere with bad reception. Maybe this does not affect all the phones, who knows.

  35. Kim says:

    I’m still confused what to choose: a brick or iPhone 4?

    Really, iPhone 4 has reception unlike bricks, though bricks are more powerful than the monkey glass (Or the backglass that’d shatter from a waist-line accidental drop).

    Can someone help me out here?

  36. A.Albaz says:

    @Mark, I never stated that i’m an engineer, however I know for sure that i’m not an apple Fan-Boy :)

  37. Ahmad says:

    Im not an apple fanboy. But i hate people that just jump on the bandwagon and obviously have no idea what they are talking about.

    Examples of cellphones other than iPhone 4 affected by holding it:

    HTC Droid Incredible:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaDE941PzQk

    Nexus One:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2g5J4qPp54

    Nokia E71:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi1gHDa7-X0

    Nokia 6230:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_RP7Fn1w8Q

    Nokia 6720:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ7t75Uo6qQ

  38. ross says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg&feature=player_embedded

    for the people saying just use a bumper, what if I don’t want to.. the phone should work properly without having to use one

  39. DaN says:

    AT&T has the worst reception ever. The network is definitely to blame in that video.

    How does showing that other cellphones have reception issues justify the iPhone’s problem? It’s a faulty phone released too early. Just accept it fanboys!

  40. Kim says:

    That still doesn’t help me decide what to choose: iPhone 4 or a brick?

    I’m lost!

  41. Ahmad says:

    He is a big liar
    I have nokia e72 and i tried to do this stupid move but it’s not working the phone is great i use it for more than 6 month and there is no reception problems

  42. rajat says:

    just dont get the iphone4 now!!!!! wait and see if there is a solution for this… for the guys that cut and paste youtube videos and support it like they are engineers or something????? get a life get proper details to your arguments other than some random video post. HW or SW no one knows that for sure..find an answer (a valid one) and paste the link??????

  43. Y.M says:

    Does anyone know a person here in Kuwait who has had reception problems with the Iphone 4 ?


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