Which smartphone has the best antenna?

[MaxTheAxe]

Hi, new comer here but long time ltt youtube channels listener. The reason I am posting here is because I am about to change my phone and where I live I can hardly get 2 bars of LTE signal on my iPhone XR. Was wondering what should I go for on my next purchase to get at least a steady 3 bars. Information on smartphone antennas are really scarce, would be nice to have someone test antennas with true data somewhere. Thanks

[MaxTheAxe]

Where I live most homes are like 250m appart , we all are in different situations. I don’t think asking my neighbours would be a good indication. Also because they don’t look like tech people at all... I mean there must be a reliable way to test antennas strength in phones right??? And why is it so hard to find this info?? I know smart phones prefer design than having a good antenna since good antennas are usually protruding from the device to do a good job. But I mean come on.. ltt should look into that.

[Commodus]

10 hours ago, MaxTheAxe said:

Where I live most homes are like 250m appart , we all are in different situations. I don’t think asking my neighbours would be a good indication. Also because they don’t look like tech people at all... I mean there must be a reliable way to test antennas strength in phones right??? And why is it so hard to find this info?? I know smart phones prefer design than having a good antenna since good antennas are usually protruding from the device to do a good job. But I mean come on.. ltt should look into that.

You might get better reception from newer iPhones that use Qualcomm's modem tech. The Intel tech inside the iPhone XR wasn't terrible, but I remember people saying Qualcomm modems in other iPhones fared better.

 

With that said, this is also assuming it isn't just a coverage issue in your area. Sometimes it's just that a provider doesn't serve an area as well as it should — I've been through urban areas that had oddly poor reception.

[MaxTheAxe]

11 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Install a cell reception repeater/booster then

could help for home I guess. The thing is that when I drive to and from home the reception wouldn't be better tho....

[MaxTheAxe]

1 hour ago, Commodus said:

You might get better reception from newer iPhones that use Qualcomm's modem tech. The Intel tech inside the iPhone XR wasn't terrible, but I remember people saying Qualcomm modems in other iPhones fared better.

 

With that said, this is also assuming it isn't just a coverage issue in your area. Sometimes it's just that a provider doesn't serve an area as well as it should — I've been through urban areas that had oddly poor reception.

wait a minute, you are saying we have modems in our phones? I thought it was just a simple antenna.... I am afraid to go back with Iphone again because of the xr poor reception, but if you tell me they modified the hardware I guess I could give it a try. But are samsungs, google, tcl or motorola even better than newer iphones? Didn't include LG because of bad experiences with them in the past and huawei because I don't trust them.

[Commodus]

2 hours ago, MaxTheAxe said:

wait a minute, you are saying we have modems in our phones? I thought it was just a simple antenna.... I am afraid to go back with Iphone again because of the xr poor reception, but if you tell me they modified the hardware I guess I could give it a try. But are samsungs, google, tcl or motorola even better than newer iphones? Didn't include LG because of bad experiences with them in the past and huawei because I don't trust them.

Any time you need to modulate a signal into useful data, you need a modem  It's just the size of a tiny chip, or in some cases built into the main processor.

 

Many contemporary Android phones will use similar modems. After that, it really comes down to how readily the phone body permits wireless transmissions. I wouldn't expect wild differences in reception.

 

[MaxTheAxe]

Thanks then I think I will stay with iPhone since they have basically the same hardware

[appleache]

Qualcomm devices, iphone never had the best reception. antenna design rn is more about not fuk it up, than better reception, signal are mostly related to modem. xr and xs gen has the intel modem which dont get a good rep, and apple always like to mess with antenna design

[MaxTheAxe]

On 4/25/2021 at 12:01 AM, appleache said:

Qualcomm devices, iphone never had the best reception. antenna design rn is more about not fuk it up, than better reception, signal are mostly related to modem. xr and xs gen has the intel modem which dont get a good rep, and apple always like to mess with antenna design

How to know which phone has which modem???

[v0id]

19 hours ago, MaxTheAxe said:

How to know which phone has which modem???

Most will detail it on their spec sheets. I usually use GSMarena since retail sites sometimes don't display that information. They're usually pretty good.

 

EDIT: Bands are also important when it comes to cell service, because if your phone is lacking certain bands you can notice dramatic drops in cell coverage as you travel. So it's not just a modem issue.

[Commodus]

14 hours ago, MaxTheAxe said:

How to know which phone has which modem???

If the phone is based on a Qualcomm processor (Android phones with Snapdragons), the odds are it'll have the modem that was current at the time that chip was released. With Apple, there's a guide for it — but it's safe to say that all iPhone 12 models use Qualcomm modems.

 

Just be aware that the modem isn't absolutely everything. It's entirely possible that you'd have the best phone reception  and still get those two bars of LTE. You might need to ask your carrier if they offer a cell signal booster, see if they can improve coverage, or even switch carriers (which one are you using, by the way?).

[MaxTheAxe]

12 hours ago, Commodus said:

If the phone is based on a Qualcomm processor (Android phones with Snapdragons), the odds are it'll have the modem that was current at the time that chip was released. With Apple, there's a guide for it — but it's safe to say that all iPhone 12 models use Qualcomm modems.

 

Just be aware that the modem isn't absolutely everything. It's entirely possible that you'd have the best phone reception  and still get those two bars of LTE. You might need to ask your carrier if they offer a cell signal booster, see if they can improve coverage, or even switch carriers (which one are you using, by the way?).

I am with bell at the moment

[Commodus]

10 hours ago, MaxTheAxe said:

I am with bell at the moment

Figured it'd be one of the majors. Not sure if Rogers would be better if you were determined to switch (you might want to compare coverage maps if available), but I'd pass on Telus as I believe it shares some infrastructure with Bell.