Consumer Reports disses iPhone 4, won’t +rep

Matt Jancaitis 12 Jul, 2010 at 6:01pm ET Article published in Tech

In a post by Mike Gikas on Consumer Reports’ official blog, the testing and rating agency revealed that they cannot recommend the iPhone 4 for current consumers.

It’s official. Consumer Reports’ engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception. When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4.

After testing three separate iPhone 4s, purchased in different locations, in a controlled environment free of outside radio interference, the organization found a distinct issue with maintaining signal while bridging the now-famous gap between the two antennas in the lower left of the phone, shorting them together. For good scientific measure, the group also tested several other AT&T phones, including a 3GS and a Palm Pre. Neither exhibited the same drastic level of signal degradation.

The tests cast firm doubt on Apple’s assertion that the apparent signal loss was actually just a result of a bad network strength calculation. When you can fix a problem by just indicating you have more bars, who cares if you actually don’t? (Coming soon: a phone with 8 bars!) On top of that, the group goes a step further and indicates that the signal problems aren’t even AT&T’s fault. Everybody’s favorite scapegoat just came out clean.

As everybody else has, CR has noted that you can avoid the problem signal degradation by somehow covering the antenna in that area of the phone – taping it off, using a bumper, or using a case are all potential solutions. The iPhone 4 continues to be one of Consumer Reports’ highest-rated cell phones on the back of the rest of its features, but according to Mike Gikas, until the antenna issue is fixed, that alone will prevent them from being able to recommend it.

(But hey, you can still get the 3GS!)

Comments

12 Jul 2010 ~ 11:12pm Bandrik Kind of a disappointment, but hey. I'm "stuck" using my 3GS until this time next year anyways. Sure, there's a couple of ways I could do an early upgrade, but I honestly can't see myself shelling the cash out for a slightly improved version of what I already have.

Besides, I'm the guy that still prefers to use the Nintendo DS "Phat" rather than its revisions (Lite and DSi) out of love for the original (and hate of spending more money on what I already have).
13 Jul 2010 ~ 12:12am Thrax Eight bars? Game changer.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 12:22am Nibiru2012 Ooohps! I posted this in the Hardware, Mobile section. If the mods or admins want to delete this then go ahead. My Bad! :o
13 Jul 2010 ~ 12:24am primesuspect Eight magical bars
13 Jul 2010 ~ 12:44am ardichoke brb, softmodding my Nexus One to have 10 bars.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 3:29am Snarkasm This phone goes to 11!
13 Jul 2010 ~ 11:58am QCH My phone is so 2009... it only has 2 bars. On and off.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 4:20pm Linc Not just ""one of Consumer Reportsâ€™ highest-rated cell phones" - they rated it as THE top smartphone on the market... but yeah, don't buy it.

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100712/consumer-reports-by-the-way-the-iphone-4-is-also-the-best-smartphone-on-the-market/
13 Jul 2010 ~ 4:38pm primesuspect You know, Apple doesn't necessarily need you to be their white knight, coming to their defense all the time.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20010379-501465.html?tag=exclsv

If it's a shitty product, it's a shitty product. "magic" and "top smartphone ever" marketing mega-hype aside, IF YOU TOUCH THE SIDE, THE CALL DROPS. That's absolute crap, and totally inexcusible.

So go ahead and roll your eyes, but yeah: Don't buy it.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 4:41pm shwaip It takes a bit more effort than "touching the side" to drop calls/data rate.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 4:45pm primesuspect There is no way I'd buy this phone until they fix this problem. WTB Rev B plz

If this was the HTC MegaDragon Onyx 2000, nobody would give a shit. Nobody would be talking about it, and this thread wouldn't exist.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 5:17pm Obsidian Obviously because we would be too busy talking about how awesome the name is.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 5:33pm Kwitko

primesuspect wrote:

If this was the HTC MegaDragon Onyx 2000, nobody would give a shit.

Because HTC wouldn't make a phone with such a glaring design flaw. Although Apple doesn't consider it a design flaw because everybody knows Apple fanboys use Bluetooth headsets when they beat off to pictures of Steve Jobs.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 6:12pm Marushka My friend has a new iphone 4 and he says he has tried everything to get it to drop calls the way people say it does and he hasn't been able to. He also lives / works right in downtown seattle where im assuming the coverage is pretty seamless, so that probably helps. Just a case study.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 7:40pm Tim Who needs an iPhone 4? Why not stick with your older iPhone version? I'm still using my Verizon VX-8300 that I got in May 2007 and it works fine for me. Original battery pack and everything!
13 Jul 2010 ~ 7:45pm Linc

primesuspect wrote:

You know, Apple doesn't necessarily need you to be their white knight, coming to their defense all the time.

Right, defending Apple. Or maybe calling out Consumer Reports for completely contradicting itself. You can't call it the best smartphone on the market in one breath and tell people to not buy it in the next.
13 Jul 2010 ~ 10:08pm Kwitko

Tim wrote:

Who needs an iPhone 4? Why not stick with your older iPhone version? I'm still using my Verizon VX-8300 that I got in May 2007 and it works fine for me. Original battery pack and everything!
14 Jul 2010 ~ 1:53am Shorty The guitarist in my band and I both have iPhone 4 devices. Neither one of us can replicate the fault. Perhaps the mobile network in the USA is just poor for the key people?

I am happy to be proved wrong but this sounds like bandwagon jumping ("me too!" syndrome)
14 Jul 2010 ~ 2:59am ardichoke

Kwitko wrote:

QFT

Shorty wrote:

The guitarist in my band and I both have iPhone 4 devices. Neither one of us can replicate the fault. Perhaps the mobile network in the USA is just poor for the key people?

I am happy to be proved wrong but this sounds like bandwagon jumping ("me too!" syndrome)

Have you watched the Consumer Reports video? They reproduced the death grip with multiple phones in an isolated environment. It was as close to scientifically conclusive results as you can get. Bridging the two antennas with your hand/finger/whatever causes significant signal loss. It's a major engineering flaw. That said, the whole thing can be fixed by having a case on your phone which covers the edge of the phone (or by putting non-conductive tape over that particular area on the side of the phone)
14 Jul 2010 ~ 4:07am Sledgehammer70 My iPhone 4 has not shown the drop call issue at all. I did the same thing as the videos have been showing on both my phone and my wifes phone. Maybe having full bars -2 bars allows enough signal to not drop the calls?
14 Jul 2010 ~ 5:04am Shorty I am actually going to verify the whole thing with a friend of mine who works in hardware design. I suspect he will have a real scientific view.
14 Jul 2010 ~ 7:43am Snarkasm

Lincoln wrote:

Right, defending Apple. Or maybe calling out Consumer Reports for completely contradicting itself. You can't call it the best smartphone on the market in one breath and tell people to not buy it in the next.

It can be (and in some rights, is) the best device on the market, but still not fulfill its primary purpose - as a phone - leading to an inability to recommend it as a phone.

Anand had a good writeup that's about as scientific as you can get testing actual signal strength in a real world environment. They flashed a bit of software that allowed display of the actual signal strength in dB (since Apple inexplicably removed the standard debugging tools in the iPhone 4) while reproducing the grip. Without a case, when bridging the gap between the two antennae, you lose 24 dB of signal strength. If you have 5 bars (and if you have REALLY GOOD 5 bars), losing 24 dB won't even pull you out of the 5-bar range. Apple's 5-bar range encompasses 40 dB, while the spread between 1 bar and 3 bars is only 10 dB. Therefore, if you have even the highest-strength 4-bar signal you can get, -91 dB, if you cup the phone and short those antennae together, you will drop to -115 dB, below the -113 dB required to generate even 1 bar and a connection to the network at all. If you're anywhere with a medium-strength 4-bar connection - one that's supposed to be pretty good - and you hold the phone in such a way, natural for lefties, that bridges that gap, you can lose your call entirely.

The writeup, page 2 in their review, is stellar, and I recommend it. There's a table of comparison between an iPhone 4, 3GS, and a Nexus One, and the 4 just suffers greater attenuation due to the external antenna, gripped or not. It's a design flaw... that's all there is to it. If there was a design flaw that caused a car to spontaneously combust, but only if driven by people with some kind of implantable device, would that be a non-issue? Wouldn't you demand a recall, or would you accept the CEO of Ford telling people to drive it differently (say, from the back seat or the roof instead)?

That said, the phone performs more admirably at 1 bar than the 3GS ever does. It's a significantly better revision, but if you can kill it that easily - something that could have been fixed with a simple coating on the band - you can understand from where the temporary non-recommendation is coming.
14 Jul 2010 ~ 3:15pm Sledgehammer70 Going from a 2G to a 3G and now iPhone 4 has been a huge jump in speed and functionality.