The last several times I've gone shopping for mobile phones (at AT&T, Sprint, and T-mobile stores), the store staff have been unable to answer the question: "Which phone has the best reception?"
The staff have been able to recommendations, based on customer feedback, but have not been able to recommend phones based on specifications, ratings scales, or similar quantitative information. TV picture quality can be an analogously subjective question, but TV's have resolution, image contrast ratio, brightness, and other measurable traits.
Why is there no objective measure reception & broadcast quality by which consumers can make purchasing decisions?
Cellphone reception specs or rating scale?
Tue, 03/08/2005 - 13:56
#1
Cellphone reception specs or rating scale?
I agree...but they don't care about reception & broadcast quality ... just the gagets you get the games... who cares... a camera... got one... the internet... yeah while i'm changeing lanes!!!
They make all the money off the ring tones, image downloads ect...
I think there are two closely related questions here:
* On what basis do most mobile phone users make purchasing decisions (features, price, size?)
* How could a scale be devised; what impacts reception and broadcast quality? (Does a bigger/better antenna mean better reception? Does more power mean better communications?)
As to your first point: I bought my last phone because it looked cool, which is not a good consumer decision, I know, but that's how it goes with gadgets.
As to your second point: It would be nice to have some form of rating system, but I'd bet that finding viable data to build such a system would be difficult. How do you compare a Nokia XXYY on AT&T's services in rural Arizona against a Samsung YYZZ on T-Mobile in the middle of Tribeca?
I have a few beefs with cell phones, signal reception being one of them. You can't base a purchasing decision on reception because you have no idea the kind of reception you are going to get with any given phone until you actually use it. If they would just let us 'borrow' an existing cell phone to test drive much like a car, it would solve this problem. I'm sure that they have refurbished models laying around that they could quickly program and tie into your existing account so it doesn't cost anything to them other than time (which might be exactly why they won't do it).
If there were some way to figure this out without trying it, I would love to hear about it.
I find that the best way to figure out if a phone will work for you is to talk to your friends and family nearby who use one service over another.
It's also important to note that the phone has little to do with reception in general. The switch from external to internal antennas hasn't helped, but reception is mostly a number of other factors in the area. Example: your elevation, proximity to tower, orientation, network system, signal path obstructions, and lastly telephone.
Talking to your friends and family about where they use their phone and how good the reception is can tell you a lot about how it would work for you, regardless of the model.
For instance, I can't get a Verizon signal in my neighborhood, and neither can any of my neighbors. We've tried with 4 different models with little success, both on CDMA digital and analog. Verizon works fine across town, but just not by my house.
I do agree with Ron that services should let you take a handset with you for a day or two to try out, but that's just not going to happen. Besides, most carriers will let you return the phone with no penalty if you're unhappy in the first few weeks, so excercise your right to try it out before your contract becomes permanent.
I have a Motorola V551 and travel all over the country. I have also had many, many other phones. If you are looking for a phone with great reception this is it.
You need to set the network speed to continous. They say it drains the power, but I do not see a big difference.