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Consumer Reports won’t recommend iPhone 4, citing reception problems
By Peter CohenJuly 12, 2010, 8:53 am PT
Consumer Reports on Monday posted a blog item entitled “Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can’t recommend the iPhone 4.” The report is a damning confirmation of reception problems reported with the iPhone 4, the so-called “death grip” that causes the phone to lose reception when it’s held in the user’s left hand:
“… 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.”
Consumer Reports concluded that you can fix the problem by simply applying duct tape to the gap on the iPhone 4′s lower left side where two parts of the external antenna meet. An inelegant solution, perhaps, but less expensive than an Apple Bumper. In other respects, Consumer Reports highly rates the iPhone 4, complimenting it on its display, video recording capabilities, improved battery life and gyroscope.
But Apple needs to come up with a permanent—and free—fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4.
And for what it’s worth, they’re not swayed by Apple’s revelation that they’ve been counting bars wrong all along, and will soon offer a software fix to correct that problem. Consumer Reports says that in their isolated lab tests, under controlled conditions, they can definitely cause the iPhone 4 to lose its signal.
Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can’t recommend the iPhone 4 [Consumer Reports]
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Consumer Reports won’t recommend iPhone 4, citing reception problems
By Peter CohenJuly 12, 2010, 8:53 am PT
Consumer Reports on Monday posted a blog item entitled “Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can’t recommend the iPhone 4.” The report is a damning confirmation of reception problems reported with the iPhone 4, the so-called “death grip” that causes the phone to lose reception when it’s held in the user’s left hand:
“… 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.”
Consumer Reports concluded that you can fix the problem by simply applying duct tape to the gap on the iPhone 4′s lower left side where two parts of the external antenna meet. An inelegant solution, perhaps, but less expensive than an Apple Bumper. In other respects, Consumer Reports highly rates the iPhone 4, complimenting it on its display, video recording capabilities, improved battery life and gyroscope.
But Apple needs to come up with a permanent—and free—fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4.
And for what it’s worth, they’re not swayed by Apple’s revelation that they’ve been counting bars wrong all along, and will soon offer a software fix to correct that problem. Consumer Reports says that in their isolated lab tests, under controlled conditions, they can definitely cause the iPhone 4 to lose its signal.
Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can’t recommend the iPhone 4 [Consumer Reports]
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13 Responses to “Consumer Reports won’t recommend iPhone 4, citing reception problems”
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Every time I hear about a Consumer Reports opinion about an Apple product I hearken back to their damning criticism of an early iMac — which had built-in Ethernet — for not having PCI slots that could be used for network cards.
LOL. They still have clout as evidenced by the amount of coverage today.
Seems more as though any entity that has public recognition can get attention by criticizing Apple products, justifiably or otherwise.
Is the signal strength less than or equal to the iPhone 3G/3GS or other similar smart phones?
It seems to be the same as my 3GS overall, but most have reported better signal strength. I outlined some of my weird findings in the review posted last week. http://www.loopinsight.com/2010/07/03/review-iphone-4/
I have one of these iPhones. I have seen the issue, it simply has not made me lose a call or giving me any problems. Now the bluetooth connectivity with my handsfree car system is a deferent story. I am sure Apple will address this with a patch, but it does not work as smoothly as it did with my 3G. It’s buggy and erratic. At times, once I finish a call, the iPhone keeps on ringing, but only the beginning of ringtone, repetitively until I unlock the phone. It does not happen with every call, but often enough to be annoying.
Sorry to hear you’re having problems with your car, Cris. For what it’s worth, my iPhone 4 has worked flawlessly in my car, which has an aftermarket Bluetooth stereo made by Sony.
I have, on the other hand, been able to reproduce the “Death Grip” problem. :\
I just use my headset in the car. Why do you guys use an in-car system instead of the headset?
Mainly so I can stream music to the stereo wirelessly. Talking on the phone is secondary. Having said that, it’s nice to have one less accessory to have to worry about, remembering where I put it and whether it’s charged.
I can operate my phone with voice commands and buttons in the steering weel. I have my most often called number on speed dile within the car system. “Call house” for example.
So why not conditionally recommend the phone when used in a protective case. After all, it’s a good idea to protect your $700 phone regardless of any reception issues.
This whole death grip issue is being blown all out of proportion.
I have both iPhone 4 and the 3GS… The 3GS reports 5 bars in the same location as the i4 reports 2-3… They are both on iOS4 not “jailbreak’d” and with at&t service. I get more dropped calls and cannot make phone calls with the i4 in places where I use the 3GS with 3 bars. I hope it Apple releases the patch soon. It seems as though the field test mode” (*3001#12345#*) code has changed for the i4 so I can’t report the actual signal strength. I have not had any issues with Bluetooth or the like. I am very happy with the new iPhone 4 otherwise.
@ Peter:
The “death grip” problem seems to have gotten fixed on my i4 by changing the SIM card out at my local at&t store for free, you might want to give that a try.
Yes, the problems about iPhone not only on iPhone 4, before the security problems is more concerns! http://www.atautocar.com/hot-topic/Most-Popular-Truck.html