iPhone 5 - Reception vs 4S?

[Noisemaker]

I've had a 4S since they launched, and I've had mediocre reception at my house, which is fairly remote. I usually top out at about two bars, and get frequently dropped calls and issues with not being able to hear the other person or vice versa.

Is the iPhone 5's reception improved at all over the 4S? I know the antennas are redesigned, and that has me hopeful. Have any iPhone 5 owners noticed an improvement in reception from upgrading from an iPhone 4 or 4S?

 

[d123]

I've had a 4S since they launched, and I've had mediocre reception at my house, which is fairly remote. I usually top out at about two bars, and get frequently dropped calls and issues with not being able to hear the other person or vice versa.

Is the iPhone 5's reception improved at all over the 4S? I know the antennas are redesigned, and that has me hopeful. Have any iPhone 5 owners noticed an improvement in reception from upgrading from an iPhone 4 or 4S?

Can't talk for the 4S, but a definite noticeable improvement over the iPhone 4 (and also over a Galaxy S3).

It's also more than just a more ambitious signal meter as well, I can make calls from a building that both the 4 and S3 used to struggle with.

 

[Noisemaker]

Can't talk for the 4S, but a definite noticeable improvement over the iPhone 4 (and also over a Galaxy S3).

It's also more than just a more ambitious signal meter as well, I can make calls from a building that both the 4 and S3 used to struggle with.

Thank you so much for the info - that's really promising to hear.

Are you using a case, or just the bare iPhone? I'm not fond of cases, so I'm hoping to avoid using one entirely, unless it will help reception to have one.

 

[Southernboyj]

I noticed improved reception over a Galaxy Nexus, seems to be on-par with my old 4S/Galaxy S3.. it might be better, but it is not worse.

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Thank you so much for the info - that's really promising to hear.

Are you using a case, or just the bare iPhone? I'm not fond of cases, so I'm hoping to avoid using one entirely, unless it will help reception to have one.

I'd suggest if you don't want a case.. get the White iPhone. The black one looks amazing, but a case is needed for the aluminum.

 

[Noisemaker]

I noticed improved reception over a Galaxy Nexus, seems to be on-par with my old 4S/Galaxy S3.. it might be better, but it is not worse.

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I'd suggest if you don't want a case.. get the White iPhone. The black one looks amazing, but a case is needed for the aluminum.

I went with white - It's shipping on the 26th. I'm not fond of the look of the black, and the anodized aluminum isn't my thing. I assume the white iPhone has the same kind of aluminum backing as the iPad, which I haven't had any issues with, scratch-wise.

 

[d123]

Thank you so much for the info - that's really promising to hear.

Are you using a case, or just the bare iPhone? I'm not fond of cases, so I'm hoping to avoid using one entirely, unless it will help reception to have one.

Mostly bare iPhone, I have a few cases that I bought this week, but only the ultra slim clip on type cases.

Like this

The case doesn't seem to have an effect on signal.

 

[Bahroo]

Can't talk for the 4S, but a definite noticeable improvement over the iPhone 4 (and also over a Galaxy S3).

It's also more than just a more ambitious signal meter as well, I can make calls from a building that both the 4 and S3 used to struggle with.

i can defitnetly agree on the S3 part. when im at community college, in one of my classes when i used to have the S3, i would get LTE very rarely, and if i do it will stay just for a bit then go back to 3G, which then it becomes almost unusable to use the internet in my class because its so slow. But ever since i got the i5, i REMAIN on LTE with at least 2 bars as opposed to 1 bar of LTE and slow 3g switching on the GS3.

 

[ddl42486]

I went with white - It's shipping on the 26th. I'm not fond of the look of the black, and the anodized aluminum isn't my thing. I assume the white iPhone has the same kind of aluminum backing as the iPad, which I haven't had any issues with, scratch-wise.

I've noticed better reception from my house coming from a 4S. Before 2 bars on the 4S but with the 5 3-4 bars but does fluctuate. So IMO the 5 has had better reception at my house.
The white iPhone aluminum is nothing like the iPad it feels a little cheaper. Where the iPad and MacBook Pro have a more similar feel.

 

[Southernboyj]

I went with white - It's shipping on the 26th. I'm not fond of the look of the black, and the anodized aluminum isn't my thing. I assume the white iPhone has the same kind of aluminum backing as the iPad, which I haven't had any issues with, scratch-wise.

It is the exact same aluminum as the Black iPhone 5, but it isn't color coated, they took the aluminum of the white iPhone 5 and essentially painted it black.. that's why scratches are more noticeable on it, because the silver aluminum color shines through. I always use a case so this doesn't bother me.

 

[darster]

Bars are poor indicators whether you have good signal or not. On the iPhone 5, the bars represent LTE or 3G. On the iPhone 4, with verizon, the bar represented 1x voice, not 3G. So different phones. With that being said, I had the 4 and the razr maxx, and both would lose signal in lowest part of house. The iphone 5 does not lose signal and maintains LTE in the house, but more importantly, does not drop calls. When I put iphone in field test mode, my phone at home has a signal strength of -110 dBm in the lowest part of house, which was the same that the razr maxx would show. However, the iPhone 5 chip must be better designed as it works flawlessly. Finally, the LTE chip in the iPhone has much higher upload speeds than what my Razr Maxx had. Twice as fast upload speeds on iPhone 5.

 

[MattMJB0188]

I only had the 5 a little white before going back to the 4S for good but lack of signal was the first thing I noticed.

My signal with my iPhone 4S is always 2-3 bars at home. With the 5 it was only showing one bar. In places I'd normally have 5 bars, I was getting 3.