iPhone XS Xs signal strength vs Xr

[jay968]

So after all these months now, what's the general feeling on signal strength of the Xs, vs the Xr? I've read some old threads claiming that the Xs has better reception than the Xr and I have read others claiming the Xr has better reception than the Xs.

Can anyone who has owned, used or compared both comment? I am NOT interested in which has faster download speeds (which are greatly affected by network congestion at any given time), but rather which gets better dbm results in the same environment. So it would take looking at the service menu to get these results.

Anybody?

 

[d123]

I’ve owned both and can’t say I have noticed any difference in signal strength or reception.

 

[jay968]

Thanks. Have you actually looked at dbm values in the service menu?

 

[d123]

Thanks. Have you actually looked at dbm values in the service menu?

No, but used both extensively in some really s**t reception areas, both managed well, better than many other phones have, for example, the X struggled to even maintain a usable signal.

 

[jay968]

Thanks, good to know.

Anyone else?

 

[jay968]

By the way, for anyone who may want to check signal strength but does not know how on an iphone:
- open the dialer and type the following - *3001#12345#*
- Touch the call button
- On the next screen touch LTE
- On the next, touch servicing cell meas
- wait for the screen to refresh and then look at the number next to rsrp0
This is the actual signal strength in dbm. It will be a negative number such as -90. The closer to 0, the better the signal strength. So a reading of -90 is better than a reading of -100 and so on.
The results are very sensitive and an average of them as they refresh should be noted, The number can vary quite a bit over a minute or more of observation. Also, different positions can give different results as well as what may be sitting next to the phone as you look at the readings. I have also found that the results may differ when holding the phone as opposed to letting it sit on a table.
So, if by chance anyone has both a Xr and an Xs, using the same network on each (I know, not very likely) try it. Keep the phones seperated by a foot or more, and swap their positions from time to time. Just make some notes from time to time and try and get a feel for the average results form each.
I did this with an Xr and a Galaxy S10e and found that the Galaxy regularly displayed between 2 and about 9 dbm better signal quality. (A difference of at least 5dbm is somewhat significant). But I've never had the opportunity to do this with an Xr against an Xs and I am curious.
I know it's not very likely that anyone would have both phones on the same network but I thought I might ask anyway.
What a LOT of people get caught up in is signal bars and LTE speed. Neither one of these realistically have anything to do with signal strength. There is no standard for signal bars on a phone, and LTE speed is too dependent on too many variable to rely on to indicate signal strength or quality.