Two Note 2's, Different Results

[tylerilyn]

I recently purchased two Verizon Note 2's from Amazon new off-contract.

Since I've been setting them up, I've been noticing some oddities about one of them.

One of them seems to have worse signal strength (like right now one is -100 dBm, the other is -105dBm, pretty consistent this gap wherever I have them). It will also pick up 1 or 2 less satellites using GPS. And, the compass direction is slightly off. Even more, the screen brightness on auto is a bit lower than the other one, which I think is the "right" brightness.

Is there anything that would cause all these issues together? I just got new micro-SIMs in them, but even before it was the same with the sat., compass and brightness issues.

Don't know if I should return it or just be okay with it. Nothing that makes it really unusable. Help me think for myself!

 

[anon(394005)]

Myself, I'd do a master (factory) reset on at least the one showing less signal strength/GPS sat and screen brightness issues just to get it to a known clean state and eliminate any type of software issue. I do this regardless on any new device before setting it up. If it still does the same thing after, you may wish to exchange it as it might be a hardware issue.

 

[tylerilyn]

Myself, I'd do a master (factory) reset on at least the one showing less signal strength/GPS sat and screen brightness issues just to get it to a known clean state and eliminate any type of software issue. I do this regardless on any new device before setting it up. If it still does the same thing after, you may wish to exchange it as it might be a hardware issue.

Yeah, I did a factory reset while I was there in the store because it was on 3G while the other was on 4G after getting the cards in. Then it was at least on 4G when it rebooted (had a great signal in-store so I was thinking there's no way it would only do 3G). There was a global mode notification on both of them a few minutes after inserting the SIMs. Does that have to do with anything?

 

[anon(394005)]

Yeah, I did a factory reset while I was there in the store because it was on 3G while the other was on 4G after getting the cards in. Then it was at least on 4G when it rebooted (had a great signal in-store so I was thinking there's no way it would only do 3G). There was a global mode notification on both of them a few minutes after inserting the SIMs. Does that have to do with anything?

I don't think it would have anything to do with it, but I'd set them both to LTE/CDMA anyway just to keep them from trying to scan for global type connections (no need to unless you plan on trying to use the phone outside the country). Also, keep in mind in the stores they usually have repeaters to ensure a good signal. Anyway, I'd expect some minor variances from phone to phone, but as long as they don't seem to cause any major issues, you should be ok. But if there's any doubt, may be best to exchange it before the 14 day window closes (just to be safe that it's not a hardware issue).

 

[tylerilyn]

I don't think it would have anything to do with it, but I'd set them both to LTE/CDMA anyway just to keep them from trying to scan for global type connections (no need to unless you plan on trying to use the phone outside the country). Also, keep in mind in the stores they usually have repeaters to ensure a good signal. Anyway, I'd expect some minor variances from phone to phone, but as long as they don't seem to cause any major issues, you should be ok. But if there's any doubt, may be best to exchange it before the 14 day window closes (just to be safe that it's not a hardware issue).

Good idea. I'd think it would save a bit of battery. It may be that they just come out a bit different like you suggest. I don't have a problem with it, as it hasn't dropped any calls and gets 4G in the house. I was a bit worried about Samsung signal quality, but the Note 2 seems just as good or better than my Tbolt or Rezound.

 

[anon(394005)]

Good idea. I'd think it would save a bit of battery. It may just be that they just come out a bit different. I really don't have a problem with it, as it hasn't dropped any calls and gets 4G in the house. I was a bit worried about Samsung signal quality but the Note 2 seems just as good or better than my Tbolt and Rezound.

I came from a Thunderbolt and had that concern initially too. But it doesn't appear to be problem at all with the Note 2. I've had mine little over three months now and haven't had any dropped calls and the data connection has been very solid (even in a few known dead zones on my way to work).

 

[Bond32]

I think that difference you stated is negligible. The actual user experience affected by 5-10 db is slim to none. There are simply too many variables with signal

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[tylerilyn]

I think that difference you stated is negligible. The actual user experience affected by 5-10 db is slim to none. There are simply too many variables with signal

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

I agreed, and didn't end up returning it. My fiancee just gets the one that in 'my mind' is the better one. They are both great phones. No way I could go back to the Bolt or Rezound.

 

[DaRkL3AD3R]

I agreed, and didn't end up returning it. My fiancee just gets the one that in 'my mind' is the better one. They are both great phones. No way I could go back to the Bolt or Rezound.

I was in your same shoes, bought 2 brand new Note 2's and one of them seemed to have lower brightness and more black ink spots on black screens. I gave the "better" one to my girlfriend and kept the worse off one for me.

Alpha males, checking that privilege.

 

[tylerilyn]

I was in your same shoes, bought 2 brand new Note 2's and one of them seemed to have lower brightness and more black ink spots on black screens. I gave the "better" one to my girlfriend and kept the worse off one for me.

Alpha males, checking that privilege.

Nice! Yeah, we are better equipped to deal with it.

I'm fine having to manually switch brightness. I was outside today, and it definitely did not get as bright as needed on auto like the other one did.

We are a shield against such unpleasant realities. She'll never know, because I'll never tell her. ha ha

Unless she tries to use the compass on the Note 2. :-\ I think they might all be equally bad out-of-the-box.

 

[DaRkL3AD3R]

Nice! Yeah, we are better equipped to deal with it.

I'm fine having to manually switch brightness. I was outside today, and it definitely did not get as bright as needed on auto like the other one did.

We are a shield against such unpleasant realities. She'll never know, because I'll never tell her. ha ha

Unless she tries to use the compass on the Note 2. :-\ I think they might all be equally bad out-of-the-box.

Exactly lol

By the way all Note 2's have funky compass problems. I was hoping that it might get patched in from Samsung but who knows if they're even aware of it.

Samsung Note 2 compass issue - YouTube