dBm unlocked HTC U11 vs Samsung S8/8+

[giper54]

I am looking for any body who owns both the unlocked HTC U11 and a Samsung S8/8+ to compare the dBm for reception. I use AT&T but have a Verizon data SIM card too. If anyone has access to both devices and can tell me which one has better dBm for AT&T I would greatly appreciate it

 

[Rob Chew]

I am looking for any body who owns both the unlocked HTC U11 and a Samsung S8/8+ to compare the dBm for reception. I use AT&T but have a Verizon data SIM card too. If anyone has access to both devices and can tell me which one has better dBm for AT&T I would greatly appreciate it

Sure. HTC U11 - 98 and S8 - 91. Reading taken minutes ago, side by side on AT&T data.

 

[krazyatom]

Wow. Do they use different antennas?

 

[Rob Chew]

OK, I redid the test a few minutes ago and got different results. This time, the U11 was - 89, the S8 was - 94 and I added my LG V10 which fluctuated between - 94 and - 96. Since I'm afraid to use my U11 much until my case arrives, I've only made a few test calls, but I had no problem and the call quality was good. No reviews have mentioned any signal or reception problems so I wouldn't worry. If you have doubts, buy from Amazon where you have a 30 day no questions asked return policy. That is well worth it than trying to save $50 through HTC.

 

[giper54]

OK, I redid the test a few minutes ago and got different results. This time, the U11 was - 89, the S8 was - 94 and I added my LG V10 which fluctuated between - 94 and - 96. Since I'm afraid to use my U11 much until my case arrives, I've only made a few test calls, but I had no problem and the call quality was good. No reviews have mentioned any signal or reception problems so I wouldn't worry. If you have doubts, buy from Amazon where you have a 30 day no questions asked return policy. That is well worth it than trying to save $50 through HTC.

Thank you for running the tests for dBm. @saschasegan tweets about antennas and chip sets which is important to me since I live/work in an area with tough reception. Seems like the Snapdragon 835 MIMO 4 x 4 helps with signal in edge areas, the phones can pull in a better signal in weak areas. Right now Verizon and T Mob has MIMO up and running with their AWS but ATT does not have a lot Up and running.

I follow Palm Solo on Twitter and he loves Samsung radios and he is on T Mobile. I rarely see the same great reception that he does when using a Samsung device and I think it is because ATT does not have the MIMO set up yet.

I will have a U11 being delivered tomorrow and an unlocked S8+ waiting at Best Buy but I would like to gather other people's reception data first.

 

[giper54]

Rob Chew if you can I would love to see some more dBm comparisons.

 

[Rob Chew]

Rob Chew if you can I would love to see some more dBm comparisons.

OK, - 90 for U11 and, - 93 for S8 done at 7:03 Est. So U11 is doing quite well. I live in a suburb of Washington where AT&T has a strong signal. I would think the U11 would be as good as any other phone you've tried in your area. Samsung phones are known for good signal quality and the U11 seems even better.

 

[giper54]

OK, - 90 for U11 and, - 93 for S8 done at 7:03 Est. So U11 is doing quite well. I live in a suburb of Washington where AT&T has a strong signal. I would think the U11 would be as good as any other phone you've tried in your area. Samsung phones are known for good signal quality and the U11 seems even better.

I think I am set on the U11. I need to watch a video by the woman named Erica Griffin. She has a post 30 day video and the little I saw it seems the S8 still stuffers some and the 5.5 U11 seems to show almost as much because of the black bars on the S8, at least for the speed apps she was using.

 

[giper54]

Rob would you be able to do a Speedtest between the U11 and S8+?

 

[Rob Chew]

Rob would you be able to do a Speedtest between the U11 and S8+?

Sure. Keep in mind that servers around here can change in a matter of seconds, but here is what I got a few minutes ago.
WiFi is no problem. The U11 was just slightly below on data, but not bad at all.

S8 =data 61.23 down, 12.03 up
WiFi 237.53 down, 13.21 up

U11 =data 54.05 down, 9.75 up
WiFi 239.26 down, 13.70 up
Tests used Speed test by Okla.

 

[kg4icg]

If you want to make it really easy, get this app.

 

[giper54]

Sure. Keep in mind that servers around here can change in a matter of seconds, but here is what I got a few minutes ago.
WiFi is no problem. The U11 was just slightly below on data, but not bad at all.

S8 =data 61.23 down, 12.03 up
WiFi 237.53 down, 13.21 up

U11 =data 54.05 down, 9.75 up
WiFi 239.26 down, 13.70 up
Tests used Speed test by Okla.

Thank you for all of this information. I haven't set up my U11 yet. I stopped by a non corporate ATT store yesterday to heck out dBm and a store rep had one but he has T Mobile. Go figure.

I am hoping to stop by a corporate ATT tonight and check it out. If it looks good I will pick up the unlocked version at Best Buy.

I started to follow a Qualcomm employee on Twitter and he had this to say about the S8+ and U11:
@palmsolo @giper54 @ZDNet dBm is not the correct measure. SNR is ultimate arbiter of signal quality. S8 gets higher SNR from the same dBm level due to 4 antennas.

 

[giper54]

If you want to make it really easy, get this app.//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170619/7c1970b36146e81fe234c8b40a03a5b7.jpg

What is the name of this app?

 

[Rob Chew]

What is the name of this app?

Network Cell Info

 

[giper54]

I set up the U11 today. dBm is as good as the Verizon iPhone 7 plus that I use on ATT sometimes a point or two better, a point worse but mostly the same. The only interesting thing is that it uses band 17 while my Pixel XL would use band 12.

 

[giper54]

Here are my results. On Band 4 ATT LTE S8+ has a better dBm reading and slightly better speed. Unfortunately where I live and work I use band 17. For band 17 LTE the U11 has much better reception. The S8+ even dipped down to 4G in my office. Looks like the U11 is the phone for me.