Do Pixel Phones Have Inferior Antennas?

[Fisher99]

My family has an annual trip to a lake up in the mountains where cell service is extremely poor. While everybody else in the family has Apple phones (including XR, 10, 11, 13, and 14), my wife and I have Pixel phones. Last year we both had 4XL's and this year I have a Pixel 7 Pro and my wife has a Pixel 7. Everybody in the family has Verizon, although my wife and I are actually on Visible, which is Verizon's low cost offering. All of the Apple phones manage to get enough service to send texts and emails, make phone calls, and even run some data apps (like FaceBook and Instagram) although in a very limited manner. However, our Pixel 4XL's, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro never show even a single bar of LTE service (in fact "LTE" doesn't even light up on the phones). No texts, no emails. Nothing. Last year I just wrote it off to having an older model Pixel phone (even though some of the Apple's are even older) and thought that this year, with our new Pixel phones, that surely we would also have service, so I was hugely disappointed when that wasn't the case.

So my question is this: Do Pixel phones simply have inferior reception? Inferior antennas? Why do even the older Apple models get service where our Pixels get nothing?

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

My family has an annual trip to a lake up in the mountains where cell service is extremely poor. While everybody else in the family has Apple phones (including XR, 10, 11, 13, and 14), my wife and I have Pixel phones. Last year we both had 4XL's and this year I have a Pixel 7 Pro and my wife has a Pixel 7. Everybody in the family has Verizon, although my wife and I are actually on Visible, which is Verizon's low cost offering. All of the Apple phones manage to get enough service to send texts and emails, make phone calls, and even run some data apps (like FaceBook and Instagram) although in a very limited manner. However, our Pixel 4XL's, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro never show even a single bar of LTE service (in fact "LTE" doesn't even light up on the phones). No texts, no emails. Nothing. Last year I just wrote it off to having an older model Pixel phone (even though some of the Apple's are even older) and thought that this year, with our new Pixel phones, that surely we would also have service, so I was hugely disappointed when that wasn't the case.

So my question is this: Do Pixel phones simply have inferior reception? Inferior antennas? Why do even the older Apple models get service where our Pixels get nothing?

They don't have inferior antennas, they have in'tferior modems.

 

[Fisher99]

Interesting! Do you know if Samsung phones have better modems? If so, I might have to consider switching. This has actually almost driven me to switch to Apple.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Indeed they do. Assuming you are in the US and are talking about flagships... Outside the US it gets a bit more complicated, and I'm not sure about mid-range devices.

 

[Davidoo]

It could also be because you are on Visible, and not Verizon. I know they are a lower tower priority and should connect, but that still could be the problem. It would be interesting to see if someone had a Pixel 7 or Pro on actual Verizon to see if it made a difference.

 

[Fisher99]

Yeah, I had wondered about the Visible aspect, but Visible recently (a few months ago) did a system wide upgrade, requiring new SIM cards, and supposedly moved away from an MVNO model to a straight Verizon "prepaid" model, so connectivity to their towers should be the same across the board. They do de-prioritize Visible traffic if traffic is heavy, but I am no the "Plus" plan that is not supposed to be affected by that until I exceed 50Mb in a month. Still, it does sit in the back of my mind. Unfortunately we are the only non-Apple phones in the bunch so I don't have a "real" Verizon, non-Apple phone to compare. Maybe next year I'll have to wander the campground and do a survey... Or maybe next year I'll have switched to a Samsung or Apple phone. I'd really like to stay Android, and I love the Pixels and the fact that they are getting "straight" Android and get the OS updates the quickest. But the rest of the family is always pushing me to switch to Apple, so maybe it's time to cave.. And I do like the Apple watch and the Apple Airtags. I just really don't like Apple's closed and tightly controlled environment.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

It's a bit of a myth that Pixels get updated first. Samsung often beats them on security patches, and OS updates are once a year events where Samsung is maybe a week or two behind. I'm using the Android 14 beta on my S23U and it is ready to ship in my opinion.Just waiting for Google to stop dragging their feet.

 

[mustang7757]

Samsung and iPhone are generally the top with reception but also consider going from regular version to pro like pixels will have different connectivity as more bands on the pro model

 

[Bkdodger1]

I think the only way you can find out if it's visible is to borrow another phone and pop the SIM in it... I have noticed my Google Pixel phones to be a little less than my others with reception and I have had the pros...

 

[Fisher99]

Samsung and iPhone are generally the top with reception but also consider going from regular version to pro like pixels will have different connectivity as more bands on the pro model

As noted in my original post, I have the 7 PRO while my wife has the 7. Neither gets reception in the area that the Apple phones get reception.

 

[Fisher99]

I think the only way you can find out if it's visible is to borrow another phone and pop the SIM in it... I have noticed my Google Pixel phones to be a little less than my others with reception and I have had the pros...

I'm using eSim, so even if I could find a Samsung to try, I couldn't do a simple Sim swap unfortunately.

 

[mustang7757]

As noted in my original post, I have the 7 PRO while my wife has the 7. Neither gets reception in the area that the Apple phones get reception.

Wasn't directly talking to you but in general with what has been said

 

[Bkdodger1]

I'm using eSim, so even if I could find a Samsung to try, I couldn't do a simple Sim swap unfortunately.

Ah gotcha ...if you download the T-Mobile app you can try their service side by side with your current plan and have 2 eSIM working same time ..just a thought ..last time I tried them it was good for 90 days no charge ...other carriers do similar promotions

 

[Fisher99]

Good thought about trying T-Mobile with a second eSim. However, according to the info at the campground the only 2 providers who have even a whiff of signal up there are Verizon and AT&T. But maybe next time we go, one of those 2 will have a trial offer. I'll keep that in mind.

 

[Laura Knotek]

As noted in my original post, I have the 7 PRO while my wife has the 7. Neither gets reception in the area that the Apple phones get reception.

Do all these other family members use Visible, or do they use different carriers?

 

[Bkdodger1]

Good thought about trying T-Mobile with a second eSim. However, according to the info at the campground the only 2 providers who have even a whiff of signal up there are Verizon and AT&T. But maybe next time we go, one of those 2 will have a trial offer. I'll keep that in mind.

Check out cricket which I think uses AT&t I think you could try them out for a couple of weeks... If I'm not mistaken


You can also try mint mobile which uses T-Mobile.. I think they have the first 3 months for like $45 promo but you can also cancel after 6 days or I think before the week and get a full money back

 

[Fisher99]

Do all these other family members use Visible, or do they use different carriers?

We are the only 2 who are on Visible. The others are directly on Verizon.

 

[Laura Knotek]

We are the only 2 who are on Visible. The others are directly on Verizon.

That could be the difference rather than the phones. Next time how about swapping SIMs with someone and see if your phones work with actual Verizon?

 

[Fisher99]

That could be the difference rather than the phones. Next time how about swapping SIMs with someone and see if your phones work with actual Verizon?

I think we are all using eSim

 

[Laura Knotek]

I think we are all using eSim

I'm still leaning toward the issue being your use of the MVNO.