People receiving your phone--how is the signal strength?

[steven252000]

My old phone was a Thunderbolt running Gingerbread. Right before I powered it off, it was registering between -79 dbm and -91. It seemed to fluctuate a good bit.

The SGIII registered -109 but did not fluctuate. I have had problems recently with my Thunderbolt dropping all data connection for short periods of time. I'll find out this evening if the SGIII does better or not.

The SGIII automatically re-loaded my apps and did it very quickly. I did not do a speed test, but the speed appeared to be fast even for 4g.

I made one phone call and the call clarity was very good.

Of course, there appears to be a good bit of bloatware, so I am looking forward to rooting the phone.

I too have had the data dropping issue as of late with my Thunderbolt. When I get my SIII on Monday and go to work I will check and see if it is a Thunderbolt issue or some type of 4g problem. Just curious where are you located? My problem is near Atlanta.

 

[Premium1]

I have had the phone for a couple of days, now. I live in an area where Verizon has good coverage and am also in the middle of a 4G coverage area. Qualitatively speaking, I have not noticed any subpar radio reception on my SG3. It seems to be working very well.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

Good to know. Thats reassuring

 

[babracmmm]

I live in 3G land. My wifi reception is bad on this S3. And my cell signal strength on my DInc is -65 and sitting in the same place the signal strength on the new S3 is between -73 and -81.

 

[ifp]

Side by side comparison with my girlfriend's Droid RAZR with its ICS update, signal strength of the S3 is the same or up to 3dB better throughout my house. Ranges from -110dB to -102dB.

 

[rushmore]

I live in 3G land. My wifi reception is bad on this S3. And my cell signal strength on my DInc is -65 and sitting in the same place the signal strength on the new S3 is between -73 and -81.

GB with ICS apparently read signal a little different.

 

[Premium1]

Side by side comparison with my girlfriend's Droid RAZR with its ICS update, signal strength of the S3 is the same or up to 3dB better throughout my house. Ranges from -110dB to -102dB.

this is what many wanted to see. If the reception is very close to a moto device that is really good news.

 

[mikesmith]

At work:

DroidX with stock Gingerbread:
-55 0asu

S3:
-75 65asu

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[Wontfinishlast]

Just want to report here at work where reception was spotty (close to non existent) at best with my DX, I have as good if not better reception with my s3. I'd say reception is definitely not an issue.

 

[davidnc]

At work which is historically a weak area of any smartphone I have owned ( Blackberry 8330,Incredible,DX,Galaxy Nexus,SGS3).
I am getting alot better dBm's(lower numbers) then my nexus does.
Btw ,,,I havent had any times I couldnt get data or use phone with nexus either tho.

 

[bduncan6]

-84dbm 56asu in SW Houston, stock.


Comparison from the same spot: RAZR MAXX with stock ICS -86dbm


They are both fluctuating up to as high as -95 from that same spot.

 

[Ken7]

this is what many wanted to see. If the reception is very close to a moto device that is really good news.

Except many report that the Mot reception dropped significantly with the ICS update. So I'm not sure how good a comparison is with a post ICS Razr. Personally I'd rather see a comparison of the S3 & GNex in fringe type areas.

 

[Ken7]

At work which is historically a weak area of any smartphone I have owned ( Blackberry 8330,Incredible,DX,Galaxy Nexus,SGS3).
I am getting alot better dBm's(lower numbers) then my nexus does.
Btw ,,,I havent had any times I couldnt get data or use phone with nexus either tho.

That's good news.

 

[Ken7]

*sighs* Like this is going to be a valid method of testing. We've had a bagillion blogs review this phone. Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, ATT. It doesn't matter. They all are using the same hardware on different frequencies. If there was a problem, we would have heard about it by now.

Um, we didn't hear about reception issues when these same guys were reviewing the GNex. It was all roses with those reviews at the beginning. It was only quite awhile afterwards when the internet was flooded with reports of data drop issues with the GNex that the reviewers went back and acknowledged an issue.

Personally I give more credence to reports we're getting from users than these reviewers.

 

[Ken7]

Believe reception drops off the closer to 0 you get.

As for signal strength, I'm not noticing it being any better than the Thunderbolt I have but also not any worse. Speedtests and signal strength are about the same in a known good coverage area. On the opposite end, my parents live in a relatively poor signal area that's also on the outskirts of extended lte coverage which makes my Thunderbolt flip out and eat the battery as it was constantly switching from 3G to LTE and no data. The GSIII seems to maintain 3G signal (although very low) and not even try to switch to LTE. Maybe the radio is slightly weaker or maybe the RIL is coded better but it's a definite improvement over the constant switching.

OTOH the S3 may be missing out on a viable 4G signal. It's really hard to determine if a phone has given up on a 4G signal because it's a bad signal or because the reception of the phone itself could have been better.

 

[Ken7]

Faring a little better coming from the Nexus. See attached pictures for proof, exact same location in my house. I also did some speed tests but need to do the one at work before I'll post results.

Except these seem to be taken hours apart if the time is accurate (which it should be when connected to the network.

 

[Ken7]

Very true...but if you look at Motorola (the king of radios) you will see issues of disconnecting and 3G to 4G issues. I have experienced those myself.

There's so much going for the S3 it's really tough to decide...do I tolerate the flaky reception for that awesome screen?...hmmm

Well it does reach a point with signal quality & signal strength where even a phone with great reception gets you nowhere. The question is which performs better in the same poor signal areas.

 

[Ken7]

I have a Motorola........Bionic with an average of -78 to -89 of this so called DBM and I CONSTANTLY loose data and sometimes calls......Motorola my ass.....Monday can't get here soon enough!!

Let's be honest, your results are the exception, not the rule. Motorola didn't get a stellar reputation for its radios because it's reception was worse than others.

 

[major52]

Well folks, I have my Galaxy S3. It came today about noon. It is a beauty, blue, and 16GB version with my own 8GB SDHC micro card.

I traded in my Galaxy Nexus for it. Previous phones: Galaxy S1 Fascinate and Blackberry Curve. My 4g signal was -89; my S3 is -85 at my Atlanta location. The reason I traded was because of improved hardware and Touchwiz UI which I missed from my Fascinate.

The S3 feels good in my hands and the voice quality is better than the Gnex. People complain about minor stuff like plastic, bloatware, and the like. I say, enjoy what you like about the phone. I will. By the time Jelly Bean comes it will be like the next Galaxy.

 

[snapdragon0503]

I have not been getting very good signal with my new galaxy compared to my thunderbolt which not only had about 20 dBm better signal but also a faster internet speed (25up thunderbolt compared to 17up galaxy standing on same spot same servers). Still a beast of a phone but radios just not up to par with older competition.

 

[jroc]

Ken7, I like you.... Don't take it the wrong way....lol.

Agree with alot of what you're saying. Folks...we still need to compare phones for real world use in the same locations.

Ken, on ICS, the bars and decibels for 4G really are more accurate. Found this out after the ICS update for the RAZR. That's why it's good to compare it to the RAZR on ICS. I really believe some of the complaints for RAZR users are cosmetic. They see worse so they think it's worse. Also...I think leaving the RAZR on global messes with reception and battery life. My data speeds are always slower on global.

About the Bionic and reception....hey...Moto cant hit a home run every time. Look at the GS2 vs. the G Nex. And absolutely agree about reception history and Moto. These manufactures have been making phones before Android even existed. Moto and decent, better than most reception goes back many, many years.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Android Central Forums