Two HTC One Google Edition related complaints

[RK928]

The HTC One Google Edition is my first "smart" phone, coming off a long-time VZW dumb phone.

I live in a semi-rural area in Maryland but near the Baltimore/DC corridor. Never had a problem with VZW coverage, always near max or max bars.

With the HTC One, I went to a monthly AT&T $60/2GB plan. Never used AT&T before but I discovered that the coverage is awful for me, I'm lucky if I get 1 bar in most of the locations I'm at during the day. Even in Frederick, one of the larger Maryland cities, I got zero bars and couldn't access email today.

I'm really disappointed, I had no idea it would be this bad, I checked the AT&T coverage map before I bought it and it seemed fine. Again, never had a problem with Verizon, but then again, I never had a smart phone with them.

Other problem is the battery life on the HTC One, it's terrible compared to my dumb phone. Battery lasts barely a day, where before my dumb phone battery would last 3-4 days. Probably not a fair comparison, but I don't get/make many calls at all and I've only used about 220mb of data in 2 weeks on the HTC, so it's not like I'm on the thing all the time. I tried a battery saver app but doesn't seem to make much difference.

To be honest, I'm thinking of selling it used on eBay or something and figuring out a plan B. Otherwise, the HTC is ok, very similar to my Nexus 7 but I can make calls on the HTC is about the only difference (and the screen is smaller).

By the way, I'm also disappointed at the dialer and built-in phone app on the HTC, it seems more like an afterthought compared to my dumb phone, which was primarily a phone and not an all-around web device.

Anyway, that's my feedback as a first-time smart phone owner but long time computer/laptop user. Not sure if it's the phone, AT&T or combination of both. Maybe I'll wait for the Verizon HTC One, at least I should get good coverage. Or, maybe the antenna or reception on the HTC One just isn't good.

 

[scaots]

Maryland definitely seems to be one of those more congested AT&T areas while Verizon seems to provide pretty consistent service there. I have terrible HSPA speed north of Baltimore and many other places, but LTE works pretty well now that I have a LTE phone. All that said, AT&T HSPA is pretty solid when I roam around rural PA. It really depends on what carrier works for you.

 

[Almeuit]

Coverage should always be checked elsewhere like sensorly.com since carriers can fluff their maps.


Also... You simply cannot compare a smartphone to a dumb phone in terms of battery. The dumb phone did calls and texts... That's it. That and staying connected to the cell tower. Your smartphone is doing that plus also having a data connection, huge screen, tons more stuff running in the background, syncs, email, apps.... All that. Totally different story. That's like comparing a compact car to a huge truck and saying the compact got better gas mileage.

Sent from my T-Mobile HTC One using AC Forums.

 

[RK928]

Coverage should always be checked elsewhere like sensorly.com since carriers can fluff their maps.


Also... You simply cannot compare a smartphone to a dumb phone in terms of battery. The dumb phone did calls and texts... That's it. That and staying connected to the cell tower. Your smartphone is doing that plus also having a data connection, huge screen, tons more stuff running in the background, syncs, email, apps.... All that. Totally different story. That's like comparing a compact car to a huge truck and saying the compact got better gas mileage.

Sent from my T-Mobile HTC One using AC Forums.

Thanks - I got the "2x Battery" app, it showed the WiFi Toggler app I had running was using a lot of battery, so I disabled that, seems a bit better, battery lasted about 1.5 days, which is 50% longer more or less than I was experiencing before.

 

[RK928]

Ran a totally unscientific test today, we drove in about a 35 mile rough circle in the rural area here in northern Maryland, stopping every few miles for a coverage check. I had the HTC One G.E. and my wife's basic Verizon Wireless LG Glance cell, plus a friend and his iPhone 4.

The HTC One consistently showed 1 bar less than the iPhone at each stop. The Verizon phone had 2-3 bars and at one point, my wife was talking on it to her sister in North Carolina as we were driving, my HTC One was showing zero and displayed a can't connect message.

In other areas, the HTC One showed 1 tiny bar but I could still make a call although internet access was super slow.

Not sure what this proves, but I'm thinking the antenna or reception on the HTC One just isn't as good as it could/should be. I'll bet most of the reviews of this phone are in big cities where there's good connectivity.

BTW, at the Orioles game last night in Baltimore, neither the HTC One or my friend's iPhone could connect, text or make calls, even though they both showed full bars. Must be some kind of weird phenomena in Camden Yards.

 

[kbill1984]

Camden Yards is pretty much an AT&T dead zone in my experience. I went to a game in April and only got good reception near Boog's BBQ.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[benhmadison]

Ran a totally unscientific test today, we drove in about a 35 mile rough circle in the rural area here in northern Maryland, stopping every few miles for a coverage check. I had the HTC One G.E. and my wife's basic Verizon Wireless LG Glance cell, plus a friend and his iPhone 4.

The HTC One consistently showed 1 bar less than the iPhone at each stop. The Verizon phone had 2-3 bars and at one point, my wife was talking on it to her sister in North Carolina as we were driving, my HTC One was showing zero and displayed a can't connect message.

In other areas, the HTC One showed 1 tiny bar but I could still make a call although internet access was super slow.

Not sure what this proves, but I'm thinking the antenna or reception on the HTC One just isn't as good as it could/should be. I'll bet most of the reviews of this phone are in big cities where there's good connectivity.

BTW, at the Orioles game last night in Baltimore, neither the HTC One or my friend's iPhone could connect, text or make calls, even though they both showed full bars. Must be some kind of weird phenomena in Camden Yards.

Was the iphone with Verizon or ATT?

 

[RK928]

Was the iphone with Verizon or ATT?

AT&T on both.

 

[21stNow]

Also, if your HTC One is constantly searching for signal, then this will drain the battery more. Are you noticing the reception issues indoors and outdoors or indoors only? Cell reception often drops considerably inside of buildings.

I just did a trip from the DC area to West Virginia and went up I-270 to US-340, just outside of Frederick. I used my AT&T phone for GPS for this trip and never had a problem with the signal. However, I didn't stop in Frederick to use my phone to see what the data service was like.

I'm not sure about GoPhone, but most pre-paid services get lower priority on the towers than the postpaid customers receive. This could be part of the problem for you, too.

 

[RK928]

Also, if your HTC One is constantly searching for signal, then this will drain the battery more. Are you noticing the reception issues indoors and outdoors or indoors only? Cell reception often drops considerably inside of buildings.

I just did a trip from the DC area to West Virginia and went up I-270 to US-340, just outside of Frederick. I used my AT&T phone for GPS for this trip and never had a problem with the signal. However, I didn't stop in Frederick to use my phone to see what the data service was like.

I'm not sure about GoPhone, but most pre-paid services get lower priority on the towers than the postpaid customers receive. This could be part of the problem for you, too.

Thanks, I didn't know that about the GoPhone, I figured it was just the monthly billing part of the same AT&T signal.

All of my reports are outdoors, indoors at home no problem because it connects to WiFi, although the wireless signal always shows 3 bars. I live out in the sticks in a valley of two hills, so 3 bars is pretty good for here actually.