Smartphone Network Reception Inequality
So it turns out that when it comes to the efficiency of your phone’s cellular connection, there is quite a large variance between some of the most popular phones. In this recent report from the Irish Communications Regulator (ComReg), details have come to light regarding the network performance of popular smartphones. As it happens, some of them are not what you might expect. Bear in mind that the ranking has been done on the GSM 900 band. GSM is also called 2G. 2G may be regarded as slow by general standards these days, but it is worth noting that phone calls and text messages are conducted on this network, which was what ComReg was analysing.
ComReg conducted the test with the phone in the left hand, but tests for the right hand were also done and results proved reasonably consistent.
As you can see, the comparison of 32 phones was nothing if not thorough. Several surprising conclusions can be drawn from this data regarding several flagship smartphones.
OnePlus
Known for their brilliance in mobile technology, OnePlus have made some of the most popular smartphones to date. The OnePlus 6 is one such example on this list, released earlier this year. Astoundingly, they have actually come out on the bottom of this list – and not by a small margin. The Oneplus 6 falls over 30% lower than the next on the list, and the 5T more than 50% lower!
When Google entered the smartphone market, releasing their first Google Pixel in October of 2016, it was clear straight away that they would be contestants for top performing smartphones worldwide. Yet, it seems that they’ve fallen short when it comes to network efficiency. Granted it is almost twice as efficient as the best performing OnePlus device, the 6, so it’s far from the worst offender.
Apple
Apple has dominated the Irish smartphone market for several years now, and to 2018 the iPhone 6S remains the most widely used phone in the country. According to Device Atlas, a non-apple product doesn’t even make an appearance until 6th place. The Samsung Galaxy S7 proudly stands in that spot. It comes across as a big surprise that Apple’s latest smartphone models fall below the halfway point on the list.
Samsung
An undeniable winner when it comes to the best call reception for smartphones in Ireland. Samsung has, for a long time, been regarded as Apple’s main opposition in the country. Perhaps this report gives a little bit of an insight as to why they have been so consistently popular over the years – Samsung didn’t skimp on their cellular efficiency. A strong consistency in all categories from all their popular phones can clearly be seen here.
Xiaomi
Despite having their name spelled wrong here, Xiaomi did perform quite average. Their smartphones have always had a reputation for incredible quality for a more than reasonable price, and their attention to balance here has not gone unnoticed. Given that they produce such low prices phones, it would be assumed that they’re saving money somewhere. Apparently, call reception efficiency, is not it. The smartphone company made their entrance in the Irish phone market earlier this year, launching with Three Mobile. You can read about our coverage of the event here.
Conclusion
Nokia, Huawei, HTC, LG, and Sony Xperia all too made appearances. No results worth noting, besides LG’s astounding 4th place, with only 1 phone on the list. The rest, dispersed across the table, portray an average efficiency when it comes to call reception. ComReg has stated that they will continue to update this list in the future as soon as possible. The whole report is linked below. It including their testing methods and what lengths they went to in order produce the most accurate and fair results.
Source: Irish Communications Regulator (ComReg)
