Have to switch to Verizon - are all cell phone radios the same amoung carriers?

glen

Lifer
Apr 28, 2000
15,995
1
81
Or are some better? I have a friend who swears his moto razr is unbelievably better than his SGS3 on the same carrier, Verizon. true? I am having to switch because I cannot get a good signal in some areas where I work.
 
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
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It's possible. Even if the modem chip is the same, you have to remember antenna design is a separate issue. I liken this to routers. Plenty of routers use the same Broadcom or Atheros chips, and they're roughly equal, but its a matter of antenna design and software and that separates the performance.

It's pure anecdotal evidence for me, but I've noticed that my Motorola Milestone (Droid 1) outperforms my Nexus S and GS2 in terms of reception. It also beat out my HTC Nexus One back in the day. I noticed faster GPS locks. I have not compared it to my Nexus 4 though. Perhaps Motorola has just maintained its ability to provide good reception on its phones. I've found that my 2 Samsung phones never performed that well either in terms of reception.
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
Or are some better? I have a friend who swears his moto razr is unbelievably better than his SGS3 on the same carrier, Verizon. true? I am having to switch because I cannot get a good signal in some areas where I work.

yes

one in the Gnexux is crap buddy with a bionic always seems to have signal
 

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
7
76
Motorola by far makes better radios than Samsung from my own experience.
Let's hope the rumor about them making the next Nexus is true.
 

dlock13

Platinum Member
Oct 24, 2006
2,806
2
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I second that. Motorola has an amazing radio/antenna design. Samsung is only just getting better with the GS3/Note 2... And its still not close to Motorola.
 

bunker

Lifer
Apr 23, 2001
10,572
0
71
<---On Verizon
I have a Galaxy S3, my wife has a Razr M, she gets better reception than me in fringe areas.