Anyone notice a weak signal with their Epic? And vs. EVO...

[getlooks]

Picked up my Epic this morning and love it. Also have an EVO and love it too.

But, one issue I am having is my Epic has a much weaker signal than my EVO. It's not just less bars, but it's noticeable in sound quality/loss while talking on the phone. For example, my EVO has 2 bars and a weak signal at my home. The Epic has 0 bars and virtually no signal.

Any thoughts on this issue?

 

[jazzman09]

Picked up my Epic this morning and love it. Also have an EVO and love it too.

But, one

issue I am having is my Epic has a much weaker signal than my EVO. It's not just less bars, but it's noticeable in sound quality/loss while talking on the phone. For example, my EVO has 2 bars and a weak signal at my home. The Epic has 0 bars and virtually no signal.

Any thoughts on this issue?

Yes same here

 

[Torq]

I'm seeing about the same indicated signal strength between Evo and Epic for voice and 3G data.

However on 4G the Epic is finding and holding a signal in places where the Evo would keep acquiring then instantly dropping the signal or simply wouldn't find one at all.

 

[vodo]

Yes I've noticed this too. The call quality and signal is noticeably worse than the htc hero I have. Especially the sound quality... I wonder if all epics are like this or just certain ones?

 

[aznmode]

I called my gf when I got the epic and my gf said she could barely hear me on the epic while on speaker phone. I was holding 1 phone at a time on my lap with the mix pointing towards me. She said the evo was much louder. Signal bar, the epic is usually 1 bar lower than the evo. Im still blown away by the screen and speed of it however.

 

[getlooks]

This is unfortunate. Hopefully a fix comes soon.

I called my gf when I got the epic and my gf said she could barely hear me on the epic while on speaker phone. I was holding 1 phone at a time on my lap with the mix pointing towards me. She said the evo was much louder. Signal bar, the epic is usually 1 bar lower than the evo. Im still blown away by the screen and speed of it however.

 

[SebastianX]

I had 2-3 bars instead of the usual 4-5 when I swapped the numbers on my account a profile and prl update followed by a reboot put me back where I was, data speeds were a little slower but for some reason picked up later in the day, not sure why.

 

[heavychevy]

The sound is definitely worse than the EVO. And from what I've seen the 4g reception is not as good either, haven't paid much attention while on 3g. But the WIFI signal is much better.

Overall great phone though.

 

[Android XTC]

Picked up my Epic this morning and love it. Also have an EVO and love it too.

But, one issue I am having is my Epic has a much weaker signal than my EVO. It's not just less bars, but it's noticeable in sound quality/loss while talking on the phone. For example, my EVO has 2 bars and a weak signal at my home. The Epic has 0 bars and virtually no signal.

Any thoughts on this issue?

Not on my unit. I have great sound quality and the same so so Sprint signal I got with my EVO and with my Computer modem. Its Sprint not the handset.

 

[lxy33]

Same here! I left verizon only for the sole reason that Sprint covered my area! I live on the hills--I get home yesterday and I have ZERO bars! I can't go online, wifi helps me a little and calls are weak! I called a rep and they said the "trees" that surround me cover the tower--he also said I had 30 days to switch carrier... I really don't want too! I love the Epic, except I just left Blackberry and I'm so use to RIM. It's hard adjusting to email notifications and other stuff---but I love it overall--

I had a privacy protector and honestly i took it off, it looks SO amazing without it!

 

[SebastianX]

Same here! I left verizon only for the sole reason that Sprint covered my area! I live on the hills--I get home yesterday and I have ZERO bars! I can't go online, wifi helps me a little and calls are weak! I called a rep and they said the "trees" that surround me cover the tower--he also said I had 30 days to switch carrier... I really don't want too! I love the Epic, except I just left Blackberry and I'm so use to RIM. It's hard adjusting to email notifications and other stuff---but I love it overall--

I had a privacy protector and honestly i took it off, it looks SO amazing without it!

Sprint's privacy protector is such a scam, who would want it anyway it takes the beauty out of the screen and the glass itself is Gorilla glass so it's really pointless to buy a screen protector. I did make a priority of getting a case though, Gorilla glass is brittle and easily shattered if dropped.

 

[tmaxey1]

I was testing the Epic 4g signal using a speedtest app yesterday at the sprint store, I tested it right next to my Evo and the Epic was 1/2 as fast as the EVO. The evo was clocking around 4800 while the epic never passed 2300. I repeated he test about 10 times. I cant comment on call quality or 3g signal because i didnt buy the epic yet. My upgrade on the 2nd line isnt until oct. But its what i will probably buy. My girl loves physical keyboards.

 

[Araliss]

Picked up my Epic this morning and love it. Also have an EVO and love it too.

But, one issue I am having is my Epic has a much weaker signal than my EVO. It's not just less bars, but it's noticeable in sound quality/loss while talking on the phone. For example, my EVO has 2 bars and a weak signal at my home. The Epic has 0 bars and virtually no signal.

Any thoughts on this issue?

Ok this describes my situation exactly. My husband has a EVO. I just got the Epic yesterday. I have 1 to 0 (usually 0) bars at home. While he gets 2 to 3. His 3g speeds are anywhere from 50 to 120 k/BS while mine are 9 to 50k/BS with 9 being closer to the norm.

I've called sprint on the Epic and they broke up and couldn't hear me. One called dropped, and several calls the phone tried to roam. It's horrible and its terrible because I really like the phone. HTC EVO is clear as a bell and has a much faster web experience.

 

[alex94z]

My co-worker who has an EVO and I were comparing our 3g speeds with the speedtest.net app today. He was getting about double the speed i was and we were standing right next to each other.

 

[daddyd302]

This is not good news at all. I have 2 or 3 days to decide if I should keep my Evo or check out the Epic. I'm trying to get as much info as I can on the Epic before running off to sprint to go check it out in a little bit.

 

[gme109]

Picked up my Epic this morning and love it. Also have an EVO and love it too.

But, one issue I am having is my Epic has a much weaker signal than my EVO. It's not just less bars, but it's noticeable in sound quality/loss while talking on the phone. For example, my EVO has 2 bars and a weak signal at my home. The Epic has 0 bars and virtually no signal.

Any thoughts on this issue?

I'm still waiting for UPS to deliver my Epic, but I can tell you this, I'm not willing to compromise on reception quality. If it fails at being a good phone, I don't care about anything else it may do well. We shall see.

 

[aznmode]

Doing some more test at work. Wifi Evo is alway almost full 3 bars while the Epic fluctuates between 2 and 3. As far as phone signal bar, the evo stays at 5 bars but the Epic keeps jumping between 3, 4, and 5 and does not stay steady. Running Speednet again, the EVO locks on quicker when looking for servers. On wifi download speeds, evo and epic are on par at about 8500 average. Upload however Evo about 7500 and 4300 on Epic. On 3g download is about the same, but upload again the Evo is 2x as fast. Browser test, the Evo is about 5 seconds faster loading androidcentral or phandroid.com.

 

[Blitzpwnage]

Maybe the radio needs to be updated? Heck if I know, its better than my old Samsung Rant thats all I can tell you


Quoted from XDA

"The epic gets a little less signal than my EVO did. Although the EVO had 3 or 4 radio upgrades to get it where it is now but for now it is a little less which will use a little more power until we get a few updates."

Here

 

[getlooks]

I've tested my Epic vs EVO and without a doubt the EVO has a much stronger signal. I updated everything on the Epic and no better results. It's not just the voice quality, but the web browsing won't work in areas where the EVO does.

I love the Epic. It packs many features which I like much better than the EVO, but adequate signal strength is a must.

Any chance a software update can fix this issue?

 

[heavychevy]

In my home, my wireless router is in my basement and I'm on the edge of reception, the Epic gets slightly better reception distance wise, and got some pretty awesome speeds considering it was only reading 1 bar from across the house and one level up. (12mbps with 19 mbps tops). My Evo won't get half that in my bedroom. The WIFI reception is more consistent and powerful on the EPIC IMO.

However on both 3g and 4g, the EVO loads pages significantly quicker and is getting 2x better results on speedtest.net on 3g.


The capacitive buttons on the Epic have already gotten on my nerves. You have to be pinpoint with the press to get any action, and when it's dark you fish around for a few seconds before finding them.

 

[Araliss]

I've tested my Epic vs EVO and without a doubt the EVO has a much stronger signal. I updated everything on the Epic and no better results. It's not just the voice quality, but the web browsing won't work in areas where the EVO does.

I love the Epic. It packs many features which I like much better than the EVO, but adequate signal strength is a must.

Any chance a software update can fix this issue?

Have you talked to Sprint about your phone yet? I was told we have a tower that is waiting to be repaired and that its affecting new customers. So you have a crappy tower that needs fix and Evo customers can surf fine but you stick it to Epic? Seriously?

First, it would be nice if Samsung or Sprint acknowledge there is an issue and tell us what they plan to do about it before the 30 days are up. I thought about exchanging it for another Epic. Maybe there is an issue only affecting a few of them.

 

[daddyd302]

My old Evo is a tad stronger[1 bar more] but My epic still can make calls even with only 1 bar.

 

[getlooks]

Have you talked to Sprint about your phone yet? I was told we have a tower that is waiting to be repaired and that its affecting new customers. So you have a crappy tower that needs fix and Evo customers can surf fine but you stick it to Epic? Seriously?

First, it would be nice if Samsung or Sprint acknowledge there is an issue and tell us what they plan to do about it before the 30 days are up. I thought about exchangin
g it for another Epic. Maybe there is an issue only affecting a few of them.

I spoke to Sprint on this.

Sprint is sending a signal booster but that is only good for one location. The signal is poor in many locations. So this doesn't solve my issue.

 

[you2]

Have you checked the actual db readings? I've read else where that the bars is a bit misleading because each phone use a different scale.

Doing some more test at work. Wifi Evo is alway almost full 3 bars while the Epic fluctuates between 2 and 3. As far as phone signal bar, the evo stays at 5 bars but the Epic keeps jumping between 3, 4, and 5 and does not stay steady. Running Speednet again, the EVO locks on quicker when looking for servers. On wifi download speeds, evo and epic are on par at about 8500 average. Upload however Evo about 7500 and 4300 on Epic. On 3g download is about the same, but upload again the Evo is 2x as fast. Browser test, the Evo is about 5 seconds faster loading androidcentral or phandroid.com.