Help Bad Reception Issues?

[Enk]

It seems I'm having serious reception issues with my PLAY. Compared to my old iPhone 4, my girlfriends iPhone 4, and my parents' phones, the PLAY is around 2-3 bars less than theirs at all times. And I'm struggling to pick up 3G most of the time when my area is completely covered in 3G. It's becoming frustrating and it seems like I'm not the only person with this issue. The BGR review ( Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY review ) also discussed this issue and said it's the worst reception phone they've used in a long time. And when I posted this issue on the VZW forums, a couple other people also replied saying they are having issues as well.

I may end up bringing it back and swapping it out for another phone and seeing if I just received a bad unit. But it's disappointing to find out that I'm not the only person with the issue and it could be a widespread problem.

 

[carmendiva]

I was wondering when a thread about signal would appear lol

I have a droid charge and xperia play and I have not a complaint about either.

Even at my abuela's home in the country it works nicely

 

[dewalist]

Did that review look at the GSM or CDMA version? I have the Verizon (CDMA) version and as far as real-world testing, it is as good if not better than my Samsung Fascinate. I was just in Lowe's today and had no trouble getting cell or data signal, whereas I have had trouble in there before.

Also, using bars as an indicator is not a very accurate way to test. I think there are apps you can get that can give you a more accurate reading of the actual phone signal being received.

 

[007shark]

I have my Droid and Play next to each other and noticed that the bars fluctuate on the Play with the signal strength remains about -74dBm. The Droid shows full bars with about -72dBm. So the signal is about the same between the 2 phones at my house with the Droid showing 4 bars and the Play fluctuating between 2 and 3 bars.

 

[PhilosoRaptor]

I have my Droid and Play next to each other and noticed that the bars fluctuate on the Play with the signal strength remains about -74dBm. The Droid shows full bars with about -72dBm. So the signal is about the same between the 2 phones at my house with the Droid showing 4 bars and the Play fluctuating between 2 and 3 bars.

Yeah, I hate when people compare receptions between two totally different phones by just using the signal bars (instead of an actual dBm reading). I can't believe some professional reviewers do this too, it makes me face palm.

I'm about to upgrade from my Droid to the Play soon too, so I'm going to do a test between them then. The Droid has had the best reception of any phone I've ever had though (even feature phones), so I'm sure it's hard to beat, but I hope it's just as good.

 

[Enk]

Went back to the Verizon store today to see if they would swap it out with a new one. But first we compared it to the floor model and it had the same problem. It had consistently lower signal than other phones in the store. He basically said I have the 14 days to return it and decide whether I want better signal or the gaming controls. He agreed with me that the phone wasn't holding a signal as good as the other phones. Even driving down the highway which always gave me 5 bars is giving me 1. And my signal is 90+

I'm not sure it's going to be worth the problems I'm having. Or maybe I should just demand a replacement and see if the new one is any better. Both phones were getting good reception when we tested them, but that was in the VZW store which always has good service.

 

[yoyohere2]

The reception is the same as my wife's htc verizon android phone. I usually get 1-2 bars at work and at home.

I notice my Xperia play got full 4 bars outside in Milton, MA today.

 

[rushmore]

Signal bars tend to not correlate well with actual signal for most devices. Only the dBm signal can be trusted.