Database Info

Deathgrip

If I hold my phone normally (near the bottom) my signal plummets, is this normal or do I have a lemon?? It is really worrying me, if I grab it near the bottom I go from 3 to 0 but still have service but I am still without bays and my data slows. I don't know if this is normal and I should just accept it or if I should go exchange it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I haven't been able to produce the "death grip" effect even when I have tried to.

Mine does the same in my house with a pretty weak signal. However, unlike my iPhone 4 (I am a happy convert to android now) which dropped calls and data went to 0, the Captivate seems to keep the connection. Even with zero bars, I get decent data speeds and people say I am loud and clear on the phone.
I wouldn't stress over it. The antenna has to be located somewhere in these phones, and yeah, covering it completely will cause a signal drop. Just be happy the antenna is on the inside and you can't short it with your skin

I get the same thing, but I think where I work is a dead zone, because my old phone had problems holding a signal also. I'll do some more testing when I'm out of here

OK, I will do more testing and make a final decision next week since I am going out of state to a place I know has good coverage and if I get bad signal there it is probably my phone and not coverage area.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I have to completely cover the metal back to drop a couple of bars. Even then, it still performs about the same in speedtests.

It is not the metal back you need to cover on my phone but instead the plastic below the back...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

cropythy said:
It is not the metal back you need to cover on my phone but instead the plastic below the back...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried it this way as well and the results were even closer together.

It's the way Samsung is programming the bars. They underestimate signal strength believe it or not.. it's not like the iPhone where it gives you this crazy readout (before 4.0.1).. it's still wrong, but in the best way possible.

Dropping calls like crazy with Captivate
I was just on a very important call about a new job and my captivate dropped the call 4 times within 15 minutes. I was holding the phone only on the outside. I was not touching the bottom or the back of the phone. How frustrating. It even drops calls when I am using my headset. Just dropping all the time. Any suggestions?

I can get the bars to drop one or two when I hold the phone at the bottom, however (and this is a BIG however!) even with 0 bars, I was just able to make a phone call, and while the signal bounced from 2 to 1 to 0 to 1 bars, the call didn't drop or even so much as hiccup.
As heygrl said, it seems however Samsung calculates their bars, the phones are displaying a lot less signal strength than they actually have, which is a good thing in my book. It's a nice surprise to look at your screen, see 0 bars, desperately try to make a call anyway, and have it go through!

Mantooth said:
I was just on a very important call about a new job and my captivate dropped the call 4 times within 15 minutes. I was holding the phone only on the outside. I was not touching the bottom or the back of the phone. How frustrating. It even drops calls when I am using my headset. Just dropping all the time. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the AT&T network to me.
Yeah you can see how Samsung reinterprets the phones recieved signal strength under the Service Menu. I also suspected that the reason why we only see -81dBm max and not -51dBm like the Captivate is because Samsung didn't completely readjust the scaling and just cut off one visible bar. Under the Service Menu (Antenna/ADC or something of the sort) you can see where it says "Antenna bar: 5" when we clearly only have 4. The same goes for actual signal strength, you can see a very usable 10 RSSI but Samsung designed the bars to show that as "0" instead of 1.

I do notice that when I'm in areas that are 1-2 bars, giving the phone the deathgrip does kill the signal totally. But when I'm out in full service I can hold it any way and no problem.

[Q] Signal:Iphone 4 vs Inspire

Ok so I love the inspire, big screen is awesome compares to the iphone 4. I'm just wonder if anyone here have both phone and find that the iphone 4 get better reception than the inspire? Where I live for some reason, I get a low signal with att but on the iphone 4, at least it will hold a constant signal where I can make and receive calls and text ect, with the inspire, the signal would go in and out, i would get like miss call alert and stuff when the phone doesnt even ring. Now I've try flashing a couple of different radio but they all dont really improve anything. Anyone can suggest a radio firmware that get good signal? I dont care about battery life. Btw im on leedroid rom and tried the suggested radio, no good either.

delete post

Yeah I am having the same issue. I have an iphone 3g and 4 as well as many other htc,samsung,palm smartphones. Of them all the inspire has the weakest signal all things being equal. Kinda disappointing. I honestly think it has something to do with the crap ass cover on the bottom,aka one of the antenna's. I plan to experiment this weekend and see if something cant be done. I am on the stock radio but have tried many different roms and tons of playing in the build.prop to no avail,except exponentially increased data speeds.
maybe there are just some bunk inspires out there. I dont get too many dropped calls and my data is ok, but compared to every other phone I have its sub par.

It could be the 4g reception is not as strong I also came from iPhone 4 and I noticed the reception in some spots on the inspire is not as good but I am happy over all
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

No experience with an iphone 4, but I can definitely say it's not quite as strong as the captivate I came from, but not to the point that it's worth switching back.
That's not really my problem though, the audio quality on it is pretty bad, talking on the phone itself it's not too bad, but while talking on my bluetooth headset the "gsm hiss" is extremely pronounced at all times.

I came from a craptivate, and here in Los Angeles County, USA, my signal with the Inspire 4g is way better than my craptivate... and it spends less time scanning for a signal too than the samsung!

You should compare dBm of each phone because HTC uses a different range with their bars. At -89dBm HTC will switch to 3 bars, -109dBm will be near zero bars, etc. But apple uses completely different range. So the only way to know for sure is compare dBm numbers.

Newer radios give approximately a 10 db increase over stock.
Bars mean nothing. If you are not comparing db you're doing it wrong and inaccurately.

I used the phono app on the inspire and the reading on it is always worst than the iPhone, I really think it's the antenna design on the inspire. Newer radio works better? Is it the new one that leak from the gingerbread rom? I might have to try that, if I can get 10db more and lose a bit of battery life then I'll gladly do it, I really like this phone but at the end of the day if I can't use it as a phone, it's no good to me

Radio thread.
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=877295

I am not having any speed issues at all with the Inspire.
It does seem to switch between GSM and WCDMA a little more frequently but speed is the fastest I have ever had on a mobile device without WIFI on.

I just did a quick test again because I am getting very annoyed at the poor signal of this phone. I have an aria here next to me. The aria is at -91db and the inspire in the same spot is at -103-105db, obviously the higher the worse it is. Also the aria is more stable in that it goes right to -91 and stays there while the inspire takes some time to settle, and never really settles completely like the aria. I did experiment with the antenna but could never get the signal any better than the cover despite my best efforts.
I have not given up yet. I will try a different radio as I have only used the stocker since the beginning. 10+db's is a hell of a difference in my opinion, and in real wold experience the difference is painfully obvious. I dont even want to get into how much better the signal is on my dumbphone.

Try radio 12.41.60.19_26.06.04.14_M, I was having a ton of dropped calls on the stock radio, that fixed it.

I have a weaker signal but I drop significantly fewer calls then I did when I had an iphone 4.
Sent from someplace using something to send it.

romeo0119 said:
Ok so I love the inspire, big screen is awesome compares to the iphone 4. I'm just wonder if anyone here have both phone and find that the iphone 4 get better reception than the inspire? Where I live for some reason, I get a low signal with att but on the iphone 4, at least it will hold a constant signal where I can make and receive calls and text ect, with the inspire, the signal would go in and out, i would get like miss call alert and stuff when the phone doesnt even ring. Now I've try flashing a couple of different radio but they all dont really improve anything. Anyone can suggest a radio firmware that get good signal? I dont care about battery life. Btw im on leedroid rom and tried the suggested radio, no good either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both and just compared them. I held them side by side and observed the signal bars and both were identical with two bars showing. I moved them apart about 10 inches...still holding them in hand.. and the signal is 1 bar each. I laid them down side by side and saw that the Inspire had 3 bars, the iPhone 4 had 2 bars. I moved them about 3 inches and now the iPhone has 3 bars and the Inspire has 1 to 2 bars. I moved them to a different spot about 1 foot away and separated them by about 5 inches and they both show 2 bars consistently.
From what I'm seeing, I would say they both have identical signal strength quality. At one point I did see 4 bars on the iPhone 4. So I moved the Inspire to where the iPhone 4 had 4 bars...exact same position and place...but it stuck with 3 bars and never showed the 4.

stickbo said:
I just did a quick test again because I am getting very annoyed at the poor signal of this phone. I have an aria here next to me. The aria is at -91db and the inspire in the same spot is at -103-105db, obviously the higher the worse it is. Also the aria is more stable in that it goes right to -91 and stays there while the inspire takes some time to settle, and never really settles completely like the aria. I did experiment with the antenna but could never get the signal any better than the cover despite my best efforts.
I have not given up yet. I will try a different radio as I have only used the stocker since the beginning. 10+db's is a hell of a difference in my opinion, and in real wold experience the difference is painfully obvious. I dont even want to get into how much better the signal is on my dumbphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is pretty weak. Have you laid both on a table so that your hand is away from the antenna not causing attenuation? Just as a baseline test.

That's exactly how I did it. Layed it on a my wooden dining room table in the middle of an empty room. I even moved away so as to keep my body from being a shield/conductor. Same sim card to by the way.
as for the iphone 4, they calculate their bars differently than htc does. Apple is notorious for giving more bars per db than other makers, they took some heat over it a while back, remember antenna gate.
I am gonna try to switch to the radio listed above and see what happens. I love this phone too much to give up that easy.

Yeah dBm is the best thing to look at. All I can say is keep doing more tests and see if you can find any more info. Maybe different locations. It is possible for the phone to use 2 different cell sites in same exact spot. So install the app antennas and record which towers on the map your phone is using.

My inspire gets probably between 2-3 bars in my area. Compared to my Cappy before i rooted would get 2bars at the most and i would lose a signal in alot of places.

Stop quoting how many bars you get. It is a meaningless comparison.
If you aren't comparing db you are doing it wrong.

Desire S "Grip of Death"

I've got a brand new Desire S and I love it. Fast, smooth, responsive. Battery life (OK, over my total 2 days of ownership only!) has been brilliant - 9% drop overnight for example.
I'm about to return it.
Why? Because of one thing that makes it almost unusable.
I am, of course, referring to the "Grip of Death" - as per the iPhone 4.
There are a few oblique references to this on the net, but I can't find any detailed posts.
Some mention has been made about this only being a WiFi issue, and it is true that WiFi is badly affected. However I also see 3G signal drops when I hold the phone in portrait mode with my hand wrapping around the base (as most people would in normal "phone" use) - which is, of course, where the antenna is (incorporated into the battery cover)
The WiFi drops on mine are tragic - I can be 3 metres from an access point and if you hold the phone incorrectly (!) the WiFi signal drops out completely and you are on 3G data. Even if directly under the AP you can easily get the signal indicator to drop from full to under 50%.
However the 3G drops are also bad. In my flat, which has a good signal, I can get to one or zero bars of 3G signal just by picking up the phone.
So I have a phone that is unreliable in picking up calls, switches to 3G data when there is a perfectly good AP just nearby, and is basically, generally unreliable.
It's a shame because, apart from this, it's a brilliant little device.
Am I the only one affected this badly? Maybe I have a poor example?
I have a case arriving today to see if it will help. Otherwise it's back to the shop!

hmm..you are the first person to report a drop in 3g signal
can any one else confirm this?
or is it just that the OP got a defective unit?
(i am unable to test as i still dont have my device yet )

I'm wondering if only certain phones are affected. Engadget doesn't mention it and this review specifically says it isn't a problem. It is a mixed bag of responses from posters here. Is it possible that Techradar got an early review model and the problem has since been fixed? You think HTC would comment one way or another since this could affect sales.

Just tried it on my DS, but the death grip does not influence my 3G signal.
With wifi on, I manage to lose only a little bit of signal while holding it in such an unnatural way that it will never occur using it normally.

TheUndutchable said:
Just tried it on my DS, but the death grip does not influence my 3G signal.
With wifi on, I manage to lose only a little bit of signal while holding it in such an unnatural way that it will never occur using it normally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you try covering the back of your device as much as you can with your hands & test the wifi & 3g signal?
it would be very helpful for us

Covered the back as much as I could, no problems with 3G, Wifi drops to zero...

TheUndutchable said:
Covered the back as much as I could, no problems with 3G, Wifi drops to zero...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am relived that there is no 3g signal drop
the wifi part is a bit depressing but i can manage without wifi...(but hope they fix it somehow)
@JonathonDesmond i think you got a defective unit try returning it for a new piece
& also tell us if the case helped

kartkk said:
i am relived that there is no 3g signal drop
the wifi part is a bit depressing but i can manage without wifi...(but hope they fix it somehow)
You will never hold the phone like I did when using the phone normally. I pressed some buttons with my nose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

kartkk said:
You will never hold the phone like I did when using the phone normally. I pressed some buttons with my nose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol
but i hope htc does something like give replacement battery covers which fix the issue..because that is the only hardware defect that people are exaggerating about..

Ok, a few tests, as long as I still have it:
Portrait mode:
No issues in normal one- or two-handed operation.
As soon as something, e. g. my hand, covers the top plastic part at the back the wifi signal goes from all bars down to the dot, or disconnects entirely. I'm not so sure about the mobile signal, some of the time it drops to about half the bars it's had before, but with a considerable delay, and it's a bit erratic at the best of times, so it might just as well be other (environmental) causes.
Landscape:
I really only do this two-handed, with the left hand holding the phone, fingers bunched behind it, thumb in front, covering the HTC logo and first few mm of the screen; the right hand operates and/or stabilizes the phone.
This instantly kills the wifi stone cold dead. 3G actually stayed the same or got better(!)
To sum up: wifi is badly affected to the point of uselessness, 3G doesn't seem to be.

hmm..
can you try the wifi again in landscape? this time without touching the aluminum part of the phone?
(dont cover the aluminum part with your hand or any other item)

kartkk said:
can you try the wifi again in landscape? this time without touching the aluminum part of the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I don't see how that would be possible? Covering the top plastic part without covering anything else, I mean. I tried a few contortions and nearly dropped it.
Care to elaborate?

it is a bit tricky i know (dont drop your phone trying lol)
how about putting on top of two books?(such that the books only touch the plastic )
i just want to know if it is the metal chassis which is causing this problem

Good thinking!
Desire S propped up on two stacks of books so that nothing touches the alu parts: all bars. (It did drop one bar from time to time, but that's just normal fluctuations, whereas putting it down on a desk or something reliably takes it down a notch.)

please people contact htc

mariu$ said:
please people contact htc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? We arent't their QA department and I've no hopes of getting more than ... err ... yes, "You're holding it wrong." in soothing customer rep speak. Raising awareness of the issue is the best one can do, IMHO - once the tech mainstream press picks this up there's at least a chance of a fix. (That is, if one is actually possible, it might be a concession to the design.)

fallenguru said:
Why? We arent't their QA department and I've no hopes of getting more than ... err ... yes, "You're holding it wrong." in soothing customer rep speak. Raising awareness of the issue is the best one can do, IMHO - once the tech mainstream press picks this up there's at least a chance of a fix. (That is, if one is actually possible, it might be a concession to the design.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm in contact whit the HTC Dutch support desk. After a view mails whit the 1st line of support they send me to the technical support.
It looks like that they are doing there job.

i tried and tried and tried again... i couldnt find any sings of the grip of death!!

fallenguru said:
Good thinking!
Desire S propped up on two stacks of books so that nothing touches the alu parts: all bars. (It did drop one bar from time to time, but that's just normal fluctuations, whereas putting it down on a desk or something reliably takes it down a notch.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just as i thought it is the metal chasis....
i have heard that wifi has problems passing through metal...
if this really is the reason then i think nothing much can be done ...
can someone else also verify this?

just got phone and wifi definitely drops when held landscape

Possible deathgrip issue?

Ive noticed that 4g signal strength drops drastically when holding the phone normally in portrait mode.
Are u guys experiencing the same issue?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

xdmds said:
Ive noticed that 4g signal strength drops drastically when holding the phone normally in portrait mode.
Are u guys experiencing the same issue?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I hold the phone by the top half with my hand cupped over the top, I can get it to lose reception. I doubt that will ever be an issue though.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

If my hand covers the bottom of the phone (which is always when I hold it in portrait mode), then my signal drops significantly. Is this normal for this phone or is it an isolated defect?

I don't have any issues with that myself

I think you're on your own on this one OP.

xdmds said:
If my hand covers the bottom of the phone (which is always when I hold it in portrait mode), then my signal drops significantly. Is this normal for this phone or is it an isolated defect?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 I reported this a while back. I also noticed that my Speck case which tightly holds the phone case seemed to cause signal problems...I've since removed the Speck.

xdmds said:
Ive noticed that 4g signal strength drops drastically when holding the phone normally in portrait mode.
Are u guys experiencing the same issue?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i notice it sometimes. ive experienced that with some of my other devices. it only occurs here and there. havent had a dropped call one*knock on wood* and im expecting a case in the mail so that will solve the issue anyway.

This happens on many small phones where antennas are near the housing , depending where you hold it you'll affect the antenna's reception. For xeample, On the EVO if you hold the top half the 4G reception decreases, and the bottom half the wifi and cdma decreases

All of you, please research antenna attenuation.
This will happen in all phones where the antenna is near the surface. Signal does not travel through your hand as easy as it does air.
The iphone issue was more pronounced because the exterior antenna. Also, one could ground out the antenna completely by bridging the sections.
That is a deathgrip issue. Just a decrease in signal strength is an attenuation norm.

Although signal does seem to drops data speeds on this phone are faster than my mt4g even when my g2x shows lower signal so i guess its not rly a problem
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

xdmds said:
If my hand covers the bottom of the phone (which is always when I hold it in portrait mode), then my signal drops significantly. Is this normal for this phone or is it an isolated defect?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happens to me too. Especially in poor signal area. I would drop 3G/4G signal all together, and go to 2G.

+1 to this, I've noticed when I stick my phone in my boxer briefs that the reception does indeed drop down to nil
thank god for wifi calling though

For my phone I have 4G icon on screen and no bars, I can get call in my house finally.

It never ceases to amaze me how no matter what, there seems to always be some people that go out of their way to find something wrong with their phone. I really don't get it. Some people are probably better of with a Razr....

mysterioustko said:
It never ceases to amaze me how no matter what, there seems to always be some people that go out of their way to find something wrong with their phone. I really don't get it. Some people are probably better of with a Razr....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was just thinking, **** add another thing to the issues list even though its not a problem... If theres a thread others will believe it.... So now everyone trolling this thread thinks theres a death grip issue when there is not..

mysterioustko said:
It never ceases to amaze me how no matter what, there seems to always be some people that go out of their way to find something wrong with their phone. I really don't get it. Some people are probably better of with a Razr....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL !!!

update: I went to exchange my phone yesterday and it turns out that phone was just defective.
this new phone I have (although we went through like 3 and they all had backlight bleed) does not have signal drop when I hold it.

I believe the antenna is indeed on the bottom of the device. If you remove the back plate you'll see a sticker on the bottom of the phone. Try covering that sticker completely and you'll see your signal drop.
According to some people, after removing that sticker, they attained a slightly better and consistent signal.

Since removing it, I've noticed a much faster, better amd consistent connection, WAY better now. Hard to believe a silly sticker could cause so much trouble hahahaha
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

I had removed the sticker last night and I got 1 more bar and my dl/up speeds improved. Was getting Max 1.5 - 2 dl and 500 up now I get up to 10 megs down and 3 up in my house.
Sent from my G2X using XDA Premium App

Death Grip

I just called HTC and had them send me out a new battery door. I was having problems with the signals. Have any of you had these same problems? If so have Yall got a replacement from HTC and did it fix the issue?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

nope, haven't had any reception/signal issues at all.

I believe the death-grip affects your wi-fi signal. When I move my phone to landscape mode and hold it as indicated in some videos, momentarily a bar goes down in my wifi signal but nothing like an interuption. It doesn't drop (and reconnect) wifi either.
It seems to be a hit or a miss with these phones

sbihue said:
I believe the death-grip affects your wi-fi signal. When I move my phone to landscape mode and hold it as indicated in some videos, momentarily a bar goes down in my wifi signal but nothing like an interuption. It doesn't drop (and reconnect) wifi either.
It seems to be a hit or a miss with these phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is why I'd really like it if someone who replaces their battery cover could post before and after wifi signal strength from the same location. It is possible that there has been a redesigned battery cover with a better antenna placement.

I only lost 1 signal bar so i think its normal - like other phones

I am currently having a HUGE problem with death grip. So bad that it drops my WiFi calling when im texting in landscape even from about 15 feet from my router. I am going to call HTC tomorrow and request a new back cover just because its a free step I can take to try and fix it.

seems like HTC have a problem with this model
i have to wait 7 days for my Sensation to come from service
then i will see what is the next step... media, solicitor .... we will see
signal its rubish anyway

silentsnow31802 said:
I am currently having a HUGE problem with death grip. So bad that it drops my WiFi calling when im texting in landscape even from about 15 feet from my router. I am going to call HTC tomorrow and request a new back cover just because its a free step I can take to try and fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok... so after reading your post I decided to test it out. My router is on the 2nd floor in the study. I used landscape mode to send a couple of emails and texts from the first floor and outside my home. The signal dropped a couple of bars each time and recovered. Didn't drop the wifi signal for sure.
I think it is still a problem and HTC needs to get a fix out. Don't know if it will be a f/w or h/w but it needs to be out. I guess if everyone having this issue raises enough hell, HTC may act sooner.

The 4g phones seem to have a different placement of the wifi antenna and does not contain a death grip like problem due to this reposition.

You can higher the wifi signal (battery usage) in the wifi advanced settings.
Doesn´t help anyway?

All sensations will do this. Rooting the phone and installing custom ROM will fix the issue. Before if i placed my hand over the top of the phone, wifi would drop, sometimes even lose signal entirely. Now after root and ROM, it doesn't even drop one bit.
I was about to return my phone due to this issue, i am glad I waited a bit.

jjcobm said:
All sensations will do this. Rooting the phone and installing custom ROM will fix the issue. Before if i placed my hand over the top of the phone, wifi would drop, sometimes even lose signal entirely. Now after root and ROM, it doesn't even drop one bit.
I was about to return my phone due to this issue, i am glad I waited a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone is rooted (s-off) with all bloatware removed. Its still on stock ROM though.
Since we have S-OFF now, the custom ROM's for sensation have started to flow. Just waiting on those ROM's to be stable before deciding on which one to use.
BTW which ROM are you using!!!

Changing the back cover will make no difference. I got a replacement and saw no difference at all.

When I would go into landscape I would lose 1-2 wifi bars, but after I flashed Android Revolution 1.1.6 and kept the stock radio I started only losing 1 bar if any at all.

sbihue said:
My phone is rooted (s-off) with all bloatware removed. Its still on stock ROM though.
Since we have S-OFF now, the custom ROM's for sensation have started to flow. Just waiting on those ROM's to be stable before deciding on which one to use.
BTW which ROM are you using!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using:
InsertCoin Sense Android 2.3.4 STABLE 1.2
I have tried them all. This one is by far the best for everyday use.
Everyone complaining about death grip. It's there on all phones, it will go away with a root and custom ROM.

I haven't experienced this at all. compared to my buddies iphone 4 where there is a serious death grip problem any drop in signal on my sensation is moot.

MonkeyK said:
This is why I'd really like it if someone who replaces their battery cover could post before and after wifi signal strength from the same location. It is possible that there has been a redesigned battery cover with a better antenna placement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard that it does, but I'm still waiting on mine to arrive. We have FAR FAR lower signal strength with this phone than with our other phones (motorola cliq / mytouch 4g's)
I just checked and I'm on zero bars right now. I usually have 4 bars right here with my other phone. It's rediculous. Holding the phone reduces my signal strength by ~40-50%. It can completely lose signal, right under a tower (in visual range) if you hold your hand flat against the back.
Flashindude said:
I only lost 1 signal bar so i think its normal - like other phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For many people, this is not the case. I know there are different revisions for the back cover. I think it is due to that.
jjcobm said:
I am using:
InsertCoin Sense Android 2.3.4 STABLE 1.2
I have tried them all. This one is by far the best for everyday use.
Everyone complaining about death grip. It's there on all phones, it will go away with a root and custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad this is the case for you. It is not for me.

chisleu said:
I've heard that it does, but I'm still waiting on mine to arrive. We have FAR FAR lower signal strength with this phone than with our other phones (motorola cliq / mytouch 4g's)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did your wifi situation improve after u got the new cover? my device sucks.. it drops all the way down to zero.. thinking of getting the g2x instead

Signal is good when phone is turned to 2G only, so this appears to be a firmw-/software issue rather than a battery-cover issue.

I had the same problem when i first recieved the devie but as you say custom rom sorted that