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I just received my Sprint Nexus S 4G from Sprint on Wednesday (moving from an EVO) and, of course, I've been playing with it non-stop. On the whole, it's amazingly fast and responsive - more so than I ever experienced with my EVO and a number of ROMs on it.
However, the one thing I have seen repeatedly since day 1 is that the GPS lock is abysmal. I wanted to say "weak", but no, it's much worse. I know the original Galaxy line was plagued with such issues but doing a general Google search for Nexus S GPS issues mainly revealed people wondering if the NS4G would have the same problem - not many reports of actual experience.
I can tell you that my EVO got GPS locks with nary a problem. If I was driving and had to whip out the phone at a red light to fire up the navigation, it was ready to go in moments. I did that a few times this week with the NS4G and was just annoyed. This morning was especially bad so I have been spending some time just opening up Google maps and hitting the location button to see how long it took to get a lock on me. It's truly something awful. The radius it shows is based on the cell tower estimate (I know from seeing where tower location usage without GPS pegs me when I'm at work on both my Hero and EVO) sits for MINUTES before it might get a lock on where I actually am. Even at that point, the accuracy radius is still huge compared to just being pegged where I am with the other phones I have/had. Then, with maps open, the phone goes to sleep (screen off) and I turn it back on a few minutes later and this starts all over again...
I'm actually surprised to find no real reports like this yet so I thought I'd prompt people to really take a look at their new NS4Gs and welcome a report from them. Is my unit bonk or is this more widespread? If you've got one, try it a few times throughout the day. Just open GMaps up and hit the location button on top right to get a fix on your position and take note of how long it takes to lock in to you.
(Before anyone asks, yes, in SETTINGS>LOCATION&SECURITY I have both "use wireless networks" and "use GPS satellites" checked off).
I've experienced this somewhat, although for some strange reason it seems to have tamed itself. The very first time I fired up Maps it locked on to me with a 20m window after about a half a minute, which I've found to be "normal" for AOSP. My Evo would get me within 2m and would do it in around 5 seconds.
The second time I wanted to use it, I used the voice control to ask for directions, at which point my stock Ns4G rebooted itself leaving me on the side of the road for a few extra moments before I was on my way.
The last couple days though, it's been decent. It still only locks within a 20m window, though, but it's been pretty accurate so far.
Actually, I think I am suffering from the same issue. From time to time, depending on the location I would lose service (yet wifi works) and the only way I would regain service back would be to reboot my phone. It's the strangest thing ever, I believe its a problem between the Sprint network and the Nexus S. My old phone would get full bars but on my Nexus, its been only 1 or 2 bars in 3G. Sprint better be resolving this issue soon.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
fraspas said:
Actually, I think I am suffering from the same issue. From time to time, depending on the location I would lose service (yet wifi works) and the only way I would regain service back would be to reboot my phone. It's the strangest thing ever, I believe its a problem between the Sprint network and the Nexus S. My old phone would get full bars but on my Nexus, its been only 1 or 2 bars in 3G. Sprint better be resolving this issue soon.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
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Now that you mention it, using this phone the past 2 days... it's the first time in god knows how long that I've seen signal issues. The first one being low bar readings - but I attributed this possibly being a difference in display of the bars on this phone vs my EVO. On the Nexus S there are four bars total, gray and green. I'm usually at one - two green bars with this phone. On my EVO I had a lot more bars (maybe 6-7?)... so maybe my actual signal strength was comparable but "seemed" like it was better because I saw more filled bars. Again, a display issue? I'll leave that open for further investigation...
However, the thing that is really strange is that I've seen the 3G go to 1X numerous times. I don't know if I ever saw this on my EVO.
All related or no? Color me perplexed...
edit: During my Google searching earlier I came across a search result posted in the Sprint forums titled:"Signal Issues with Nexus S" - however none of the links worked because the site was under maintenance. It's come back online... from reading through it, this appears to be a widespread issue (general signal issues, not GPS).
http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/286393
So, do we have TWO signal problems with this phone? Ugh!
20 meters accuracy is the norm for me. not the best, but thats all i need it to do.
Tried it inside of my house, got 30m lock, pressed again after few seconds got 8m.
Radio problems have been reported on other forums too,
Signal strength is the same as my Epic, but nexus can't pick up 4G signal in the same spot where my Epic does.
And I get signed out of gtalk randomly, I guess its when it loses signal, 3G or WiFi.
DiNoise said:
...Signal strength is the same as my Epic, but nexus can't pick up 4G signal in the same spot where my Epic does...
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Funny that you say that. When I had the EVO, coverage and download speeds over 3g werent a problem. now that i have my ns4g, same coverage but super slow 3g speeds in my area. not sure if its my phone, cuz where i work i get legit 3g speeds here and there. i'll give sprint a couple weeks to sort this out before my buyers remorse period ends.
DiNoise said:
Tried it inside of my house, got 30m lock, pressed again after few seconds got 8m.
Radio problems have been reported on other forums too,
Signal strength is the same as my Epic, but nexus can't pick up 4G signal in the same spot where my Epic does.
And I get signed out of gtalk randomly, I guess its when it loses signal, 3G or WiFi.
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From what I can tell, there's actually a difference between the white-ish signal bars and the green ones (it's probably in the manual but this would be the FIRST manual for any tech device that I didn't read front to back right when I opened the thing). Green bars mean you're connected to Google directly or something like that. White is just to the network. I tried to see the difference myself by going into mobile networks and disabling data - the green bars immediately turn white. When I turn the data back on they're still white for a little bit but I can get them green again immediately by logging into Google Talk.
Of course, the gray bars are still "no signal" bars as far as I know. White or green, I'm still only getting 1-2 bars of the four and going from 1X to 3G a lot. I thought I'd share that bit about the Green/Google connection because it might help you look up more info on that problem, too. I've already seen reports of people's connections to Google (lots of white, little green) being spotty, too.
It's too bad - this phone is really growing on me. It feels good in hand, perfect weight, looks gorgeous on or off... but the connection and GPS problems are a deal breaker. We need to see something happen. Really, REALLY disappointed in Samsung now.
Just got the nexus s 4g about two hours ago now and the gps has been great for me compared to the epic I traded it in for. Sitting at my desk on the second floor of my house and getting instant 2 meter locks. So far so good on my first pure google phone.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
I came from the Moment and it had 6 bars for signal strength....the Nexus has only 4 and from what I've noticed, reception has been the same or better than what I had. I haven't had any problems with 3G switching to 1x except when I was in our storage basement at work, in a heavily populated downtown. I haven't been able to try out 4G yet because it isn't offered in my area yet but assume it'll be the same or worse downtown. I have had issues with the GPS taking forever to get a lock, but I only use the GPS chip with NO help from the cell network. Most of the time, since it reboots in about 45 secs, I just reboot and it works fine for a while.
I did something slightly different. Before I used the GPS for the first time I completely removed google maps and didn't have any map program. I did have the evo shift sprint telenav map apk already on this phone. I installed it and started up the gps. After a few minutes of downloading files, the map screen came up and showed my correct position. I've found in the past if I fire up sprint maps for the first time I use the gps, it doesn't have problems locking afterwards. If I use google maps first, if it locks it takes a long time.
mrhinkle83 said:
I came from the Moment
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God bless you.. I had that paper weight for awhile and ditched it for the Epic. Worst phone I've ever used. The Nexus S must be like heaven compared to that thing.
So I was driving to one place today and needed gmaps to show me shortest route from my location, turned on GPS, could not get any sats to lock, I probably waited 20-30 secs and then remembered one old trick with GPS Status app.
Downloaded the app, went to tools, reset, redownloaded data, got 9 out of 9 sats locked on in 1 second, 2m accuracy. I can live with that.
But still not happy with 3G/4G performance, and at the same time I dont wanna go back to my Epic.
Mine locks instantly but up to 20m which doesn't bother me as long as it gets me where I need to go
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
p00kienrayray said:
Funny that you say that. When I had the EVO, coverage and download speeds over 3g werent a problem. now that i have my ns4g, same coverage but super slow 3g speeds in my area. not sure if its my phone, cuz where i work i get legit 3g speeds here and there. i'll give sprint a couple weeks to sort this out before my buyers remorse period ends.
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Well, what I meant was that signal strength in "dBm's" was the same, or at least that's what both phones' status showed. But with speed test app 3G speeds on NS4G were MUCH slower than Epic's, and of course I couldn't even test 4G...
I'm also thinking if I should return it before 30days or just keep it and hope there will be fixes to make NS4G's radio better and better, to be prepared for ice cream desert, and then just jump to next Nexus
styckx said:
God bless you.. I had that paper weight for awhile and ditched it for the Epic. Worst phone I've ever used. The Nexus S must be like heaven compared to that thing.
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Yes, the difference is like night and day! I'm just amazed at the battery life...I can actually go a full day without nursing it with a charge here and there, the moment wouldn't go longer than 6hrs before crapping out...and that was with light useage! I've had the nexus for over a week and I'm hooked....and the GPS issues seem to have settled down, it locks within 30-40 seconds now and is pretty accurate.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
GPS reception issues, but only while biking
OK I've searched around and haven't found much on this particular problem:
I use the MayMyRide app to track and log my bicycle rides. It consistently shorts my ride by at least 1.5 miles and several minutes, as compared to my computer on the bike.
This only started happening after I switched to the NS4G on Sprint from the Moto Defy on T-Mobile. I used the same app on t-mobile and it was generally pretty accurate.
Also, I seem to have decent GPS reception in general, the GPS lock times seem reasonable, and I can use google maps navigation with no problems.
Also, I've had this problem regardless of what ROM I'm running. I've flashed several, but I've mostly run Gummy, burnsra's CM9, and the latest Bugless Beast.
I've just started the process of flashing different radios, so I don't have enough info yet to see if that fixes the problem.
My hypotheses so far:
1) Poor reception in the rural areas that I ride, although since it's GPS I don't see why having poor network signal would affect it. But maybe it does.
2) Weak GPS antenna in the NS4G (?) (This doesn't make sense because GPS works fine in other settings.)
3) General sprint crappiness.
4) I don't think it's the app because it worked fine on T-MO.
5) I don't think it's the ROM because it's happened on several ROMs.
6) I don't have enough data yet to know if it's as simple as flashing a new radio. I flashed LC1 this morning so we'll see.
Any ideas?
I'm temporary assigned to Cheyenne, WY and just got my Charge since my DroidX bit the dust. Can't wait to get back to Orlando which is covered in LTE but in the meantime I'm stuck on 3G.
My issue is that my data icon keeps going to 3G with a little D underneath it which means i have no data feed and when I do something that requires data, like the market, it doesn't always kick back in right away, which causes some apps not to work.
Has anybody else experienced this issue or am I just on a crappy tower? I did upgrade to ED2 in hopes that that would fix it.
Sent from my Droid Charge using Tapatalk
Same issue - different state
Mods sorry I double posted. Please take down my similar thread. Here is what I posted.
I have a Thunderbolt and really enjoy 95% of how it works - except of course the battery life. So in an effort to retain the function of the Thunderbolt and improve battery life I picked up a Droid Charge. The screen is FANTASTIC and it runs almost as fast as the Bolt.
Here comes the big BUT!! But the data connection falls off a lot and I have to do a reset to get the 3g data connection back. There are some of other smaller things but the big BUT makes the Charge unusable for me.
Anyone a quick fix to this issue?
I am surprised this issue hasn't been reported more widely.
Experience tells me that Sammy ROM fixes are sssllloooww to come along.
So unless there is something I am missing - back goes the Sammy.
Also another quick question - anyone get Skype to work?
Thanks
I am having a bunch of connection issues as well. It seems like the 3g connection is spotty and handing off from 4g to 3g is worse. To make matters worse, if I am transferring anything when the issue occurs the transfer is toast and the app needs to be killed before it behaves again.
As for Skype, the one in the marker works (the non VZ one) so far. Haven't tested voice, but VZ ver wouldn't even run.
I have had the same problem with my thunderbolt so I returned it and got the charge and haven't had as much of a data problem and the battery life is so much better than the bolt.
No data issues here. But there also isn't LTE offered in the area so I guess I wouldn't be experiencing 4g/3g swapping ever...
In fact, I'm actually experiencing much better connectivity (wifi, 3g, gps, voice) than I was on my Fascinate.
No 3G here either but still erratic
Just to clarify, 4g is not available in my primary area. My phone has a good solid lock on a good solid signal then BOOM no more data.
Given what some of the others have said - it sounds hardware related.
Probable best to just take it back.
Yup, shoddy 3G
I'm having issues with sporadic 3G connectivity as well. Previously, I owned a Droid Eris and never had any issues with 3G in my area leading me to believe it's a problem with the Charge. I don't live in a 4G area so there is no interference there. I'll be mid-app and boom, it drops for about 2 minutes or until I toggle the data switch off/on.
Glad I'm not the only one, but still very annoying.
Aside from my few hardware/design complaints of the Charge, THIS issue is by far the worst that directly affects the user experience.
Samsung, are you reading this thread? Please help us!
I'm having the same issue. I was about to call verizon to make sure there were no outages. Places I normally have no issue maintaining 3g coverage I'm dropping down to 1X.
i had the same problem, i went to verizon and they reactivated my phone and now my phone works great with no problems. go to verizon and tell them to reactivate your phone, they may also give u a new sim card too.
Went to Verizon
Yep - went to Verizon also. Left the Charge there. We'll see where it goes but for now too many negatives. As I said earlier, I really like the Sammy screens started with the Fascinate. I just don't feel like waiting around for the slow train that Sammy/Verizon always seem to be on for fixes. Hopefully I am wrong soon but for now I am right.
modestmartin said:
I'm having issues with sporadic 3G connectivity as well. Previously, I owned a Droid Eris and never had any issues with 3G in my area leading me to believe it's a problem with the Charge. I don't live in a 4G area so there is no interference there. I'll be mid-app and boom, it drops for about 2 minutes or until I toggle the data switch off/on.
Glad I'm not the only one, but still very annoying.
Aside from my few hardware/design complaints of the Charge, THIS issue is by far the worst that directly affects the user experience.
Samsung, are you reading this thread? Please help us!
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Click to collapse
It's a network and/or modem firmware issue - the Thunderbolt is plagued with the EXACT same problems.
Glitch4583 said:
I'm temporary assigned to Cheyenne, WY and just got my Charge since my DroidX bit the dust. Can't wait to get back to Orlando which is covered in LTE but in the meantime I'm stuck on 3G.
My issue is that my data icon keeps going to 3G with a little D underneath it which means i have no data feed and when I do something that requires data, like the market, it doesn't always kick back in right away, which causes some apps not to work.
Has anybody else experienced this issue or am I just on a crappy tower? I did upgrade to ED2 in hopes that that would fix it.
Sent from my Droid Charge using Tapatalk
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OT F.E. Warren? My Cousin was stationed there, he was a guard at the Minuteman III ICBM Silo's and Launch Facilities, are you on the base or at the Missile's? I hope the deployment goes well! OT
Back on Topic, I noticed that little D underneath the 3G today and thought "what the?" lol. It was only there for a few seconds, so I dismissed it, I'll keep a watch on it though and report back any data issues.
I'm on base thank Jebus, I work behind a desk in the Communications SQ. As for the D, I went into vzw and they say claim it's normal. Personally I think it has something to do with the bad infrastructure we have in Wyoming, causing major power drain issues on my phone.
Sent from my Droid Charge using Tapatalk
My wife's droid charge is having very bad issues with the 3g dropping and never coming back. Were in el paso, TX.
Same issue here in Orlando. 4G to 3G drops data...very annoying....wife is ready to return for iPhone4. Help please! Don't want fruit in house.
Having the same problem in Alabama, don't have 3G yet and yet I get the D and then 1X and it completely drops out. Last night I lost data completely and wouldn't come back up even after I rebooted the phone. I wasn't sure if this was due to the battery being about < 5% (I was trying to kill it) or what. About to boot my phone back up and see how it does. I had just switched WiFi off in my apt. and never got the 3G data stream.
I have it set to CDMA only since there is no 4G in my area right now, don't know if that really helps or hurts the situation though.
I actually thought the D meant that something about the stream being dormant because I do get it a lot of times but when I refresh facebook or something, 3G immediately comes back up.
Glitch4583 said:
I'm on base thank Jebus, I work behind a desk in the Communications SQ.
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Lol Right on Being out at the Missile Silo's and Launch Facilities is a lonely job, a VERY essential job of course, to keep the peace, but lonely nevertheless
How is your data doing lately, any better?
It's not getting any better but I talked to tech support and they said it's a known issue. Guess there'll be an ED3 soon.
Sent from my Droid Charge using Tapatalk
ShotgunSam said:
Having the same problem in Alabama, don't have 3G yet and yet I get the D and then 1X and it completely drops out. Last night I lost data completely and wouldn't come back up even after I rebooted the phone. I wasn't sure if this was due to the battery being about < 5% (I was trying to kill it) or what. About to boot my phone back up and see how it does. I had just switched WiFi off in my apt. and never got the 3G data stream.
I have it set to CDMA only since there is no 4G in my area right now, don't know if that really helps or hurts the situation though.
I actually thought the D meant that something about the stream being dormant because I do get it a lot of times but when I refresh facebook or something, 3G immediately comes back up.
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Click to collapse
I am also having the same issue here in Portland OR since I got the Charge since 5/16. Today, I had GPS issues when I was Google navigation. It could not get a satellite lock. I tried people has suggested did not work but doing a factory reset worked. I still have the same data issues.
Glitch4583 said:
It's not getting any better but I talked to tech support and they said it's a known issue. Guess there'll be an ED3 soon.
Sent from my Droid Charge using Tapatalk
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I hope so. I would really like to keep the Droid Charge.
I got a my phone at best buy today and I have 2 complaints, speakerphone call quality is very bad, I can hear like if there is a fan blowing air into the microphone while I'm in a quite room. The other thing I noticed was the signal strength, my wife Samsung Stratosphere has 3-4 bars and my S3 has 1-2 bars. Did I get a bad phone or that's the way the phone works?
TIA!
Vertig0 said:
I got a my phone at best buy today and I have 2 complaints, speakerphone call quality is very bad, I can hear like if there is a fan blowing air into the microphone while I'm in a quite room. The other thing I noticed was the signal strength, my wife Samsung Stratosphere has 3-4 bars and my S3 has 1-2 bars. Did I get a bad phone or that's the way the phone works?
TIA!
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Click to collapse
Can you elaborate a little on your user experience? Sounds like a faulty phone but please give more info
Sent from the current Heavy Weight champ GALAXY SIII
Vertig0 said:
I got a my phone at best buy today and I have 2 complaints, speakerphone call quality is very bad, I can hear like if there is a fan blowing air into the microphone while I'm in a quite room. The other thing I noticed was the signal strength, my wife Samsung Stratosphere has 3-4 bars and my S3 has 1-2 bars. Did I get a bad phone or that's the way the phone works?
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Click to collapse
The number of bars displayed is not directly comparable. Phones can be configured to display a certain number of bars at a certain signal strength. Both phones could have the exact same single strength and be calibrated to visually display entirely differently.
Bars mean nothing. Apple once changes the bars to "better reflect network connections" or something... signal strength is important its in the settings menu...
Sent from my AT&T Galaxy SIII (SGH-i747)
ingenious247 said:
Can you elaborate a little on your user experience? Sounds like a faulty phone but please give more info
Sent from the current Heavy Weight champ GALAXY SIII
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For example, I called my wife omw home and she was complaining that she could not understand me because it was too loud and she could hear everything around me but me. When I got home I tested the phone having her calling my from my phone and when she switched to speakerphone I was able to listen the A/C louder than her.
The signal strength is just that, her phone gets 3-4 bar and mine gets 1-2 bars 1bar must of the time.
Vertig0 said:
For example, I called my wife omw home and she was complaining that she could not understand me because it was too loud and she could hear everything around me but me. When I got home I tested the phone having her calling my from my phone and when she switched to speakerphone I was able to listen the A/C louder than her.
The signal strength is just that, her phone gets 3-4 bar and mine gets 1-2 bars 1bar must of the time.
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Click to collapse
From my experience the phone is really good at canceling out background noise. My sister was driving her loud car while talking to me on her S3 and I couldn't even hear it, I used to be able to. I'd see if you could get it replaced.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
No Probs
I have not had any of the problems you are talking about. I would try to find another one and do a side by side.
ainen said:
From my experience the phone is really good at canceling out background noise. My sister was driving her loud car while talking to me on her S3 and I couldn't even hear it, I used to be able to. I'd see if you could get it replaced.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
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Was that using the speakerphone?
If you're not pleased, return it. The signal bars on the 2 devices shouldn't be compared, however, as ICS has a different algorithm of calculating LTE signal bars than versions of Android before it. This was covered at great length when the Verizon Galaxy Nexus first came out.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
my speakerphone sounds pretty crappy too
Mean Bro Greene said:
If you're not pleased, return it. The signal bars on the 2 devices shouldn't be compared, however, as ICS has a different algorithm of calculating LTE signal bars than versions of Android before it. This was covered at great length when the Verizon Galaxy Nexus first came out.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
I see... so it might be an ics bug? I just drove to my closest tower and that was the only time my phone was full bars as soon I drove away like two blocks away I was already down to 3 bars. Also I did a test side by side with my wife's phone and her phone performed on LTE waaay better than my S3...
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Vertig0 said:
I see... so it might be an ics bug? I just drove to my closest tower and that was the only time my phone was full bars as soon I drove away like two blocks away I was already down to 3 bars. Also I did a test side by side with my wife's phone and her phone performed on LTE waaay better than my S3...
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
She's connected to WiFi....
culpin said:
She's connected to WiFi....
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she's not.. I noticed that... even if I disconnect from wifi still show the icon letting me know there is wifi available...
Speakerphone and Headphone quality is horrible, on both ends of the call
Having similar problems here!!!!
Having major problems with speakerphone and headphone use while in a car.
The speakerphone in general doesn't sound very clear. Both ends sound like wind or a fan is blowing right into the microphone. It sounds garbled on both the sending and receiving end of the call. Same issue with headphones.
Basically everyone says it sounds like the windows are down and a wind storm is blowing. Windows are up, and no A/C fan is blowing onto the phone.
Second phone with same problem. Bad batch? Basically impossible to use it in a car. Even when not in a car, the speakerphone quality is not that great.
Any suggestions? Maybe there is a setting that needs to be turned on/off?
anyone else with sound issues?
Wish I could be of help. My GS3's voice/sound quality is easily the best I've had on any smartphone I've owned. You might want to take that in and have the reps compare it against another GS3 or if you know someone else who has the same phone, you could test their device against yours.
Alright know this is unrelated to the OP, but I was wondering about mine too. I just got my second S3 from verizon. My first one had some loose housing on the back and creaked like a loose floorboard every time it was touched. Now the new one they sent me today has a dark spot on the screen. It's not noticeable when there are light colors in that area, but when it's dark it's definitely visible. I remember seeing threads about this a while back but didn't take much time reading them. Is this something I should return it for? Thanks for any help
seems you're not alone in the cell reception issue. There's 2 other threads going about this very issue. One in this sub forum, the other is : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=29166050#post29166050 . Call and get a tech support ticket opened. The more people opening tickets the faster we get this issue resolved...lol it'll still be slow as ****, but what can you do?
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Vertig0 said:
she's not.. I noticed that... even if I disconnect from wifi still show the icon letting me know there is wifi available...
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Click to collapse
That's a "feature" lol. God I can't wait for the bootloader thing to get cracked so we can get some real ROMs going for this thing. The carriers want you off their network, like 5 minutes ago, and they're willing to do ANYTHING even if it's make your phone automatically connect to random networks against your wishes to get you off their network and on to someone else's. It wouldn't shock me to find out they lower the output on their towers artificially to keep folks in the sticks from getting a signal to force them to provide their own bandwidth the way they try to force us to us WIFI when we pay perfectly good money for our wireless connections.
You can shut off some of the annoying reminders in the auto-connect area...but never all. It's always gonna try to dump you onto WIFI. The carriers hate you using their precious bandwidths you paid for..
---------- Post added at 10:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:30 AM ----------
Vertig0 said:
I see... so it might be an ics bug? I just drove to my closest tower and that was the only time my phone was full bars as soon I drove away like two blocks away I was already down to 3 bars. Also I did a test side by side with my wife's phone and her phone performed on LTE waaay better than my S3...
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you're not imagining it, you can see one of the antennas molded into the plastic under the back cover, at the base of the handset...you know right where the fat of your palm rests when actually using the device in portrait mode. There appears to be another at the top right hand side. Dunno which antenna is what...but I did notice if you keep your hand off the bottom area, my signal goes up some. But when the signal changes so much by moving it a few feet one way or another who can really tell what effects what. Also, my flimsy plastic/silicon type case from verizon appears to knock 5-10 dbm off my signal strength too...great stuff that.
I have noticed this exact same thing.
My mom and sister say that it sounds like there is a lot of wind on the phone when I call them. Particularly on speaker phone but even when not. This is when I am inside or in my relatively quiet car.
I hope VZ doesn't try to f** around with me in the store. I have had nothing but horrendous customer service with this POS company before. I bought an expensive product and I expect it to work as a PHONE.
Hey at least you didn't get the crap shoot I got. I would get little dots all over my letters on the screen pretty often (but not all the time). Couldn't get rid of em no matter what I flashed or reset. Had to bring it back to Verizon and practically shove the thing in the old guy's face to get him to see the dots. He basically refused to return it. I complained to their corporate offices and hopefully that guy got a spanking. Another guy graciously exchanged it for me. I thanked him profusely.
Any apparent issues with these phone? I have the recent Samsung galaxy nexus, and I have the 3g-4g issue with mine and it was a PITA. Any issues with these phones, as in common issues?
This phone started getting really poor signal when the Note 2 came out. It got so bad a lot of people needed to get it replaced! Apparently, the Note 2 didn't have these issues.
Just kidding.
In some areas this phone can have signal issues. At home, work and most other places nearby I get perfectly fine signal. However when I visited some of my friends in Detroit we went to a bar that caused my phone to really heat up in my pocket. I noticed it was on 1x and my battery had been drained pretty good. Its hit or miss, but I'd say 90% of the people have no issues.
Out of the box the phone does not handle Bluetooth calling with an aux cable plugged in. You won't be able to hear the person on the other end until you unplug the cable from the phone. Fortunately, one hobbyist was able to fix what a multi-billion dollar corporation couldn't and released SoundAbout onto the play store. You'll have to buy it to get the Bluetooth correction ability, but it's worth it if this is a function that you use.
Samsung is playing coy about the availability of an extended battery. Only murmers of it exist though some people have managed to get their hands on it overseas. We're hoping this doesn't become vaporware because it's a 3000mah battery that doesn't add too much extra bulk. The stock battery provides average battery life. Better than your GNex but worse than battery titans like the maxx phones and Note 2.
There are issues with the real time clock that causes recovery backups to have an incorrect date. All of my backups were performed in 1970 apparently.
AOSP is very functional on this phone but it's still a WIP. Notable issues include staticy A2DP Bluetooth music playback (mastamoon builds unofficials that fix this at the expense of call echo), massive fps lag upon exiting games (fixed by turning screen off/on) and weaker signal strength in some areas. There may be other issues I'm forgetting about, but that's most of it.
There is a small chance you can lose your IMEI number when you flash custom ROMs or kernels. This is bad as it causes your phone to lose its ability to make calls, send texts or receive data. Luckily there are easy methods to back this up and restore if needed. I've backed mine up and thankfully have never needed to restore it. Look for the thread titled Comprehensive IMEI Backup for more details.
That's most of the issues with this phone.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
No comparison to the GNEX. The GNEX was just terrible when it came to signal. The S3 might not be the best signal phone, but it is leaps and bounds above the GNEX.
[email protected] said:
No comparison to the GNEX. The GNEX was just terrible when it came to signal. The S3 might not be the best signal phone, but it is leaps and bounds above the GNEX.
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VERY true story!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
I've been having trouble with signal reception at home, but that's the only place I have an issue. My house seems to be in a deadzone with a radius of no more than 200m. My iPhone4 didn't have a problem with calls there, but hte GS3 does. That said, I don't really have a problem anywhere else. A network extender remedied that issue. I also get a quick A2DP audio skip once every couple of minutes, but that doesn't bother me much.
Aside from that, it's been an awesome phone. Lot's of support, and lots of roms to try out.
You have 14 days to return, give it a run. I have zero signal issues.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
I have the 32G blue on Verizon and although I don't always have a strong signal I have never had a dropped call. I travel a lot and watch the 4G and cell signal, most of the time I have 4G about 80 % the rest is 3G. Did notice that when the phone is switching between the two occasionally it will go to 1x not all the time. I did flash like a dozen ROMs not loosing my IMEI, however I did back it up b4 I started flashing just in case. Recommend you do a lot of reading b4 you start flashing n you shouldn't have any problems. Love the phone n the ROMs
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Thanks guys especially the 2nd poster!
This phone is awesome and one of the best I've owned so.
Came from the flagship thunderbolt on the verizon network.
Oh the thunderbolt my wife has had 6 of them none worked right
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
I've had mine a couple of week now. I came from a Motorola Bionic. I would much rather the Bionic's radio, I find I have reception issue in places the Bionic was fine in. I got my wife a S3 also, it seems like her reception is better than mine.
Other than that, the phone is amazing. I would and have recommended it.
I have read through the FAQs and seen several posts from users of other phones and other networks with the same issue, but there has not been an answer to be found.
I've experienced this issue with 4 different ROMs now, so it's not ROM-based. I've tried 3 different radios, so it's not likely modem-based.
The issue is that I will get voicemail notifications for calls I miss, but I'm sitting at my desk with my phone and it didn't ring, nor is there a missed call indication. 5 minutes later, someone else might call me and the call comes through fine. It appears to be purely random. People who call me sometimes get through, sometimes not. It's not the same person who can't get through, or the same network.
Does anyone have an idea what is happening?
dontezuma said:
I have read through the FAQs and seen several posts from users of other phones and other networks with the same issue, but there has not been an answer to be found.
I've experienced this issue with 4 different ROMs now, so it's not ROM-based. I've tried 3 different radios, so it's not likely modem-based.
The issue is that I will get voicemail notifications for calls I miss, but I'm sitting at my desk with my phone and it didn't ring, nor is there a missed call indication. 5 minutes later, someone else might call me and the call comes through fine. It appears to be purely random. People who call me sometimes get through, sometimes not. It's not the same person who can't get through, or the same network.
Does anyone have an idea what is happening?
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Click to collapse
Your description definitely sounds familiar. There are times when the phone was under clothing or left on vibrate, then there are those back to back instances where you notice because the first call went straight to voicemail and the next one gets through.
Ideas? Maybe not, but there may be some clues worth considering. Every wireless carrier I've used suffers dead spots where you are 99% guaranteed to have your call drop in progress driving by.
Locally (NJ) AT&T has 2 on the westbound "covered roadway" leading to the skyway. My point is I've observed where they won't affect my passenger's TMobile calls. Oddly, when I experience this there, the call has usually gone on uninterrupted through the Holland Tunnel. Must be an infrastructure quirk.
The drive by carrier dead zone is a fixed location call deterrent. An expert could probably say how much each example is based on tower locations versus radio interference. I guess a similar scenario might be possible wherein the call recipient is stationary, like at your desk, and some moving interference breaks a fragile tower connection. I have to say it seems a lot less prevalent with SR vs. previous smartphones and with my current ROM / Modem vs. former ones.
pc103 said:
Your description definitely sounds familiar. There are times when the phone was under clothing or left on vibrate, then there are those back to back instances where you notice because the first call went straight to voicemail and the next one gets through.
Ideas? Maybe not, but there may be some clues worth considering. Every wireless carrier I've used suffers dead spots where you are 99% guaranteed to have your call drop in progress driving by.
Locally (NJ) AT&T has 2 on the westbound "covered roadway" leading to the skyway. My point is I've observed where they won't affect my passenger's TMobile calls. Oddly, when I experience this there, the call has usually gone on uninterrupted through the Holland Tunnel. Must be an infrastructure quirk.
The drive by carrier dead zone is a fixed location call deterrent. An expert could probably say how much each example is based on tower locations versus radio interference. I guess a similar scenario might be possible wherein the call recipient is stationary, like at your desk, and some moving interference breaks a fragile tower connection. I have to say it seems a lot less prevalent with SR vs. previous smartphones and with my current ROM / Modem vs. former ones.
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Click to collapse
Thanks. No, this is definitely chronic and not related to dead spots. I have my phone with me at my desk, 3 or 4 bars, no issues. Just doesn't come in. It's been really bad since moving to the JB ROMs. It pretty much never happened without explanation (dead zone, etc.) when I was on ICS and earlier. :/
One other performance problem that my Captivate had resembled this.
When I complained to Customer Service, they did some kind of remote (non-destructive) "reset" of my account. That corrected the random call drops I had reported then.
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pc103 said:
One other performance problem that my Captivate had resembled this.
When I complained to Customer Service, they did some kind of remote (non-destructive) "reset" of my account. That corrected the random call drops I had reported then.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
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Were you dropping calls midstream, or not receiving calls? My problem is with not receiving calls when I'm somewhere I usually do and at times when my cell service looks fine (adequate bars).
dontezuma said:
Were you dropping calls midstream, or not receiving calls? My problem is with not receiving calls when I'm somewhere I usually do and at times when my cell service looks fine (adequate bars).
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Now that you mention, I recall it was a mix. Bars were good, some calls were silently missed, others FCd the phone app while ringing in, forcing reboot. Good, stable calls surrounded the (<5%) failed ones. AT&T's account reset corrected both issues. Stock ROM back then was Éclair or Froyo.