Database Info

Now very upset about the CRaptivate

I took my sister to the AT&T store yesterday and bought her the HTC Inspire 4G. VERY nice phone. So while in the ATT store, the Inspire was on display at the back of the store. I took the liberty and installed GPS Test program from the market and let it run, just for the heck of it.
The damn thing locked on and saw 7 sats within 2 seconds, and got 9-11 sats within the next 5.
So I whipped out my CRaptivate, and ran the same GPS test program. Pathetic POS didn't even lock on to one. I had to walk outside in order to even see sats, and then it took an extra 30 seconds for it to lock on to anything. This is with Firefly 2.4, latest updates, GPS fixes, the whole 9 yards.
Now I see how bad this CRaptivate is. It took just one moment with that HTC to see the light.
The question is, I bought this POS back in October, as it was the only Android offering that was worth it at the time. After having all the problems I do with this phone, what can I do to get ATT to take it back so that I can switch to something like the Inspire??? Or is that a lost cause?

ajm786 said:
I took my sister to the AT&T store yesterday and bought her the HTC Inspire 4G. VERY nice phone. So while in the ATT store, the Inspire was on display at the back of the store. I took the liberty and installed GPS Test program from the market and let it run, just for the heck of it.
The damn thing locked on and saw 7 sats within 2 seconds, and got 9-11 sats within the next 5.
So I whipped out my CRaptivate, and ran the same GPS test program. Pathetic POS didn't even lock on to one. I had to walk outside in order to even see sats, and then it took an extra 30 seconds for it to lock on to anything. This is with Firefly 2.4, latest updates, GPS fixes, the whole 9 yards.
Now I see how bad this CRaptivate is. It took just one moment with that HTC to see the light.
The question is, I bought this POS back in October, as it was the only Android offering that was worth it at the time. After having all the problems I do with this phone, what can I do to get ATT to take it back so that I can switch to something like the Inspire??? Or is that a lost cause?
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Probably a hardware issue IMO. Get it fixed.
For your ATT question i do not know, sorry.

41LY45 said:
Probably a hardware issue IMO. Get it fixed.
For your ATT question i do not know, sorry.
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Click to collapse
I'm just very scared to attempt to get another replacement that has the random shutdown issue. This is my second phone; my first one had the problem, this one does NOT have the random shutdown issue, but the GPS is borked(?).
There are just so many problems with this phone, it's almost like I'm playing the lottery in trying to get a functioning one.

ajm786 said:
I'm just very scared to attempt to get another replacement that has the random shutdown issue. This is my second phone; my first one had the problem, this one does NOT have the random shutdown issue, but the GPS is borked(?).
There are just so many problems with this phone, it's almost like I'm playing the lottery in trying to get a functioning one.
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Lol, refurbished phones.
I guess it's just up to one's luck.

41LY45 said:
Lol, refurbished phones.
I guess it's just up to one's luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, to be completely honest, the first 2 phones I got were NOT refurbished. There were brand new (got them exchanged retail at the store).

My GPS works fine it didnt before on stock rom but does now... software issue
sent with Captivate w/ Gingerbread 2.3.3

maxjivi05 said:
My GPS works fine it didnt before on stock rom but does now... software issue
sent with Captivate w/ Gingerbread 2.3.3
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Click to collapse
To be fair, I'm not saying that the GPS is not working at all with the Captivate. I'm saying that the HTC (and pretty much any other hardware) demolishes the Craptivate when it comes to that, and, pretty much everything else. I'm not interested in tweaking my phone forever to do what it should have done to start with. I mean, tweaking is fun, but to an extent. I don't want to be doing this forever. It has to come to an end somewhere, and that probably means for me different hardware.
This is the first and last huge mistake that I will have made with Samsung. I swear I will NEVER buy anything from them, and will do my utmost best to return this POS.

maxjivi05 said:
My GPS works fine it didnt before on stock rom but does now... software issue
sent with Captivate w/ Gingerbread 2.3.3
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Click to collapse
Notice you'r running Gingerbread 2.3.3; therefore, I would guess that the ROM was loaded very recently. Most Captivates' GPS works great right out of the box, or right after loading a new ROM. Post back how your GPS is working after the ROM has been installed for a month and you have been using it a lot.

Wow, very clever twist on the phone's name.
And thanks for the heads-up on the GPS issue. Never saw any other threads on it.
If you want to know if ATT will do something about it, ummm, why don't you ask them?

mfw my gps works perfectly and tracks my every move on pheonix 6.0

comdei said:
mfw my gps works perfectly and tracks my every move on pheonix 6.0
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Hmmm. Working GPS vs. bleeding retinas. Nah, not worth it.

rbtconsultants said:
Wow, very clever twist on the phone's name.
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Very fitting.
rbtconsultants said:
And thanks for the heads-up on the GPS issue. Never saw any other threads on it.
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All the ROM and GPS fixes get the GPS barely usable compared to other phones that get GPS right. After using the Inspire for a few minutes, it's clear that the CRaptivate is highly flawed, even in its "fixed" state. Thanks so much to all the ROM chefs and devs working so hard on it; I can only imagine the pain they have to go through because Shamsung doesn't know how write software for shi*.
rbtconsultants said:
If you want to know if ATT will do something about it, ummm, why don't you ask them?
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Click to collapse
I will. I just wanted to get some input from someone who might have gotten them to successfully swap phones for them.

ajm786 said:
Very fitting.
All the ROM and GPS fixes get the GPS barely usable compared to other phones that get GPS right. After using the Inspire for a few minutes, it's clear that the CRaptivate is highly flawed, even in its "fixed" state. Thanks so much to all the ROM chefs and devs working so hard on it; I can only imagine the pain they have to go through because Shamsung doesn't know how write software for shi*.
I will. I just wanted to get some input from someone who might have gotten them to successfully swap phones for them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They probably won't do much unless you're a super valuable customer to them. We all like to think we are, but lets face it, some customer are worth a LOT more than others, this is true for every business. Plus there's a reason they give you 30 days to try the phone, one month of use should be more than enough to know whether the phone suits your needs or not. Unless you're consistently spending like $400+ on your phone bill every month and haven't had issues in the past, I doubt they will do much other than warranty exchange, especially since you've had the phone for 5 months now. I must've been one of the lucky ones, never really had any GPS issues, recent flash to Cog 4.1.1 actually screwed it up for me for some reason (I blame the solar flares) and the GPS wouldn't increase it's accuracy from 4900 meters, but this was easily remedied by applying the GPS fix in SGS Tools.

@ 6months you can do an early upgrade but you will extend the contract and pay a lot more for the new phone than the advertised contract price, that's probably the best you can do to get out of the captivate. or you can buy a phone outright.
sorry guy, my gps is as good as any phone i have ever owned but i do admit that the better htc phones are a bit better in that area. really my gps can lock with the same speed and accuracy as a droid x in the verizon store which has a metal roof, but the incredible does lock to 7meters while my phone and the motorola only lock to 30 meters. generally the hardware can get the job done as well as other phones. infact my iphone could not lock under a metal roof, or any kind of roof for that matter, it was incapable of navigation. the gps signal on the iphone 3g was bad for many of my friends as well so im not crazy. my friends also complain about there blackberry gps and other android phones.
my phone never had gps that couldn't lock but it also never tracked well and got a strong signal at the same time untill somewhat recently after a lot of finding what didn't work. it either tracked but lost signal under cloud cover and bridges or it locked but the positioning was all over the place. futzing around in lbs test mode never really helped untill i realized that it needed to agree with secgps.conf and jupiter.xml
the real issues with the galaxy s seems to be sensitivity to noise and every phone is a bit different. it can take a lot of experimentation to get it working, or it might never work.

Buy a TomTom... Case closed
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Crap, topic starter! you say that it locked INSIDE building? bull****! GPS ain't capable of working indoors. Oh, yeah - also count how much battery GPS is using on Inspire and on Cappy

ajm786 said:
Very fitting.
I will. I just wanted to get some input from someone who might have gotten them to successfully swap phones for them.
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Click to collapse
Just depends if you have a reasonably justifiable hardware / software issue, and how assertive you are. Demand a phone that has that basic capabilities advertised, and get it warrantied.
Meanwhile, ask for an adjustment on your bill. Go up 2 or 3 levels of Customer Service with your complaint, and tell them how many phones - how many times this has occurred.
I've done it at least 4 times in 6 mos - had them let me demo a Windows 7 phone for free for a week - had 200+ USD credited to my account - gave the Win 7 phone back no charge - Replaced my Refurb Captivate with a Brand New one with 12 Mos. Factory Warranty. Replaced it again. Free.
Some days you get the Bear - Some Days the Bear gets you... When it comes to Customer Service - YOU PAY THEM. Get the Bear.

Yuna said:
Crap, topic starter! you say that it locked INSIDE building? bull****! GPS ain't capable of working indoors. Oh, yeah - also count how much battery GPS is using on Inspire and on Cappy
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Click to collapse
speak for yourself
i am inside a solid cinder block office building and i can get consistent locks on 8-11 satellites.
Outdoors is 10-12 with usually all or occasionally all but 1 locking.

opcow said:
Hmmm. Working GPS vs. bleeding retinas. Nah, not worth it.
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Click to collapse
thats an easy solution.
Flash firefly or supernova then flash blackfroyorogers thems over it. Both have GPS as good as or better than phoenix and blackrogersfroyo theme tones down the colors to very neutral black and grays.

I have an old Captivate....it works perfectly.
Other than the original 2.1 software that came with it, every ROM I have used has excellent GPS performance.
I have no random reboots on any ROM, not even with CM7. I suppose this means there is some type of hardware issue. All directions have been followed to a tee when reflashing.
I am a huge Samsung fan in general, and I love the Captivate hardware...but to be honest I wouldn't look to them first for a phone. HTC has the better track record for updates. Thankfully the xda and dev community rocks.
I couldn't imagine being on a stock 2.1 for all those months...

[Q] Please help a newb understand and possible fix my 4g.. long journey

Okay lets start from the beginning.... about a year ago I switched to Verizon ONLY so that I can get 4g as they have the best 4g in my area. (Detroit). I loved it at first...smoking hot 4g almost everywhere I went. When my home internet went out I could tether to my phone... life was good. Sometimes when entering a building I would drop to 3g but my desk and PC are by a picture window so I always had 4g to tether with.
Then came that update a couple months ago.. don't remember the update number but it was the one that was pulled. Every since then I can only get 4g when I am in a prime area outdoors near a tower. This makes the phone almost worthless to me because I use it to play an online game and surf the internet at work, not to mention I no longer have a backup connection for my PC... without 4G I might as well be using a cheap flip phone. I have 3 S3's on my account and they all show this same behavior change.
I have tried changing the sim card.. flashing many different radios and am currently running Jelly Beans build 15 ROM to see if a different ROM might help. (I am rooted and unlocked) So far nothing has helped.. I have also tried having my SIM reprovisioned.
I ran across this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1530203 in the HTC forums discussing hardware antenna mods and even some success claimed and was wondering if anybody has experimented with this with the S3??? I have already had the phone apart looking for ideas but I am afraid this is out of my league without some assistance.
Also while sitting in the house I still get good reception based on DBM, currently at 82 as I type this with only a 3G signal and even drops to 1x on occasion, So what is the deal with being able to get 4g outdoors with a lesser signal while only 3G while indoors?? Toggling airplane mode and other tricks I have tried will not get me 4g indoors.
Now... if it came down to it can I give my current phones a try on AT&T to see if that helps anything? Also does anybody remember what radio firmware we where on before the OTA of death?? I may have missed a radio or two in my testing,
Any advice, opinions, suggestions... any input is appreciated. I am somewhat OCD so I will not rest until I resolve this issue or switch carriers.
Thanks in advance.

OK I don't know if I missed it but do you have a custom recovery ? If so flash a different radio and see which does your phone like . invisiblek has all in one packages that are easily flashable . charge your phone and don't interrupt the process . try md3 radio .

jmichaels1982 said:
OK I don't know if I missed it but do you have a custom recovery ? If so flash a different radio and see which does your phone like . invisiblek has all in one packages that are easily flashable . charge your phone and don't interrupt the process . try md3 radio .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been down the list and installed them all last night... took me hours because I wanted to test each radio for a few min before trying the next. Just got off the phone with verizon and samsung 3 way call, samsung will repair the phones if I send them in, but I would be without phones for about 2 weeks,,, damn.
Update.. don't know if it will help but I filed an FCC complaint. Don't know how well it will work but Sprint bent over backwards over FCC complaints.

Which firmware package are you using. Mf1 was the one sent out to fix md3 or whatever that botched one was. Mb1 was the one before that I think. Just flash the mb1 firmware. You can also flash the mf1 firmware. Filing a FCC complaint is a bit extreme for something you can fix by flashing a new firmware package.
Sent from my GT-P5113 using xda premium

bbqsfire said:
Which firmware package are you using. Mf1 was the one sent out to fix md3 or whatever that botched one was. Mb1 was the one before that I think. Just flash the mb1 firmware. You can also flash the mf1 firmware. Filing a FCC complaint is a bit extreme for something you can fix by flashing a new firmware package.
Sent from my GT-P5113 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am currently using MB1 along with the associated rpms on the jelly beans rom. MF1 never solved anything for me, except reduce the overheating and battery life a little. All 3 of my phones are pretty much garbage now. From what I am hearing the bad update put some phones in a non repairable status.
A possibly unrelated issue is that my phones seem to be a different version than most.... I have watched many S3 teardown videos... and in every one a small screw was used to hold the sim card/sd card slot into place. My phone has no such screw nor a place to put one... the assembly just snaps into place and is held in by the surrounding hardware. I think I may have a very early release of the phones.. all 3 are 32 gig models and from what I understand they didn't sell very well on verizon, last time I checked they had quit even listing the 32 gig option.
I have tried to exhaust all options before complaining to the FCC. One thing I would like to play with some more is APN values but have had very little luck because it always reverts back to the same APN and if I try to force anything I get no data at all.
I am also willing to void the warranty one one phone by trying internal antenna mods but I cant do this alone and there seems to be nobody here that has tried it . At the very least the wifi antenna looks easy to mod... just spiral some copper wire around it and spay it with some kind of non conductive coating should help a little. and that ridiculous thermal pad to keep the cpu cool should be trashed and replaced with copper shims and quality thermal paste.
While there is not a lot of room inside for modding I think we could make some small changes that will help.
With the lack of phone hardware modding support on cell phones in general I will probably jump ship to a S4 since it comes in a 32 gig flavor..and I intend on trying an AT&T sim in the phone to see how it performs there.
My wifes phone that has never been modded/rooted/unlock and is on the latest update is much worse than mine... she is stuck in 1x mode most of the time and cant even download her voicemail without a long struggle.
We are in a prime LTE area so there is no excuse for this.

My Mf1 firmware actually gave me more bars and a faster connection. That is to bad it messed up your lte.
Sent from my GT-P5113 using xda premium

Question about 4.3 OTA

I'm looking into getting a Galaxy S3 (Verizon) this weekend from a cell phone repair store. I was reading around on Verizon forums and people are saying that 4.3 update has messed up their phones. Horrible battery life, overheating, app crashes, etc. Just wanted to see if this was still the case. The last post was back in early February.
Thanks.

TiceMan said:
I'm looking into getting a Galaxy S3 (Verizon) this weekend from a cell phone repair store. I was reading around on Verizon forums and people are saying that 4.3 update has messed up their phones. Horrible battery life, overheating, app crashes, etc. Just wanted to see if this was still the case. The last post was back in early February.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people report problems, other people say the update is fine.
My guess is it's largely device specific or people just didn't let there phones settle in too long after the update before reporting problems. Probably a combination of both. Some phones handle software changes better than others.
The s3 is still a pretty powerful phone. The phone hasn't had any other updates following that update, so I doubt there were any bugs that didn't resolve themselves.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Okay. I currently have an HTC One. However, the screen is cracked(still works fine can't even see it unless you turn the phone a certain way) and it has the camera problem. I contacted HTC and they want to charge me $200 to fix it. I like taking pics with my phone most of the time and I just can't do that with the htc. So I found a deal with the s3 and after reading those posts it got me a little scared.

TiceMan said:
Okay. I currently have an HTC One. However, the screen is cracked(still works fine can't even see it unless you turn the phone a certain way) and it has the camera problem. I contacted HTC and they want to charge me $200 to fix it. I like taking pics with my phone most of the time and I just can't do that with the htc. So I found a deal with the s3 and after reading those posts it got me a little scared.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't cost that much to fix a screen. I've seen legit ones in malls and they advertise all over the place.
Sent from my Wicked S3

Has Anyone Got a Reply or Fix from 1+? Horrible experience!

Soooo i got the multi touch issue on my phone, the TOP half of my screen is out of wack! I sent them the support request, i flashed all the roms trying to if it would fix it but no go!
i've been waiting for almost 2 weeks for a dam reply from their support, i had strange feeling ordering this phone was too good to be true!!!!
Has anyone who also has this issue gotten a reply from their support or a fix or a whole phone replacement? This will be the last china based phone i will ever order and i will never suggest any to anyone ever either as i did with one+!
I'm going back to Nexus devices!
Thanks!
Pissed off IT guy!

Do they have a phone number you can try them at?
I agree that it is unacceptable they haven't replied to you yet... But I wouldn't write off all of the Chinese phone companies because of a bad experience with OnePlus.

ataft said:
Do they have a phone number you can try them at?
I agree that it is unacceptable they haven't replied to you yet... But I wouldn't write off all of the Chinese phone companies because of a bad experience with OnePlus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is, i am located in canada and it was actually quite costly for me to get my hands on this device. It was roughly 630$ canadian... Very close to the price of a Nexus6 or a Moto X. I've had every pure Google phone Since G1. i still currently own a N5 and it works flawlessly since the release! My Nexus 1 still works perfectly! in fact i have never had this sort of problem with any phone i have owned and i work in the mobile industry so our company has all kinds of test handsets. I am completely floored by the poor customer service and horrible website with no updates about what they are trying to do to remedy the issue.
i mean if your car was 4 months old and the engine started running on 3 cylinders i'm sure the company wouldn't ask you what wrong and tell you to wait outside the door for 2 weeks while they "Tried to figure out a fix" . I can totally understand they want to try to figure out a software fix but after looking over some posts, it really seems to be a hardware issue due to the lack of poor design flaw and bad engineering.
So i am sure they don't want to bite the bullet and replace all the devices due to a loss of $$$$! and that is why i will never do business with a small company again!
Sorry for the rant im really pissed off!

welcome to the club :crying:
They will don't repair mine 'cause i have some micro dents on the frame... I'm waiting the replacing display from Aliexpress, and after replaced, I will sell this Chinese sh|tty phone.
I will never buy another product from OPO, WORST assitance experience in my all life.

Touch screen issue is solved by last franco kernel
Sent from my A0001 using XDA Free mobile app

Can only share my experience with them. Had a few touch issues with my phone when I bought it, around September last year. Sent them a ticket from their website reporting my issues and offered to send them videos if they needed. They replied saying yes so I did. Produced about 10 videos with different scenarios and test apps that perfectly showcased my problems. They called it hardware issues and offered to replace it. So they did. They are not quick to reply. They are not willing to discuss anything else or give any other info. Whole process took 2 months.
Old phone had a little dent on the chromed frame, they didn't care. New phone came with the same problem. I kind of suspected as much lol.
Didn't care much, soon after a new firmware was available, 38R I think, that solved just about any problem I had. I still get a random ghost swipe like once a week. Doesn't bother me the slightest.
I am now on one of the lastest cm12 nightlies and I can't really find any problem by all with my phone. Don't even want to update to 12.1 since it works so well lol.
I'm impressed with this phone. Price point was and probably still is great. Battery is huge. Screen isn't as vibrant as my old s3 but its still very good. 3gb ram is what every single android phone should have, period. Blazing fast. Its a tad too big but I manage. Loads of customization. I don't ask for anything else from a pocket computer.
Sent from my Bacon using XDA Free mobile app

kaynpayn said:
Can only share my experience with them. Had a few touch issues with my phone when I bought it, around September last year. Sent them a ticket from their website reporting my issues and offered to send them videos if they needed. They replied saying yes so I did. Produced about 10 videos with different scenarios and test apps that perfectly showcased my problems. They called it hardware issues and offered to replace it. So they did. They are not quick to reply. They are not willing to discuss anything else or give any other info. Whole process took 2 months.
Old phone had a little dent on the chromed frame, they didn't care. New phone came with the same problem. I kind of suspected as much lol.
Didn't care much, soon after a new firmware was available, 38R I think, that solved just about any problem I had. I still get a random ghost swipe like once a week. Doesn't bother me the slightest.
I am now on one of the lastest cm12 nightlies and I can't really find any problem by all with my phone. Don't even want to update to 12.1 since it works so well lol.
I'm impressed with this phone. Price point was and probably still is great. Battery is huge. Screen isn't as vibrant as my old s3 but its still very good. 3gb ram is what every single android phone should have, period. Blazing fast. Its a tad too big but I manage. Loads of customization. I don't ask for anything else from a pocket computer.
Sent from my Bacon using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible to flash the kernel you are using without having to root? I don't mind having to unlock bootloader etc if possible, just can't root due to needing banking apps for business etc.
Thanks!

nokmond said:
Is it possible to flash the kernel you are using without having to root? I don't mind having to unlock bootloader etc if possible, just can't root due to needing banking apps for business etc.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes,you can unroot your phone root and unroot..
to those complaining about OPO is a ****ty phone. No it's not,every phone brand (big or small) released have about 1-2% faulty phone's,that why so many Samsung and iPhone's complains can be found,they sell millions of phone's and several thousands are faulty, but that doesn't make it a ****ty phone..first batch of galaxy S3 had so bad ram management that to many (30+ apps) made the phone unusable,it took some the best kernel dev's more than 6 month to correct Samsung's gruling mistake and that was without Samsung's kernel source code released and that is only one example..
Actually Samsung was one of the major reason why "SRD"GokhanMoral left xda

Best modem for NY area??

I have tried a bunch of modems/radios and im getting horrible service. Im on Metro PCS/ t-mobile. If anyone from ny/long island area has good reception and download speed, let me know what rom and modem you are using.
Thanks in advance

pl4life52 said:
I have tried a bunch of modems/radios and im getting horrible service. Im on Metro PCS/ t-mobile. If anyone from ny/long island area has good reception and download speed, let me know what rom and modem you are using.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't really any point to someone recommending a modem for you. Modem performance can vary wildly from user to user as it depends on carrier, exact geographical location, environmental disturbances, among other factors. Someone in the same suburb (even street) as you can have a very different experience on the exact same modem. What I'm saying is the only way to find out is by testing for yourself.

Ahh ok, thank you. I thought it went just kinda off of area thats why i asked for NY. I tried so many im losing hope for this phone lol

pl4life52 said:
Ahh ok, thank you. I thought it went just kinda off of area thats why i asked for NY. I tried so many im losing hope for this phone lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah unfortunately this device has a pretty weak antenna. My house has always been a black hole for signal, but with previous devices I've at least been able to make/receive calls, it's pretty much impossible with this phone. It's a real shame because other than that I can't fault it.

Heisenberg said:
Yeah unfortunately this device has a pretty weak antenna. My house has always been a black hole for signal, but with previous devices I've at least been able to make/receive calls, it's pretty much impossible with this phone. It's a real shame because other than that I can't fault it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing with me, my phone wasn't the best in the house but it was able to do something lol. With this im always getting messages as soon as I step outside. It is a shame, real quick and snappy of a phone. Im not to big on the screen size, I like to be able to use just one hand when sliding status bar down and typing, with this I feel like I will drop it. Im sure i would get used to it but If im getting no signal or barely any im going to jump ship. I think I might go back to motorola with either the Moto g or the Moto x 3rd gen. I had the first one only after a few months after its release. Only reason I changed is because of cracked screen. Ill keep researching different modems for some hope.
Thanks, Heisenberg!