iPhone 4 Connectivity Performance Bad, Really Bad - Here’s Proof

iPhone 4 Connectivity Performance Bad, Really Bad – Here’s Proof

by Bill French on 15/07/10 at 8:00 am

Bill French is an information architect specializing in Internet applications. He is also the co-founder of MyST Technology Partners and Senior Editor for iPhoneCTO.

With all the controversy surrounding the iPhone 4 antenna issues and my sense that this device is providing unsatisfactory connectivity performance compared to iPhone3GS, I decided to conduct some simple tests. I specifically pitted iPhone 3GS against iPhone 4 over 3G connectivity for data throughput performance. Bear in mind, I’m not an engineer and I know very little about measuring bandwidth across 3G networks. But I do have a brain and I can anecdotally determine if performance is better or worse given some time with each device and a relatively accurate measuring tool.

With a brand spankin’ new iPhone 4 and my iPhone 3GS, I started by creating three test environments;

A location known to have very good 3G reception, pretty much right under an AT&T tower.
A location known to have a very weak signal.
A location known to have pretty good reception; the type of location I probably encounter most often setting aside the abysmal signal at my office.

I know that throughput can be affected by many things so to be as fair as possible, I took 10 speed test measurements at 2 minute intervals in each location and for each phone. I used SpeedTest.net, an iPhone app for measuring download and upload performance. In all tests both phones were lying on a flat surface, each in a case, and each pointing in the same direction separated by about 24 inches. Each test sequence commenced at approximately at the same time and WiFi connectivity was disabled on both devices.

Here are the results -

Here is the raw data from each test and location -

As you can see, in the weak zone iPhone 3GS outperformed iPhone 4 almost 5 to 1 in download performance; roughly 4.54 times faster. In the strong signal zone, iPhone 4 wins but it’s not significantly faster than 3GS but it’s materially 22% faster than 3GS. In the moderate signal zone iPhone 3GS beats out the iPhone 4 by about 23%.

It’s also important to note that in the weak signal zone, the iPhone 3GS “showed” 2 to 4 bars of strength while iPhone 4 showed 1 to 3 bars. In the strong signal zone tests, both phones showed 5 bars and to be clear, neither phone was held during these tests or while observing reported bar indicators.

I didn’t capture upload performance data for this test but I did observe that in almost every test, iPhone 3GS was registering about twice the upload performance as iPhone 4.

While my analysis is far from conclusive scientific evidence, my experience using iPhone 4 in real-world Safari and over-the-web app performance hasn’t been as snappy or as reliable in weak signal areas as iPhone 3Gs. Separate and apart from these tests, I’ve experienced a significant increase in overall connectivity frustration that I did not experience as a long-time iPhone 3GS user.

In these tests, iPhone 4 lost two out of three rounds in the fight. More importantly, the rounds that it lost are the most likely scenarios where you’ll be using your smartphone. Rarely do we find ourselves under a cell tower and it seems (here in the mountains) we’re usually in low signal areas. Given the nature of my tests, it appears the poor performance is probably related to the antenna because as each test increased signal proximity, iPhone 4 performed better overall.

Although unscientific, we can certainly surmise from this test data that iPhone 4 connectivity performance is probably not as good as iPhone 3GS for reasons that I’m unable to determine. Is the phone defective? Is this problem related to the antenna? Is it a combination of issues? Should there be a recall? These are questions that are difficult to address, but we should know more this Friday during Apple’s iPhone 4 press event at which point we will probably have definitive answers.

In the meantime, iPhone 4 users are probably not getting the performance iPhone 3GS users are. Tel us what you’ve experienced.

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http://sparkplug9.com johnkoetsier

HI, how were you holding the iPhone 4?
billfrench

John:

As the article indicates, for these tests, both phones were lying on a flat surface, each in a case, and each pointing in the same direction separated by about 24 inches.
Clarus

Read the post again. He wasn't holding the phones, they were sitting by themselves on a flat surface.
billfrench

A reader pointed out that one of the screenshots for the SpeedTest app shows one phone connected and one on battery – thus suggesting it's an invalid test. This was just a screen shot example to demonstrate which app I was using to measure connectivity performance. All tests were conducted running on battery and both devices were fully charged when the tests began. The actual test shown in the screen shot was performed in my office (the weak signal zone) and as soon as that test had completed, I snapped the screen and synced to add the image to the article. Of course, all tests in the other locations were away from my desktop and had to be performed on battery anyway.

Sorry for any confusion or skepticism this may have caused.
/guy

to eliminate frequency ducting from the equation, at the least you should have swapped their positions after each test. also, the phone not under test should have been turned off as it could interfere even up to several dozen feet away.

/guy (kg5vt)
billfrench

Guy,

Thanks for your suggestion. I may repeat the tests with this recommendation. However, isn't it likely that in the wild, multiple phones will be in the vicinity and using the same tower and the same service provider?
/guy

hi bill: yes you're entirely correct that in real world use there is not much way to control for such things. but when you're collecting actual numbers as you are, one phone could interfere with the other or one could be in a 'duct' and getting much more signal strength as a result. frequency ducting, if you are familiar with the term, can be observed when trying to improve a marginal signal and you sometimes only have to move your phone a couple of inches to go from breaking up to good quality signal. of course it isn't always present, depending upon temperature, humidity–and sometimes sunspots–but worthwhile to know about and eliminate as a factor when running such granular tests as you're run which yield numerical data. the only reason i even mention it is that nearly every other such test i've seen lately indicate the iphone4 (leaving aside the 'god' (grip of death) issue), has a better antenna and receiver than the 3/3gs under normal conditions and logically should have equalled or bested the 3gs when no grip is involved.

/guy
billfrench

Guy,

I understand your points about the tests. I'm going to perform follow up tests again in a few weeks and I'll take your advice in the test scenarios.

>>> iPhone 4 has a better antenna and receiver than the 3/3gs under normal conditions and logically should have equalled or bested the 3gs when no grip is involved. <<<

This is what I would have expected to see in the data and notwithstanding the possibility that my tests have frequency ducting biases, I performed these tests specifically because I had a hunch overall connectivity and throughput performance was poorer (for me) even with a case. Had that not been my experience, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble to gather this data. As such, my gut feel was that case aside, my app performance where the Internet is used, seemed poorer and this data seems to corroborate that hunch. Again – this assumes that there are no frequency ducting biases in my tests.
Tom Benson

Wow, great info Bill. After reading this, and fearing the worse when I (finally) get the new iPhone, I did some searching. Based on what I've read, some people are confirming your experience and some are reporting the opposite.

Thank so much. Now I know to carefully check drops and download speed ine key locations…If the new phone is worse…back it goes for a refund.
Ryan

I agree 100%! I have carried the iphone 3gs in a weak signal area and always had the best signal of all the cell phones in the area regardless of brand or carrier. I upgraded to the iphone 4 and my signal is just as pathetic as the rest of my family. The 3gs definitely has better reception in weak signal areas without a doubt in my mind!

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