Electronista reports, “The iPhone 4’s disputed antenna has given Android a virtual sweep of the top phone rankings at Consumer Reports, the magazine’s latest ratings showed today.”
“A decision to avoid recommending the iPhone 4 has made Android-based Samsung Captivate the highest recommended smartphone on AT&T, leaving the iPhone 3GS in second place,” Electronista reports.
Electronista reports, “When searched separately, the iPhone 4 held on to a 76 point score that would have given it the same ranking as the Captivate… . The magazine nonetheless reiterated that, without an actual design change, it couldn’t put the iPhone 4 in the same company as some users would encounter serious reception issues. ‘We agree with Apple that not all iPhone 4 owners will experience reception difficulties,” Consumer Reports said. “But putting the onus on owners of a product to obtain a remedy to a design flaw is not acceptable to us.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Consumer Reports is staffed by incompetent hypocrites and/or using Apple garner free publicity. Either way, or both, Consumer Reports’ continuing charade is only damaging themselves.
Eric Zeman, InformationWeek, July 16, 2010:
I have both a Samsung Vibrant and Captivate on hand for testing purposes. In both phones, the internal antenna is apparently located on the back of the phone, towards the very bottom edge. When gripped around the bottom of the phone (with either hand) the signal strength drops almost immediately. The Vibrant went from three bars to zero bars in about five seconds, and the Captivate went from four bars to zero bars in about six seconds. When I let go, the signal returns immediately.
Many of the phones I review come with stickers on them. Those stickers often warn users of certain things. One of the stickers I’ve seen on many phones is one which warns users to avoid touching certain parts of the cell phone in order to not block the antenna. Covering the antenna of just about any cell phone made can result in a drop in signal strength.
Even when the Vibrant and Captivate lost signal strength, neither phone dropped a call, and I was still able to send text messages and surf the mobile web. With the iPhone 4, I never dropped a call or lost a data connection when it was suffering from the “death grip” phenomenon, either.
Samsung Galaxy S (AT&T Captivate) – “Death Grip” antenna attenuation – video one:
Samsung Galaxy S (AT&T Captivate) – “Death Grip” antenna attenuation – video two:
Samsung Galaxy S (AT&T Captivate) – “Death Grip” antenna attenuation – video three:
Consumer Reports has no credibility.
MDN’s take is spot on
F off consumer report
What a bunch of hacks. Does anyone actually base their buying decisions off this tripe?
I am dead serious about this.
We have to start a major boycott of this yellow rag.
Screw Consumer Reports.
the thing is a lot of handset makers are moving the antenna from all the radio waves to brain done in the early 2000’s. It was a huge deal then, and they all slowly moved the antenna to the base of the handset to reduce harm and most importantly LAWSUIT.
You don’t see many phones with antenna so close to ear piece anymore.
But anyway Consumer Reports sucks ass. Their report has gone down hill and never got back up. I’d rather go on store forums or other forums and read reviews from actual owners of the product with their actual thoughts.
Consumer Reports has had no credibility.
CR loses all credibility as a rating organization, period, by making a decision NOT to rate the consumer’s most popular product in the class.
What a bunch of asshats.
What a bunch of crap, Comsumer Reports can go f**k itself.
Had my iPhone 4 for over 3 month no antenna problem.
Maybe it Comsumer Reports that needs a total design change, starting with
new employees with some integrity.
Please this is just flame bait. I mean come on the antenna ‘problem’ is a non-issue. I don’t know what in God’s name CR is talking about but I’ve never had a problem with dropped calls on my iPhone 4.
They can go f*** themselves silly with their stupid conclusions.
Consumer Reports is a joke. Always has been.
I don’t understand why so many people think they are in any way credible.
Consumer Reports’ best car in 1970: Ford Galaxy 500
They haven’t had any credibility since.
Canceled my ‘scription months ago.
“…Android-based Samsung Captivate the highest recommended smartphone on AT&T, leaving the iPhone 3GS in second place,”
In other words, with all the Android phones out there, only 1 is actually better than last year’s iPhone and none are really better than iPhone 4.
However, people will still tout the market share derived from the inferior hardware to say that Android is better.
My wife and I have a 4 and a 3GS, respectively. iPhone 4 does drop calls b/c of the antenna issue; however, the 3GS gets no signal in the same poor-service areas. The iPhone 4’s antenna is really great.
It’s funny that Apple would’ve been better-off using a lower-quality antenna. It would be better to show “no service” rather than display a weak signal and drop calls.
It’s amazing that people could have such resolve to attempt to dethrone the king. This CR article is simply a childish tantrum written in educated words. It’s libelous without breaking the law. The fact that it’s a bunch of crap will be lost on the uninformed person, who will go out and buy themselves a third-rate knock off. Sad…
We can all agree that CR is FOS, but the fact is, the media is continuously using them as a reference and a lot of people assume that whatever they say goes because they’re “objective.”
In today’s attention span-deprived world, it’s the perception that counts. I’m pretty sure there are a lot of TV stations reporting this garbage as fact.
Apple has to change the perception fast.
… have complained about the “Death Grip” problem on the iPhone4. Few people – perhaps because they got used to the concept? – have complained about the exact same phenomenon on other equally troubled phones.
Remember, guys and gals, this is a PHONE (that also does much more).
Chuklz, are you old enough to judge?
Zeke, Ford was the least awful of a terrible selection in 1970.
I don’t have any idea whether or not Consumer Reports is credible or not. However, I do have to wonder why MDN blasts them for this, but doesn’t hesitate to crow when Consumer Reports gives Macs a top rating. Either you listen to what they say or you don’t, so which is it?
Reminds me of liberals attacking the Tea Party! Bash the successful to elevate failures!
When CR pulled their original iPhone 4 fiasco, I cancelled my subscription, and I told them why.
Politics should not have any relevance to a product review, and that is exactly what they have done.
The iPhone 4 gets the highest score, but no recommendation? Really?
What is this, highschool?
Makes you wonder who at Consumer Reports is getting a ‘kickback’ from Google or one of the Android phone makers.
How else can this be explained when even Android phones have the EXACT same issue?
Consumer Reports rating is valid IMO.
These are the same Bozos who tried to dissuade people from buying a Mac because they claimed “a basic word processor” was not included. (11/06 issue, page 40) The biased anti-Mac IT nerd that wrote this obviously never even bothered to open the Applications folder on the Macs he was testing and use TextEdit–an excellent word processor that includes spell checking.
WishIwasHere,
“Until the geniuses at Consumer Reports correct their iPhone 4 fiasco and “recommend” the smartphone that just so happens to sit atop their ratings, their opinions aren’t worth a bucket of warm spit (even when they get it right, as they have here).” – MacDailyNews Take, “Consumer Reports rates Mac notebooks #1 in every size category that Apple offers” – November 10, 2010
Some crowing.
WISHIWASHERE: after using both PCs and Macs, Androids and iPhones, and watching all of the players and their products for the last 25 years,i think Mac Fans are upset when Apple products are dismissed, but agree when they are praised, because they are clearly the best in class in so many quantifiable ways; for the fans, Mac products are also better in qualitative ways, too, such as design, aesthetics, smoothness of operation, etc…
So it really isn’t being flip-floppy, but getting a little miffed that something so clearly better isn’t getting the praise it deserves, so that others can give it a chance and improve their lives, as Mac Fans have already done.
Pffffff…..As other have mentioned CR rots and has zero credibility. Husband has IPhone 4 myself 3GS. No problems with either phone, except problem here is AT&T service now with towers having numerous signal issues thus causing voice echo.I was told by a rep yesterday about the above and given a $25.00 credit due to the above problems.
Signal clarity as seen by the transceiver on the baseband radio is a function of distance and attenuation. Simple physics dictates that the further you are from the cell tower the lower the signal will be when it reaches your phone. Just as important however is attenuation which is measured by S/N (signal to noise) ratio. In order to attain the least amount of attenuation antenna design must take into account the path of least resistance. Therefore an external antenna will always be better than an internal one. QED.
I quit and in fact starting believing the opposite of both them and j d powers. What a joke.
I’ve got issues with my iPhone 4 that I did not have with my previous iPhones, but all my Android Fiends are envious because how clunky the Android OS is and how poor the components are in comparison to the iPhone … I think CR is sniffing glue or something stronger….
In the end, the consumers will decide.
@ Many people …,
“Consumer Reports’ best car in 1970: Ford Galaxy 500”
“Zeke, Ford was the least awful of a terrible selection in 1970.”
Total bullshit, what about the Chevrolet Monte Carlo? What about the Dodge Challenger?
The Ford Galaxy 500 wasn’t new in 1970 it debuted in 1965.
The best car designations went to the American Manufacturer who needed the most help for years. Explain the Chrysler K car winning anything or the Chevy Volt, for that matter.
Please can someone post the email address for the CEO of Consumer Reports?
I for one would be happy to email him/her…
WOW!
Ballmer’s left nut has a functioning brain.
Who knew?
iphone 4 is a highly-sensitive, beautiful, seriously powerful computer.
It also has the best reception of any phone I have owned.
“MacDailyNews Take: Consumer Reports is staffed by incompetent hypocrites and/or using Apple garner free publicity. Either way, or both, Consumer Reports’ continuing charade is only damaging themselves.”
Consumer Reports, a publication of Consumer’s Union, is staffed by a professional and competent staff whose only bias is towards consumer advocacy. Their reviews have prevented many consumers from spending millions of dollars on inferior products. They accept no advertising, money or perks whatsoever from the companies whose products they review, unlike J.D. Power and other sham hallmarks of so-called quality (and unlike this site, which just loves its Apple banner ads, no doubt).
What MDN fails to understand is that Consumer Reports, unlike this site, is not a fanboy/fangirl publication. It has no allegiance to Apple or any other company, and is free to point out that Steve Jobs, as smart and capable as he is, does not walk on water, and that iPhone 4 has a design flaw that can significantly interfere with reception, on top of the fact that AT&T’s system itself already has shaky reception.
I have a Blackberry and I hate it. As soon as Verizon gets the iPhone, I’m there. I love Apple products, but that doesn’t mean I can never criticize those same products on the rare occasions when they don’t do what they are supposed to do.
It is MDN that lacks credibility by virtue of its slavish fanboy adherence to anything Apple. MDN is to Apple what Fox News was to the Bush Administration.
Do I like MDN? Yes. Do I consider MDN a font of reasoned objectivity when it comes to grading Apple and its products? Hell no.
Hey Consumer Reports, “Up Yours”
R5D4,
Just ignore the rest of MDN’s Take, including the InformationWeek report and the three supporting videos.
Maybe they’ll go away. Don’t bet on it, though, honey.
Consumer Reports’ top recommended phone suffers from the same attenuation issues as every other cellphone, including iPhone 4. Only iPhone 4 is omitted. Therefore, Consumer Reports has no credibility whatsoever. Period.
CR is loosing its grip on reality. Agree with MDN’s take on this. I dont however agree with the ridiculous amount of comments censorship on here… there was some good views on here albeit from the other side but never the less this site should not only allow one sided views it make THIS site loose all credibility…..MDN PLEASE DONT FOLLOW CR’s FOOTSTEPS!!
R5D4,
You are an intelligent man…. you shouldn’t be here. Leave!
@Emma
I read the whole thing and watched the videos before I posted. Yes, if you grip certain phones in a way that no one in a real use situation would, you can make the bars drop. And even if the bars on these non-iPhones drop with a normal grip, is this really the point? I don’t think it is. There was a consumer outcry, that had nothing to do with Consumer Reports, right after iPhone 4 was made available concerning this reception issue. I have heard of no similar outcry for these iPhone knock-off phones. You might say, “Well, those phones don’t have the same market share or consumer following, so you wouldn’t hear about that kind of problem, unlike with Apple.” I think that with greater marketshare and greater profits, and given the price points on Apple products, Apple should be held to a higher bar (no pun intended) and has a responsibility to be better, and also to quickly remedy problems with its products. The failure of a company to do so is why this site can always rag on Microsoft–huge marketshare, tons of money, yet punishes its customers with crap.
Here’s another thing to consider. Because these iPhone look alikes don’t have nearly the same cache as iPhone, and are an exercise in other companies trying to catch up to Apple, you can get them for way cheaper than an iPhone. Consumer Reports is very price conscious, and always has been. They don’t review really high end stereo equipment, example. Price figures into all their ratings. So even assuming that an Android phone has the same reception problems as iPhone 4, if you can get the Android phone for cheaper, the will factor into the Android phone getting a higher rating.
By your own admission, CR is meant to inform consumers so they don’t waste time “spending millions of dollars on inferior products”. If the other phones have the same issues, but only the popular item gets panned, that is horrible methodology.
If Consumer Reports has a flaw, I would say it sometimes favors less costly products because they are less costly. You can be sure that if an Android phone or a Samsung phone are beating iPhone in the ratings, price point has a lot to do with it. Consumer Reports is not overly concerned with popularity or what is “cool”. I don’t think it cares that Apple is the coolest kid on the block when it rates its products.
“A decision to avoid recommending the iPhone 4 has made Android-based Samsung Captivate the highest recommended smartphone on AT&T, leaving the iPhone 3GS in second place,” Electronista reports.”
Could this more ridiculous?
Nice FAIL Consumer Reports. Your reputation can be found in the septic tank. Have fun retrieving it.
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Well I will not be using CR anymore.
R5D4 & Flapjack
My parents faithfully subscribed to CR for decades and I used to consult their publication before any purchase. Never mind the iPhone, but I have witnessed a parade of incompetence and wrong-headedness from CR to the point where I mused they were only useful as a contrary indicator. These guys are always pursuing their own agenda, NOT consumer advocacy. They have an inflated opinion of themselves while constantly pushing inferior products ahead of the better ones, for no other reason than childish petulance over some minor issue or something they personally feel about a company. In this instance they have dug in their heels rather than admit they were wrong. Apple pointing out their error has just inflamed their spite.
I have never been a fan of Consumer Reports assessments. They alsways seem to pick the right product for the dork next door. How many stupid features can you get for the least amount of money. It’s never really about the best product in the field.
Over 35 years ago, I read Consumer Reports and realized that they had a serious design flaw: they are biased. I only bought and read it once and decided to never buy or read it again.
Consumer Reports is a ‘magazine’ that appeals to the lowly educated and mostly trailer park people who can’t make up their own mind without some form of consensus with others. This mentality seems reminiscent of the collective belief that the world was flat. I think the editors of Consumer Reports just plain hate successful popular companies .
@R5D4
Good to see rational comment.
“…..Phone 4 has a design flaw that can significantly interfere with reception.”
Correct. There’s always been a disingenuous element to MDN’s complete reversal of it’s initially critical stance of the iPhone reception issue. It’s true that signal attenuation caused by general shielding of the unit with the human hand is no worse than with similar devices from other manufacturers. However, with the iPhone 4, you can also achieve that effect simply by bridging the two external antennas with a fingertip.
It doesn’ t affect most users in good reception areas, but it can if the signal is already poor. And while it can be masked with a bumper, it’s still a fundamental design flaw, and one that I have no doubt will addressed in the iPhone 5.
“They alsways seem to pick the right product for the dork next door.”
I agree with that. Like I said, they don’t factor in “cool.” But they’ve saved me a lot on cars. And every time I’ve bought the clock radio, microwave, TV or whatever they’ve recommended, it lasts forever.
People who like Apple, especially people who were into Apple long before they adopted Intel processors (me), were into it not because Apples were fast (but they were fast enough) or could play all the latest games (they couldn’t), but because they had a rock-solid OS, were built like tanks, and LOOKED REALLY COOL. Not all plastic like Dell or whatever. The thing about Consumer Reports, they don’t care if it looks dorky and is made of plastic, for the most part.
In the internet age, Consumer Reports ratings are primarily of value to the dull-witted masses. They pretend to be experts, and their readers pretend to be informed.
“Consumer Reports is a ‘magazine’ that appeals to the lowly educated and mostly trailer park people who can’t make up their own mind without some form of consensus with others.”
Are you talking about CR or the Tea Party ?
I have a law degree and live in the Bay area, and I’ve never followed anyone or anything blindly. I’ve met “rednecks” that are smart as hell, and rich people that are dumb as donuts. Why do we have to get all socioeconomic and name-calling in a debate about phones?
Wasn’t it was omitted because they consider it too bad to recommend selling? Since they can’t recommend it, then they aren’t going to put it in a survey. Of course whether the iphone4 is too bad to recommend is rather nonsensical, since masses of people have already bought one…talk about denial.
Consumer reports forgets to mention that Android OS has zero privacy and passes sensitive personal information to 3rd parties. As a publication that purports to be a watchdog for consumers, this is a glaring omission in coverage that its readers really would like to know.
I got the iPhone 4G after my 3GS had a terrible accident, and I have never had a dropped call on the 4G. I occasionally dropped calls on the 3GS in certain parts of the city, but NEVER on the 4G.
Big Al’s said: “”Zeke, Ford was the least awful of a terrible selection in 1970.”
Total bullshit, what about the Chevrolet Monte Carlo? What about the Dodge Challenger?”
My GOD, man, you are SO superficial! The Monte Carlo was a prettied-up Malibu with much of the utility removed or compromised. The Charger was a mid-sized Dodge with the leg-room excised, along with much of the trunk, and a huge empty space added ahead of the front tires – a design characteristic it shared with the Monte Carlo. Not that the Mustang was any better … maybe even worse! The Galaxy 500 was a better means of transport, even though it was not all that good compared to nearly any current vehicle.
MFN on Point!!
Also CR never saw a jap car it didn”t like…
Sorry … in my previous, make that the Challenger, not the Charger. The Charger was essentially a prettied-up Dodge mid-size with all the leg-room and the trunk intact … a little extra in the nose being the biggest waste. Still, a 4-passenger car with difficult access to the rear seats – a fault it shared with the other three cars mentioned – but small people could actually sit there, if they could get there.
Consumer Reports sucks
People in the 70s (who were over 40 then) acted like it was the gospel.
They once gave Saab a bad review and then later it was revealed that they never had a Saab to review.
They suck. Anyone can review things, they have no expertise or taste.
Everyone would drive a Honda is CR had its way. Honda makes great cars, but come on, CR is partially to blame for wrecking the US auto industry in the 70s and 80s and giving rise to fantastic success by Honda and Toyota.
@ Micro Me
I agree with you 100%. Do you think the white iPhone 4 delay is because they want to release it with a hardware fix? I have no idea.
Mafia Reports
“Gee, dat’s a nice phone ya got dere. It’d be a shame if it got a bad review…”
“CR is partially to blame for wrecking the US auto industry in the 70s and 80s and giving rise to fantastic success by Honda and Toyota.”
That may be the most misinformed statement I have ever read on this site. That’s like blaming CNN for bad news.
Honda and Toyota helped wreck Detroit because they followed the organizational teachings of an American efficiency expert, Edward Deming, after he was laughed out of Detroit by the Big Three who thought “good enough” was good enough. Guess who was right?
To the Consumer Report defeners out there, do you work or are you associated with CR?
Yes I am a fan of Apple and this a fanboy website. Apple at times have made crappy products and when that happens I have let Apple know about . My loyalty to Apple is not blind.
The iPhone 4 in not one of those crappy product. My iPhone work fine and no it does not need a redesign. I use Rogers for service up here in Canada and the reception is great.
I was never a fan CR and never will be maybe their magazine is the one that needs a redesign. Please stop defending a shitty product Conumers Report.
@R5D4
There is a valid point in there. There have been instances where the same car shared by Japanese and American car companies gets opposing ratings (Japanese good, American poor for the same car). Or the Japanese car that gets a “good” mileage rating while the non-Japanese car gets a “poor” mileage rating with both cars having the same exact mileage. How can anyone say these are “fair and unbiased” reports?
And after the found-to-be-incorrect Audi “unintended acceleration” fiasco (granted this happened with 60 minutes help but CR was the driving force) almost destroyed a company, how can anyone claim they have no ability to drive acceptance/sales for any car company.
@ DLMeyer,
I don’t know about you, but in 1970 I only had one use for a back seat in my car and it wasn’t as a place to store small people.
@R5D4
“Do you think the white iPhone 4 delay is because they want to release it with a hardware fix?”
No, I tend to believe the reports that attribute the delay in getting the white iPhone to market to problems with light entry in the camera opening.
So I think we’ll need to wait until iPhone 5 for a design fix. To me, notwithstanding Apple’s stance that it’s not a serious issue, it’s inconceivable that they would leave the adjacent antenna problem “as is” in the next iPhone iteration.
You’re full of shit, R5D4.
The Samsung Captivate experiences reception difficulties when it’s held a certain way, which is Consumer Report’s whole rationale for omitting the iPhone 4. So they should have omitted both.
But they didn’t, because I guess Samsung bribed them.
Because what other explanation is there? Two smartphones have the same issue, but one of them gets a free pass and the other one doesn’t. CR clearly isn’t only biased towards consumer advocacy, though I see you’d like to make people believe otherwise.
“There was a consumer outcry, that had nothing to do with Consumer Reports, right after iPhone 4 was made available concerning this reception issue”
There was no consumer outcry regarding the iPhone 4’s reception. Tech journalists were up in arms about it, hitwhores were proclaiming the sky was falling, and Apple’s competitors said the iPhone 4 was unusable garbage, but there was never any consumer outcry. While the antennagate “scandal” unfolded, consumers were buying new iPhones like crazy and wondering what the hell this whole “antennagate scandal” thing was about.
Yet in certain dark corners of bent consumer advocacy journalism, like the one CR inhabits, antennagate will seemingly never die.
Good thing those dark corners have apologists like you to defend them, eh? Bravo. Nice work.
Bah! My name was supposed to be “@R2… I mean R5D4”. I should start proofreading before I post a comment. Sheesh…
Remind me again…is this a problem for right-handed people holding the 4 up to the right ear, or left-handed people holding it up to their left ear, or people who wedge the 4 between their ear and shoulder…or all or neither? I’m curious.