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.