iPhone models are worse than their competitors regarding their signal
Apple's iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are the worst smartphones in voice quality and are among the most popular new smartphones on the market, according to a study conducted on behalf of the telecommunications authorities in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, as well as the Scandinavian Council of Ministers.
The news is a little worse for those who hold their smartphone in their left hand, as the antenna signal gets slightly better for right-handed users, according to the research. Many believe that the way the antenna is placed inside the smartphone is the reason it suffers from such problems.
“The performance difference between using the left or right hand is very large for many phones,” notes. “This shows that for some phones the antenna design is what plays a role in the signal quality depending on the different usage positions. The signal of a well-designed antenna, however, would not be affected by whichever hand the smartphone is used with.”
The research was carried out by Gert Frølund Pedersen, professor at Aalborg University in Denmark, together with the support of the Council of Ministers of the Northern Countries. The professor tested 26 popular mobile phone models that are on the market and ranked them by antenna quality.
The results were bad for Apple's popular iPhone. «Apple had problems and continues to have them. It also appears that the problems are larger on its newer phones, which is concerning», said Pedersen to the Danish news agency Ritzau.
According to the results of his study, the four different iPhone models he examined – SE, 6, 6s and 6s Plus – were the four worst voice services for smartphones when the devices were placed in the user's left hand. However, all Apple devices appear to perform slightly better when tested in the right hand.
Apple unveiled two new models, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, at an event on Wednesday and is expected to make changes to the way the antenna is integrated, putting the lines that allow the signal to escape the smartphone's metal casing at the top and bottom. However, it is unclear whether or not this move could improve call quality on the left hand.
According to the study, the three top mobile phones in call quality in the right hand were the HTC Desire 626, the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini and the Samsung Galaxy J1. When tested in the left hand, they were the DORO 530X PhoneEasy, the Microsoft Lumia 640 and the Lumia 650.
