Cell phone reception good or bad with iPhone XS MAX vs XR or 8+? Looking for rural

[mtnbikerva1]

After ordering the iPhone XS max, I am now reading on other forums that the phone does not get as good of reception as other iPhones. What is your experience? Thank you and merry Christmas

 

[oosik]

Welcome to TBN. That is an interesting question. I've wondered, at times, if I upgraded from my Samsung flip phone to something newer - would I get better reception.

It get old - out on my porch - hold the phone up high - HOPE the call goes thru. Then I think - what little I get should be received by most any phone. I guess I could get some type of amplifying equipment. But what the hey - it's just a phone. Merry Christmas to you.

 

[bindian]

I installed a cell phone signal booster antenna for my house. Put it up on a 40 foot antenna pole. A coax runs down from it into the R/T unit in the house. Only have to go out to the driveway now, to make a call, during power failures. It is a directional antenna bought directly from Cell Phone Booster for Single Room | Wilson Amplifiers
Got it up and running and disconnected the land line and never looked back.
Merry Christmas hugs, Brandi

 

[Jchonline]

The antenna in these phones controls the reception. I have had just about every iPhone model since the original. There is going to be no difference in reception between any of the newer ones (7 on). However, the newer phones will have hardware support on the cellular chip for newer LTE bands. Yes there are multiple LTE bands, 4G bands, 3G bands. So if Verizon starts broadcasting on a new band, you wont get it unless you have a phone that supports the band. Example: at our place in the mountains wife’s iPhone 6 got no reception at all. My iPhone 7 had 3 bars. THis is because Verizon uses LTE band 12 in that area (a newer band) and my phone supported it. Hers did not.

I have a XS now, and I notice no difference in reception from the X. Great phone. Most of the reception issues are carrier and location dependent.

My best advice is to get the phone from a place where you can return it within the first 14-30 days for no penalty and just test it out in the areas you are most frequently. Sure it is a pain, but much less of a pain that having a phone that doesnt work where you want it to!

 

[Jchonline]

Welcome to TBN. That is an interesting question. I've wondered, at times, if I upgraded from my Samsung flip phone to something newer - would I get better reception.

It get old - out on my porch - hold the phone up high - HOPE the call goes thru. Then I think - what little I get should be received by most any phone. I guess I could get some type of amplifying equipment. But what the hey - it's just a phone. Merry Christmas to you.

Most cell boosters really dont boost the cell signal. They connect to your home internet (if you have it), broadcast the same signal a cell tower would, then send your data and calls through the booster over the internet to cellular network.

If you dont have internet many of them are useless.

For the Wilson booster above, this will be of limited use for some. If the signal coming to your property is very weak or non existent...you have to remember the bottleneck is the incoming signal. So if your cell phone has no reception and the booster when installed in a high location has 1 bar...then after you have the booster up you are still never going to get better than “1 bar of throughput” to the cellular tower.

Yes it is better than no reception...but with the booster your phone will now say 4 bars, but that is the reception strength from the phone to the booster only. The booster still has 1 bar to the cell tower, and that is your bottleneck. This may still work out for many, but just remember the limitations.

 

[oosik]

I think if my cell phone ( only phone ) got four bars - it might overload and explode. Two bars is normal - three bars, exceptional.

 

[dragoneggs]

I have the iPhone X... don't know how it compares to the XS but it gets least as good a reception or better than any other iPhone I have had and I have had many! Been a fan for a long time of iPhones since changing allegiance from Blackberry's.

 

[IXLR8]

My iPhone 7 works in places my flip phone doesn't work... I have no idea why. I suspect it might be that the "7" works on the LTE signal and the flip phone does not. I gave a cell signal repeater to my daughter in law. She could only get cell service at one 2nd floor bedroom window. With the repeater antenna on the roof, on a 6 ft pole and the 'transmitter' in her kitchen on the first floor. She can now use her cell phone anywhere in her house and can use her "hot spot" to access the internet on her computer. This cell signal repeater does amplify the cell signal and does not use the internet to provide phone access.