PA Consulting has released new research that rejects Apple’s claim that the ‘death grip’ – where holding a phone in a certain way – is common to all smartphones.
The management and IT consulting and technology firm said that in the majority of the tests it carried out the iPhone 4’s performance was in the same range as the other smartphones tested (Blackberry 9700, HTC HD2), but it was consistently at the lower end of that range.
More importantly, the firm says that when used in the "death grip", the iPhone 4’s performance was significantly worse than other smartphones.
The company has released a YouTube video that shows the testing process.
"Our tests indicate that the ‘death grip’ issue is real, and is worse for the Apple iPhone 4 than for other smartphones. The iPhone 4’s radio performance was also found to be generally at the lower end. This means it will tend to drop calls earlier than other phones and may suffer more in areas of weak signal. Though, overall it’s still within the normal performance range for similar products," said Simon Tonks, the consultant who led the testing at PA’s Cambridge Technology Centre.
"Consumers always prefer products that look and feel good. And we all benefit from the way companies like Apple are prepared to take risks and push the boundaries of product design. But that means striking a balance between incorporating the most innovative features and ensuring the product works effectively. The trick lies in finding the right trade-off. The question is whether consumers are prepared to put up with occasional performance flaws given the additional benefits more innovative products provide," added Dr Phil White, head of the wireless technology team at PA.
The firm advises iPhone 4 owners to use a case or bumper, like the ones Apple is giving away, or "anything which keeps your hands away from the antenna" – doesn’t that sounds dangerously close to "avoid holding it that way"?
Apple has come under a huge amount of criticism for its handling of "antennagate", with many commentators slamming the company’s PR approach. Reports of problems with the antenna began to emerge shortly after the much-hyped phone was released earlier this summer. User complained that signal died when the phone was held in a certain way. The initial reaction from Steve Jobs was to tell people to hold it differently, or invest in a case to combat the problem.
Unsurprisingly that didn’t go down too well, so Apple put out a more detailed response claiming that it had got its signal strength formula wrong.
"Incredibly, it also said it would be making, "[signal strength] bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see." In other words, they still couldn’t do anything about the faulty antenna problem, and they couldn’t improve signal strength, but they could sure as hell make very weak signals look that bit more healthy by making the bars bigger," said CBR’s Jason Stamper.
Eventually Apple was forced to hold a press conference, where Steve Jobs admitted that the company wasn’t perfect and that mistakes had been made with the iPhone. He offered users a free case or a refund if they already had one.
But he also spent a great deal of the press conference demonstrating that the ‘death grip’ was not unique to Apple. There is, he said, an inherent problem with all smartphones that results in a drop in signal, Apple "just made it visible", Jobs said. "The heart of the problem is that smartphones have weak spots. This is life in smartphone world. Phones aren’t perfect. Most every smartphone we tested behaved like this," he said.
Well, it seems PA Consulting disagrees – and claims that its research proves the iPhone 4 does suffer from a ‘death grip’ to a much greater extent than other smartphones.
Back to you, Mr Jobs.
