I was pretty excited about the HTC Incredible and was thinking upgrading (even though I feel that a mandatory $29 a month on top your plan is still outrageous) but all these reports of poor signal strength have made me think twice. It could be the fastest smart phone in the world, but if its constantly dropping calls and unable to maintain a constant data connection then its worthless to me.
I went to my local Verizon store today to check it out and it looks like the reports are true, at least for the phone I was using. My Verizon store has a signal repeater and even though I usually get 1-3 bars in my area, when Im within 2 blocks of the store I get 4 bars both on EV and 1x on my LG Voyager (dont see a way to check the actual dBm on my LG). Even with the insane signal strength in the store, the Incredible showed 3 bars and reported -65 dBm, compared to an older Moto Droid right next to it with 4 bars and -51 dBm. I know -65 isnt bad, but in the real world I only get 1/2 - 1/3 of the signal strength I get in the store. And if I cant even get a full signal in the store, thats just not good. I also tested the browser and maps as well which were extremely slow to load or didnt load at all, the Moto next to it had no problems.
I really want an excuse to buy this phone, I can look past the poor battery life and odd shape, but weak signal is just a deal breaker on a cell phone. Im hoping there will be a way to fix this with a firmware update. My plan is eligible for an upgrade in a month, if nothings changed by then Im probably going to be looking at an EVO from Sprint. Hopefully its not a problem with all HTC products and they use a better radio/antenna in the EVO if that is the problem.
Interested in hearing from anyone who has the Incredible already, especially in the Socal area.
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