Yes I have read it but that's not what I mean.

I get about 4 bars in my home and when I touch the bottom left it goes to 1 bar but phone calls and 3G dat is still fine.

I then got electrical tape and covered the bottom left. After this I still get 4 bars and when I touch the bottom left I still drop to 1 bar. The electrical tape make no difference.

What do you mean?

No network has full "5 bar" coverage of the entire UK.

Presumably if Apple launched one it would.

And they'd give everyone FREE phones. Their phones would be freely available, too.

Also even though covering the bottom left reduces the signal by 20db in my tests it doesn't lead to more calls dropping as the iPhone 4 antenna is alot more sensitive than most phones and works very well with alot of noise, in fact areas where I got dropped calls on any phone didnt drip with the iPhone 4 as it seems to hold 1 bar very well.

If I found the iPhone 4 worse I would take it back and just use my old phone and save money but in my tests that hasn't been the case.

Hang on a minute.

You mean to tell me the people who apparently suffer these drop outs that aren't happening to the majority are those who start off with one bar in the first place and then cover their antenna?

Oh god it's even more of a non issue than I thought.

So you're only planning to use it in your home?

Very much so, I get 4 bars (5 on a good day) and no matter how hard I grip the phone I can't get a call to drop. I does go to one bar but no evident loss in voice quality.

Because they've bought into the hype/marketing and the others were paid to be there and start whooping.

I did say in areas where I used to get dropped calls on other phones I tested it and it didn't drop. Granted it could have been luck but it definitely doesn't drop more calls than any other phone, it's atleast on oar even though it displays less bars.

There is definitely a display issue with the signal because the iPhone gets more noise causing it to show 1 bar but because it works better than other phones with a low signal it evens it's self out.

The iPhone antenna is so much better than the old it's actually boosting your signal in the first place so the chances of getting one bar are minimal unless you are trapped in a dinghy after a camping trip has gone wrong in the wilderness.

The way some posters were getting on I thought you dropped calls galore even when in town etc. Laughable the fuss some have tried to cause!

Yeah I have to agree, I have been using the phone alot when out and about and it's certainly no worse than any mobile. The vast majority of people complaining don't even own an iPhone 4 so I fail to see how they can comment on calls getting dropped.

Yeah I know. It's pathetic. Anyway it's not worth any more of my time as it really is a massive non-issue so that's the end of it as far as I'm concerned.

I'll leave people who don't have the phone / haven't even experienced a dropped call to revel in faux-outrage

It varies depending where you are. I see a drop from 5 to 3 bars both at home and work with a death grip. But both are strong signal areas.

Have you tried with a case? I see no drop at all in a rubber case.

I haven't, I wanted a apple bumper even before I knew about the issue but £30 seems expensive to me for what it is.

The bumpers are way over-priced I agree. Still there are loads of cheap alternatives on Ebay for just a few quid. TBH I think it's safer to cover the back of the phone too. I've already dropped my phone once on the pavement - I was glad I had a case so no harm done.

Yeah even though it's the meant to use the same glass that planes use I imagine it would still shatter. The bumper apparently raise the back and front a bit to give it some protection.

Maybe not for everyone but I personally havent had any dropped calls - yeah the bars drop but everything still works as it did before. Tbh, my HTC Hero only displayed 2-3 bars max so this is no different.

Comparing bars between one phone and another is fruitless. There is no "standard" of bar display and one phone showing three bars, even if it's three bars out of five, and being compared to another phone showing two bars also out of five doesn't mean that the first phone has more signal, or better reception, or is better in any way. They have different gradings.