NOTE: This is just one iteration of the experiment. To be absolutely certain more devices and samples are needed. So I encourage people who have access to more devices to compare various phones using the same method and see if we are actually doomed or not.
Although I haven't faced any serious issue, I can say that the network issue is real from the number of comments. Maybe I'm not facing any issue because I primarily use 3G (BSNL). I do use 4G but in this test, I haven't paid any attention to it because I don't have another 4G SIM from the same network and BSNL has worse quality as its network goes down with power cuts. So, I thought that because of poor network conditions BSNL would be a better choice for comparison.
HOWEVER, I have noticed a couple of data-related issues with LTE so I'm kinda suspicious that the issue could be LTE related. I will do the LTE test once I'm able to gather friends using the same provider.
So, if you have multiple devices accessible and can perform this then it'd be helpful to see if it's just LTE issue, whether it's a software config (can be fixed by an OTA) or an antenna tuning/hardware related issue (we are most probably doomed). Also, it would be interesting to see if the issue exists only in dual-SIM mode (I will do one with dual-SIM too but that'd be hard to find people with both similar SIMs). Post results here. If you cannot plot then just attach log files.
Steps:
- Download G-NetTrack Lite from Play Store
- Settings > Log Parameters > Time Interval, s :- Set it to any value you like. The default is 600 seconds so if you are not moving between various cell sites, it will not log anything for 600 seconds. Here I have set it to 25 seconds so even if I don't move across cell sites, it logs the data.
- Keep the same logging interval on all devices.
- Turn off all other SIMs. Make sure voice channels and data channels of all phones are the same. If you don't want to, then just turn off data.
- Remove covers and protective cases.
- From the menu 'Start log'. No need to be super precise with timing. If you get a result or two extra results then you can discard those. Just make sure that time is not too far apart.
- If you want to move around, feel free to do so. Keep the phone out.
- If you want to stay at the same place, keep all the devices in the same place. Don't keep them too far apart. Even in a single room, the difference in results will be quite significant.
- After 5-10 minutes or whatever you like according to your interval; 'End log'.
- You will find a G-Net folder in the root of Internal Storage. There will be a folder with operator name and timestamp.
- Open the text file and plot the values listed under 'Level'. If you cannot then attach the log files.
Here is my result:
Mi A1 vs M30s in dBm
Mi A1 vs M30s in pW
I tested only one time. Only 10 minutes and 25 samples. It needs more thorough testing, so conclusion? Make your own from this small data. On average M30s was 18% better but that's largely due to initial spike and one in the middle. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same. If there is a power cut in my area, then it'd be interesting to see how this phone handles it (it does well so far, shallow observation over a month).
Post logs of comparison, I'd really like to see more results to see how this phone actually behaves.
