It's funny that everybody has issues with service, but I think it's one of the best phones I've had in a good while for reception. I get LTE in areas my iPhone 6s+ would constantly switch between LTE and no data. Had a note 7 for a bit and it couldn't even get a signal.
Cellular strength and throughput
- Thread starter XDA_RealLifeReview
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Yeah.. My note 4 has the best signal of any device I've ever used.. I've never had complete signal loss with my Axon.. But I pretty frequently have weak signal(2/5) in places my note 4 had solid (4/5) bars..
Switched from a OnePlus One (T-Mobile California). Both phones were a little below average to average in terms of connectivity. Tested an iPhone 5s with the same sim and got an extra bar or two. For reference I have two Axon 7s and both report the same signal strength. It's not a deal breaker as it will still connect to 4g but if you desire amazing cell connectivity I'd probably look at another phone. For me it's not an issue though.
My axon 7 EU version will never contact to 4g on three it connects to 4g on Vodafone fine but my note 5 uses threes 4g fine using the same sim thinking about returning it shame as it's the perfect phone I want but if I can't get good phone signal pointless phone.
It would be better to check the actual signal strength (i.e. the number id db) instead of just the number of bars. It appears that some phones display the signal differently in terms of number of bars.
I did note 5 in exact same place on a table is 83db had to force 3g only to compare are axon never uses 4g but 3g on axon exact same spot is 97db jumping to 111db all over the place.
Vodafone though is on 4g 104db and axon 101db why does this phone work on there but on three is so different between phones.
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I was a bit nervous when I ordered A7 reading few (many) complaints about Wi-Fi and lte capability. It was so unbelievable that ZTE could release phone with such problem. Anyway I ordered it from Amazon and I got it yesterday. (A2017G/B03)
Of course I would have liked to check it immediately. Recently we have used Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and S4. Actually we are satisfied with both phones very much so far. We haven't had any signal or Wi-Fi issue for years. So I compared A7 to them. We were in a place where gsm/3G/4G signal strength was very poor. Practically it meant zero inside the building and very poor in outside. My first experience was that I got signal inside sometimes with A7 but apart from this gsm and data capability was the same around the house. It is poor of course.
Later at home I did some measurement by using Network Signal Info. I put phones next to each other. Both got SIM from same provider (Vodafone) and they connected to same tower (LTE). Signal strength was between 70 and 80 dBm during the test and from time to time I exchanged phones in position. I did test horizontal position as well as vertical position. Well I would say that A7 and Note 3 performed on very same level. May be Axon was better with 1 or 2 and rarely 3 dB more times than vice-verse but it was hard to diagnose. Also the position was very important. Phone which was in a particular position performed better almost always. I repeat the test with S4 too. May be it is better than other two but I have to emphasize that differences were very-very tiny. Rather I would say that 3 phones have same signal receiver capability.
Wi-fi. I can say same. ZTE has same signal strength and data transfer rate as Note 3 but I have to emphasize here as well that many-many things can impact the result included the position of the tester near to the phones.
I copied files from to PC via Wi-fi and Total Commander showed same rate as in case of Note and S4 earlier.
Finally. My opinion is that ZTE is not worse than the average at all. What is more it performs very well even if some phones are better. I think it can do what Snapdragon makes available.
Of course I would have liked to check it immediately. Recently we have used Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and S4. Actually we are satisfied with both phones very much so far. We haven't had any signal or Wi-Fi issue for years. So I compared A7 to them. We were in a place where gsm/3G/4G signal strength was very poor. Practically it meant zero inside the building and very poor in outside. My first experience was that I got signal inside sometimes with A7 but apart from this gsm and data capability was the same around the house. It is poor of course.
Later at home I did some measurement by using Network Signal Info. I put phones next to each other. Both got SIM from same provider (Vodafone) and they connected to same tower (LTE). Signal strength was between 70 and 80 dBm during the test and from time to time I exchanged phones in position. I did test horizontal position as well as vertical position. Well I would say that A7 and Note 3 performed on very same level. May be Axon was better with 1 or 2 and rarely 3 dB more times than vice-verse but it was hard to diagnose. Also the position was very important. Phone which was in a particular position performed better almost always. I repeat the test with S4 too. May be it is better than other two but I have to emphasize that differences were very-very tiny. Rather I would say that 3 phones have same signal receiver capability.
Wi-fi. I can say same. ZTE has same signal strength and data transfer rate as Note 3 but I have to emphasize here as well that many-many things can impact the result included the position of the tester near to the phones.
I copied files from to PC via Wi-fi and Total Commander showed same rate as in case of Note and S4 earlier.
Finally. My opinion is that ZTE is not worse than the average at all. What is more it performs very well even if some phones are better. I think it can do what Snapdragon makes available.
I've had much the same experience. The Axon 7 isn't 'oustanding' but it's definitely not bad in terms of cell reception. I would say that if you require a phone that is very dependent on having the best cell connection possible then the phone probably isn't for you but it's no worse than the average phone. Definitely not a deal breaker.
For me signal strength is a deal breaker..
Once I have lg g2, good smartphone,l long las battery but not as good as s3 in strength signal.
Same goes with Sony z3+ vs note 4, note 4 win it all..
Too bad signal strength is not strongpoint for this marvelous spec smartphone
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
I'm afraid this is also a deal breaker for me i use mobile data a lot as my area has crap broadband speed and the fact axon 7 never uses 4g ruins the whole phone my note 5 has no issues using 4g about 70mb/s.
Will have to look at the note 7 dual sim.
Will have to look at the note 7 dual sim.
For those with the the recent A2017U update installed (B27), care to chime in on the signal strengths compared to before?
I'd like to know too if it fixes the issues I'd be happy to keep the phone gone back to my note 5 for now will wait a week then send axon back if no update
I'm officially giving my axon back once the one plus gets here. The reception is awful for me in NYC and even my house where I had full bars on my ancient m7 I was using till I gave the timebomb note 7 back. The axon makes me sad, they have a great device but the software is just god awful, I could forgive the little things if there just weren't so many.
There is just no competition only way to get 4g to connect is to not touch the phone. this is a speed test done only 3 mins apart to change sim over same server, practically twice as fast note 5 on the right even my old note 3 gets close to the note 5 axon no take 3 years backwards step.
http://postimg.org/image/50lvwfbfl/
http://postimg.org/image/50lvwfbfl/
Currently sitting on the newest update. Signal strength is not all that great. Its on average, about -10dBm worse than my Nexus 6p. I work at a warehouse, and normally I'm able to get 2-3 bars of LTE with my 6P. With this phone, it's 2-3 bars of HSPA+. If that doesn't change in the coming weeks, I'm going to return this phone. My carrier is T-Mobile.
First time owning the phone that I noticed I got full bars.. Oddly enough, inside a rite aid lol.. Got distracted by the cashier, was unable to check actual strength. 
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I doubt these issues are fixable with software plus as always EU gets left behind via discrimination so im not willing to wait weeks to test something that has a 10% chance of fixing these issues. This phone sucks at its primary function a phone.
Well, I thought I'm happy with the phone as long as I did not notice something strange is going on with my connection via SIM2. At first in some cases I could not make a call (got message no cellular connection - fixed only after restart). Then I just noticed that connection on SIM2 accidentaly drops down to 0 and afterwards gets back to 4/5 bars (without even moving the phone).
Here are the printscreens: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BysAVpjI_6eVQmlpMkRfSkVoZmM?usp=sharing
Name of picture shows time it was taken (so the signal goes down to 0 and back to normal in few seconds). Has anyone faced the similar problem?
UPDATE: one more thing - can't make calls even if the bars show that I'm connected... (screenshot uploaded to g-drive as well).
Here are the printscreens: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BysAVpjI_6eVQmlpMkRfSkVoZmM?usp=sharing
Name of picture shows time it was taken (so the signal goes down to 0 and back to normal in few seconds). Has anyone faced the similar problem?
UPDATE: one more thing - can't make calls even if the bars show that I'm connected... (screenshot uploaded to g-drive as well).
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This is exactly what I was afraid of. I'm starting to think they haven't actually tweaked the radio firmware at all, but rather just adjusted the signal indicator to make it look like it's better. I don't want to be told that I have 4 bars of reception when I can't even make a call.
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