"Grip of Death"

David Edwards4

New member
Jun 28, 2013
2
0
0
Visit site
Just a heads up to anyone looking to buy a Lumia 925: There is a problem with some handsets (on Vodafone at least, I haven't read any other carrier forums as of yet) where just holding the phone causes it to lose its signal.

Nokia Lumia 925 - Terrible as a Phone 2 - Grip of Death - YouTube

This isn't my video, but my 925 suffers the exact same problem when connected via EDGE (I didn't experience the problem at all when I was on HSPA+ at a friend's house, so hopefully it's a software issue.)

Anyway, maybe hold off until there more info available about this problem. As of yet, neither Nokia nor Vodafone have accepted that this is a fault, but I can tell you from my own personal experience that it most certainly is.
 

mmar1974

New member
Mar 30, 2013
142
0
0
Visit site
Agreed... instead of putting the phone on the table, just adjusting the hand a little should be enough to solve the problem right? additionally, probably a better test as well if you have a 4G 5Bar signal
 

Musicman247

New member
Aug 29, 2006
802
0
0
www.splashblog.com
I wonder if being plugged in has an effect on it as well. We never saw what it was plugged into, either.

If anybody else has experienced this on a consistent basis, please post here.
 

jp1024

New member
Jun 23, 2013
17
0
0
Visit site
Is this Vodafone uk or elsewhere? On 3 network i don't have the option to chose between 2g and 3g, its constantly 3g like greyed out, unselectable.

3 doesnt have a 2G network any more, its just their own 3G one. IIRC Orange used to provide their 2G, but 3 stopped using it quite some time ago.
 

David Edwards4

New member
Jun 28, 2013
2
0
0
Visit site
It is Vodafone UK, and the problem isn't just a bad signal. I've had 5 bars go down to nothing just by picking the phone up. I don't think a 4G signal would be a better test because, as I wrote, it seems to only occur with a 2G signal. But the problem is solved if you balance the phone flat in the palm of your hand, it's just when you hold it like a phone that the signal loss occurs.

Further speculation welcome.
 

original.woodster

New member
Oct 3, 2012
182
0
0
Visit site
I can get 2/3 bars of H in my house on my 925, sometimes even H+ upstairs. When i use "grip of death" i don't get any changes, not even a dropped bar. Perhaps it is to do with the larger storage, maybe they moved the antenna or shrank it?
 

jp1024

New member
Jun 23, 2013
17
0
0
Visit site
Looking at the 925 manual, it seems to only have 1 antenna region, along the bottom edge, where as the 820 for example has 3, bottom edge, upper left and upper right edges.
 

jp1024

New member
Jun 23, 2013
17
0
0
Visit site
Hmm, interesting. Wonder why the manual, page 7, suggests you avoid gripping just the bottom part when in use.

Perhaps gripping the bottom just makes things really bad, but in general normal gripping use the antennas work better.
 

Huime

New member
Oct 30, 2012
1,019
0
0
Visit site
from fcc filing alone you can see there is redundant antenna top and bottom. This video is made without that knowledge in mind.
 

jp1024

New member
Jun 23, 2013
17
0
0
Visit site
Its also worth remembering that the signal bars dont necessarily mean anything obvious, and dont necessarily relate to signal strength directly.
 

pinguinotime

New member
May 30, 2013
1
0
0
Visit site
I just bought a 925 yesterday. In certain areas (most notably where I live in), there is absolutely NO signal.

I've asked my local service provider (Maxis in Malaysia) to check, they did some resets. It seemed OK for a while, but once I got home, the problem happened again. To confirm - I used the same SIM on my old Lumia 800, and there were no issues. Which would more or less confirm that it's a phone issue, not network
 

CreepinJesus

New member
Sep 15, 2011
49
0
0
Visit site
Just chipping in - I get this problem also on Vodafone UK. I usually only have an EDGE connection, and only 2-3 bars tops out where I live. If I hold the phone at the bottom with my hand wrapped around, I can sometimes lose signal all together.
 

drbanks

New member
Dec 17, 2012
236
0
0
Visit site
I work in a virtual faraday cage. Great signal outside, almost none inside.

Sitting on my desk, I get 1, maybe 2 bars, usually edge, sometimes hspa. As soon as I pick up the 925, it goes to no service and stays that way until I let go of it. No grip seems to change it, even the delicate tip-of-finger hold that I had to use with my iPhone 4.

By contrast, my 521 consistently shows one more bar, has a better lock on hspa+, and does not drop when I pick it up.
 

Nguyenner

New member
Jun 7, 2013
12
0
0
Visit site
Having this issue as well. It varies from no signal to just one bar. Though I'll sometimes have full bars, I've never had full bars once it's in my hand.
I wonder if there's any validity to attributing it to the frame that doubles as an antenna (which was initially marketed as assuring very good signal).

If it ends up being due to the construction of the phone, does that mean that no amount of firmware or software updates can really fix the issue? (not being negative, I'm legitimately asking)
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
322,915
Messages
2,242,889
Members
428,004
Latest member
hetb