TUAW compared the reception of iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4
TUAW fans who watched Erica Sadun's proprietary "Strength" app in action yesterday saw proof that there is a degradation in signal quality on the iPhone 4 when it is handheld. The so-called iPhone 4 "death grip," which consists of cradling the phone in your left hand to manipulate the screen with the right hand, appears to be another example of regular cell phone signal loss caused by the proximity of a human hand to the antenna of a working cell phone.iPhone 3GS 'death grip' video, 3GS / 4 reception comparison
In the video above, we tested an iPhone 3GS with Erica's app, and found pretty much the same results -- the signal strength is lower when the 3GS is held in the hand, and recovers when it is not being held. The big difference between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS is that the 3GS doesn't tend to drop calls as often as the iPhone 4 does.
