As impressed as we were with the Galaxy S10 hardware when we got our hands on it late last month, the software is apparently not living up to expectations. Citing complaints from Galaxy S10 owners and its own tests, Android Police reported this week that Samsung’s latest flagship is suffering from signal strength issues. These issues seem to arise based on a variety of factors, including carrier, frequency, and even the use of a phone case.
While Sprint comes up frequently in this thread on the official Samsung community forums, S10 owners on AT&T and T-Mobile have chimed in as well. With over 252 replies in the thread, it’s clear that this isn’t an isolated problem, and countless threads have sprung up on Reddit as well with similar complaints.
The tests conducted by Android Police turned up fascinating (and inexplicable) results. By simply holding the phone “wrong” when it wasn’t in a case, the site was able to significantly affect its signal strength. Holding a Galaxy S10+ in the exact same location, Android Police watched the signal strength in the SIM card status menu change by 13 dBm after removing the protective case. Everything else remained the exact same.
Sprint has at least acknowledged the issue, admitting on its own forums that its has received “a small number of reports about unexpected roaming, data loss, or voice issues on the Galaxy S10 models.” The carrier claims that the issue will be resolved in an upcoming software update, but doesn’t offer a timetable.
Samsung has yet to comment, but if the complaints continue to trickle in at a steady rate, it will only be a matter of time before the phone maker is forced to confront the issue head on. We’ll let you know when or if that happens, but for now, savvy Sprint owners with poor signal strength can try this potential fix.
