Nokia 5800 Takes The Death Grip Test

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By Stephen Ebert on July 28,

2010 at 00:00,

By now we're all aware of the infamous Death Grip issue that has plagued owners of the expensive new iPhone 4 since its launch a month ago. First Apple pretended there wasn't an issue, then said other phones suffered from the same problem. At first we dismissed the claim, but was he right after all? Read on to find out

Apple won no friends for its handling of the Death Grip debacle. When Jobs name-dropped other companies - including Nokia - as also having the same proble, most of us saw his comments for exactly what they were – an attempt to divert attention onto others instead of where it belonged: his own company.

Nokia probably put it best in a statement by saying simply: “we prioritise antenna performance over physical design if they ever in conflict.”

And that's certainly been true in every single instance we've come across – including our own tests on a Nokia N97 Mini earlier this month, which revealed not even the slightest hint of signal degradation no matter how you held it.

However, one intrepid Nokia user has shown that there might be a grain of truth to Apple's claims that phones from the likes of Nokia can also suffer from reception issues if you really try hard enough.

As the video below shows, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic can in fact be made to suffer from the Death Grip disease after all – provided you're willing to cover the entire top portion of the 5800 in a tight grip. In fact, we'd venture to say that if you're holding your phone that way signal strength doesn't matter, as you won't be able to hear a thing out of the speaker anyway.

Have you suffered signal strength on your Nokia from this or any other way of gripping the handset? Leave a comment below and let us know...

Via DailyMobile

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Matt

I thought that the iPhone4 reception problem was caused by the external antennas on the lower-left side being connected by the hand.

Why are tests being done to determine if physically blocking the signal affects reception strength? That’s not what all the iPhone4 reception fuss is about.
http://www.teodorolteanu.ro Teodor Olteanu

I’ve been trying to hold my 5800 like it’s bbeing hold in the video but my signal doesn’t drop a line…
Nick

In 1.5 years Ive NEVER had reception problems on my 5800. After this ‘antennagate’ burstout, I even tried to hold it in every possible way to force to issue. Didn’t work. It’s a great PHONE.

screw you, Jobs. x_x
eze

i have being trying to hold my 5800 how this dude is holding his,
i\’m a professional arm wrestler, so i used all the hand strength i\’ve got and not one bar went off (the irony is that i also use at&t like the iphone)…
i even had a friend grip the phone with me and still not 1 signal bar went off, all we managed to do was press the camera button on the side by accident!.
signal strenght test reveals: steve jobs is a douche!
Errm

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t the antenna for the 5800 in the bottom of the phone at the back so it’s as far away from your head as possible when making a call?
Tiago

This is a lie.
I tried and not one bar went down. I even put the mobile between my legs, so the whole mobile was covered, and nothing.
Is this a fake video posted by Apple or Apple enthusiasts just to descredit other brands and take the attentions away from iPhone4?
Verry dirty moves from Apple once again. This were the same moves that almost took them down?
I confess I have a MacBook and love it. I bought it because i thought Apple had changed, but Steve Jobs will never change. Idiot.