Kondinin Group ResearchMAY 2018 No. 100 www.farmingahead.com.au ReportPrice: $95 MOBILE PHONES THE LATEST HANDSETS TESTED Independent information for agriculture H RE RC PO A R E T S • E RESEARCH REPORT MOBILE PHONES K R O • N P D U I N O I R N G NextG phones – the good, the bad and the ugly In their annual outback pilgrimage, Kondinin Group engineers Josh Giumelli and Ben White head to remote NSW to test the latest crop of handsets. Of the 13 units tested, there were several surprises; some star performers, some lacklustre results, and several that just made up the numbers. If you want a phone with good reception or features that matter, read on. hese days, the mobile phone is source in the paddock, rather than at home just about as crucial to the farm on the computer. business as any other piece of But we face a growing dilemma in that machinery. connectivity continues to limit the usefulness TThe sum total of tasks performed using a of much of what we want to do with our phone handset only increases as each year smartphones. While mobile networks goes by. More manufacturers supply apps continue to grow, they are not always rolled Retro rocket? The new Nokia 3310 harkens back to to operate or calibrate machinery, more out in rural areas where we need them the days of the CDMA network and the simple Nokia information is needed at your fingertips most. Compounding the problem is that the handsets with awesome battery life and excellent in an instant, and record keeping becomes smartphones' reception performance seems reception. The new version of the classic left us a instantaneous, with data entered at the to be getting worse over time. little disappointed. 2 Research Report May 2018 No. 100 © Kondinin Group – Reproduction in whole or part is www.farmingahead.com.au not permitted without permission. Freecall 1800 677 761 RCH A RE SE P E O R R • RESEARCH REPORT MOBILE PHONES T • P K U O O N R D G I N N I Class of 2018: Phones tested in this report include (left to right, top row): iPhone X, iPhone 8, Samsung S9, Samsung S8, Samsung S7, (middle row): Telstra Tough Max 2, Telstra Flip 2, Telstra Signature 2 Enhanced, Oppo A57, (bottom row); Sony Xperia XZ Premium, Samsung A5, Google Pixel, Nokia 3310 3G. www.farmingahead.com.au © Kondinin Group – Reproduction in whole or part is No. 100 May 2018 Research Report 3 not permitted without permission. Freecall 1800 677 761 H RE RC PO A R E T S • E RESEARCH REPORT MOBILE PHONES K R O • N P D U I N O I R N G Table 1. Phone test results Manufacturer Model Maximum range from test tower, km Apple iPhone X 30 Apple iPhone 8 25 Samsung Galaxy S9 27.5 Samsung Galaxy S8 30 Samsung Galaxy S7 32 Samsung A5 31 Telstra Tough Max 2 32.5 Telstra Flip 2 42 Telstra Signature 2 33 Oppo A57 31 Sony Xperia XZ Premium 38.5 Google Pixel 32.5 Nokia 3310 32 Kondinin Group has tested NextG testing to determine those with the highest smartphones with strong reception. The phones for about 12 years. Unfortunately, reception sensitivity. Sony Xperia XZ Premium led the way with performance has dropped off in recent years Kondinin Group tests over the years have an impressive 38.5km. This is also a blue after initial improvements were made. shown most blue tick phones were of higher tick phone, hardly a comparison with the Newer models of the most popular sensitivity, but that has not been the case 25km of the iPhone 8. Of all phones tested, smartphones now perform as poorly as they recently. It is hard to explain how a brand the Telstra Flip 2 was the most receptive, have for several years. new “blue tick” iPhone 8 can only manage holding reception out to 42.5km from the 25km from our test tower, when original test tower (see test results, table 1). BLUE TICK GETS A KICK blue tick iPhones such as the 3GS and 4S Our cynical tendencies tend to think there Since the introduction of the NextG managed almost 40km. may be pressure to label the most popular network, Telstra has used a blue tick Incredibly, this was our worst performing smartphones (and most expensive) with a logo to label phone handsets which were handset. Similarly, a blue tick Samsung blue tick, regardless of actual performance. deemed suitable for use in rural and Galaxy S9 achieved only 27.5km, while Either way, our phone tests are more remote areas. earlier versions recorded over 30km. valuable than ever when selecting a handset Telstra claimed phones had undergone This is not to say there are no for use in the bush. 4 Research Report May 2018 No. 100 © Kondinin Group – Reproduction in whole or part is www.farmingahead.com.au not permitted without permission. Freecall 1800 677 761 RCH A RE SE P E O R R • RESEARCH REPORT MOBILE PHONES T • P K U O O N R D G I N N I NETWORK NEWS It's hard to make sense of all the jargon surrounding phone networks. There are several digital phone networks in use across Australia, operated by Telstra, Optus and Virgin on a range of different frequencies. Some of this network access is sold to smaller third-party service providers, who then on-sell it to end users. Looking back through the network history, the old 2G or GSM network no longer exists, having been shut down in 2016. Any GSM-only device has been useless ever since. 3G has been the direct replacement, but this term is used to collectively describe both 2100MHz 3G, 850MHz Telstra NextG, or 900MHz Optus YesG. The lower frequency bands (850 and 900MHz) offer superior signal penetration than higher 4G frequencies and are the ones of significance in remote areas. We test Telstra NextG phone handsets as this network covers the largest area and is most likely to be used by people living in rural areas. The collection of 4G networks operate across a range of frequency bands and service providers, and are typically found in Selected rural centres may be serviced It is not expected to become suburban areas and larger rural centres. by the 4GX network, which offers commercially available until around 2020, Some rural users living close to these higher data speeds than a regular 4G but it will be a serious alternative to the areas may be lucky enough to pick up network. NBN for users unhappy with their service, a few bars of 4G signal, which offers a This service operates with a combination or unable to access anything other than the significantly faster data speed than a 3G of 700 and 1800MHz frequencies in a Skymuster NBN satellite. signal. If using this service for broadband, process called carrier aggregation, and is a The maximum download speed of a 5G a correctly-installed 4G directional yagi mobile data network only. network could easily be around 1GBps (one antenna can improve signal strength and As some readers may be aware, a 5G gigabit or 1000 megabits per second), but in data speeds significantly. service is already being trialled, offering practice expect a speed around 100MBps. Phone handsets can also be set to allow ultra-high-speed broadband for mobile A typical fixed-wireless NBN connection calls over a 4G network. devices. has a peak speed of around 20MBps. LISTEN GLOBAL ACT LOCAL Directly connecting growers to our shareholders and capturing the biggest wheat export markets www.farmingahead.com.au © Kondinin Group – Reproduction in whole or part is No. 100 May 2018 Research Report 5 not permitted without permission. Freecall 1800 677 761 H RE RC PO A R E T S • E RESEARCH REPORT MOBILE PHONES K R O • N P D U I N O I R N G Table 2. Phone specifications Screen Internal Camera Battery Screen Telstra Operating system Size (mm, Weight SD Removable Phone cost Manufacturer Model resolution memory Power connection resolution capacity Wi-Fi Bluetooth NFC (A) 4GX replacement blue tick (as released) HxWxD) (grams) expansion battery ($ inc GST) (pixels) (GB) (main, MP) (mAh) cost ($ inc GST) Apple iPhone X iOS 11 144 x 71 x 7.7 174 2436 x 1125 64, 256 lightning 12 2716 420 1566 (C) Apple iPhone 8 iOS 11 138 x 67 x 7.3 148 1334 x 750 64, 256 lightning 12 1821 189 1079 (C) Samsung Galaxy S9 Android 8 148 x 69 x 8.5 163 2960 x 1440 64 micro USB 12 3000 465 1199 Samsung Galaxy S8 Android 7 149 x 68 x8.0 142 2960 x 1440 64 micro USB 12 3000 449 997 Samsung Galaxy S7 Android 6.0.1 142 x 70 x 7.9 152 2560 x 1440 32 micro USB 12 3000 375 649 Samsung A5 Android 6.0.1 146 x 71 x 7.9 159 1920 x 1080 32 micro USB 16 3000 249 499 Telstra Tough Max 2 Android N 146 x 72 x 11.9 153 1280 x 720 32 micro USB 16 3000 (D) 432 Telstra Flip 2 proprietry 105 x 52 x 18.6 110 240 x 320 4 micro USB 2 1000 (replace phone) 119 Telstra Signature 2 Android 7 149 x 75 x 8 142 1280 x 720 16 micro USB 13 2800 169 (E) 648 Oppo A57 Android 6 (B) 149 x 73 x 7.6 147 1280 x 720 32 micro USB 13 2900 149 250 Sony Xperia XZ Premium Android 8.0 146 x 72 x 8.1 161 3480 x 2160 64 micro USB 23 3230 220 899 Google Pixel Android 7.1 144 x 70 x 8.5 143 1080 x 1920 32, 128 USB 3.0, Type-C 1.0 12.3 2770 280 699 Nokia 3310 Nokia Series 30+ 116 x 51 x 12.8 88.2 320 x 240 32 micro USB 2 1200 (replace phone) 89 Notes: A: NFC – Near-field communication, used for contactless payment systems and sharing digital content by bringing phones within 4cm of each other.