Definitive Qualcomm (A1660/A1661) v. Intel (A1778/A1784) iPhone 7/7 Plus Thread

[JonathanK81]

I normally know my Apple iPhones, but since this is new to me the different modems. Question for you all. I was able to get my iPhone 7 Plus AT&T unlocked. I currently only have a Sprint sim to test with. Will that work at all? I know it doesn't have the CDMA radio. But will it at least acknowledge the Sprint Sim so I can be assured it is truly unlocked? Thanks all!

 

[gadgetfreaky]

I normally know my Apple iPhones, but since this is new to me the different modems. Question for you all. I was able to get my iPhone 7 Plus AT&T unlocked. I currently only have a Sprint sim to test with. Will that work at all? I know it doesn't have the CDMA radio. But will it at least acknowledge the Sprint Sim so I can be assured it is truly unlocked? Thanks all!

sim cards are air interface indepdenent.
as long as your device is unlocked

 

[headcase]

Folks providing "test results" of just one model is completely meaningless. The only way to have a decent comparison of speed, battery, and stability is for those who have both models in hand, with similar testing methodologies (e.g. speed tests with the same cell tower and time of day, etc.). Even then, so many variabilities will limit the accuracy of "real world tests".

 

[ohmyggg]

That's what I did over several days.

Curious... how did you accomplish this? Do you have more than one sim card and data plan from T-Mobile?

 

[planetf1]

In the uk there are some funnies with the 7/7 plus on 3UK at least whereby the phone seems to stick to 3g far more than LTE. May be 800 MHz LTE/volte related. Unclear. Both apple and three have confirmed they are investigating. Firmware issue in Intel modem support quite possibly?

 

[airjay75]

In the uk there are some funnies with the 7/7 plus on 3UK at least whereby the phone seems to stick to 3g far more than LTE. May be 800 MHz LTE/volte related. Unclear. Both apple and three have confirmed they are investigating. Firmware issue in Intel modem support quite possibly?

I doubt it. Similar problems have been reported most widely by Verizon customers in the U.S., and they are all using Qualcomm models of the iPhone 7. I suspect it's an iOS 10 problem that is affecting some carriers more than others.

 

[planetf1]

Yes that's true of course... So more likely ios10...

 

[eclipxe]

Curious... how did you accomplish this? Do you have more than one sim card and data plan from T-Mobile?

Yes

 

[eclipxe]

Folks providing "test results" of just one model is completely meaningless. The only way to have a decent comparison of speed, battery, and stability is for those who have both models in hand, with similar testing methodologies (e.g. speed tests with the same cell tower and time of day, etc.). Even then, so many variabilities will limit the accuracy of "real world tests".

That's exactly what I did. Both models side by side and used over several days.

 

[nivekr11]

Does anyone know how to find what band you are on with the Intel radio?

 

[tekjunkie]

Does anyone know how to find what band you are on with the Intel radio?

Here is an interesting tidbit of info and IDK how I did it. I walked into the ATT store and was playing around while the wife setup our new account and her discount adn all that. I walked over to matte black iphone 7+ and did the service menu code and check and saw band 17. I didnt know about the Intel modems not working with the service menu. Is the display models all qualcomms?

 

[deadworlds]

Here is an interesting tidbit of info and IDK how I did it. I walked into the ATT store and was playing around while the wife setup our new account and her discount adn all that. I walked over to matte black iphone 7+ and did the service menu code and check and saw band 17. I didnt know about the Intel modems not working with the service menu. Is the display models all qualcomms?

That is interesting as trying to access the field test mode on my intel iPhone yields a blank screen with a spinning circle.

 

[TheRealAlex]

Folks providing "test results" of just one model is completely meaningless. The only way to have a decent comparison of speed, battery, and stability is for those who have both models in hand, with similar testing methodologies (e.g. speed tests with the same cell tower and time of day, etc.). Even then, so many variabilities will limit the accuracy of "real world tests".

I don't need detailed Studies, The Intel Radio is a 3x3 Mimo part and the X12 Qualcom is a 4x4 Mimo Radio case in point my work friend has a TMobile GSM Intel iPhone 7 Plus and I have a Sprint CDMA Qualcomm 7 Plus

At lunch time we went to the Supermarket he gets Zero Signal indoors, and I get 3 Bars. Nuff said.

 

[airjay75]

I don't need detailed Studies, The Intel Radio is a 3x3 Mimo part and the X12 Qualcom is a 4x4 Mimo Radio case in point my work friend has a TMobile GSM Intel iPhone 7 Plus and I have a Sprint CDMA Qualcomm 7 Plus

At lunch time we went to the Supermarket he gets Zero Signal indoors, and I get 3 Bars. Nuff said.

Very scientific. I'm sure that will settle the debate.

 

[tekjunkie]

That is interesting as trying to access the field test mode on my intel iPhone yields a blank screen with a spinning circle.

I'm hope I'm getting my new iPhones in this week so I will go back to the store and try the same thing.

 

[tekjunkie]

I don't need detailed Studies, The Intel Radio is a 3x3 Mimo part and the X12 Qualcom is a 4x4 Mimo Radio case in point my work friend has a TMobile GSM Intel iPhone 7 Plus and I have a Sprint CDMA Qualcomm 7 Plus

At lunch time we went to the Supermarket he gets Zero Signal indoors, and I get 3 Bars. Nuff said.

I don't think that's correct. I believe the Qualcomm is still only 3x3. And what does that have to do about how much signal you have??

Also your comparing 2 different carriers...

 

[T5BRICK]

I don't need detailed Studies, The Intel Radio is a 3x3 Mimo part and the X12 Qualcom is a 4x4 Mimo Radio case in point my work friend has a TMobile GSM Intel iPhone 7 Plus and I have a Sprint CDMA Qualcomm 7 Plus

At lunch time we went to the Supermarket he gets Zero Signal indoors, and I get 3 Bars. Nuff said.

This sounds more like Sprint vs T-mobile than Intel vs Qualcomm.

 

[_Refurbished_]

I don't need detailed Studies, The Intel Radio is a 3x3 Mimo part and the X12 Qualcom is a 4x4 Mimo Radio case in point my work friend has a TMobile GSM Intel iPhone 7 Plus and I have a Sprint CDMA Qualcomm 7 Plus

At lunch time we went to the Supermarket he gets Zero Signal indoors, and I get 3 Bars. Nuff said.

So the differen-

No, I can't even write a response to this.

 

[SPoon222222]

I'm hope I'm getting my new iPhones in this week so I will go back to the store and try the same thing.

I just attempted to access the field test menu on my Intel and all it does is display "Connecting...". Looks like the Intel needs another way to access the field test menu.

 

[metsjetsfan]

I don't think that's correct. I believe the Qualcomm is still only 3x3. And what does that have to do about how much signal you have??

Also your comparing 2 different carriers...

Yeah even it was 4x4 ios could be restricting it. Need some company to do a test with 50 phones and also in different environments. This is not like samsung/tsmc where you can isolate and go and airplane mode with 100 phones and come up with results.

 

[joelp22]

Yeah even it was 4x4 ios could be restricting it. Need some company to do a test with 50 phones and also in different environments. This is not like samsung/tsmc where you can isolate and go and airplane mode with 100 phones and come up with results.

I place a very high priority on reception / signal quality so I decided to run some tests on two identical 128gb iPhone 7's to see which is better in my environment (planning to return whichever one is worse). One Verizon / qualcomm model purchased from Apple store (model a1660), and another purchased from an ATT store with the intel modem (a1778). The phones are set up identically as new, and both have 10.0.2. Reset network settings on both phones and used the speed test app for LTE speed tests. All tests run on AT&T's network. I only kept tests where the speed test app connected to the same server/location. I also did a field test prior to each run. Averages below are based on 10 total runs.

Bottom line is I found a significant difference - average downloads of 22 vs 13 mbps down and 3 vs 1 mbps upload speed (qualcomm was the winner). Also lots of variability for the intel modem during the tests, where the qualcomm modem was more steady through each speed test run. And did a bunch of simultaneous page loads of web pages (on LTE). There was little difference in page load speeds.....maybe a very slight advantage to qualcomm. Lastly, after running all these tests I compared battery life. I also set the phones next to each other and did a 2 hour call between them to see if an LTE call used more battery on one of the models. I was careful to make sure the phones were set and charged identically, and ran the same amount of tests / screen brightness on each phone. Battery life at the end of the tests was as follows: Qualcomm - 75% remaining. Intel - 61% remaining. I did not calibrate both batteries beforehand FWIW.

Attached is a txt file with my test data. Hope this is useful to people. I fully realize this is just one data point with only two phones, and I understand there's a need for a more scientific and comprehensive test with many more phones and locations to know for sure. But I thought I'd share what I found in case anyone finds it useful since I rarely if ever contribute to these forums, but frequently get useful info from others' posts.

 

[_Refurbished_]

I place a very high priority on reception / signal quality so I decided to run some tests on two identical 128gb iPhone 7's to see which is better in my environment (planning to return whichever one is worse). One Verizon / qualcomm model purchased from Apple store (model a1660), and another purchased from an ATT store with the intel modem (a1778). The phones are set up identically as new, and both have 10.0.2. Reset network settings on both phones and used the speed test app for LTE speed tests. All tests run on AT&T's network. I only kept tests where the speed test app connected to the same server/location. I also did a field test prior to each run. Averages below are based on 10 total runs.

Bottom line is I found a significant difference - average downloads of 22 vs 13 mbps down and 3 vs 1 mbps upload speed (qualcomm was the winner). Also lots of variability for the intel modem during the tests, where the qualcomm modem was more steady through each speed test run. And did a bunch of simultaneous page loads of web pages (on LTE). There was little difference in page load speeds.....maybe a very slight advantage to qualcomm. Lastly, after running all these tests I compared battery life. I also set the phones next to each other and did a 2 hour call between them to see if an LTE call used more battery on one of the models. I was careful to make sure the phones were set and charged identically, and ran the same amount of tests / screen brightness on each phone. Battery life at the end of the tests was as follows: Qualcomm - 75% remaining. Intel - 61% remaining. I did not calibrate both batteries beforehand FWIW.

Attached is a txt file with my test data. Hope this is useful to people. I fully realize this is just one data point with only two phones, and I understand there's a need for a more scientific and comprehensive test with many more phones and locations to know for sure. But I thought I'd share what I found in case anyone finds it useful since I rarely if ever contribute to these forums, but frequently get useful info from others' posts.

I certainly appreciate the effort for this kind of stuff, very good to see real world tests.

I have an Intel modem and have the best battery life I've ever had on an iPhone (6, 6s, 6s+ recently owned).

Not to mention, I drive through an area that is the black hole for smartphones for about 30 - 45 seconds. On previous iPhones I would tell the person "I'm going to be out of service for a minute." Now, I can not only call, I can FaceTime the entire stretch! Even my GF's Verizon 5C gets 1 bar of GPRS and struggles on this woodsy road.

Overall, I've never been more pleased with a modem on an iPhone. Not one dropped call or weird reception glitch experienced. Again, this isn't a side by side experiment....but as someone that has gone through a few Qualcomm iPhones in the past two years, color me impressed with Intel.

Unless someone gets a hold of numerous phones from each modem, I won't trust one person or website's results. Just the same, my positive experience with Intel could be another's disappointment.

Sure looks like results will vary based on individual devices.

 

[Mr. Zarniwoop]

I fully realize this is just one data point with only two phones, and I understand there's a need for a more scientific and comprehensive test with many more phones and locations to know for sure. But I thought I'd share what I found in case anyone finds it useful since I rarely if ever contribute to these forums, but frequently get useful info from others' posts.

That's very interesting, thanks for posting.

I had a Qualcomm 7 Plus and now two different Intel 7 Plus phones, although never had two phones at the same time for these kinds of testing. The most solid in terms of the AT&T LTE just always working was Qualcomm as both Intel phones just "hang" sometimes. What I mean by that is that they show LTE with several dots of service but nothing using the Internet works. I toggle Airplane Mode on/off and then it's ok again. That didn't happen during my two weeks with the Qualcomm but happens every few days with my original and replacement Intel.

A bit surprised no large scale tests have been done yet.

 

[tekjunkie]

I doubt there will ever save a large scale test done because they are the same modem basically. And at the end of the day you'll rarely or ever notice the difference.

 

[jdlorinser]

I place a very high priority on reception / signal quality so I decided to run some tests on two identical 128gb iPhone 7's to see which is better in my environment (planning to return whichever one is worse). One Verizon / qualcomm model purchased from Apple store (model a1660), and another purchased from an ATT store with the intel modem (a1778). The phones are set up identically as new, and both have 10.0.2. Reset network settings on both phones and used the speed test app for LTE speed tests. All tests run on AT&T's network. I only kept tests where the speed test app connected to the same server/location. I also did a field test prior to each run. Averages below are based on 10 total runs.

Bottom line is I found a significant difference - average downloads of 22 vs 13 mbps down and 3 vs 1 mbps upload speed (qualcomm was the winner). Also lots of variability for the intel modem during the tests, where the qualcomm modem was more steady through each speed test run. And did a bunch of simultaneous page loads of web pages (on LTE). There was little difference in page load speeds.....maybe a very slight advantage to qualcomm. Lastly, after running all these tests I compared battery life. I also set the phones next to each other and did a 2 hour call between them to see if an LTE call used more battery on one of the models. I was careful to make sure the phones were set and charged identically, and ran the same amount of tests / screen brightness on each phone. Battery life at the end of the tests was as follows: Qualcomm - 75% remaining. Intel - 61% remaining. I did not calibrate both batteries beforehand FWIW.

Attached is a txt file with my test data. Hope this is useful to people. I fully realize this is just one data point with only two phones, and I understand there's a need for a more scientific and comprehensive test with many more phones and locations to know for sure. But I thought I'd share what I found in case anyone finds it useful since I rarely if ever contribute to these forums, but frequently get useful info from others' posts.

Thank you very much for this. I will be going for the Qualcomm.