Determine strength of the cell antenna in an Android phone to ensure good cell reception In some parts of the world, the cell towers are few and far between. In places like these, when someone is shopping for their next smartphone upgrade, they need to consider cell reception.

Boosters may be a good option, but it lacks a mobile power supply and is uncomfortably bulky.

It seems clear that some phones would be better than others when it comes to cell reception, for example, in the modern world my Note II will hold 4G internet even if my USB modem will not.

But in places like these, the challenge is to get any kind of reception, let alone 4G.

How can one determine the strength of the cell antennae on the phone they are about to buy? Is there a place to look this information up, or a spec one could check on?

And does the method of determination change whether you are on a GSM or CDMA network?
I suggest you ask carrier reps in the area you are concerned about, as I am not aware of another way to get the information you are asking for.  As others have mentioned, there are many factors that go into how well a phone will pick up, let alone how it will pick up in a certain area/location.  I used to work for Verizon and this was a question we got a lot. What I can tell is that, at least for the location I worked at, we knew which phones picked up well and which ones didn't.   If we had customers that lived in the country/rural area there were certain phones we would try to steer them away from.  However, if the customer was not going to be in the country then that same phone may have been fine.  Of course, as new phones launched we would eventually learn how they performed in different areas, so the information was constantly evolving.  Having to help technologically challenged customers troubleshoot signal issues was a great incentive to learn which phones worked the best!  Certain phones gained reputations for being great or horrible when it came to signal.  You didn't want to sell an elderly customer a  phone with bad reception unless you wanted them to pay you many angry visits in the near future!

All that is to say that you should spend some time asking people in the area who sell phones.  I personally try not to venture into carrier stores too much, but this is one area where you may be able to get some help from carrier reps. Dealing with as many phones as they do they are in a unique position to know which ones work the best in their area.