Hands-on review: iPhone Patch
![rachel-king-640x465.jpg](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/95bce264abe9f08543002fcbeef4cdafae2c850c/2013/01/05/839f42c4-1175-11e4-9732-00505685119a/rachel-king-640x465.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&frame=1&height=192&width=192)
The iPhone 4 isn't exactly known for good reception, but the iPhone Patch was designed with the hope of filling in the gap.
The Patch is a small rectangular sticker that you place over the antenna on the left side of the iPhone. But to add some personality, there are plenty of designs to choose from, including flags, barbed wire, flowers and the essential phrase, "Got Bars?" More will be unveiled later for the holidays.
In practice, the Patch is somewhat useful. I tried the Patch both indoors and outdoors and in both hands. In my right hand and when neither of my hands covered the antenna, the bars remained about the same.
Finally, when I went outside, I consistently had three to four bars with the patched iPhone in my left hand. But when I removed the Patch, service dropped to one to two bars.
I should note that I never had a full set of bars, with or without the Patch. You can blame that one on Apple or AT&T - take your pick.
Both long and short patches are $1.50 a piece and are available in packages of six for $5.99. The Patch isn't going to do anything to protect your phone from drops - only dropped calls maybe. Thus, I'd probably still go with a case, but this is still a pretty innovative idea.