As a radio person I can state that anytime you touch the bare metal elements of any antenna you run a major risk of de-tuning the antenna. For Apple to design an exposed metal antenna, or parts thereof (elements) there must have been a complete lack of antenna knowledge by their engineers. Either that or they did it on purpose to sell those expensive rubber bands they call bumpers for $30! An antenna should be completely shielded from sweaty hands. I suspect that whether you hold it in your left hand or right hand the antenna loss is probably significant (5 to 10 dB) regardless of how many bars are arbitrarily displayed by the firmware. iphones are notoriously difficult to receive calls from (at least via AT&T). By that i mean if I receive a call from a person with an iPhone chances are high that I will have trouble hearing them. I don't seem to have that problem with non-iPhone phones. So this new one will probably be nearly impossible to receive calls from. Apple has a really slick device in the iPhone, but the actual cellular phone part is third rate.