Wild Differences of Ookla, Rootmetrics, Sensorly and Open Signal

For a long time now, I’ve used apps like Ookla Speedtest, Rootmetrics, Sensorly, and Open Signal to test mobile performance and coverage. One thing I’ve found in testing though, is that Ookla Speedtest is the most accurate but also Rootmetrics and Sensorly are nearly 90% more accurate than underdog Open Signal (which, while it had more users, it showed inaccurate speed tests). It’s unclear why in the same location, on the same carrier and hardware, Open Signal always shows speeds significantly slower than all other apps measure. It’s still concerning because users turn to Open Signal for coverage data and they can’t be trusted if they can’t measure accurately and even the CEO of T-Mobile, John Legere, was recently praising Open Signal’s reporting. Do a test comparison and see that Rootmetrics is hands down more accurate despite John bashing Rootmetrics.

I’ve reached out to Open Signal to report these discrepancies, but they as of the time of writing this, did not reply. But still yet the fact remains that every carrier coverage & speed test app has very different results and so the coverage maps and date of each one of these companies has varying accuracy.

Another disappointing thing is that Rootmetrics, Sensorly, and Open Signal all offer apps in the iPhone app store that are slightly watered down or missing features in comparison to their Android versions. So depending on your mobile OS, you have access to different features and there is a lack of parity.

Which app do you use? Why doesn’t Ookla have a coverage app versus just a standalone speed test app?

Here are more screenshots showing the huge differences in test results depending on app: