They work exactly as described. I didn't have high hopes, but was pleasantly surprised. Before I installed one of these in my phone, I would get no bars about 15% of the time, 1 bar about 70% of the time, and 2 bars 15% of the time (in my room). After installation, my signal strength in my room is now 1 bar about 15% of the time, 2 bars 80% of the time, and 3 bars 5% of the time. That's enough improvement to make calls from my room without worrying about the call dropping. I wasn't expecting a solid 5 bars; just a noticeable signal improvement, and that's what I got. I'm happy with this purchase.