That’s how you hold a phone though, by the sides…
Yes, of course every phone attenuates antenna reception when you touch it, but I’ve never owned any phone that would drop several bars instantly upon picking it up to take a call. Not any of my uber-crappy WinMo phones, none of my clam shell/flip phones, not my HTC Incredible, none of them.
There’s a phrase for this: Defective By Design.