I went with one of the ruggedized phones (Samsung Convoy, no affiliation) in an effort to get a better build quality. It's a solid phone and reception seems to be as good as my iPhone.
Comparing reception to the iphone isn't saying much though as the iphone is not well known for good reception.
I'm trying to keep reception in the hills on WV which limits me to higher quality phones and Verizon. I had a regular Samsung dumb phone prior to Smartphones and all the smartphones I've had get better reception than the Samsung did.