I've found huge variation between smartphones for 3G radio reception. Doesn't seem to correlate with phone brand. It's just some models are poor in areas with less-than-perfect signal. Incidentally this was also the case with vintage Nokia phones. Some models excellent reception, some poor.
It may be worth changing phone network to one that has a more usable signal. Signal strength can vary between phone networks even in an urban area. For instance, in my street O2 is best for voice calls on a 3G handset, but EE is the only network that can offer a sufficient 4G data signal. Vodafone is not good enough for either. O2 4G data in particular varies at different times of the day. I guess when my neighbours are streaming TV programmes (or whatever they do with their phones in the early evening), they occupy the available bandwidth for the local area. (Your experience of the different networks may vary, and it almost certainly will, based on your geographical location.)
If you don't want to change handset or network, it's possible to buy a signal booster. This would be a box with an antenna that you screw to the wall somewhere high up, to amplify phone signal for your house.