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Review: iPhone 4

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Jun 24, 2010, 10:54 PM   by Philip Berne

In-depth with the latest from Apple.

Form

Is It Your Type? 

The iPhone 4 brings some long-awaited features to the iPhone table, without trying to do everything the competition can do. The interface, the screen and the camera have all been dramatically improved, but will these be enough to keep Apple at the top of the super-phone pile? With Apple, it's always the little things that count.

Body 

 

The iPhone 4 has gotten its second major redesign, and I'm not happy with the results. I prefer the iPhone 3G, with its curved back, seamless plastic and glass design and larger screen size. Compared to just about every other Apple product on the market, the iPhone 4 is a mess. There are endless seams, breaks in the metal band around the edge, and slabs of glass on the top and bottom that don't line up with the thick waistband. It may be the thinnest smartphone on the market, according to Apple, but it's also rather tall, with ugly, empty space above and below the screen.

Worst of all, the iPhone 4 is not comfortable to hold during calls. The edges are stiff, right angles, and the thin shell doesn't sit comfortably in a tight grip. Apple has sacrificed some usability for design aesthetic, it seems.

The iPhone has few buttons on the exterior, it relies on the touchscreen more than almost any other tablet phone. There's a home button on the front of the phone. In iPhone OS 3, you could set that home button to perform a few shortcuts, like jumping to your favorite contacts or opening the camera app. Not so on iOS4. Now it opens the fast application switch menu, and you cannot customize its function.

On the left side you'll find two buttons for volume up and down. These were well raised and clicky. There's a stiff switch to activate silent/vibrate mode. Maybe too stiff, because a couple times I thought I had deactivated the vibrate mode, but the switch had only been thrown halfway. On top is a power/screen lock key. Because of the height of the phone and the sharp angles, it was tough to press while holding the device naturally in one hand.

I'd like to see a two-stage camera button on this phone (on every phone, in fact). Everything else can be handled by the software interface, but a camera button is a necessity. Lining up self portraits with the five megapixel camera around back is nearly impossible, and since Apple removed the camera home button shortcut, it takes longer to start shooting.

There's a small microSIM card slot on the right side; a tray pops out when you insert a paper clip. Usually this slot is hidden under the battery, but Apple remains one of the only manufacturers to seal the battery within the case, inaccessible to the user.

The glass top and bottom worry me. Apple has made valiant claims about its resilience, but I have a cracked iPod touch and a broken original iPhone that say those claims might be exaggerated. I actually prefer the hard white or black plastic of the iPhone 3G, since it didn't show scratches or fingerprints nearly as easily.

Three S's 

Screen

The "Retina" display, as Apple calls it, is nothing short of amazing. Pull up a photo of an ice cream cone on a hot summer day and just try not to lick it. I dare you. It's simply luscious. Glossy magazine photos have nothing on this.

Retina Display  

What makes it so great is the high resolution, or pixel density. It may only be twice the resolution of the last generation iPhone on each axis (four times counting both dimensions) but up close, it seems like even more of an improvement than that. Apple has truly leapfrogged the competition with this display.

The higher pixel density is a huge boon in several specific places, like maps and the web browser. You can zoom all the way out and still read the text on phonescoop.com, for example. Photos look fantastic, of course.

Viewing Angle  

The display technology is TFT LCD, which is not as exotic as newer OLED technology, but Apple is using a type of LCD panel called IPS, which is notable for its wide viewing angle, meaning you can view it from a side angle without the image washing out or turning psychedelic on you. Indeed, comparing it side-by-side with the iPhone 3GS, the image does look better from a steep angle. It's only the color that benefits, though. Brightness still falls off dramatically when viewed from anything other than straight-on, just like on the 3GS. Still, IPS is an improvement that makes it a tad nicer to show off photos and videos to friends, for example.

In Sunlight  

The display performs well both indoors and out. It's reasonably legible outdoors in daylight, at least as well as any other phone, including the 3GS. In 100% direct sun, it's not as reflective - and therefore not nearly as visible - as the display on the iPhone 3GS. That's only when the sun is right over your shoulder, though; turn a little to the left or right and it becomes much easier to see.

Signal

When it comes to voice, the signal performance rated no better or worse than the 3GS. That's not a compliment. In just a day of use each, we both experienced multiple dropped or failed calls. Color us unimpressed. The signal meter doesn't exaggerate. If you only have two bars, you may be able to make a call, but don't expect to hold onto it for long. Some people have reported worse performance making calls with the phone in their left hand; Philip was able to replicate that, but Rich was not.

Data was another story entirely. It was blazing fast and, so far, very reliable. Apple has clearly concocted some new magic to make this one of the fastest - if not the fastest web browsing phones on the market. Again. I really had no idea AT&T's 3G network could send me web pages over the ether so fast; apparently all it needed was the right phone on the receiving end. A new standard had been set.

Sound

A frequent complaint with previous iPhones has been speakerphone volume. Fortunately, the iPhone 4 has a louder speakerphone. It's not dramatically louder, but the boost is noticeable and definitely helps. Speakerphone sound quality is good. Music and ringers get a volume boost as well, although it's not as noticeable with lower-pitch ringers. When the ringers are turned off, the vibrate feature on the iPhone felt a bit weak, so beware when you slip it into deep padded pockets.

Apple touts noise cancellation as a new feature. This technology uses a secondary microphone - away from your mouth - to listen to background noise and filter it out. We tested it in a noisy bar, and it worked great. The party at the other end could tell we were in a bar, but could hear us loud and clear over the din.

Unfortunately, the earpiece is far too quiet to hear the other party in any remotely noisy environment. In a quiet place or with light background noise, all is fine, but expect to step outside the bar to take a call, or put your finger in your other ear walking down a noisy street. So while the noise cancellation works, it's rather pointless with such a weak earpiece.

Volume aside, call sound quality was good in both directions.

Touch 

Apple's touch implementation is the best on the market. There is no lag on this phone, ever. From the moment you power up the screen, the interface responds naturally to your touch. Everything moves organically. Windows slide by as you move your finger, and long lists fly past when you flick them up or down. There is not a single phone on the market that gets touch sensitivity so right as the Apple iPhone 4.

Basics

Menus 

 

You can criticize Apple for taking a long time to implement a feature in iOS, but when they finally do, they always do it right. Take folders, for instance. On the Apple iPhone 4, you simply drag one app onto another and a folder is created, with a dozen empty slots. If the apps use the same category in the App Store, the phone names the folders automatically: Games, or Photography; though you can rename them how you like.

For fast application switching (what I think is a more accurate term to describe Apple's version of multitasking), you simply double click the home button and your most recently used apps pop up. Then you can quickly reopen the Browser, the Camera, or whatever app you were just using. With the recent apps on screen, you can scroll right to left to see more recent choice, or scroll the other way for music controls.

The iPhone 4 also includes a screen rotation lock feature. While previous iPhones were impossible to use in bed, the iPhone 4 lets you hold the iPhone while lying down without worrying about the screen flipping this way and that.

The problem is that these features might be impressive compared to similar functions on Symbian or BlackBerry devices, but Android phones do a better job. Apple has smart folders on its desktop OS, so why not on its phones, like Android? Android phones offer recent app choices, plus real multitasking capabilities.

Apple's interface keeps things more simple. There are no widgets for the home screen, and shortcuts are limited to Web bookmarks. You can't even place a contact on your home screen for fast dialing. On Android phones, you can place a navigation point on the home panels to jump into a quick (free) navigation session. To change settings on the iPhone 4, like turning off the Wi-Fi network or adjusting the screen brightness, you have to dig through layers and layers of settings menus. On Android phones, there are simple widgets that switch these features on and off with no menu digging whatsoever.

Apple's notification system also keeps things simple. When a new message comes in, you simply have to stop what you're doing to make the notice go away. Whether that's an important text message or a push notification from your favorite iPhone game, the you can't continue dialing, searching the Web or changing tunes in the iPod player until you've dealt with the message on screen. Most smartphones, especially WebOS and Android devices, are less obtrusive with notifications.

It's time for Apple to catch up. The biggest innovations in the new iOS4 interface are folders and wallpapers, and the iPhone lags behind others with both of these minor additions. Apple has plenty of great innovations in its desktop OS, like Exposé, the hide-able Dock with widget support, smarter search and folder options, among many others. It's time for these to come to the mobile platform if Apple wants to stay competitive.

Calls & Contacts 

Calls

Placing a call can start in one of several places. There's obviously the Phone app, which includes Favorites (visual speed dial), Recent calls, full Contacts list, and Voicemail. You can quickly call someone from any of these lists in one or two taps. You can also search the Contacts list in the Phone app, in the (somewhat redundant) Contacts app, or from the phone-wide search to the left of the home screens. There's also a keypad to enter an arbitrary number, which can accept a number copied and pasted from another app.

Receiving a call is something Apple pretty much nailed with the first iPhone, and it was much-imitated, but it hasn't changed much since. When your phone is ringing, you'll see the name and face of the person calling, with a "slide to answer" control across the bottom. A quick tap of the volume-down button silences the ringer if you don't want to answer. The missed calls list shows you the state and country for each number. Unfortunately, they still haven't fixed it to show you location info while the call is ringing, which would be really useful. That's a shame. It also lags behind some competing phones which show you social info associated with contacts for incoming calls, like recent text messages and status updates. Then again, Apple lags with social network integration on all fronts.

in-call menu  

The competition has also copied the elegant in-call controls of the iPhone, although again, they haven't changed much since the first model. You can quickly mute, switch to speakerphone, start a conference call, load the keypad, etc. The one change is that "hold" has been replaced with a button to start a FaceTime video call. I don't think many people will miss "hold" as long as the microphone mute button remains. Pressing the Home key lets you access apps while staying on a call. Unfortunately, you can't use the Voice Memo app to record calls, something many freebie phones can do. But you can use the web and email during a call, which can be very handy.

Contacts

Contacts are relatively basic. You can add all of the usual phone, Internet, and physical contact info you'd expect. You can sync with Exchange and add photos. There is a groups capability accessible from both the Phone and Contacts apps, although you stupidly can't add or edit groups from the phone; it must be done on the desktop. You can easily jump from a contact to recent text messages with that person. There is some extensibility available to third parties, so that, for example, the separate Facebook app (from Facebook, not Apple) allows you to sync with phone contacts, populating your Contacts list with photos and link to their Facebook profiles. This is a good start, but falls far short of the full social networking integration offered by most of the competition.

Messaging 

There have been some improvements to the messaging apps in Apple's iOS4, especially in e-mail. Still, Apple has always lagged behind the competition in messaging, and the improvements on the iPhone 4 don't bolster Apple's position.

Text messaging on the iPhone still works nicely and looks great in its conversational, threaded format. In the new iOS4, you can even search text messages just as you would search your e-mail inbox, which is a pretty cool feature. You can attach pictures to outgoing messages and they show up in line with the conversation bubbles. The iPhone also gives other apps access to the messaging features, so you can send your location from within Google Maps, or send a contact card from within the Contacts app.

Like the Microsoft Kin phones, Apple completely skips Instant Messaging on the iPhone 4. There are third party apps to download, but nothing comes preloaded.

E-mail has seen the biggest improvements among the iPhone's messaging features. The phone now offers an integrated mailbox to collect all messages across multiple accounts, or you can view individual Inboxes and folders for a specific e-mail address. The iPhone is a bit smarter about Gmail, too. Instead of deleting messages on a Gmail account, the iPhone offers to “Archive” those messages, which moves them into a separate folder. That's a much more Gmail way of doing things. The iPhone e-mail app also groups conversations together. It doesn't show you the full e-mail text like Gmail's threaded e-mail option, but it does keep the e-mail inbox well organized.

The keyboard on the iPhone remains the best software keyboard around because it's the most forgiving. It's difficult to make mistakes with the iPhone keyboard if your fingers even come close to the correct letters. It's not a robust keyboard. There are few symbols available if you don't press the symbol key, and many keys, like the “@” symbol and “.com” key are contextual, but not smart enough to know every time you're entering an e-mail or Web address. While holding down certain keys activates corresponding accents characters and alphabet alternatives, I prefer HTC's keyboard design, where holding any key activates the corresponding number or symbol.

 

Social Networking 

Unlike just about every other smartphone OS on the market, Apple's iOS seems to pretend that social networking doesn't exist outside of the App store. There are no social networking apps preloaded, and no social networking features integrated into the OS. If you want Facebook, Twitter or MySpace, you'll have to download the apps, but don't expect much.

Instead of integrating social networking features into the OS, Apple has provided developers with tools to access the system and let them do all the work. You can synchronize contacts through Facebook, but you don't get the level of control in linking profiles together, or the detailed information that you'll find on many other smartphones. You can upload photos from the Facebook or Twitter apps, but you can't send photos directly from the iPhone's gallery or camera app, like you can on most other phones. You can't synchronize calendar events with your social networks, either, and that integrated mailbox doesn't include Facebook mail, like the Inbox on BlackBerry phones.

This is the biggest mistake I think Apple has made with the iPhone 4 (aside from the industrial design, which may simply be a matter of my own personal taste). It's been a year and a half since Palm tightly integrated all of these social features into its WebOS, and since then every major phone maker (except maybe Nokia) has gotten the message. It clearly benefits the user when the OS maker gets involved and buries this sort of access deep within the system. If you can synchronize e-mail and calendars with Microsoft Exchange, why not sync with Facebook and Twitter?

 

Extras

Multimedia 

The iPod app on the Apple iPhone is the best media player on any phone. First, the iTunes and iPod combo provide a one-two punch that makes it incredibly easy to organize and transfer your media library to your phone. It's simple to buy music on your phone and transfer to your desktop, or vice versa. Album artwork and advanced settings, like custom start/stop points and shuffling preferences, come through perfectly. iTunes could be better. I'd like to see hierarchical folders and better options to autocorrect large groups of song names and tag info, but as it stands its the best music transfer software around.

Second, the music player on the iPhone is fantastic. It is the unsung hero of the iPhone system, and it just keeps getting better. You get all the basic playback controls, plus variable speed scrubbing to scan through tracks quickly or very slowly. This is indispensable while listening to audiobooks. Making playlists has always been easy, but the new iOS4 lets you edit an existing playlist, clear the songs to start fresh or delete the list altogether. You can even use smart playlists that adapt dynamically as you listen, or genius lists that create playlists similar to a single song choice. There are preset equalized options available, and the fantastic cover flow browser to flip through album artwork quickly.

The iPhone doesn't come with removable storage, but the 16GB and 32GB capacities available should provide plenty of space for a week-long selection of music. It won't hold every song you own, but it will last through a vacation or a month of long commutes. The phone comes with a set of white earbuds with a built in remote control and microphone, so you can skip through songs, pause the music, change the volume and take calls without removing the phone from your pocket.

I wish the iPhone would abandon the proprietary dock connector and opt for microUSB instead. Apple has already indicated support for microUSB as a standard, but has never followed through on its devices. Of course, since the iPhone and iPod have used the same connector almost since the beginning, it isn't hard to find cords and accessories that fit. Still, it's nice to have standards.

 

Camera 

Camera

The camera app on the iPhone has learned a couple of new tricks, but it still lags behind even high quality feature phones when it comes to shooting options. There are now two cameras on the iPhone, one facing forward in addition to the one on the back. I love that the forward facing camera is always available. Just press a button onscreen, and you're looking at yourself. Whether you're in a FaceTime video chat, taking a picture for an MMS message or just snapping a self-portrait, you can always activate the front camera quickly, or switch to the back for a high quality view.

The iPhone also has an LED flash, so you get a flash button onscreen, as well. You can turn the flash on, let the camera fire the flash automatically or keep it off. But that's all. There are no special shooting features, like a panorama mode. There are no fancy color options, no face or smile detection. The iPhone uses touch focus, and it works very well, so you can just tap the screen where you want the camera to aim and it will adjust lighting and color balance automatically for that spot. But I wish there were more manual controls.

The camera on the iPhone 4 is super fast. The Palm Pre is just a bit faster, but the iPhone 4 has one of the fastest cameras I've used on a phone. Even with the auto focus feature, the iPhone is super speedy, shooting pics faster than most fixed focus cameras. There is almost no lag time between photos, and it's almost be possible to take a couple shots in a single second.

 

Image Gallery

The image gallery is competent, with a few unique features. It opens very quickly on the iPhone 4. You can view pics in a grid or flick through them one at a time. Pinch to zoom gestures work fluidly to get a closer look at your images. If you have photos geo-tagged, the iPhone 4 gives you a map screen called Places that drops pins where you've taken your shots. If you are using iPhoto, the iPhone will recognize the faces that you've tagged and, in addition to the galleries you've created, it will offer galleries based on the people in your pictures. There is also a slideshow in the gallery.

You can't edit photos on the iPhone in any way. You can't crop or rotate, and the phone can't enhance or adjust images in any way. You can share images from the gallery, but only via e-mail or MMS. You can't upload to online galleries or social networks without using a third-party app.

You also cannot create new photo galleries on the phone itself. You must sideload them to your desktop, create the gallery in iPhoto or your preferred photo app, then load them back onto the iPhone. This seems like an inelegant waste of time.

 

Image Quality 

Photos

Wow. The camera on the new iPhone 4 is truly impressive. It is one of the best cameraphones I've seen, if not the best. I'm a very harsh critic of cameraphones, and I would feel comfortable leaving my point and shoot camera behind and relying on my iPhone 4.

Though it's only five megapixels, as opposed to the eight megapixels you'll find on some other new phones (and some twelve megapixel Sony Ericsson phones), Apple proves the wisdom that a larger sensor with fewer megapixels results in higher quality images than a sensor packed to the brim. Details are sharp, even at full crop, and noise is kept to a bare minimum. The extensive noise reduction results in some fuzzy edges, but it's a more pleasant effect than speckled, low-light noise. Under very bright sunlight, we saw some lens flare effects, which could cause strange glare or solar effects on images.

The camera works well in low-light, but it replaces some of the color noise I'd usually expect with a fine grain from the noise reduction processing. The iPhone 4 could pull off some darker pictures without a flash that other cameraphones could not. With the flash turned on, colors weren't so accurate, but noise was still held in check, and the LED was able to completely light me up in a pitch black room for a self portrait shot. You'll get a classic bright glare in the foreground, but the flash will do its job in a dark bar or dim party setting.

These photos are definitely print-worthy, and I will be using some the next time I print a gift photobook in iPhoto. When you share these pics on your social networks, your friends will be jealous of the shots you took using only your phone.

Here is a sampling of images Rich and Philip took with the iPhone 4.

 

For comparison, Rich took a series of shots with the iPhone 3GS (the next gallery), then the same shots with the new iPhone 4 (the second gallery below).

iPhone 3GS Sample Photos  

iPhone 4 Sample Photos  

Video

I'm equally impressed by the high definition camcorder on the iPhone 4. I've used many other phone camcorders capable of 720p recording, and the iPhone easily tops them all. There was no pixelation or waviness like I've seen in most other phone videos. In bright outdoor light, the picture looked fantastic, almost as good as the video I'd expect from my dedicated high-def camcorder. Even the sound quality is superior on these videos. The files can be quite large, more than a megabyte per second, but for this level of quality, the extra storage space is worthwhile. When you need to send a video via e-mail or MMS, the iPhone compresses them to a much smaller size, and they still look good, but they are obviously not as good as the full 720p resolution.

The iPhone shoots video using H.264 compression, but packages videos in the less compatible .mov container. This shouldn't be a problem for computers with QuickTime installed, but I would have preferred an .mp4 container, which is more common.

Below is my high definition sample posted on YouTube. To see the video in all its high-def glory, be sure to click on the resolution pop-up menu and select 720p, then watch the video full screen.

Browse / Customize 

Browse

The Safari browser on the Apple iPhone 4 is top notch, and Web browsing remains one of the best features on the iPhone. However, having spent months with a Google Nexus One loaded with Adobe Flash 10.1, I can't help but feel like Apple fans are missing out. Regardless of the public brouhaha between Adobe and Apple, Flash works very well on the Nexus One, and it's the only thing keeping the Apple browser from being the best on the market.

Web sites come through looking perfectly rendered in their full HTML format. Our own homepage looked great, with sharp text and clear, colorful pictures. Favorite news sites like CNN and the New York Times were equally accurate. The iPhone doesn't see the same HTML5 page that CNN offers to the iPad, so plenty of Flash videos won't play on this device. Google's pages, like Google Reader and Gmail, work very well on this device in their touch-friendly versions.

The Web browser is exceedingly fast. I saw great download speeds running on AT&T's 3G network down here in Dallas. On Wi-Fi, though, the iPhone really flies, thanks to it's 802.11n support. Few phones support this faster Wi-Fi standard at the moment, so the iPhone has a clear advantage using capable Wi-Fi hotspots.

 

Customize

There are not many customization options on the iPhone 4, but the few additions Apple has made to the new iOS do make a difference. As I've mentioned the folder feature is great, allowing for even better organization of your home screen panels. Folders will react to the apps they hold, so when you get a message in Facebook, the folder containing the app will show you a red message counter. You can even rearrange app icons and folders on your desktop using iTunes. This is a significant advantage Apple has over Google and WebOS, using the iTunes / iPhone combo to great effect. The iTunes screen management can be a little too sensitive, which can make dragging and dropping frustrating, but I found the feature very useful even so.

You can also now add a wallpaper behind your app icons, though it isn't a panoramic, scrolling image, nor can you add moving, Live Wallpapers like you'll find on Android phones.

You can customize ringtones and create your own tones to sync with the iPhone through iTunes. You dont have to buy the pre-cut ringtones on iTunes, though making your own requires some skill cropping audio files. You can customize tones for outgoing and incoming mail and messages, new voicemail messages and more.

Otherwise, there are no other significant customization options. You can't change menu colors or themes, and you can't change the basic app menu design past the same old icon grid format. You can't even leave white space in between icons; they always align to the grid from top left to bottom right.

 

Extras 

Bluetooth

Bluetooth worked well on the iPhone 4. I was able to pair the phone with my Bluetooth headset and a set of stereo Bluetooth speakers with no trouble. If you pay for the service, you can use Bluetooth to tether your laptop to the iPhone 4's Internet connection. Unfortunately, you can't transfer files to and from the iPhone 4 over Bluetooth. No luck sending pictures or music files to and from the device wirelessly.

Clock and Calendar

 

The iPhone 4 gets a big clock on the lock screen and a smaller clock in the top notification bar, which is present in almost all apps. There is a full clock app where you can set up numerous world clocks and alarms. There's also a stopwatch and a countdown timer. The calendar app works very well, too. It looks great, and I had no trouble synchronizing the calendar with my Exchange service.

GPS

Though there are many location based services and navigation apps available from the App Store, the iPhone 4 comes preloaded with very little in the way of maps and directions. There is a nice version of Google Maps on board, and it offers satellite views and solid points-of-interest searching. But you won't get free turn-by-turn directions on this device like you will on Nokia's phones with Ovi Maps or newer Google Android phones. Still, if you don't mind paying, there are plenty of good navigation options available, including AT&T Navigator, a TeleNav app, and apps from Navigon, TomTom and many others.

 

Other Extras

The iPhone is the best gaming platform among all smartphones, and it might even rival dedicated portable gaming devices. Motion sensitivity works very well, so you can steer a car or fly a plane just by twisting the phone around in space. There are also plenty of A-List games available from the best development and publishing houses. The iPhone 4 adds gyroscopic functions, which should add even more motion sensitivity and better control options. The phone also packs a powerful processor and loads of RAM. It's easy to see why the top selling apps in the App Store are games.

 

Wrap-Up 

Apple is in trouble. When the original iPhone was launched, Steve Jobs said it was five years ahead of the competition. Now, while the competition is eagerly catching up to Apple in all of the iPhone's best features, Apple seems unwilling or unable to move quickly to catch up to the social networking features on Android, WebOS and even BlackBerry devices.

The iPhone 4 is still great, and Apple excels at proving that unexpected features can make a dramatic difference. The screen is the best I've ever seen on a phone, and the camera is as good as a standalone point and shoot. The iPhone has always been the best at music and video playback, with strong backing from the iTunes desktop application. For gaming, the iPhone is in a class by itself, and finds more competition in the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS than any other smartphone.

Still, for the first time with this generation of iPhones, Apple is seriously behind the curve. Features like widgets, deep social networking integration and even advanced messaging options are common on other platforms, but unheard of on the iPhone. Third party apps fill in many of the gaps, and Apple's curated App Store offers the best selection and the easiest way to find new apps, but many other phones do a better job integrating contacts, events and photos from social networks, and that's important to smartphone users these days.

There may also be significant hardware problems. Reception can dip dramatically when the antenna is blocked the wrong way. The earpiece was not loud enough to overcome a noisy environment. I'm also not comfortable with the all glass front and back. The overall design doesn't impress me much, though my fellow editors disagree, so this is just a matter of taste.

The iPhone is still one of the best smartphones on the market, but it's no longer safe to simply call this The One and go home. Depending on your needs, there may be better options out there for you. But if you want great multimedia, superior gaming and app options, and a screen that looks picture perfect, the iPhone 4 is the one to choose.

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Comments

This forum is closed.

This forum is closed.

avorbau

Jun 29, 2010, 7:46 PM

Verizon rumors for iPhone? Anyone? Please share!

I read on facebok.com/iphone4 today that VZW will launch iPhone 4 in January. Is this true?

Can anyone conform this?
Whoops http://facebook.com/iphone4
...
...
avorbau

Jun 29, 2010, 7:42 PM

ZAGG protective coating to help with reception?

What do you think?

If the wdges are covered by a plastic coating wouldn't that keep the two antennas from shorting each other?

Has anyone installed ZAGG's invisibleSHIELD on their iPhone 4 or know someone who has?

Btw, a good place for ZAGG discount codes is facebook.com/zaggcodes or codes4discount.com
Http://facebook.com/zaggcodes and http://codes4discount.com
KNOWSmuch

Jun 29, 2010, 6:05 PM

It all comes down to this.....

Your opinion!!!! 😲 😲 😲 Really? You mean there isn't a #1 device out there? Lol! Good review Phil and Rich, I liked it!

I feel it all comes down to opinion. You really have to look at the user and decide what the device is used for. If you like to personalize your device, mulit-task (for real), run widgets, ect., then maybe Android is for you. (If you are and Apple fan-boy, then maybe you should stick with Apple, JK guys!) If you like the integration of iTunes, ease of use, and gaming, then maybe the iPhone is better for you. In different parts of the world Nokia's Symbian OS would crowned king in some eyes.

Again, IMOP, this is a nice piece of technology, and I think its up there with the other N1s, EVOs, and Droids in the indust...
(continues)
tmslade

Jun 25, 2010, 12:07 AM

Review

Seems someone is not a big Apple fan.
How did I know someone would say that 😈
...
I never understood this logic, when did Apple become a deity and if someone has anything negative to say they are a heretic? Apple has it's flaws like everyone else and obviously so does the most recent incarnation of the Iphone. I love Apple products...
(continues)
When it comes to voice, the signal performance rated no better or worse than the 3GS. That's not a compliment. In just a day of use each, we both experienced multiple dropped or failed calls. Color us unimpressed.


No more like just pointing out i...
(continues)
tmslade said:
Seems someone is not a big Apple fan.


You say that like it's a bad thing.
...
this isn't exactly a sin 'ya know; steve is a mere mortal after all.
OMG!!! Someone pointed out the flaws in the device yet still said it was a phone you should get. They must be evil. Anyone who points out facts must not be a fan!

Sad that Apple carries this magic presence that its followers get rabid any time s...
(continues)
Tamarai

Jun 25, 2010, 4:10 AM

Didn't Like Design?!

Wow... can't believe you were so down on the design. The feel of the glass and metal gives me the perception of a fine watch. I've suffered through many a creaking battery door, 'soft-touch' devices where the rubbery stuff rubs away with use, and just plain cheap feeling. The T-Mobile G1 probably wins in the poorest of build quality for a smartphone.

The iPhone-4 though is the best -- I've never held a device that felt so rich. Elegance oozes from the look and feel of the device. I got one of the overpriced bumpers, which in their own right are quite well designed and built, but when it's on, I miss that metal band -- hate to cover it up, though the iPhone looks great with that as well.

I'd say this device needs protection when ou...
(continues)
This is definitely a personal thing, and I know that I'm in the minority. I did not like the design, but I think Rich called it an "instant classic." I tried to explain objectively why I did not like it, but ever since we all saw the leak on Gizmodo, ...
(continues)
I have to agree that I cannot see how someone could not like the design of this phone. It is easily the most finely crafted cell phone, if not the most finely crafted piece of electronics period, on the market today.
Tamarai said:
Wow... can't believe you were so down on the design. The feel of the glass and metal gives me the perception of a fine watch. I've suffered through many a creaking battery door, 'soft-touch' devices where the rubber
...
(continues)
I agree that wether or not you like the design is definately a matter of personal taste. Personally, I think the phone looks nice. I don't know that I'd call it an "instant clasic" or anything like that, but it looks nice.

The problem is that this ...
(continues)
...
checked one out in the store, and i didnt like the design also, it felt to much like a mp3 player of some sort, and the screen looked nice, but felt kinda to small..over all the design felt like something that has been out before didnt feel like nothi...
(continues)
i agree on the design as well, just doesn't look like much; pretty plain actually, looks it's made by samsung or lg. the original still looks good. this one suffers from a small screen which is made
odvious by the large bezel. i don't care how 'ric...
(continues)
DE 2 Philly

Jun 25, 2010, 1:27 PM

So the smart choice would be..........

SPRINT HTC EVO! 😁
why do you say that?
...
geez...

I'm glad you like your Evo.

Enjoy sprint. 🤣
Greyboy

Jun 25, 2010, 8:55 AM

My take

I thought the writer did a fantastic job in reviewing this device. I thought he was very fair with his assessment, and came across as an unbiased user, which is what you want in a "reviewer". He praised all of the things the iphone does real well (music, video, ease of use, etc...) but highlighted where this phone was lacking.

First off, I tend to agree with the author on the design of the phone. I've always been a huge fan of the iphones, and while I'm still getting the phone (waiting on the white) I'm not thrilled with the design when testing out my friends phone. I'll deal with it though.

As far as image quality - I was happy to hear that the authors tests came out great. I had compared image and video quality on my 3Gs vs the ...
(continues)
My take!


The phone is a train wreck! 🤣 🤣
multi-tasking - I tried running/listening to my AOL Radio app, but as soon as I switched to another app (calendar, safari) my radio feed just ends. Umm?

the app must be first updated to the latest available update, if they have not updated to the e...
(continues)
...
JeffdaBeat

Jun 25, 2010, 4:30 PM

Social Networking and integration...

Although I definitely see where you're coming from about apps being able to integrate with the OS, in some ways, I'm really glad Apple doesn't let it happen. I remember carrying a Windows Mobile phone, which was pretty customizable for the most part, but a lot of times when those intergrations were made, it hurt the performance of the phone in a big way.

I can see why Apple doesn't want Apps to come close to hurting performance. Apple doesn't want to be blamed for a program messing up their phone...because on the consumer side, it won't be, "Awe man, that App made my phone run slow" it will be, "My phone runs slow."

And to be honest, I'm also glad those apps don't come preinstalled. One of my biggest problems with smartphones is givi...
(continues)
To paraphrase an iPhone carrying friend of mine when discussing the lack of multi-tasking on the devices.

"If I want to bog down my device by running social networking apps integrated with my OS that should be my decision, not Apple's."

Just my...
(continues)
There's a whole lot of social networking integration that could be done with zero impact on performance. Just a one-time import of your Google and Facebook contacts when you set it up would be very nice. Most of the competition has that.

Apple does...
(continues)
jacobd

Jun 25, 2010, 1:04 PM

browser speed comparison

how would you compare the browser speed of the iphone 4 with a nexus one running 2.2?
In my side-by-side tests, the iPhone 4 was always faster than my N1. This could be due to faster networking performance on HSDPA or faster Wi-Fi with 802.11n, or something else entirely.
 
 
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