It’s been almost a month since I’ve waited in line for the iPhone that “changes everything”. It was an interesting experience to wait in line with hundreds of fanboys to pick up the controversial device. Since then I’ve used my iPhone 4 almost exclusively. I strayed from time to time to the BlackBerry world, but always seemed to find my way back to the iPhone 4. Ive had enough time now to draw a few conclusions which i will bundle up into a month old review of the device.
Hardware:
My god! Look at it. It is a thing of beauty. The build quality is something out of this world. Although mostly glass and a little troubled strip of aluminum along the sides, something in me wants to run it over with a truck to see how well it withstands damage. YouTube video confirm that it’s as fragile as before.
One thing that I really love about the new iPhone other than the glass finish are the new buttons. If Steve Jobs really hated buttons, it sure isn’t apparently on the unit. The clickiness of the Home, Volume and Lock button is incredibly satisfying. The vibrate switch is unfortunately very recessed and most likely will get damaged as with previous models throughout the lifetime of the handset.
Somewhere in the new design process the iPhone matured. It is no longer the toy it once looked like. I must admit that although I owned the 3G for 2 years, it looked very much like a toy with its plastic backing and shiny chrome bezel. The new iPhone is distinguished and impressively slim. Pulling the device out in a meeting shouldn’t stir up anymore chuckles from your BlackBerry addict friends.
Display:
I’ll be honest. I went into this not really caring about the Retina display. To me the sharpness never really seemed like and issue. I was interested more in a vivid picture.
At first, the display felt very similar to the old iPhone 3G/3GS. This mostly had to do with the familiar interface and screen size. Once i launched the Photos App this all changed. Images on websites and taken with the phone popped. When comparing the font sharpness with a 3G (side-by-side) it becomes apparent that Apple had it right. My eyes seem to be less strained. It is evident that high resolution smartphone displays are the future. I suspect that the Super OLED screens will simply dominate the market and Apple being Apple will stick to their own thing.
Speed:
I was coming into the review as an iPhone 3G user. Speed was a thing of the past for that handset. The iOS 4 crippled the device and recent Apple rumours state there are speed fixes for it in the works. Obviously powering on the iPhone 4 and switching through apps was a considerable difference. With most apps running in the background using iOS 4′s functionality, launching apps is instantaneous. There are many side-by-side videos of all iPhone models put through the paces that greatly demonstrate the A4′s impressive speed.
Battery Life:
Hallelujah we finally have a touch screen smartphone that can last more than a day of moderate to heavy use. I usually find myself with about 35% battery life left around 9pm after a 12hr day. The device was on half brightness with Auto-Brightness on. The A4 shows Apples commitment to building a solid smartphone that not only performs well, but also has an acceptable battery life. Mind you this has a pretty HUGE battery (1420 mAh).
Camera:
Once again, this time Steve Jobs and Apple were not BSing us with the claims about the camera. I can say that this is the best camera quality on a smartphone i’ve experienced. I’ll say it! I won’t need a Point & Shoot or a Flip Cam ever. I’ve found great balance between the iPhone 4 and my DSLR. If you’re looking for great low light performance I’d still recommend a dedicated camera as the iPhone 4′s camera can just not “capture those photons”. Low light photos yield exactly the kind of results you’d expect. Poorly lit, grainy and a hint of yellow. Check out the gallery below. You be the judge if this will be it for you as far as Photo and Video capturing.
FaceTime:
The feature that has been around for over half a decade and Apple took credit for. I remember seeing Nokia N-Series smartphones back in the day that had a front facing camera with no use for it in North America. I didn’t think it was game changing then and it’s definitely not now. I must admit the commercial for FaceTime really had me choked up. The amazing use case of providing hearing impaired individuals with a method of communication really shows Apple’s intent of providing great accessibility to it’s users.
I would love to see a day where a standard connected people this way around the globe so they can video call one another. Oh wait…isn’t that Skype? In order for FaceTime to really take off, we need it to be allowed on 3G and have a very large iPhone 4 market share. At this point it’s unreal for me to FaceTime my folks who don’t even own a smartphone, let alone an iPhone 4. Where it gets interesting is when the iPod Touch launch happens in September. A reasonably affordable PMP with FaceTime capabilities might be just what’s needed for this “trend”(synonymous with fad) to catch on.
Let’s just say I have my doubts about Apple’s open protocol and future of video calling on mobile devices. It is very uncomfortable to hold the phone in front of your face for anything longer than a few minutes. Conversations that require less than a minute aren’t even worth FaceTiming as it takes a resonable amount of time to connect. The quality of the call is however stellar when connected to a 5Mbps connection. It’s really nothing we haven’t seen before through Skype clients on the desktop and Mac.
The reason i will still have a mobile device mistress:
Alright, so adultery might be a bit of a bad theme for this post. Regardless, going along with the “love” theme i find it suitable. My ideal world is where one where i can use apps/services with the same feel and aesthetics across devices, platforms, or operating systems. Of course that world is the web and that explains my interest in HTML 5 and JavaScript. That is currently what my money is on for the future of computing (mobile or PC).
The iPhone is a great phone and iOS is maturing into an OS that will soon rival it’s sibling OS X in terms of functionality. Apple needs to draw a lesson from the other mobile manufactures and change it’s notification system. It’s quite frankly my only grip with the OS. Every single time i receive a notification, a little piece of me dies. You feel so betrayed when you’re greeted with a notification on your lock-screen. You can’t dismiss it and the only method to get rid of it is to unlock and be automatically re-directed to the app in question. GET OUT OF MY FACE! Apple could have this issue solved in exactly the same way they have it taken care of by a 3rd party on OSX; Growl. There are many 3rd party apps through the Cydia store that alleviate this problem. The issue with that route is support for Jalibreaks in coming iOS versions. It’s simply a temporary fix.
The device that misses most out of my life is the Tablet. Now i see no current use for the iPad that could force me to purchasing it. The apps are simply not that innovative and the idea of carrying a bigger iPhone bothers me. I would much rather have an Android or Chrome OS tablet. These would satisfy my need for flash video content and increased screen size. The app selection in the Android Marketplace is enough to cover all my basic apps (Evernote, DropBox, Twitter, Facebook, RSS reader). I will be experimenting with the addition of an Android accompanying device over the coming 6 months.
About a year ago i tweeted my prediction of a iPhone Pro. This “magical” device would sport a camera with flash, front facing camera, all aluminum body, and a landscape slider keyboard. This would be the ultimate corporate device satisfying the BlackBerry and Windows Mobile users that are used to a physical keyboard. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, I dabble with the BlackBerry Bold 9700. In my honesty opinion is one of the best keyboards on the market. There is nothing more satisfying that punching out an email on that device. In my iPhone 4 use, i missed that feeling. At first i missed it for the wrong reasons. I find myself to be more accurate when typing on the Bold. Due to this accuracy similar to a PC keyboard i had the illusion that i was actually typing faster than on a touch screen device. WRONG! When used correctly, the iOS dictionary does wonders and allows you to tap away within the vicinity of the keys. I can honestly say that i am a much faster on a touch screen than on a physical keyboard. This is the first step in giving up my cave man instinct of having to click buttons in order to communicate.
In closing…
The iPhone 4 is a welcomed addition to my lifestyle. It satisfies my multimedia consumption, communication and artistic side. It’s the only device that i know can handle anything i want during the day. Whether that’s tweeting, reading, talking, playing games or capturing my life through the lens. I’m pretty excited about the future of iOS and believe that a lot of my gripes will be addressed eventually.
