[Review] iPhone 8GB

[KeR]

Instead of a traditional review, I'll more or less give a summary of the experience I have had owning an iPhone for the last 3 weeks; since its release.

Purchase:

Lets start with the purchase, that part could not have been any more uneventful, especially since I purchased mine at the AT&T store. It was quick and painless, all they did was ring up the phone for me and my girlfriend who ended up getting a 4GB model.

We raced home, and connected mine to iTunes first, went through the signup process and after a quick sync the phone had all of my calendar setting, contacts, music, movies, email accounts, photos and Safari bookmarks. The process was just as easy as its made out to be on the Apple website. Next I did the same with my girlfriends phone, we decided to get a shared plan, and after a quick sync she was up and running

The Looks:

What can I say; the phone looks like a million bucks. The reactions I get from just taking it out of the pocket without even turning it on are priceless. Needless to say once I do turn it on and start showing some of the features off, people seem glued to it. Most of the time when I do give it to someone to mess with, I have a hard time getting it back, I practically have to pry it out of their hands.

The phone feels just right weight, and size wise sitting in the palm of your hand. One of the striking features of the phone is the lack of any buttons. There are only four external buttons: Wake/Sleep, Ring Silencer, Volume Adjust, and Home button. The back has the camera lens and the Apple logo, but besides that there is nothing much to see. The front real-estate is taken up almost entirely by the huge LCD screen.

Let me tell you though, the phone is a magnet for finger prints. I find my self cleaning the front of the phone all the time. Yet the LCD is so bright that even when the screen is full of smudges, you won't notice them; that is unless you try hard enough. One thing that is surprising is how scratch resistant the iPhone is, I did not expect it to be this tough.

Phone:

Making, and receiving calls is comically easy and simple. Actually every feature in the phone part is great; lets not even mention how great the Visual Voicemail is. What I have a problem with is how low the call and ring-tone volumes are. I constantly miss calls because I don't hear the phone ringing, even when sitting in my pocket. What's even worse, there is no external indicator light to tell you when there is a missed call. Thank God for the strong vibrate mode, which usually is the only way I can tell when a call is incoming.

iPod:

I don't have a singe bad think to say about this, its absolutely amazing. Its fast, easy, great looking and simple to use. They have hit the jackpot with the Wide Screen iPod part of the phone. I can't wait to see what the stand-alone iPods will look like.

The Web / Safari:

Surfing the web on a phone has never been great, but on the iPhone its actually usable. The thing that makes it usable is the fact that web pages look and feel just as they do on a regular computer. Thanks to the iPhone I now don't have an excuse not to be on Neowin 100% of the time, well except when sleeping :D. Download speeds are great on Wi-Fi, EDGE is not bad either.

As for EDGE I honestly don't have problems with it, its not as if anyone will be surfing the web for extended periods of times on their iPhones anyhow.

E-Mail:

So since my girlfriend and I are on a shared plan and have only 200 text messages, we find emailing each other to be a better idea. Doing so on the iPhone is actually practical, and let me put the rumor of typing on the iPhone being difficult to a final rest; its actually real easy, if you let the auto correct feature do its magic.

The email application on the phone is quiet bare, and the lack of features can be bothersome. For instance when I went to check my email the first time, I had some 200+ emails and there is no option to delete multiple emails at once. I had to do it all one by one. But having the convenience of emails that look just as they would on a computer is great.

Quick Rundown of the other Applications / Widgets:

SMS: Too much fun, it sucks away text messages like crazy.

Calendar: For a mobile device its good, and the fact that it syncs with iCal on my Mac is great.

Photos: Everything looks great on the huge screen, and the whole multi touch + tilt function of the phone make it awesome.

Camera: Takes good pictures but lacks settings and features.

Here are some some pictures I took of Elanor, the car used in the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" at a car show last week:

YouTube: Works just like the AppleTV version, surprisingly its fast too, especially when on Wi-Fi.

Stocks: 100% copy of the OS X Widget, I don't use it at all :).

Google Maps: Has a lot of features, fast on Wi-Fi and EDGE, but lacks GPS.

Weather: 100% copy of the OS X Widget, I like it since you can get to it with one touch when in a hurry.

Clock: Again 100% copy of the OS X Widget, but hidden under here is also the Alarm Clock, Stopwatch and Timer.

Calculator: Unlike the other Widgets this one is not similar to its OS X counterpart, it has been visually upgraded.

Notes: Don't use it, but its a bare minimum application for doing just that; taking notes.

Settings: I will add to this section tomorrow as there is too much to cover right now.

To Summarize:

I can see it selling like hot cakes, the iPhone is just as revolutionizing as it is being made out to be. Unlike my brothers Smart-phone that runs Windows Mobile the iPhone is fast, easy, and fun to use. The major fault I see with the phone lies not with Apple but with AT&T; for one they have hidden charges for everything, service is not great, and reception sucks to put it nicely.

All in all the iPhone will change the future of the cell phone industry, and you can quote me on that.

RATING: 8.5/10

Edited March 20, 2008 by KeR

[RadishTM Veteran]

Nice quick review, Eleanor + Neowin looks awesome :happy: (Y)

Radish?

[sundayx Veteran]

Excellent. Can you surf and post on Neowin using the iPhone?

[sn00pie]

Great review as usual! (Y)

[+Fahim S. MVC]

Thanks for the review :-)

[KeR]

Excellent. Can you surf and post on Neowin using the iPhone?

you sure can, everything works just as it would on a regular computer.

[Hurmoth]

Excellent review. I would give the iPhone the same rating myself. I've really enjoyed having the device and I've recommended it to several friends who have since purchased their own iPhone.I am disappointed in the AT&T service in my area, but for the most part it hasn't been as bad of an experience as I expected. From what I had read on blogs and forums AT&T was the absolute worst wireless provider on the planet, but I must say it beats Sprint/Nextel IMO by a long shot.

Excellent. Can you surf and post on Neowin using the iPhone?

Yes. Since I got the iPhone, when I've been away from my computer I've been logged in with the iPhone posting on Neowin and typing is actually very easy. I love the on-screen keyboard.

[John S. Veteran]

Awesome review, thanks for taking the time. :)

[mycoolkim]

Wow, nice review mate, first review ive seen of an iPhone, looking good mate.

[bob_loblaw]

Nice review. What kind of hidden fees does AT&T charge? I absolutely hate it when they don't tell you what they charge. I mean if they actually tell you it's just some kind of service fee then I probably wouldn't mind since they tell me before hand. But when you get a bill and you see all these "required fees" it just ****es me off.

[hopp58902 Member]

I just wish they made this on T-Mobile...or at least cheaper for an AT&T plan.

But that's a great review. It took me a couple of tries to get why the Eleanor car pictures were there :laugh:

[southside]

Camera quality looks like crap.

And I will always say it; The price tag is not worth it.

[LTD]

Obviously. It's from Apple. It's expected to be good. And it is.

Glad you're enjoying it!

Southside:

Until you get one . . .

[MasterC]

Great review (Y) I'd purchase one right now, but the only things holding me back are the lack of 3G and, well, money :p

[sundayx Veteran]

The only things holding me back is, well, money.

:rolleyes:

[Rahul]

only if i could get it in India :(

[.kvn]

Thanks for the review KeR. This just makes me want to get one even more but Europe still has to wait.

[Wannes]

Is there a possibilty to have that magic spell check tool to work in Dutch as well if you buy your model in the US? I can buy one over there but as most of the texting happens in Dutch down here it would be handy to have a dutch function.

As for the rest, drooly drool.

x

[evo0o]

interesting to see pictures taken by the iphone. looks great man.

[Rahul]

interesting to see pictures taken by the iphone. looks great man.

Agreed

[NightCrawler.]

Awesome Review! That just makes me want to buy it now!!!!

[Wannes]

Is there a possibilty to have that magic spell check tool to work in Dutch as well if you buy your model in the US? I can buy one over there but as most of the texting happens in Dutch down here it would be handy to have a dutch function.

As for the rest, drooly drool.

x

+

What's the best place in the US to buy it without taking a plan since I will be using it here and not in the US.

Camera quality looks like crap.

And I will always say it; The price tag is not worth it.

Please, are you kidding me? The iPhone camera is reasonable camera, actually I may even call it good. Ok SE had a 2.0mp camera ages ago on their cellphones but sorry, it still remains to be a cell phone.

A digital camera on a cellphone is a handy feature for when you've forgotten your cam at home or when you need pictures on your phone (contacts, wallpapers, ...). As for the rest, it's just another addon. Unless, of course, you buy one of those expensive SE phones with a 6mp camera.

Edited July 15, 2007 by James R.

[Sheppard]

Camera quality looks like crap.

And I will always say it; The price tag is not worth it.

Please.... Have you actually used a lot of mobile phone cameras, as they are really rubbish bar the autofocus cameras in the high end nokias and sony ericssons, you are just bashing it because its apple.

Back on topic, great review, i agree it looks very nice, just a shame it will take so long to come over to the UK and then be so expensive :(

[NightCrawler.]

The camera shots look better than the Sony ericcsson k800's.

[Quillz]

Nice review.