iPhone 4 experiences

[instant.human]

Thank you so much for putting this on the front page. When +Anarkii said that this should go front page I truly did not think this review was good enough and I still don't. But I really have to say thank you and everything. Glad you liked my thoughts.

This is going to be looooong... if you don't want to read through all that stuff you can just as well scroll down and read the long story short, kinda.

Okay, I know this is wrong. I know this is wrong on so many levels but I thought I'd give it a shot to try and "review" one of the most talked about devices of the last year.

First things first:

• I am located in Germany. That means, that, and I will say more on that later, while the Antenna Problem is undoubtley there, it is not at all as game changing as in the US.
  
• I will try to be as objective as possible and I hope you are too. If, in any sentence here, I imply that the iPhone is the best device out there, it may be due to a misunderstanding and because my english is not sufficient.
  
• This is in no way intended to start a flame war, although I already know that this is inevitable. I am sorry in advance for everyone who tries to make this into a question of Android vs Apple because that's not what this is about.
  

This is my subjective experience with the iPhone 4 but I will try to be as unbiased as possible for an Apple user and I hope you are too.

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Prologue

I bought the iPhone 4 because my iPhone 3G contract was running out and I needed a new phone.

In January of this year, I had a short intermezzo with a Motorola Milestone, which I really liked design-wise. Also, I wanted to try out Android, because I found it interesting to see what it was capable of. I really loved it but I eventually went back to my iPhone 3G. That was not due to the fact that Android was, inferior or anything, because it's not.

But I really like polished and good looking UI design and in my experience, most 3rd Party Apps from the Market were not that polished while they certainly did do the job.

I was lucky because I had the 3G lying here and I could just return.

However, when my contract ran out, I was thinking about the Galaxy S and the Desire and of course the iPhone 4.

I ended up buying the iPhone, because I got a nice rebate for being a good customer of Germanys exclusive iPhone provider T-Mobile and I just got used to the iPhone way of handling things.

You can now bash me for being biased but I just wanted to get out of the way that I was not only in the market for the iPhone for iPhones sakes.

So I ended up waiting a few days because of very high demand and got the 32GB iPhone 4 black (of course...).

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Antenna issues and hardware goodness

As I said before, I am located in Germany. We have T-Mobile here as the exclusive provider for the iPhone 4. T-Mobile is the biggest provider in Germany and that is a good thing.

Because in most of Germany, the coverage is awesome.

I think that is important, because hearing the stories of dropped calls and Antennagate, I was worried that maybe that would be a downer in general.

But here is my experience:

I can get the bars to drop. When I hold it tightly with my left hand and really try to, the bars drop. But only by 1 or 2. That is, at least I assume so, due to the great overall coverage T-Mobile offers here.

Then again, I never experienced ANY dropped call in 3 years of overall iPhone experience in Germany, so I started to think that it must have something to do with AT&T screwing up big time.

That's a shame for every iPhone user out there, because dropped calls really are something that can break the deal.

Luckily, in Germany and, as far as I've heard, throughout Europe, coverage is not an issue.

On to the hardware on that thing.

Many things have been said and many photos have been made and I think by now, almost everyone had one in hand or at least saw extensive closeup shots of the iPhone 4 itself.

But I gotta say while it looks really, really nice and feels solid in hand, I have a few things that bug me.

Only looking at the sheer beauty of this device is great but in everyday usability, the flat and sandwhich-y design can be a downside.

When it's lying on a flat surface such as... a table, you really have to grab it with your fingertips, because it's so thin. With the 3G, you could slightly lift it due to its curved shape. Now, you really have to apply preassure to the sides in order to get it up there. I experienced once or twice that I had a hard time picking it up. Nothing you really notice and no deal breaker but a minor inconvienience.

Other than that, the hardware strangely feels more solid and on the other hand more fragile that before. I figured that is because of the overall heaviness or let's say "not lightness" of the device and the extensive use of glass.

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The Display and some Photos

I did't put this under hardware in general, because the Camera and the Display were the two selling points for me. I really missed the Milestones high res screen when going back to my iPhone back then so I was so looking forward to the iPhone 4s display and I was not disappointed. I will not post any pictures because you probably saw so many comparison shots.. But I got to tell you: The display IS amazing. Sometimes, when I am done calling and just put it on my table without hitting the sleep button and the home screen is still there, it looks like one of those really good dummys you often find at electronic stores, where the interface is printed on where the display is supposed to be. It looks almost... real and not like a display. Photos and videos look great on there and it's a pleasure to zoom into web pages just for fun to see the text being rendered to almost screen-filling dimensions while the background image of the page is of lower DPI and suddenly looks like a bad compressed JPEG. ;)

After a few days of usage it still is awesome but became more of a normal thing. But every time I help my brother finding something on Cydia on my old 3G which he now has, you really learn to appreciate the extra pixels.

What bothers me though is, that everything now is super high resolution and all but apart from great picture quality and the pleasure of looking at the seemingly non-exsistend pixels, you don't really benefit from it.

You don't get extra space in Mail-app or don't see more playlists at once in iPod, like on higher resolution Android-Devices. Apple could have easily added one or two more eMail list entries or something, which would have made the higher res even more useful and awesome.

The camera...

There has been a lot of talk about it when the first real world samples appeared. But I have to say: The camera on this thing is amazing. The pictures are great even in low light and it's perfect for a quick shot of that funny looking dog in front of you... At the end of this post, I will attach some downsized but otherwise not edited samples. Downsized, because that is what you normally do. I, at least.

You take them, put them on your computer and then resize them for Facebook or to send to your Mum, so I figured that that would be the most adequate way of showing how good the pictures look in real world usage. If the demand is there, I will happily provide the full resolution samples aswell.

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Day to Day to Night to Day

And now something not at all objective and totally not scientific...

I wake up at 7:30 in the morning. My iPhone wakes me up. The first thing I do is check my mails while still in bed. Coming from a 3G, where Facebook took about 1:30 min to load, it's a pleasure browsing your social whatever on that thing but for someone coming from a 3GS it might be not that stunning.

After being 100% charged when I went to bed, the iPhone now is, after some bedbrowsing on WiFi before falling asweep and some Remote-Action for my bedtime music and waking me up with 3 to 200 times snoozing, which depends on how eager I am to get up, still at a good 98%.

I then put it on my desk, get some coffee and do my RSS-Twitter-Facebook-News morning routine on my computer.

It's about 9-9:15 when I arrive at the office (I work as a social media manager for Vice Magazine Germany). On my way there I listened to some Music and browsed Neowin or my GReader and FB/Twitter. It's still at 95%.

After a day full of work, some subway riding, many phone calls and lot's of music on my way to meetings or other stuff, the phone still is at about 75%.

I would say that's pretty good. 3G on, full brightness but WiFi turned off when I don't need it.

Oh and one dropped call, BTW. In the subway.

But it is not of too much use here to tell you what you can and cannot do with a smartphone. And all of that would've been possible with an Android device aswell. Sure thing.

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The rest

Okay. So what is all this about? Was all that text really neccessary?

Yes. And no.

It really is a shame to read about the issues some have with their iPhones. This device is so great, it's so beautiful and everything feels so polished... The animations are fast, iOS4 app switching may be no real multitasking but it's more than enough for me, the music experience is unrivaled IMHO, the iPod app is so well designed and all...

But it's not the perfect phone. You cannot customize it to an extend that some people need to. I don't. I like it the way it is. Custom wallpapers and folders are enough for me. Widgets are nice, yeah, but the phone is so fast, I can just aswell open the FB app, instead of checking the widget. I found myself keeping my homescreens very simple when I had my Milestone. I rather have the phone transform into an eMail client or a Twitter machine than having everything at a glance but not quite complete... kinda half baked.

But that's personal reference. Others might need it differently.

Do I reccomend it? Hell yes!

IF you don't live in the US, that is. Because over there, the Antenna issue really seems to be BIG. But other than that - it's just a great phone.

Get an Android or the iPhone?

I don't give a ****. Get what suits you best. I said that at the end of my 3G review back then. Get what's best for you. If you need root access and deep customization, get an Android, of course. You want polished looks, an easy to use interface? Get an iPhone or an Android. You want gaming? Get an iPhone.

It all comes down to what you do with it, how you feel using it, how it suits you best.

The iPhone is far from perfect but so is Android. I use it at work and at home, it's always there.

But so would be a Desire or Galaxy S.

One thing I never understood was... why fight? Why fight over what someone else is using? I like my iPhone. So what? I don't really like the Android experience. So fckng what?

You don't like the iPhone? Alright! Go ahead. Use what's best for you. What feels best.

And I think that's quite important. Feeling good, when it comes to Gadgets like cell phones. Those things are your everyday companion for the next 12/24/whatever months. What is the point, if it doesn't feel right?

And then, what is the point in trying to convince someone that the device he/she owns and that might work for them is the wrong device, because you know it better, because Android/iPhone/whatever served you best? Who cares?

Personal reference is the key.

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So.. To put a way too long story short:

This is my feelings about the iPhone. Maybe and hopefully it will help someone make a decision, in all likelyness it won't but hell... I hope some of you enjoyed reading this.

Please try to keep the BS down, really, I hope I did not offend anyone, I did not steal your time and you leave this topic not thinking "where is the last 15 minutes of my life".

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I uploaded the pictures to Flickr. Figured it would be too much here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/leowehmeier/sets/72157624671993461/

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

Dude, awesome review of a great device! Mods/admin please put this on the main page!

[speedstr3789]

* I will try to be as objective as possible and I hope you are too.....If, in any sencence here, I imply that the iPhone is the best device out there, ......

This is in no way intended to start a flame war, ...... I will try to be as unbiased as possible for an Apple user and I hope you are too.

seriously? You try to be subjective? unbiased? and yet you claim to be an Apple user and had nothing bad to say about the device? Yes, you did want to start a flame war.You knew before writing anything that it would happen. You can't be unbiased and subjective if you find no flaws in a flawed device.

The iPhone is far from perfect

and yet you don't seem to feel the need to portray those imperfections? Yea. Pretty unbiased.

[instant.human]

seriously? You try to be subjective? unbiased? and yet you claim to be an Apple user and had nothing bad to say about the device? Yes, you did want to start a flame war.You knew before writing anything that it would happen. You can't be unbiased and subjective if you find no flaws in a flawed device.

Did you bother do read the last paragraph? Did you read ANYTHING of the text anyways? I said i would TRY to be unbiased. Common sense would imply that because I OWN the product in question, I am biased. But in order to review it or to write down experiences you do have to have one, don't you?

I am sorry if I hurt your feelings or something, if I was super biased, I am sorry. I TRIED to be as objective as possible, as someone who owns the device, therefore bought it and so made the decision.

Also, I pointed out which flaws make the iPhone imperfect. To me, it's only small things, that add up and I think I mentioned it (the antenna problem, the problem with picking it up from a flat surface, the non-existent screen real estate-thing although it has a higher resolution...)...

But then again, yeah, I went through all that, wrote down all those words, tried to be very careful on what words I use in what context and tried to be as objective as possible for someone who wholemindedly bought that product only to start a flame war. That is why I mentioned that Android sucks ass and is so inferior to iOS and said that iPhone was the one and only answer for everyone and anyone who does't own one is a dumbass idiot. Right?

Dude, awesome review of a great device! Mods/admin please put this on the main page!

Thanks. =) I appreciate that. But I really don't think it's of good enough quality for the front page. ;) Thanks, tho. ;)

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

I think it is good enough for the front page because it is simply a real good, honest review. Sure you own one, sure its biased in the fact that you own one, but it's written in a way that spells out the flaws, and the pro's of owning such a device.

So once again, well written mate, this has my vote for the monthly review on the front page.

[instant.human]

I think it is good enough for the front page because it is simply a real good, honest review. Sure you own one, sure its biased in the fact that you own one, but it's written in a way that spells out the flaws, and the pro's of owning such a device.

So once again, well written mate, this has my vote for the monthly review on the front page.

haha seriously, thanks, dude! =) really feels good to read that. Glad you enjoyed it. And that you got my point...

[Steven P. Administrators]

I think it is good enough for the front page because it is simply a real good, honest review. Sure you own one, sure its biased in the fact that you own one, but it's written in a way that spells out the flaws, and the pro's of owning such a device.

So once again, well written mate, this has my vote for the monthly review on the front page.

This is marked for the weekend :)

[REM2000]

good review, i agree with the remarks regarding the signal problem, never had one with my iPhone 4 however i think this is due to the O2 network in the UK.

[ObiWanToby]

In Chicago and Columbus Ohio, the signal problem seemed quite apparent to me. I had to put the phone on a table or desk to surf the net. Returned it for a Samsung Galaxy S. The iPhone 4 is great hardware otherwise. Good review.

[Subject Delta]

I despise the iPhone and most Apple devices with a Vengeance, but I feel the reviewer has done a good job here of being objective, he simply reported his own experience with the device fairly and accurately. When you are talking about something as subjective as personal opinion it is impossible to ever be 100% effective.

As a side point however, I would add the recommendation to anyone that finds stock Android to be a bit unpolished, to get a device with SenseUI, it's awesome.

[Lilrich]

@speedstr3789 At the end of the day this review was on the iphone, not Blackberry or Android but on the plus points of the device and how the user has found it. If you think some of the things are not correct or could be amended why not say instead of trying to create an un-needed atmosphere in the thread?

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

This is marked for the weekend :)

+1

See, told ya its good enough for the front page ;)

Grats mate! (Y)

[episode]

seriously? You try to be subjective? unbiased? and yet you claim to be an Apple user and had nothing bad to say about the device? Yes, you did want to start a flame war.You knew before writing anything that it would happen. You can't be unbiased and subjective if you find no flaws in a flawed device.

Whats flawed about it?

I've dropped one call since 6/23. One. And that was on the other person's end, I believe.

With the 3G and 3GS, I would drop one call A DAY.

Walled garden is a flaw? Maybe. But the vast majority of users are complete morons and can't be trusted to stay out of the wrong things.

Battery life is very good.

The only problem I have with my i4 is the proximity sensor issue. And thats only a problem if I hold the phone to my ear with my shoulder. So as Jobs would say - I don't hold it that way. When the fix comes out, I can do that again.

[instant.human]

As a side point however, I would add the recommendation to anyone that finds stock Android to be a bit unpolished, to get a device with SenseUI, it's awesome.

I must say that I always preferred plain vanilla Android. At least from 2.0 up. Way more minimal. The way I prefer it. But you are right, the good thing with Android in general is, that you have the choice. Don't like stock? Go cyanogen, SenseUI or TouchWiz (is that the Samsung-skin? iirc it was called TouchWiz but I might be wrong).

Aw thanks to everyone so far for the feedback. I see now that I might not have covered every aspect and might have left something out but feel free to tell me what you want to know from a day-to-day usage standpoint and I will try and answer as accurately as possible.

[speedstr3789]

@speedstr3789 At the end of the day this review was on the iphone, not Blackberry or Android but on the plus points of the device and how the user has found it. If you think some of the things are not correct or could be amended why not say instead of trying to create an un-needed atmosphere in the thread?

This has nothing to do with the iphone per say. It has everything to do with being unbiased when there are no unbiased comments. (at least none that were of any use to anyone). It's one thing to write an opinion piece on something you love or something that you find to be exceptional. It's another to "pretend" you are going to be unbiased and totally go in the opposite direction.

"I'm going to be totally unbiased about Hooters bar/restaraunt". It's got women serving you food in tight clothing. It has great food. the atmosphere is excellent. I'm not real fond of the carpeting tho......But I'm being totally unbiased.

[Odom Member]

We have T-Mobile here as the exclusive provider for the iPhone 4.

Not sure exactly what you mean by this.

If you meant that T-Mobile has the exclusivity of selling the iPhone, then you are correct. Or at least used to be. I remember walking by a Vodafone shop just two days ago and they had iPhones selling in their display. Didn't pay too much attention, but they seemed to be the previous version, not the iPhone 4. So I don't know if something changed there. Maybe the exclusivity deal was updated to now only include the new Iphone 4, not the older version.

If you meant that T-Mobile are the only ones you can run an iPhone 4 on, that is not correct. Vodafone, E-Plus, and many others are all announcing for many weeks that "Have an iPhone? You can use it on our network!". I guess they realised that many people buy them unlocked in other countries and, though they don't sell the device themselves, at least they advertise you can use the iPhone just fine on their networks too.

Update: I checked some of their sites. Base, for example, advertise you can buy the iPhone there as well and get a tarif. However, when you do click on the link to buy, the have a partner site that sells the phone, so it is not coming from them directly (myistore.de). By the way, that site only sells the iPhone, starting at 1.079?!! But that is still OK. You get a contract with T-Mobile here, you sign your life away for at least 24 months. Do the math, and you'll be paying at least 1.500? for the phone. So, might as well buy it unlocked, it will still be cheaper.

[JMann Veteran]

Hopefully getting my iPhone 4 tomorrow, like you I am upgrading from my iPhone 3G which is now pretty much redundant considering so many things don't work on it since the release of iOS4.

Nice to see a Neowin member review. (Y)

[instant.human]

Not sure exactly what you mean by this.

If you meant that T-Mobile has the exclusivity of selling the iPhone, then you are correct. Or at least used to be. I remember walking by a Vodafone shop just two days ago and they had iPhones selling in their display. Didn't pay too much attention, but they seemed to be the previous version, not the iPhone 4. So I don't know if something changed there. Maybe the exclusivity deal was updated to now only include the new Iphone 4, not the older version.

If you meant that T-Mobile are the only ones you can run an iPhone 4 on, that is not correct. Vodafone, E-Plus, and many others are all announcing for many weeks that "Have an iPhone? You can use it on our network!". I guess they realised that many people buy them unlocked in other countries and, though they don't sell the device themselves, at least they advertise you can use the iPhone just fine on their networks too.

Update: I checked some of their sites. Base, for example, advertise you can buy the iPhone there as well and get a tarif. However, when you do click on the link to buy, the have a partner site that sells the phone, so it is not coming from them directly (myistore.de). By the way, that site only sells the iPhone, starting at 1.079€!! But that is still OK. You get a contract with T-Mobile here, you sign your life away for at least 24 months. Do the math, and you'll be paying at least 1.500€ for the phone. So, might as well buy it unlocked, it will still be cheaper.

I said iPhone 4 for a reason. ;) You can get the iPhone 3GS on Vodafone and Base but not the iPhone 4.

You can get an iPhone 4 at The Phone house but thats running off contract and is unlocked.

So if my head still works, T-Mobile is indeed the exclusive provider for the iPhone 4 in Germany.

Of course I do know that T-Mobile is not the only network the iPhone 4 can operate in, you can always jailbreak and then unlock, granted you still have 4.0.1 installed but then again, they are the exclusive provider to sell the iPhone 4 since it's the only official place to buy an iPhone 4 (locked down, though) with a contract.

As I said, the 3GS is offered by some of the other providers aswell. ;)

This has nothing to do with the iphone per say. It has everything to do with being unbiased when there are no unbiased comments. (at least none that were of any use to anyone). It's one thing to write an opinion piece on something you love or something that you find to be exceptional. It's another to "pretend" you are going to be unbiased and totally go in the opposite direction.

"I'm going to be totally unbiased about Hooters bar/restaraunt". It's got women serving you food in tight clothing. It has great food. the atmosphere is excellent. I'm not real fond of the carpeting tho......But I'm being totally unbiased.

I think that depends on how you define the word "biased". To me, in this case, it means that I will go ahead and try to be as less prejudiced as possible, to try to give the most objective view on the object that I bought (for a reason, of course) but still try to find things that bug me and give an honest opinion on the device that I consider best, I bought it, after all, but still has flaws.

Like I said: It's a great phone but it's not perfect.

Your definition of "biased" seems to be that I should have no preference at all. Which is not possible. Sure thing, you are right on this one. But as I said before, I was trying to give the most honest and objective view on a product that I bought. I think I said that in the original post aswell.

[Binary]

In Canada, on Rogers, none of the people I know with an iPhone 4 have any antenna issues (I don't know anyone with an iPhone 4 on Bell, but they run on the same towers as Rogers I believe).

I can death grip till I'm blue in the face, and mine *might* drop 1 bar, only to go back to full bars 2 seconds later.

Face it guys, AT&T sucks, or the US is using weaker frequencies.

I got my free bumper anyways, just because it's free, and I always put a case on my iPhones.

[sn00pie]

Yup...the antenna issues are nonexistent in Canada.

[rajputwarrior]

Yup...the antenna issues are nonexistent in Canada.

never had the problem with my rogers iphone 4.

[StandingInAlley]

Liked your review :)

[Propheta Messias]

I liked the review. It seemed like you really wanted to get out that the iPhone 4 wasn't as bad as people are making it out to be but that's cool. I'm sure it's not. They're working on any issues it has and they'll eventually be solved. There wasn't much info other than it works great in Europe and sh|tty in the US, later stated in comments that it's good in Canada too. I appreciate the review and it definitely helps me with making my decsion whether to go with that, Android or WP7. I definitely will be waiting until WP7 is out before making my decision though so I have plenty of time. Good review though.

[blah123]

but you didn't write about why you opted iphone over android, as you have used both devices/os'es it would be interesting to see each pros and cons..

[Manish]

I can get the bars to drop. When I hold it tightly with my left hand and really try to, the bars drop. But only by 1 or 2.

My exact experience with the iPhone 4 too (on O2 UK). Although I do seem to suffer from the proximity sensor issue from time-to-time.

I also agree with what was said about customisation. With the iPhone 3GS, I decided to jailbreak and I did the whole "customising thing", but I got bored of it very quickly. Thus, I wanted a device that would work out-of-the-box where I needed to change only a few things to personalise it. Another annoying point about having a jailbroken iPhone is waiting for/relying on the JB community to release an update after Apple has released an official version update. Somewhat analogous to the situation of many Android devices; waiting for the phone manufacture to update the software when Google already has a new version out (I am aware of workarounds).

Overall, I love my iPhone 4.