This is a photo snapped during my MA graduation, at Oxford earlier this year. It shows how addicted I am to all things iPhone!
The iPhone 4 has been out for a while, and the dust clouds of hype have settled…
I have lots of friends with iPhone 3G and 3GS phones, wondering whether to spend the extra money for the iPhone 4 – or not?
I’ve had one for a month now. Before that I had a 3G. Here are my honest thoughts (and I’m not being paid in any way to talk about this product! I just know a lot of us are into iPhones, so it seems a good thing to discuss here).
1. The speed is WAY faster than an iPhone 3G. Ever since the upgrade to 4.0 operating system, my phone was slower than a tortoise stuck in treacle. If you have a 3G you will love the speed If you have a 3GS you’ll see an improvement too, but 3G users will the most.
2. The phone feels much sturdier. The design is more rugged. It feels like it doesn’t even need a case.
3. Face-time (video chatting on a phone call) is great concept, but both users need to be on a wireless network, not just a phone signal, to make this work. I’m rarely on a wireless signal when I’m out and about..so it’s a very restrictive and somewhat useless to me. If I’m on a wireless network, it usually means I’m home and have my laptop. So why would I use a phone to video chat when I could use a laptop with a vastly bigger screen?
4. The “retina” display is incredible. It makes a Mac laptop screen look blurry after you’ve been on the iPhone 4 for a while. Incredible sharpness and clarity. The 960-by-640 resolution in a 3.5-inch screen is way better than any other smart phone. Apple say: “with four times the pixel count of previous iPhone models. In fact, the pixel density is so high that the human eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels”. Yup…I’d have to agree.
5. The camera is vastly better. Flash, zoom and 5 mexapixels. It also has a ‘front facing’ camera lens – you can see yourself on the screen, so self-taking photos of yourself with other people or scenery, is easy.
6. The Apple store in the UK now sells all their iPhone 4’s unlocked. So I can use the same handset in the UK and the US, by swapping my sim cards in and out. (Before that I had two iPhones, one for the UK and one for the US, so now I can sell those 3G handsets and just have one).
7. There have been alleged signal issues, although I’ve never experienced this. I keep mine in a case, as I’m always on the go and don’t want to drop and smash it. Perhaps that’s what keeps me from the signal problems.
8. Built in HD video recording. I’m a Flip HD user for video recoding. But I’m thinking about selling that gadget now too, as the video abilities on the iPhone 4 might just be enough for me.
Overall:
I’m loving it. As someone always traveling and needing to be upto date online, the speed of the iPhone 4 makes it worth every penny/cent.
But to be honest is it only the speed that really makes any difference to my life. The front facing camera is cool too, for taking Twitter pictures of what I’m doing. But I don’t use Facetime at all, and I’m not too concerned about the sharpness of the display.
So overall, if my 3G had still been as fast as it was before the 4.0 operating system update, I would have stuck with it. But I give the iPhone 4 the thumbs up for excellent speed, and also for ‘fun new gadget value’ as I get a lot of enjoyment out it’s novelty and freshness.
Ways to improve it? Facetime needs to be upgraded to run on the 3G network. And the price should come down for unlocked handsets as it’s such a big investment if you aren’t due an upgrade/discount from your cell phone provider.
Apple are amazing at creating great gadgets. This one has won me over…but then I’m a geek, so I guess it would.
Are you an iPhone user? What are your thoughts?
-Vicky
