Apple iPhone two months later: Personal impressions
What is the most hyped-up consumer device to ever launch? If you said the i-mate JAQ, you’re wrong. It’s the Apple iPhone, and it has taken the general public by storm. People who would normally never ever consider buying an Apple product have went out and bought one (believe me, I conned 6 non-Apple users to buy one alone!), and everyone we talk to is still extaticly happy about their purchase. Sure there are some features we’d like to see added, and some things we’d like to see updated or changed, but for the most part, we’re still lovin’ it! The list below is something we threw together based on our personal experiences and obviously they may vary from person to person. Check them out below!
- Pictures emailed from the phone directly are automatically re-sized to 640×480. There is no way of changing this. The only way to get the full picture off the device is connect it to a computer. Even sending to "Web Gallery" still only sends the 640×480 version. Then again, all that does is email the picture…
- You can not delete individual call records in the call log.
- You can not "search" for a contact in your contact list. You must manually scroll through them, or use the A-Z characters on the right side to skip through. This is a pain if you’re oh-so-popular like us and have thousands of contacts.
- Speakerphone volume is practically unusable, yet when using the iPod, sound is much louder and completely audible.
- Email application has no "mark all read", you can’t delete multiple emails at once and Yahoo push is very unreliable.
- Email seems to be never stored locally if you will, besides the inbox. When sending a large email on EDGE, and you check the outbox, the iPhone has to connect to even see the contents in the outbox. Same thing for sent mail folder — definitely annoying. On top of that, there isn’t a search feature, and we also don’t get that preview pane that was shown when the iPhone was announced at MacWorld. Would have been killer!
- You can not send a text message to more than one recipient at a time, you can’t forward text messages, you don’t get a character count, and there are absolutely no configurable options for SMS.
- The default system sounds, and even ringer volumes are almost inaudible. We had to copy the system sounds, amplify the audio to the point it was almost clipping, then reload them back on the phone, just so we wouldn’t miss an Email, SMS, or phone call.
- The camera shutter button is a little awkward. We would have loved it if it was almost transparent in the middle of the screen, or made use of a physical button on the side some how. We’ve come this close to dropping the phone while trying to take a flick! In addition, there are no options in the camera. Just take a picture, or view your camera roll.
- We really miss Microsoft Exchange compatibility. No, IMAP doesn’t count, guys!
- We’ve been through many, many units, and find it’s a crap shoot to get the "perfect" device. Some have glaring dead pixels, some of them have sub-par speakers (yes, even lower than God himself should allow), some have horrible battery life, and some devices have faulty screens. In addition, there is a huge debate rolling across the Internets on what screen is better. For anyone who doesn’t know, there are currently two types of screens on the iPhone: 5-series, and 7-series. The 7-series seem to be less bright, but has more contrast, yet has these very annoying dots in a checkerboard pattern if you look close enough. We prefer the 5-series screens. Also, we’ve found that 5-series screens will vary between each other, and the same for the 7-series.
Again, we’re not bashing the iPhone. With all the differences in production units, we still have to say that this is the greatest designed and constructed phone to ever hit the market. It is rock solid in terms of build quality. For the most part, most of these "shortcomings" if you will, aren’t even big deals for us. Also, almost 99% of what we listed can be fixed with a software update. Apple has bypassed the carrier, rolling out software updates at their leisure, and hopefully they’ll continue. I mean, come on…there have been two updates already! That’s unheard of, and we applaud Apple for having a direct distribution method to the consumer. We love the iPhone, and our initial impressions still hold true: if you are not completely focused on having a perfect email device (a BlackBerry, primarily), we say go with the iPhone. It makes using a phone pleasurable, and to tell you the truth, even after two months we still can’t put our iPhones down! If we missed something or you think we’re blatantly wrong somewhere, let us know. We want to hear how you all are liking or hating the device, and what you’d like changed or added!
Skim.. stop spying on me on wabash! hahhaa
Been using my wife’s iPhone while she’s in asia for the past week, have to say it’s “almost” the perfect device. In another year it will be damn close. I’m with BG in saying that it really needs full exchange support! The OS will improve with time, I’m pretty sure there will be updates to coincide with the 10.5 release. Nice Review BG!
rather buy an adavantageX7501
“You can not send a text message to more than one recipient at a time, you can’t forward text messages, you don’t get a character count, and there are absolutely no configurable options for SMS.”
Thats just unacceptable. I personally would not spend all that money on a phone that cant do the lil fundamental things that you have listed. I’ll stick with my Blackberry.
great device. crappy phone. returned mine. I need a good phone more than a slow web appliance and good mp3 player.
OK these problems will come up, it’s a first-gen device from a company that hasn’t ever made a cell phone before so of course you’ll have problems like this surface. Although that two models of screens thing is really weird.
Personally I’m tired of Apple and other people claiming this is such a great smartphone..I own one myself btw. I’ve told plenty of people if you want a great multimedia phone that’s easy to use and the best music player then go with the iPhone. Personally I think anyone who wants an actual PDA or business phone should stick with a Blackberry. Until Apple gives some key updates to the iPhone I don’t think it even compares to a Blackberry in the whole “business phone” sense of things. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my iPhone and have been through a few Blackberrys and other phones myself, but even without some pretty standard features for most phones today I’m overall more happy with this purchase more than any other phone I’ve had.
Seriously BG you are MUCH better then this.
I am calling BS.
I am not even going to start comparing the Kaiser or the Nokia E90 to the iPhone, you already know what I am talking about. Anyone that regularly reads this webpage or Engadget should know it as well.
The Nokia E90, Kaiser and Toshiba G900 blow an iPhone out of the water on EVERYTHING; we can argue the “coolness” and we all know that is a matter of taste.
BG here is an idea for you, make an article where you comapre the iPhone, Nokia E90, Kaiser and BB Curve; make a nice spreadsheet comparing FACTS and Specs, not “oh I love it” “it’s soooo smoooth”
…have went out and bought one…
Man I should have signed up to write for you.
The thought of being without my cell phone for a week when the IPhone’s battery dies in a year scares me.
Paying Apple $86 to replace the battery, a very slow EDGE Internet connection, a poor email and SMS clients, very slow typing with the IPhone software keyboard, ongoing reports about faulty units and dying IPhone screens and the inability to add new programs also bother me.
I like the IPhone screen for browsing, the IPod capabilities and some of the included little programs, but at $600 or even the new $400 reduced price, ths IPhone is not worth it.
By the time I am done buying power adapters, cigarrete lighter charger, paying taxes, etc. it will still cost me over $800 plus $100 a month. That’s a lot of money for a so-so phone with a nice browser screen that is crippled otherwise.
Buying an IPhone will also force me to use the Apple ITunes Store and its content that pretty much works only on Apple products and technology. I don’t want to be stuck to IPods and IPhones for the rest of my life.
I don’t know, I think this phone is still overhyped. Don’t get be wrong its a great device, but so was the pearl, size and functionality! Was reigned no!! So is the kaiser, is it getting the same praise as a great device no!!! It does everthing with a touch screen!!! The iphone gets it becuz, its an apple product plus the media frenzy it attracted!! It reminds me of when the sidekick 1st came out!! I still think the iphone is a great product, I love the marketing. Damn near thought about getting 1. But I’m not an zombie, (no offense bg) the iphone still lacks the functionality of a REAL device that I use. Plus I’m not even going to touch basis on how ridiculous the rate plan is, you tube has done that enough already! I hope the 2nd Gen iphone makes me convert, becuz right now I still don’t see it!!
I didn’t get an iPhone until after they dropped the price. (I bought a 8gb) Until then, anyone who stepped into my cubicle with one had to surrender it so that I could play with it…
I made the switch from a WM6 Treo 750 to this phone, and yes, there are a few things I miss…
1) Exchange support (but I do use IMAP on my webhosting account and it’s as close to push as anything I’ve seen .. sometimes email is there 2 minutes after I send it– no, it’s not because it coincides with the 15 minutes I have auto-check configured to… a co-worker and I have tested it)
2) MMS… But email photo will tide me over until they resolve this..
3) Native app for all-in-one chat .. ApolloIM and MobileChat are close.. but only support AIM right now.. once they support the Big 4, I’ll take this off my list.
4) A2DP support (I’d really love to get a pair of those Moto S9 BT headsets..)
5) Ebooks… Mobipocket, ereader and ebooks don’t support the iPhone yet…
Other than that, its really been a nice phone.
Oh yeah.. 3G support.. once that comes out, wife is getting this one…
mG