Apple iPhone4: Great But Needs New Network

The iPhone goes on sale right now, 12 midnight today. Walt Mossberg gives his view on the product in the video below. He likes the Phone. He just doesn’t like AT&T – and this is the same complaint the review at Boing Boing had as well.

Here are a few excerpts from iPhone reviews:

Wall Street Journal

I’ve been testing the iPhone 4 for more than a week. In both hardware and software, it is a major leap over its already-excellent predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.

It has some downsides and limitations—most important, the overwhelmed AT&T network in the U.S., which, in my tests, the new phone handled sometimes better and, unfortunately, sometimes worse than its predecessor. I’ll get into that below. But, overall, Apple has delivered a big, well-designed update that, in my view, keeps it in the lead in the smartphone wars.

Engagdet

We’re not going to beat around the bush — in our approximation, the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market right now. The combination of gorgeous new hardware, that amazing display, upgraded cameras, and major improvements to the operating system make this an extremely formidable package. Yes, there are still pain points that we want to see Apple fix, and yes, there are some amazing alternatives to the iPhone 4 out there. But when it comes to the total package — fit and finish in both software and hardware, performance, app selection, and all of the little details that make a device like this what it is — we think it’s the cream of the current crop. We won’t argue that a lot of this is a matter of taste — some people will just prefer the way Android or Symbian works to the iPhone, and others will be on the lookout for a hardware keyboard or a particular asset that the iPhone 4 lacks — but in terms of the total picture, it’s tough to deny that Apple has moved one step past the competition with this phone. Of course, in the hyper-accelerated smartphone market where the Next Big Thing seems to always be just around the corner, it’s anyone’s guess how long they keep that edge.

New York Times

Now, the iPhone is no longer the undisputed king of app phones. In particular, the technically inclined may find greater flexibility and choice among its Android rivals, like the HTC Incredible and Evo. They’re more complicated, and their app store not as good, but they’re loaded with droolworthy features like turn-by-turn GPS instructions, speech recognition that saves you typing, removable batteries and a choice of cell networks.

If what you care about, however, is size and shape, beauty and battery life, polish and pleasure, then the iPhone 4 is calling your name.

Boing Boing

The fourth incarnation of Apple’s iPhone is an incrementally improved, familiar device—not a new kind of device, as was the case with the recent introduction of iPad. Yes, the notable features with iPhone 4—both the device and the iOS4, which came out yesterday in advance of the iPhone itself—are mostly tweaks. But what tweaks they are: Apple’s focus on improvement is as much key to the quality of its products as innovation. Still, there’s one flaw it can’t completely eliminate: the unreliable quality of calls placed over AT&T, which remains the iPhone’s only U.S. carrier.

8 Comments
  1. Amit Chokshi says

    HTC EVO 4G on Sprint annihilates it. I am long S but also traded in my blackberry on t-mob (broke my contract) to get the EVO. Wife has an iphone, this thing TRAMPLES the iphone.

    1. Edward Harrison says

      I am an Android fan but I still think the iPhone is the phone to beat these days. I was at a TV interview last Friday when the lady setting me up took out her EVO. She said she loves it. How do you think it stacks up versus the Nexus One which I have? I have heard it has pretty poor battery life but I bet that’s the Wi-Fi sucking down the battery.

      1. Amit Chokshi says

        No way, iPhone and AAPL have peaked. I think Nexus One is shot, GOOG is more about the OS now and I think will give up on its own devices. Droid X is coming out in a month or two but still not as good as the EVO.

        I love the EVO. Battery life is not good but it’s not great on the iphone either. Plus the EVO comes out of the box loaded to hog your battery so you can tweak settings (screen brightness at 10% is still gorgeous) to lengthen battery life. No need for WiFi unless you are surfing the web and in a wifi zone so I keep it off unless it’s necessary/I want to. Unlike AAPL, GOoG allows you, through their apps, to really do a lot of tweaking on processing as you prob already know.

        I think AAPL is shot at this point, stock has peaked but I need to do much more work on it. Great company but basically they are tied with T. Everyone says when AAPL can move they will go to VZ and it will be huge for T. I strongly disagree because by 2011, people will realize Android is superior to Apple OS.

        Why get the iPhone when it’s “cool” factor is fading despite the media’s efforts to prop it up. The stock tells you it’s not working. Secondly, VZ likely balked at AAPL early on because they said we have the best network, we’ll take our chances on that vs T who had nothing so T paid insane subsidies to AAPL to make that phone affordable.

        So go to 2011 or 2012. AAPL goes to VZ or S, they say well we have a whole array of Android phones which are just better. So we will pay less than the insane subs T paid. That will ding margins in my opinion and drive AAPL stock down a bit.

        Next is the iPad. With the iPhone, AAPL has a multi year head start vs others. Now with Android, anyone can put a box together with an awesome OS.

        BTW, check out Swype, this is just an amazing product.

      2. Amit Chokshi says

        Re EVO features, I can watch TV, like I can watch ESPN, ABC, SciFi, it’s amazing how good the tv quality is on the EVO. Screen is mammoth, dwarves the iPhone when u compare side by side. 8MP camera demolishes the iphone 5mp camera and like the iphone, the EVO has a 1.8MP front facing cam (iphone doesnt release the front facing mp specs). Just overall, there will be so much more to do with Android vs Apple Market, just check out AppBrain or Android Market, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more Android apps than Apple by year end of this year.

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