Yesterday at around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, my cellphone (Cingular/HTC/AT&T 8525) rang . The call was from a number in the 404 area code and since I don’t know anyone in the 404 area code, I didn’t answer it. Bad move… As it turns out, the call was from a very close aquaintance/relative/associate [pick one] (who will remain nameless), who works at a local AT&T store and was calling me from the first iPhone they received. It was more than 24 hours before the release of the iphone and the staff was opening their shipment, preparing for the release. I could have received one of the first thousand-or-so iPhone calls. but instead I just got one of the first iPhone initiated voicemail messages.
Having just purchased a new 8525, I wasn’t about to drop $500 on a new phone, but I couldn’t stand the wait to try one out, so right after work, my wife and I drove the the same AT&T store that the fateful call came from, to take a shiny new iPhone for a test drive. We arrived at the store at around 6:40 and saw a line of eager shoppers wrapping around the building. Word was, they started lining up at eight in the morning and were given numbers by the staff as a crowd-control measure.
We decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea to aggravate these gentle folks by barging in ahead of them, just to look at the phone, so we went to dinner. We returned to the store at around 7:45 and there was no more line… and there were no more phones either. The staff had sold 40 phones in just over an hour. With no major injuries or fatalities.
We had the store mostly to ourselves, and had all the time we wanted to try the two display phones. What an experience. I was so impressed that I couldn’t wait to post a review and a few predictions.
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Overall Design and Styling – 4.5 (out of 5)
The iPhone is BEAUTIFUL! It might be the best designed product that Apple has ever released and that is saying a LOT! It is much slimmer and sexier in person than on the commercials or in pictures. I Thought that it would be much bulkier than it is, but it is light and comfortable in your hand, and the rounded edges and lack of an external antenna, make it very sleek. For someone used to using a Treo, Blackberry, Dash, 8525 or other PDA phone or large smartphone, it will feel downright tiny, but not flimsy. For someone moving up from a standard sized flip-phone or candybar phone, it will be very easy to adjust to.
The phone features a glass touchscreen that covers almost the entire face of the device. While this is the most stikingly impressive feature of the phone, it is also one of the few designs elements that I can find fault with. This screen is a fingerprint magnet. The fingerprints do not affect the functionality of the phone and they are barely visible when the screen is lit, but when the display is off, the prints become very obvious.
Some other factors affecting the score for overall design and styling are a lack of removable media slot, non-replaceable battery, non-replaceable SIM card. If I were judging purely on beauty, I would have given the iPhone (with a clean screen) a 5.
User Interface – 4.8
Quite simply the most perfect computer, phone, PDA or consumer electronic device user interface EVER. This is where the iPhone really shines and this is why I believe that the iPhone has completely changed the game, forever. Once users are exposed to the user interface of the iPhone, no other UI will measure up. Computer companies, cellphone manufacturers, programmers, developers, consumer product designers, and engineers, take notice… This is the new standard. Apple has created the most beautiful, simple, powerful UI in computing history. They have raised the bar so high, that they won’t even be able to match it, on a computer for years. Comparing the iPhone interface with Windows Mobile is like comparing cell phones to the telegraph. I predict that Microsoft will not be able to produce a user interface this good for at least 5 years.
The iPhone user interface isn’t quite perfect yet, but it is almost there. I only have two complaints about the user interface. The first is that some screens and programs lacked a “Back” button, creating the need to press the “Home” button on the face of the phone to return to the home screen. This is a very small complaint, and one that I believe will be remedied very quickly. The next is that not every application takes advantage of the automatically rotating screen. There were a few times that I tried to turn the phone sideways to view the screen horizontally and nothing happened. After seeing how well this feature works in Safari and with the iPod, I wanted it everywhere.
While I didn’t have enough time to try every function on the phone, I did spend considerable time using the main applications and changing settings on the phone. Everything that I wanted to do seemed immediately obvious and extremely simple. In apple speak, “it just worked”.
My wife, who is much less technically advanced than me, spent about 10 minutes with the phone and had much the same experience that I did. She found it simple to use and never had any trouble using any of it’s features.
Phone Features – 4
Since the iPhone is primarily a phone, it had better work like one and it does. The phone is comfortable to hold, voice quality is good and the hold, conference and other advanced phone features are excellent. I did not get a chance to try visual voicemail, but I believe that it will be excellent and will become the new standard.
Using the phone is very simple. Just press the phone button and dial, or call from your contact list. The on-screen keypad is large and clear, but provides no tactile response, which is a little unsettling. Dialing without looking at the phone will be impossible.
Touchscreen Display – 4.5
The iPod’s Multi-Touch display contributes to the excellent overall beauty and functionality of the device. The Multi-Touch feature works flawlessly and will become the new standard in touchscreen interfaces. The screen is big and bright, making text, phone keys, photos, videos and webpages a joy to behold. The resolution of the screen is high enough that everything seemed crisp and clear. The only trade-off with a screen this big is that there is no keypad or qwerty keyboard. This makes typing more than a line or two of text very difficult. We will have to wait and see how the screen holds up under daily use. I foresee complaints about scratches and fingerprints. I would apply a plastic screen protector immediately after unpacking the phone.
iPod Features – 4.8
The iPod is so good that it SCREAMS for more memory. Apple has made the best and most popular music player in the world, much, much better. The interface is excellent, Cover Flow is excellent, video playback is excellent and there is even a built-in speaker, so you can listen to your music or watch a video without headphones. This is the first phone with a music and video player that BEGS to be used. 4 or 8 gigabytes will go so quickly.
I can’t wait until the 100 GB touchscreen iPod is released.
Safari Web Browser – 4.8
By far the best PDA or Smartphone browser out there. When Steve Jobs says that it is “the real internet” he isn’t kidding. Nothing else comes close. I spent a considerable amount of time browsing to very complicated websites with this phone. I went to sites with long forms, complicated CSS formatting and other hard to handle elements. The iPhone handled them very, very well. Viewing full (non-mobile) webpages is a breeze, and zooming in on details just takes a quick double-tap on the area of interest. You can also use the “pinch” manouver to zoom in and out. Very nice. The only problem I can foresee with Safari is that some Internet Explorer dependant (ie. broken, or non-standards-compliant) webpages will not display or function properly. This should be a relatively minor issue and these pages don’t work on any other mobile browser either, so the iPhone doesn’t lose many points for this.
With a browser this good, the lack of 3G connectivity will be a major complaint. I have an AT&T phone with EDGE and 3G and have seen the difference between the two. EDGE doesn’t even compare. Not making the iPhone 3G compatible was almost criminal. Wi-Fi will help a little, but for me, the lack of 3G connectivity is a deal breaker. I use my phone for email and the internet way too much and I am in Wi-Fi hotspots far too seldom to rely on them. I love the ability to tether my PowerBook to my 8525 (thanks to a recent firmware upgrade) and get fast internet service nearly anywhere. Still, even without 3G, nothing else even comes close to “the real internet” on a cell phone.
YouTube – 3
Neat, but seriously hampered by the lack of 3G.
Camera – 3
The iPhone’s 2 megapixel camera takes pretty good photos in good light if the subject isn’t moving. It will be great for taking quick shots of friends and sunsets, but don’t try to use it to photograph your sister’s wedding. The lack of video capture is a bummer.
Photo Viewer – 4.8
Very nice. The thumbnail menu is clear, and scrolling through pictures works great. The screen makes photos look wonderful.
On-Screen Keyboard – 3
Aside from the lack of 3G, this is the other major drawback of the iPhone. while the on-screen keyboard functions as advertised, typing on a glass surface with a single finger is a little awkward. The on-screen keyboard will be fine for entering web addresses, but don’t even bother to type an email message or text message longer than a few lines. lets hope for a future model with a slide-out keyboard and 3G.
Overall Rating – 4.5
This will be the one that starts the revolution. I will definitely be buying version 2 or 3. If the lack of 3G, and the idea of typing with your index finger doesn’t bother you too much, buy one. You will have the coolest phone on the market, and in a few years, you will be able to say that you had the one that started it all.
As I have the opportunity to spend more time with the iPhone, I will add more extensive reviews. Until then, get to the closest Apple Store or AT&T store and try one for yourself.
G
