Welcome to the i-Revolution !
Written: Jun 29 '07 (Updated Oct 23 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Museum quality design, large screen, virtual keyboard, excellent web browser & video/music player
Cons: Runs on dinky ATT wireless, no copy/cut/paste, no flash cards, limited add-on software
The Bottom Line: This is a superb media player, has a fast web browser, but with mediocre telephone/PDA functionality. It does not work on Verizon Wireless. Not as versatile as the Treo
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| aashok's Full Review: Apple iPhone (8 GB) Smartphone |
WHAT IS IT & WHY DID I BUY IT ?
After all the media hoopla and noise over this much anticipated product, my inner gadget geek was doing cartwheels when I heard the release date of 06/29. It is darn sure to catapult AAPL to over $160 per share. Even though I didn't feel that the Iphone could replace my Treo 650, I had to buy one because it is by far the single must-own chic gadget of 2007. I purchased the 8GB model this morning for $900…cash….please don’t ask me how !! I purchased a second one for my wife at the Apple store for $600.
For the purposes of this review, I will make numerous comparisons with the Treo 650, The Treo 600&650 have been my PDA/phone of choice for the past 3-4 years.
WHAT’s INCLUDED IN THE BOX ?
- The iPhone
- Desktop docking cradle
- USB cable
- AC adapter for charging with USB cable
- Earbuds with handsfree mic/control
- Finger Tips (rudimentary guide)
- Screen cleaning cloth
- Two white apple logo stickers
OTHER ACCESSORIES:
The phone is very thin and feels a little slippery in the hand. I recommend a protective silicone skin which can be purchased online at ATT wireless. They also have other accessories such as cases, holsters, headphones, docking adapters (for use with most iPod docking systems), USB cable and car chargers available for the iPhone.
iPhone Stuff I have purchased so far:
- V-MODA Vibe Duo earbuds for iPhone
- Speck ToughSkin Holster
- Klipsch RoomGroove Wireless iPod / iPhone Speaker Dock
WHAT’S HOT ?
Excellent Futuristic & Clean Design:
Apple really did their homework here. They came up with a sleek simplistic design that not only is impressive to look at, but easy and intuitive to use. There are multiple sensors built in to recognize finger touches and finger swipes, in order to access & use the various functions and features. There are very few physical buttons on the outside of the unit. The most used HOME button is located at bottom center. The STANDBY / POWER OFF button is located on the top right edge. Vol UP/DN, and Ringer ON/OFF buttons are located on the upper left edge. The data / charging port is located at the bottom. The headset / hands free jack is located at the top left edge. The few physical buttons means, multiple taps are required in order to access some common features like the calendar and contacts. The Iphone has a standard Ipod port, so it should be compatible with some accessories designed for the Ipod. The user interface took some getting-used-to. But after a few hours, I was tapping my way through the various settings. The headphone jack can be used to listen to audio & video, and for hands free phone use. The included hands free stereo headset has an inline microphone on the right earbud cord. However I also discovered a button that allows me to pause the music, skip to the next song, pick up an incoming call and hang up on a call. You would not know that there is a button unless you read the instruction manual. The Iphone also has Bluetooth capability, so you can use a hand free wireless Bluetooth headset. The built in 2 mega pixel camera takes decent pictures, but it can’t record any video clips. All the applications can be accessed from the home page. The most common apps are at the bottom (Phone, Mail, Safari & iPod). Above them are SMS Text, Calendar, Photos, Camera, YouTube, Stocks, Maps, Weather, Clock, Calculator, Notes & Settings. As a motorcycle rider, I really appreciate having my local weather conditions at the touch of a button. The stock ticker can be customized to display your favorite stocks, indices and mutual funds. Not surprisingly, the Iphone came preset with price quotes for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, AAPL, GOOG, YHOO & T. You know I immediately added VZ to that list ;) Clicking on a symbol pulls up a chart below, which can be set to display in intervals of 1D, 1W, 1M, 3M, 6M, 1Y or 2Y. However you cannot get a detailed quote with 52wk range, yield, PE, EPS, etc, etc. Quotes are provided by Yahoo Finance.
Large Multi-Touch LCD Screen, Excellent Media Player:
The large 3.5 inch screen has a glass cover & displays photos and video in bright vivid colors. It seems to be scratch resistant however only time will tell. The screen is only sensitive to finger touches. It does not respond to fingernails. My wife had a tough time initially because she kept trying to use her nails as she does on the Treo. The LCD turns off when the iPhone is placed on the ear during a call. This prevents accidentally hanging up the phone with your cheek. The screen is large enough to display video & photos in landscape mode. The Iphone automatically rotates and realigns the image (not video), when it is turned onto one side (very cool). I recorded a movie from cable TV onto my Neuros MP4 recorder. The file transfer to the Iphone (730mb) seemed to take forever, however once complete it was a breeze to access and play. This is one instance when size DOES matter. The 3.5 inch screen is much better to view video than the regular Ipod screen. I can see much more detail in the scenes, and it also seems to have better contrast. Video files can only be played in landscape format. The multi-touch capability is unique to the Iphone. It allows for multiple simultaneous touches on the screen to do different things. For instance, you can use two fingers to move or resize a photo or web page for optimum viewing. Once I synched my photos and song files, accessing and playing them was a simple and elegant process.
How's the screen look in sunlight? Excellent. Obviously some washout under harsh sunlight is to be expected. However even then, the display far outshined the LCD on my TREO 650.
Sound Docks:
I tested the iPhone with my iHome iH8BR, and a Bose SoundDock (at the Apple store). Both sounded excellent when I played some of my Pink Floyd songs through them. Obviously they could not be used as a speakerphone for calls, but were excellent for playback of my MP3 songs. Because video files only play in landscape mode, you won’t be able to watch video and enjoy high quality sound while the iPhone is connected to a sound dock (unless you like keeping your head tilted to the right). But I’m sure that some ingenious Chinese & Korean entrepreneurs are already dreaming up a sound dock that will allow the iPhone to be used in either portrait or landscape mode ;) When I connected the iPhone into the iHome clock radio, the iPhone displayed a message that the device is not compatible with the iPhone. However it still played the audio as expected. It even played the sound on video clips, even though the image was in landscape format. Keep in mind that almost all GSM phones sold in the US run on the higher 1800-1900 mHz frequencies. These phones will cause interference when near speakers or radio receivers/amplifiers. The result is a loud chirping noise heard through the speakers due to the constant wireless connection between the phone and the nearest network antenna. The noise is louder when receiving or making a call. It is best if you can test the sound dock in a store prior to purchasing it. This should be a non-issue in Asia and Europe where most GSM networks runs on 800-900 mHz frequencies. Some sound docks will either prompt you, or automatically switch the iPhone into airplane mode while docked. Which means your phone transmitter/receiver is turned off to eliminate wireless interference. I found the Apple HiFi to be the best sounding iPod / iPhone speaker. But it was also the biggest. The Logitech MM50 also had excellent sound with superb bass, in a much smaller and sleeker package. While the Bose Sound Dock is very populer, I did not like the quality of bass. I thought the bass sounded flat compared to the Apple HiFi which had a deep rich bass sound. All of them charge the iPhone while docked. If you don't mind the size, the Apple HiFi would be my recommendation. BTW, none of them have a microphone for true speakerphone capability. The latest contender is the inMotion IMV712 by Altec Lansing. It sounds just as good as the Apple HiFi, but also has an 8.5 inch lcd screen to display video. The HiFi and the IMV712 are the most expensive units at approximately $350 each. I ultimately ended up buying the Klipsch RoomGroove Wireless iPod / iPhone Speaker Dock
Music Player:
The music player is a real pleasure to use. It also flips into landscape mode when the iPhone is turned on its side. It then displays the album covers with song titles behind, in a virtual flip-able accordion style. Browsing a whole catalogue of CDs and their corresponding songs, was quick, easy and pleasantly different from the iPod. The built-in speakers are located on the bottom edge of the iPhone. These are sufficiently loud for playing my favorite songs, softly in the background in my office. The little docking station has perforations at the bottom, to allow for music playback while the iPhone remains docked. The included hands-free earbuds have 3.5mm jack size. However the headset port on the iPhone is slightly recessed and much too constricted to accept my standard Sony headphones. The iTunes setup was identical to the standard iPod+iTunes setup. Synching my songs was also quite simple & straight forward.
Safari Web Browser with WiFi & EDGE:
This is the second best reason to buy the Iphone. When I turned on the web browser, I was pleasantly surprised that the Iphone had already connected to my WiFi router. I was immediately browsing the internet. I did some quick searches on Yahoo and Google for some of my favorite websites. It was real easy to quickly zoom into a web page using the multi-touch to make it easier to read. The Iphone makes for an excellent mini web tablet. When you are not near any WiFi connection, the Iphone can connect to the internet over ATT wireless EDGE network. This is not as fast as the data networks of Sprint or Verizon Wireless. However it was ample fast for my needs. The Safari browser can display full web pages in their original format, including any images. The only problem I had was with pages that had embedded flash based content. I could view My Yahoo home page exactly as I view it on my home computer. I even browsed through eBay for some items on my shopping list. The browser allows you to switch between multiple browser windows. It however does not remember the zoom setting when you browse to another page. So you are constantly resizing the window. When I tried to access my Epinions page on the iPhone, I had to constantly zoom in to view the page, zoom in again to enter my user id & password, and zoom in again when I got to this comments section.
Smart Virtual Keyboard:
A context specific keyboard pops up whenever there is a need to type something. I am used to the hardware keyboard of the Treo. So it took me some time to get used to the virtual KB on the Iphone. I finally got the hang of it after a couple of hours of fidgeting around with it. Every time you press a key, it enlarges the letter so you can see what you are pressing even though your finger is covering the key. One designated key displays numbers and familiar punctuation marks. Another dedicated key displays other keyboard symbols. The intelligent keyboard anticipates the word you are typing and displays it just below the cursor. Pressing space, automatically inserts that word into the text. It takes some learning time to "trust" the keyboard and start typing at a faster speed. But it seems quite natural once you get used to it. Now I value the advantages of a larger screen much more, than the implied reliability of the hardware keyboard of my Treo. I did not see any option to highlight text, and CUT/COPY or PASTE it into another field. This is a major drawback for me, as most of the editing of my contacts is done on the fly when I’m working and away from my PC. I can always edit my contacts in Outlook later, but what a drag!
Push IMAP Email from Yahoo:
This allows me to read my Yahoo email on my Iphone, while on the go. It was real easy to flip through the messages in my inbox, and quickly delete the junk mail to get to the stuff that really matters. The mail app is also very cool. For the first time I can download and view my emails from my ISP email account, my Yahoo email account, and my Google email account. I can even send emails using all three accounts. Clicking on links within an email opens up that page in a separate browser window. Setting up the email accounts was a simple process of providing my user ids and passwords for each of them. The email app does not allow you to read emails in landscape mode. It does allow you to zoom in and view larger text. However many emails I get are in HTML and look like webpages with rich content. But being able to switch into landscape mode would have been nice.
Telephone & Contacts:
How well does this work as a phone? (From what I read here, you expect it to perform poorly where you are, but i cant' tell how much you've called on it....actual performance as a phone would be critical for a phone this expensive, I'd think)
The phone functions are fairly easy to operate. I found it a simple task to access the phone app, and dial out to place a call. Same was true in answering it (Meredith needs to get some lessons in mobile-101). The sound quality in Manhattan was excellent. However in spotty coverage areas in parts of NJ, it was fine, until the call was dropped. I used it for about 4 to 5 hours of intermittent calling. I used the phone with the hands free headset, the speakerphone, and typical against the ear. The hands free seemed to provide the best reception and call quality. While the hands free is excellent for music and telephone use, the built-in speakers are not very loud. The volume is extremely low with the phone held against the ear, or even while using the speakerphone. Using the phonebook to quickly look up a name and dial out was not a simple task. While I liked the phone functionality, my overall satisfaction was compromised by the spotty AT&T service.
The contacts are very well integrated into the Phone, Mail & Maps applications. The Contacts application allows you to scroll (FLY) through your contacts. You can even scroll through the alphabet list to the right for even higher speed scrolling. However it does not allow you to directly access an entry by typing in the first few letters of the name, as I can do on the Treo. Curiously the SMS app does allow for quick access to a contact by typing in the first few letters, but not the telephone :/ At the risk of being repetitive, the Treo has much more sophisticated Contacts and Calendar applications. There are other convenient features in Contacts. For example, you can quickly look up an address on Google Maps, by clicking on it in the Contacts. Clicking on a phone number immediately starts to dial and place an outgoing call. Clicking on an email, immediately launches a new outgoing message window. You can also create and send a text message from within a specific contact entry, or from within the Notes app.
Rate Plans & Activation:
"You say that you used the phone functions of this phone. So, you activated the phone...Can you tell us anything about activation and the price plan you signed up for?"
Activation is quite simple. The automated activation process starts as soon as you connect the phone to iTunes. It walks you thru the steps required to select a rate plan + text messaging package. It also asks you if you want to port your existing number over to AT&T. There is also a choice of activating multiple iPhones with a family share plan. I chose the $60 rate plan which includes 450 minutes, 200 SMS text messages & 5000 off-peak minutes every month. I do not intend to cancel my verizon plan, so this should suffice for now. Other plans available are $80 (900min), $100 (1350min), $120 (2000min), $170 (4000min) & $220 (6000min) per month. You can get more text messaging capacity with additional $$s. Family share plans start at $80 for 700 minutes.
Porting over my Verizon cell numbers:
I decided to port over my Verizon telephone numbers for two reasons. I feel that (with a little work) I can eventually replace my Treo with the iPhone. And second, even though I love the reliability of the Verizon network, they wouldn’t let me change my rate plan without locking me in for at least another year. If I am going to be forced to sign another contract, I’ll darn sure do it at my own terms. The porting process can be done initially when registering the iPhone on iTunes. However I did a port request by calling AT&T and speaking with port-support. They asked me for my old phone numbers, my Verizon account number & my Verizon account password. In about 30 minutes I got a text message from AT&T stating that my phone is ready for use. I powered the iPhone off & on and voila, the iPhone was programmed with my old Verizon phone number.
YouTube:
Kudos to Apple for taking the latest cultural phenomenon, and putting it front & center of the iPhone. The app allows you to sort the videos by Featured, Most Viewed, saved in your Bookmarks, or do a specific Search. You can also view the Top Rated, Most Recent, or a History of viewed clips. This is all done in portrait mode. However when you select a video to play, it displays only in landscape mode. So I found myself forced to constantly flip between landscape & portrait mode while using the YouTube app. It would be nice to do everything in landscape mode. It took almost 2 minutes to download a 1:30 min video clip. Fortunately you can start playing the clip while it is still loading. Watching a skateboarding bulldog and Obama-girl, are reason enough to use this app. Unfortunately the super-slow EDGE network, steals the joy out of using this otherwise really fun app.
WHAT’S NOT ?
ATT Wireless Service & EDGE Network:
Apple decided to go with ATT because they wanted the Iphone to run on the GSM system. This is the most widely used wireless system in the world. By doing this, Apple can market the Iphone in Europe and Asia as well. In my opinion this is the worst cellular network in the New York city area. I have had Cingular for over 5 years and was sorry that I did not switch to Verizon Wireless sooner. I felt like suing Cingular when they advertised themselves as the “Network with fewest dropped calls in the country” (what a crock of sh!t). Almost every call on Cingular had terrible sound quality (if I was lucky). Otherwise it simply dropped my call. This has happened with numerous different phones and devices I have owned over the years. In comparison Verizon Wireless feels like I am talking on a land-line. It is reliable and available when I need it. The Iphone would have been perfect if it was compatible with Verizon Wireless. The EDGE data network is really pokey, and reminds me of my old Prodigy dial-up internet service. It is terribly slow while loading even the simplest webpages. And down right frustrating while trying to download YouTube videos. For the crappy quality of service, $20 per month is information-highway robbery.
Cannot add flash memory cards or new software:
There is no slot for adding any type of flash memory cards (ie: SD, miniSD, Memory stick, etc) With 4-8 GB of built-in memory, there should be no need for additional memory. However a flash memory card allows you to quickly transfer images from a camera to the PDA. Or transfer music files from an MP3 player onto the PDA. It allows for more convenience and additional storage if needed. Apple also does not allow any third party software to be loaded onto the Iphone, as I can do on my Treo. There are thousands of different applications designed to run on the Palm OS. That is a significant sacrifice for me, if I decide to permanently switch from the Treo to the Iphone. There is a slot for a SIM card on the top edge of the iPhone, which can be removed with a sharp pin. However the iPhone is locked for use only on the ATT wireless network. I'm sure that some one will post an unlock hack very soon ;) I guess by doing this, they are ensuring that AT&T can fleece international travellers by clocking them with expensive international roaming plans. A replaceable SIM card allows you to choose a cheaper service plan from a local carrier when travelling overseas. Unfortunately all the major carriers play these heavy handed games with their customers. The 1-2 year contracts essentially allow the carriers to make changes to the rate plans, but the customer cannot make any changes...other than paying more for additional services or minutes. That amounts to price-fixing, which is an illegal business practice.
Contacts and Calendar not compatible with Palm:
This is another major reason why I will not switch from my Treo to the Iphone. I have thousands of entries in my contacts and calendar on my Treo. These are irreplaceable as my work depends on them. After much aggravation, I still could not figure out a way to transfer my contacts and calendar entries, from my Treo to the Iphone. Everything on the Iphone gets synched through Itunes. Which was a real pain when tried to synch some large video I synched my data to Outlook, then tried to synch it to the Iphone. Many of the fields were either changed, or deleted altogether. This was after I diligently mapped the various fields I needed to import.
The Treo has bluetooth, doesn't it? Can't you just connect to the iPhone via bluetooth and transfer contacts?
Transfer via Bluetooth did not work for me. After pairing the two, I tried to send a single contact to my iPhone. But my Treo kept saying "Unable to send to" iPhone. I did finally transfer most of my contact & calendar data by exporting from my Palm desktop in CSV format, to MS Outlook and then synching to the iPhone. The problem was in my Treo contacts. I had input various information in various fields(where it didn't belong). I had to reorder it in the CSV spreadsheet, prior to importing it into Outlook. It took some time to remap the various fields. But I now have almost 99% of my calendar & contacts data in my iPhone.
Can you transfer contacts with other PDA's by bluetooth or IR or something?
As I only have a Treo 650, I tried to transfer contacts via my PC, with no success. I have not tried to use Bluetooth to do so as yet. And I do not have any other PDAs for testing. The iPhone does not have IR capability.
No One-Touch Direct Access to Apps:
I am used to direct one touch access to my calendar, contacts, and preferences on my Treo. However the Iphone has a minimalist design with very few exterior buttons. All the functions are software based, and need to be accessed from the main screen. This means there are more than one finger pushes or gestures required to access any given feature. However the interface on the Iphone is very user friendly and it took me only a couple of hours to comfortably navigate my way around.
Not Compatible with Blackberry Corporate Email:
Corporate email users (aka: crackberry addicts) will be disappointed because the Iphone will not work with their corporate RIM blackberry accounts. Until Apple has an agreement with Research in Motion, the Iphone has a snowballs chance in hell to crack the Blackberry market.
Cannot change built-in battery:
Just like the Ipod, the Iphone has a permanently fixed internal rechargeable battery. I can understand the rationale for doing this. A removable battery, the battery compartment, the battery contacts and compartment cover, all take up additional space in a portable device. Apple wanted to maintain the highest quality design & aesthetics of the iPhone, while maintaining full functionality. The only way to achieve both was to have an internal non-removable battery. While the claimed continuous talk time of 8 hours is impressive, not being able to carry a spare is a huge negative for me. Rechargeable batteries do deteriorate over time, and need to be replaced. More rigorous & frequent charge/discharge cycles cause batteries to deteriorate faster. Cell phones typically have a more rigorous battery usage cycle than Ipods. I guess time will tell. Apple also claims an impressive 7 hours of continuous video playback. This is more than sufficient to play a couple of full length movies on a long flight. I use the iPod music player in the morning, the phone throughout the day, and the iPod video player during lunch. In my experience, the battery lasts me til the end of the day. I have to charge every night.
Bluetooth:
I paired my Motorola HS850 & HS820 headsets. Both seemed to work without incident. It does not support the bluetooth A2DP profile, which means it is not compatible with stereo bluetooth headphones. The Bluetooth cannot be left on with discoverable off. By default discoverable is always on. This is not a good idea as I don’t want my iPhone to be bluejacked or bluesnarfed. So far the Bluetooth is only good for using a wireless handsfree headset. I could not use it for anything else. Although I could pair it with my Treo 650, I couldn’t transfer anything over. It did not discover my TomTom Bluetooth GPS receiver. The combination of Google maps, turn-by-turn driving directions and a Bluetooth wireless receiver, could potentially allow the iPhone to be used as a full blown GPS navigation system. All Apple needs to do is provide drivers for some of the more popular Bluetooth wireless GPS receivers ie TomTom, Pharos, Belkin, etc.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
The Iphone starts out as an excellent media player with a zippy web browser, and cell phone / PIM functionality tacked on. If the primary use of your portable device is corporate email, I suggest the Blackberry Curve. As in my case, if you have to have the most dependable calendar and contacts platform, I would suggest the Plam OS based Treo 650 or 700p. However, if you want the best portable device designed for playing music & movies with a kickass web browser, and some smartphone capabilities, then the Iphone is for you. In comparison, my Treo 650 can do everything that the Iphone does, and much more (albeit in a not so attractive package). If mobile photography is your thing, then seriously consider the Samsung N95 smartphone. This attractive alternative has a 5 mega pixel camera and a nifty slider keyboard. It would be perfect if Apple can make it compatible with my Palm contacts/calendar, and make a version that runs on Verizon wireless. I feel that with future software updates & eventual price reductions (currently 55% profit margin on 8GB model), the iPhone will be almost as pervasive as the iPod and the Motorola RAZR.
Updates:
06/29: Sorry Mr Jobs, but after using the Iphone for a day, I’m not ready to give up my Treo 650 ….. as yet.
06/30: I’m willing to try my darndest to replace my TREO 650 with the iPhone. Will keep you posted.
07/04: I just ported my number over from Verizon! I am so sold on the concept of Apple’s inspired design that I now want to replace my home computer with an iMac.
07/06: AT&T wireless network really sucks! The iPhone understandably disconnects from the network in the subway and elevators. But every so often it does not reconnect, until you power off/on. AT&T wireless tells me this is a known but isolated issue…WTF !!??
07/07: Experienced my first iPhone crash. While watching YouTube the video all of a sudden froze, and the phone started making a long non-stop whining sound. It would let me go to other apps but the sound persisted. I had to power off and then back on for it to stop. It seems to be working fine now.
07/08: I took an X-Acto to my Sony MDR-Q22 headphones and cut-off about 2mm of the soft rubber outer covering near the jack. They now fit perfectly into the recessed port of the iPhone. They don’t have an inline mic or controls, but the quality of sound is excellent.
07/12: ***PATCH ALERT*** The operating system is very unstable. On numerous occasions the phone just automatically went to the home page, while working in my contacts, browsing on Safari, or while listening to MP3 songs. It is happening often enough to get really annoying.
07/14: For the past few days I have been editing my imported contacts and calendar entries. Boy do I miss cut/copy & paste!
07/15: Could I please have iPhone compatible drivers for my TomTom wireless bluetooth GPS receiver....pretty please with a cherry on top? And make it work with Google maps and driving directions???
07/19: I have over 1000 songs, 5 full length movies, and about 300MB of photos on my 8GB iPhone. This leaves me with approx 550MB of free space (per iTunes). Why does the iPhone keeps asking me if I want to delete a movie to free up more space?
10/22: The phone hangs up on my current call, when it needs to notify me of a new voicemail, email, text message, etc, etc. The pop-up alert somehow overrides anything I am currently doing. My wife was mad at me, because she thought I hung up on her. "It was the iPhone dear" did not seem to be a sufficient explanation....
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Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 600.00
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Epinions.com ID:
aashok
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Member: Ashok
Location: The BIG Apple
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