Why I'm not getting an iPhone 4

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hammell

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So I had my first look at it today on a friend's who's over from the UK and here's my verdict:

It looks absolutely awesome. Really really top drawer build quality and the display is incredible. Light, thin and feels really good. Camera is amazing and picture/video quality is very good. We all know what the functions are so I won't go into it but it pretty much does what it says it does.

But that's the problem. I was underwhelmed. The signal problem (grip of death) is there. It didn't actually drop the signal completely, but it did degrade it (I normally have 5 bars 3G and it dropped to 2 on GPRS). I don't know anyone else with an iPhone 4 so couldn't see Facetime which is not something I'm interested in anyway. It just didn't make me think that it's worth the price (and we will get ripped off completely in South Africa). I love my 3GS, but the 4 isn't THAT much better. If I had a 3G, there would be no question, but the jump from 3GS to 4 doesn't seem worth it to me.

I'm going to wait for the 4GS...
 
I would do the same with a 3GS, will see what Apple does about the antenna but on my 3G if I grip it bars drop to 3-2 bars too, probably an iOS4 issue.
 
hammell said:
So I had my first look at it today on a friend's who's over from the UK and here's my verdict:

It looks absolutely awesome. Really really top drawer build quality and the display is incredible. Light, thin and feels really good. Camera is amazing and picture/video quality is very good. We all know what the functions are so I won't go into it but it pretty much does what it says it does.

But that's the problem. I was underwhelmed. The signal problem (grip of death) is there. It didn't actually drop the signal completely, but it did degrade it (I normally have 5 bars 3G and it dropped to 2 on GPRS). I don't know anyone else with an iPhone 4 so couldn't see Facetime which is not something I'm interested in anyway. It just didn't make me think that it's worth the price (and we will get ripped off completely in South Africa). I love my 3GS, but the 4 isn't THAT much better. If I had a 3G, there would be no question, but the jump from 3GS to 4 doesn't seem worth it to me.

I'm going to wait for the 4GS...
Click to expand...

An iPhone 3GS also drops signal when held that way.
 
Perhaps the iPhone 4 was targeted at new customers and not at 3GS upgraders...? I don't have an iPhone yet, so obviously I will opt for the 4.
 
NiTeD said:
This might shed some light on the " gripping issue"
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/02appleletter.html?sr=hotnews.rss
Click to expand...

As I said, it didn't lose signal, it just lost a bit according to the bars. I have no idea how it affected the actual reception, and my mate has never had a call dropped. Certainly, the reception issue has absolutely nothing do to with my reasons not to get the phone as it certainly is a software issue (this is evident by the fact the jailbroken 4s don't have the problem apparently).

I'm not here to bash the phone, it's certainly very impressive. I'm just saying that it's not hugely better than the 3GS...
 
Aqua_lung said:
I would do the same with a 3GS, will see what Apple does about the antenna but on my 3G if I grip it bars drop to 3-2 bars too, probably an iOS4 issue.
Click to expand...

garymeyerza said:
An iPhone 3GS also drops signal when held that way.
Click to expand...

hammell said:
Pics or it didn't happen.
Click to expand...

Mine does it. My signal and my wifi strength drop when I grip it.

But I kinda agree with the OP. I'm happy with my 3gs now that I have it. I am due for an upgrade again in April next year so by then I might be itching for a 4g. But then I might just wait for the 4gs also.
 
I'm left-handed and can hold my 3G iPhone in the "death grip", without the phone losing 1 bar.

*I see Apple has now issued a statement saying that they did the whole signal strength thingie wrong since the first iPhone and that a software patch will fix it. Even stranger is that Anandtech suddenly started reviewing mobile phones and it was mentioned that the signal strength on the iPhone is calculated wrong. Wonder how much they are paying him for that article. I've lost a lot of respect for Anandtech and Apple. EPIC FAIL APPLE & ANANDTECH

Desperate times calls for desperate measures.
 
It's a fail... I'm not sure if it really qualifies as an epic fail. Mistakes in algorithms are common enough. Well let's see if this update fixes it.
 
Instead of not holding the phone in the wrong way, I decided to amputate my left hand.
 
i believe em since i messed around with one at the o2 shop and got no drop in reception.

. get mine on monday hopefully if theres no delays :)
 
hammell said:
So I had my first look at it today on a friend's who's over from the UK and here's my verdict:

It looks absolutely awesome. Really really top drawer build quality and the display is incredible. Light, thin and feels really good. Camera is amazing and picture/video quality is very good. We all know what the functions are so I won't go into it but it pretty much does what it says it does.

But that's the problem. I was underwhelmed. The signal problem (grip of death) is there. It didn't actually drop the signal completely, but it did degrade it (I normally have 5 bars 3G and it dropped to 2 on GPRS). I don't know anyone else with an iPhone 4 so couldn't see Facetime which is not something I'm interested in anyway. It just didn't make me think that it's worth the price (and we will get ripped off completely in South Africa). I love my 3GS, but the 4 isn't THAT much better. If I had a 3G, there would be no question, but the jump from 3GS to 4 doesn't seem worth it to me.

I'm going to wait for the 4GS...
Click to expand...

if you take a look at the logarithmic scale they use, its actually not that bad of a drop... just looks bad on signal bar due to the scale they use.. iphone 4 holds a call better than the 3gs...
 
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