iPhone 4 Review: All the upgrades, same shortcomings
The iPhone 4 is a great device. Objectively there is simply no denying that it’s a solid piece of hardware backed by good software.
The screen clarity is brilliant, the touch screen response without equal and everything about the device polished. Despite all this however, I would still recommend a high-end Android device over an iPhone in the majority of cases.
Obviously this recommendation is based on a subjective ranking of the importance of features.
Sadly (and thankfully) there is no objective way to say one smartphone is definitely better than another. It all comes down to how you rank features.
Same shortcomings
Apple still insists that you install iTunes on your computer. Before you can do anything besides make emergency calls with your iPhone you need to connect it to an instance of iTunes.
The connector itself also remains the proprietary Apple connector rather than a more standard USB-type connector.
For people that don’t have a preference of music player, or already use iTunes, this wouldn’t be too much of an ask, but others might be put off using the phone because it remains linked to Apple’s pushware.
In South Africa iTunes doesn’t offer much additional value since you can’t legitimately download music.
Even if iTunes did allow you to buy music without lying to Apple first, you can get your music DRM free in South Africa already from another large online music store.
iTunes also comes bundled with QuickTime (and QuickTime with iTunes, it would seem), with the download weighing in at a beefy 72MB.
This may change for the second batch of iPhone 4s, but after first connecting the iPhone to your now iTunes-enabled computer, you’re prompted to install the whopping 590MB iOS 4.1 update.
One could argue that very large updates are better than no updates at all, however. Local HTC Hero and Desire users are still waiting on the firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates promised by Leaf International Communications almost two months ago.
While these issues, along with the draconian lock-in of the platform and the price are deal-breakers for some, for others these aren’t critical issues at all.
Doing the same things right
Those after Apple’s relative simplicity won’t be disappointed by the iPhone 4. The trickiest parts of setting up the phone is inserting the SIM card and connecting it to iTunes.
You don’t have to worry about inserting and charging the battery before you can use the phone, nor do you have to concern yourself about memory cards.
If you bought a 16GB model (the unit we reviewed), then you’ll have 14GB of storage available for your music, books, apps and other files.
Where some consider this simplicity a great feature, I consider it a weakness.
Most cellphone users know how to insert a battery and read the manual to find out how long the phone needs to be charged before it can be used.
The average smartphone user should also be knowledgeable enough to know how to insert a microSD card. Being able to upgrade the storage in a smartphone is a feature, not needless complexity.
Of course, until fairly recently Android phones didn’t have the native ability to install applications to external memory such as a microSD card.
The iPhone’s greatest feature remains its screen, which has been even further improved with the introduction of Apple’s so-called “Retina” display.
Other smartphones will be hard-pressed to compete with the crispness of Apple’s display, or the responsiveness of their touch interface.
That’s not to say the interface doesn’t ever stutter or slow down, but when it counts it doesn’t. Slow-downs or stutters also happen far more infrequently than on a device like the HTC Desire (running the stock version of Android 2.1).
But what about the other upgrades?
Other than the Retina display and the faster processor, none of the other upgrades offer much to write home about.
The multitasking capability introduced with iOS4 remains inferior to that available on earlier versions of Android.
The 5MP camera and HD video recording are great, but if you’re doing anything serious you’re still going to need proper equipment.
The camera on the iPhone 4 takes good night-time indoor photos, as opposed to the camera on competing devices such as the HTC Desire. However, even a relatively cheap compact camera takes better shots under similar conditions.
The Deathgrip
The much publicised antenna problems don’t seem to be much of an issue. Even in areas of much lower signal strength, a “death grip” resulted in no more than one or two bars of signal strength lost.
Concerns over the antenna shouldn’t be a factor when deciding whether to go with an iPhone 4 over another smartphone.
In Short
The iPhone 4 is a solid device with all the vendor lock-in of its predecessors. If that didn’t bother you before and you’re looking for an upgrade the iPhone 4 is for you.
iPhone 4 review << How would you rate it?
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