iPhone 3G Review
I recently got an iPhone 3G and away from all that Apple mania; I thought I would give an honest review. This is framed in the mindset of all the past Nokia devices (which I have posted about here also) which I have owned.
Okay so where to start? Well I think a good place would be what I could have bought instead. Strange place for a review; but its good to see what is out there and what I was looking at beforehand.
Nokia XpressMusic 5800 Nokia make great phones; I have stuck to the reliability of Symbian on their earlier phones for quite some time. I love Nokia; they mean reliability when you need your phone most - always a top feature other manufacturers never got quite right. Maybe its part inertia on my part - I can’t really say. Long story short is that this was a major competitor: over the iPhone it has expandability and a lot more hardware features (like RDS Radio), can play a lot more formats also. Downsides: Got terrible reviews for poor Symbian integration with touch; that plectrum looks downright stupid; it is not as sleek as iPhone in form factor (although it is smaller), screen didn’t seem as good to me.
HTC Magic Follow up to the HTC Dream or GPhone; this Android device has probably the coolest developer OS around. Lots of activity is going on around Android at the moment; so the first phones to land in the UK and Ireland should be more polished (using next gen Android: CupCake). Their is even rumors it will be adapted and put on net books: possibly making it the standard of mobile devices if given enough time. This will only bring more cool apps in time and reduce Apple’s iTunes Store lead. Downsides: Not available yet; so I couldn’t buy it. Doesn’t have as much apps yet. Isn’t as polished in the software interface as iPhone. All of these can be resolved with time however…
Palm Pre I hold out a lot of hope for this! Also Linux based; it promises a cool, open Web developer community as all the apps are online. Web apps need a lot more thought for offline use in my opinion, so I am reserving judgement on this. The interface seems to rock; and developing for it looks super easy… Downsides: not out yet, thus lack of Apps and pricing info.
Some junk WinMob Says it all really: a smart-phone but for less than a good plain old non-smartphone. Always made by some obscure Taiwanese outfit - not that is a bad thing; after-all most iPhone parts come from there. For those on a budget this was my last option; but darn cheap; just over €115 for one! I could have bought one for every member of my immediate family for the price of one iPhone: makes you think, doesn’t it?
On to the review of the iPhone:
Pros:
Beautiful Interface:
It looks amazing: lets be honest. I have never seen a phone look quite
this good.
Fingers:
Using
only your hands is great; lets face it: you cannot forget your hands.
You can forget a stylus and even the iPhone itself; but those hands are
sticking with ye!
**Time: **
I use my phone for time; Apple has it displayed elegantly, in the same
place, almost in all the phones’ screens. I love this as I can keep
myself aware of what I have to do next… All in glorious 24hr goodness,
they way time was meant to be displayed…
Lots of apps:
The App store grows bigger every day and all those little useful Apps
are really handy.
**Quick Interface: **
The software interface is very fast at getting you to where you want to
go; to that Twitter application or your Web mail etc.
Maps and Location based services:
I have seen the future: and it is the Internet that is location aware.
iPhone has taken the first tentative steps in this area with allowing
apps to use location; as well as building it into the camera and maps
applications.
Great iPod:
Apple doesn’t lie on this one. It is a great iPod. The best? I haven’t
decided yet… but it’s not far off…
Safari:
It
is the real web you get on an iPhone. Not only that: it is surprisingly
comfortable to navigate with. I haven’t seen a mobile phone device come
this close before. The N810 has a great browser with flash; but all
round Safari wins on ease of use. I heard the earlier versions were very
buggy; maybe I got in just as Safari matured properly.
Accelerometer:
Changing the view of applications as you rotate the phone was a
masterstroke. Some things just need to be viewed vertically; others
horizontally. The iPhone just makes it happen: seamlessly.. no buttons
and no fuss. Thumbs up!
SO-SO
Camera:
Not a lot to complain or praise about the camera. It does it’s job…
Their is no flash or other trickery other phones have to offer; so any
sub-optimal light and the iPhone may as well just not have a camera…
Cons:
Cost:
Its darned expensive! I bought it contract-free and to say it burned a
hole in pocket is an understatement.
One Inbox:
Nokia has this one on the button. I don’t care whether its SMS, MMS,
E-Mail or a message through telekinesis: put it in one place please…
It’s easier to check; and logically it makes more sense to not have to
visit ten apps for each. Bonus points for allowing developers to hook in
things like Twitter..
Smudgy:
It smudges and scratches like nothing I have seen. They tried to make it
too shiny; at the cost of usability. I would prefer a grippier, less
pretty surface: but I am sure I am in a minority on this. I could
probably have even been overheard muttering “Smudgy piece of ****” .
Add to any price the cost of a cover…
**Keyboard: **
Yes
I know how ugly hardware keyboards look: but they do work. The on-screen
keyboard to me: sucks. I much prefer the N810’s on-screen one that I can
use with my thumbs. Using my index fingers just doesn’t feel right; and
more to the point: all onscreen keyboards are crap. This is a major TODO
for any willing iPhone competitor…
Background Apps:
This may sound like a minor niggle: it’s not. Only apps you can run in
the background is the phone, iPod, Safari and Mail. I don’t even think
Safari and Mail are true background apps; in fact I know they aren’t:
they suspend when they are not at the forefront.
Status:
iPhone OS 3.0 is set to fix notifications; apps will be able to display
a number next to their icon. I personally don’t think that is good
enough. Is a notification area as seen on other phones (you know for
like calendar?) too much to ask? I would prefer that as the idle screen
rather than the pretty picture.
Activation:
I already feel Apple doesn’t trust me; but to force me to run around
trying to find a computer with iTunes to activate the thing (I wasn’t
near home) is just pure stupid. Do it over the air (for free; at your
expense) or just don’t bother. Fail on this, major fail.
Rat race jailbreak:
Apple should just give up.. People are going to crack these no matter
what. You only inconvenience your customers (hint: not the networks; us
little people) with all this DRM nonsense. EA has it right: do the
minimal DRM for contract purposes.
Pay to release even a free app:
Its a shame Apple thought 30% markup wasn’t steep enough… But even
developer of free applications have to pay $99 to release it on the
store. It would be fine if you could get the app another way… This
just causes more junk apps to appear at a cost… If they did this on OS
X it would be suicide; why not open up the iPhone to free software?
**
**
No 3.5G:
I expect this was due to power; which is totally forgivable and
understandable. But a nice feature would be 3.5G for extra speed; I
expect this and 4G (WiMax?) will appear in later models..