iPhone 4

[Mike]

This is where I will summarise my thoughts on my newest toy.

The Unit
The build quality of the phone is very good indeed. A precisely engineered outer casing with an antenna neatly linked with the metal band - this is not just a gimic, from Stockport to Manchester I am used to loosing signal completely or dropping to the 'dot' of internet slowness, today I managed to keep at least an Edge internet connection through the dead zone. Glass front and back with a big difference of the 3G / 3GS production model; the screen is bonded to the LCD touch screen. The standard earphones (not liked by all) are delivering a better, deeper quality of sound - although they are still polluted by the 'tinny' sounds of mp3's. Controls are located on the earphones to control the playback and volume of music and calls.

The Image
A retina screen, as dubbed by Apple, has been a major and disbuted feature of the new model. Apparently it has a resolution so high that the human eye can not detect the faults in the image and I have to agree, text appears perfect even at small size. If you have seen the forum text on an iPhone you will know it is pretty hard to read on a 3G and this problem has been fixed nicely. Other than the supreme quality of image there is a good response to touch controls too.

The Speed
It is claimed that the 4 is 2x faster than a 3GS which is 4x faster than a 3G and by god it shows. It feels like a rocket has been placed under the hood. Apps open quicker, Safari is more responsive and all round the responsiveness and graphics have a noted speed / smoothness boost. A sort of lag was my main frustraition with the old 3G and I am glad to report that it has been eliminated!

The Camera
Facebook contains an photograph taken with the phone and its new LED flash, which is surprisingly bright, and it managed to pick up dust on the side of the case. Pretty impressive again although not a patch on a compact or SLR type camera. Nice upgrade.

Review written whilst listening to 'Back to Black' by Amy Winehouse. More to follow - starting work now, deadline in 3 days!

Initial reaction a upgrade, the feel and heritage of older iPhones but with some serious rocket fuel under the hood.

PS If anyone has a 4 please let me know because I want to try the facetime function.

[Mike]

I made a slight boo and could not afford the 32gb version. It would have helped dramatically because I am actually at the limit of the storage. Nevermind though, some ruthless culling of music, video and apps later I have managed to free up about 3.5gb. Phew. I have also decided that I will be listening to some of the artists on the phone in full and deciding if they get to stay or not. I think that I could cycle some music around quite a bit and still not get bored. That said there is still about 3.7 days of continuos playback on there.

I have noticed that Apps not update to the new phone have some very dodgy graphics. Facebook and Newsstand I am looking firmly at you!

Voice Control
Available to the 4 and 3GS only you can activate a voice control by pressing and holding the Home button. This will actually bypass the phone keylock screen so it can be a quick way to call people. If a slight security risk! It is surprisingly accurate and I managed to try and call mr_e, my dad and Lizzie without it failing once. You can also ask 'Who is this' in iPod mode and other interesting commands which are listed here

[Mike]

The Daring Fireball review. Eloquent and accurate as usual.