Anandtech reviews iPhone 4

[zerocool84]

The main downside to the iPhone 4 is the obvious lapse in Apple's engineering judgment. The fact that Apple didn't have the foresight to coat the stainless steel antenna band with even a fraction of an ounce worth of non-conductive material either tells us that Apple doesn't care or that it simply doesn't test thoroughly enough. The latter is a message we've seen a few times before with OS X issues, the iPhone 4 simply reinforces it. At the bare minimum Apple should give away its bumper case with every iPhone 4 sold. The best scenario is for Apple to coat the antenna and replace all existing phones with a revised model.The ideal situation is very costly for Apple but it is the right thing to do. Plus it's not like Apple doesn't have the resources to take care of its customers.

As for the iPhone vs. Android debate, the 4 doesn't really change much. If you're not a fan of iOS 4 or Apple then the 4th generation iPhone isn't going to change your opinion. If you're an existing iPhone user you'll want to upgrade. It's worth it. The 4 simply makes the iPhone 3GS feel dated, which it is. It's a mild update to three year old phone vs. the significant redesign that is the iPhone 4. If you're married to Android, in the next 6 - 12 months we should see feature parity from the competition. And if you're a fan of Palm, let's just see what happens when the HP deal closes.

There's another category of users who are interested in the iPhone but simply put off by AT&T. While enabling HSUPA and the improved baseband make the iPhone 4 more attractive from a network standpoint, if you hate AT&T's coverage there's nothing Apple can do about it. I do get the feeling that the AT&T exclusivity will be over sooner rather than later. The iPhone and iOS are soon to be a mobile advertising platform, which means Apple needs as many users as possible. This is in direct contrast to the Mac strategy which purposefully didn't focus on volume to maintain high profit margins. Ultimately it means that AT&T either has to grow to be much larger than Verizon, or Apple has to embrace both carriers in order to fend off Android.

I think Anand's reviews always deserve their own thread. Read and enjoy and just remember he likes to get extremely technical and detailed so his reviews are always longer than others and he gives you tons more info than other reviewers would.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/1

 

[TheWart]

Interesting analysis of the antenna situation. Anand finds that while the placement does cause the phone to drop DB's more quickly than others, the phone is still able to get a better signal:

It's amazing really to experience the difference in sensitivity the iPhone 4 brings compared to the 3GS, and issues from holding the phone aside, reception is absolutely definitely improved. I felt like I was going places no iPhone had ever gone before. There's no doubt in my mind this iPhone gets the best cellular reception yet, even though measured signal is lower than the 3GS.

This makes me think that they probably will issue a software update that makes it look like the bars are there, because even if you cover the antenna, most people with the issue are still able to make calls - even in areas where the 3GS or 3G wouldn't work.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Anand & Bryan did an awesome job. Being able to quantify the signal attenuation the way they did was genius.

And yeah, as an Apple investor & fan of tech made by anyone, I think Apple should do a recall.

I also think they screwed the pooch in field testing, likely by using those dummy covers so no one knew they were prototype phones, the covers acted as insulation and no one detected the problem.

 

[TheWart]

Anand & Bryan did an awesome job. Being able to quantify the signal attenuation the way they did was genius.

And yeah, as an Apple investor & fan of tech made by anyone, I think Apple should do a recall.

I also think they screwed the pooch in field testing, likely by using those dummy covers so no one knew they were prototype phones, the covers acted as insulation and no one detected the problem.

I think a recall is not even on the table. Especially when Anand points this out:

If you add a bumper case to the iPhone 4, the signal strength drop from holding the device is on par if not better than other phones. In the exact same location, in the exact same orientation, I carefully measured my iPhone 3GS and Nexus One with the same AT&T microSIM in my newly made SIM adapter. After lots of testing, I decided on 5 different positions for holding the phone, and tested signal repeatedly.

Simply giving away bumpers would be way cheaper for Apple, and 'good enough' for most people.

I guess we will see what happens!

 

[Pliablemoose]

I guess we will see what happens!

The N1 is pretty bad IMHO and experience, I just hold it differently, I think I could adapt to the iPhone very easily and tolerate it's shortcomings.

 

[TheWart]

The N1 is pretty bad IMHO and experience, I just hold it differently, I think I could adapt to the iPhone very easily and tolerate it's shortcomings.

Yea, it is a pretty simple issue to avoid (for free by holding it differently or buying a case), and one that hasn't affected my use of the phone thankfully.

In addition, as someone who doesn't even talk on the phone all that much but rather uses email/texts, the other benefits (battery life, screen, speed, etc) all vastly outweigh the antenna issue.

Just got done reading the review, and it was extremely thorough, and will hopefully help those people who are on the fence.

 

[gorcorps]

Nice, the page on the antenna issue had great info.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I think everyone understands that a case/bumper/holding it differently will alleviate the problem. But the bigger issue is that we're talking about Apple. Is this okay for a company like Apple that takes pride in setting the bar for user experience?

 

[TheWart]

I think everyone understands that a case/bumper/holding it differently will alleviate the problem. But the bigger issue is that we're talking about Apple. Is this okay for a company like Apple that takes pride in setting the bar for user experience?

If they do nothing to alleviate the issue (be it a modified manufacturing process going forward, giving out bumpers, software update), then they will get hammered, and deservedly so.

I don't know if you can point to this one incident and extrapolate that Apple is on some terminal decline or that is has failed in its attempts to create the best user experience. Indeed, I think a lot of people -if they read Anand interview or use the phone for more than 5 mins- could easily come away with the view that despite the antenna issue, the iPhone 4 is still the best all around smartphone, thanks largely to its polished user experience. As an owner of one, I share that view and I think the user experience is second to none.

 

[AMDZen]

Best review yet and proves that the iPhone 4 was the best choice for me. Battery life is extremely important to me and the iphone has, just like Anand said "Incredible Battery Life". This camera on this thing is lights out as well and head and shoulders above phones that claim superiority such as the EVO 4G.

 

[Narmer]

After reading that review, I'm more impressed by Froyo than iOS 4. Now, if only Android devices had great battery life and their screens operated at 60fps, they'd be perfect phones.

 

[dguy6789]

A Nexus or Incredible with an extended battery would last longer than the iPhone 4 in all circumstances and only be about as thick as a Moto Droid. Could also buy a spare stock battery for $15 and keep it in your wallet.

 

[speg]

Well done, the signal analysis is great and much needed. Luckily iPhone 4 isn't available here yet, so hopefully Apple's response to this will be out by then.

 

[vshah]

i feel a large part of the power savings are coming from the fact that the CPU is built on a 45m process. Nexus one is still at 65nm

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

After reading that review, I'm more impressed by Froyo than iOS 4. Now, if only Android devices had great battery life and their screens operated at 60fps, they'd be perfect phones.

I feel like iOS4 and iPhone 4 have pushed iPhone far ahead of Android again. Froyo brings out nice features, but we still have a mess when it comes to battery management. Android's management of multitasking is terrible as there are rogue apps that still get to run free and eat up CPU cycles and widgets get stopped for no reason sometimes.

And even then the home screen is unpolished and not smooth enough that we have to rely on 3rd party home screens. Maybe Froyo changes this all, but I was thinking of push notifications today. Apple did a great job there even though the notification badge is annoying. The APIs they implemented have allowed devs to effectively use the push notification system whereas Android still needs the app fully open.

At Google I/O they talked about a new push notification system and they jumped right into cloud computing. I still see no mention of this new push notification system now that users have started going to Froyo. If Android wants to start saving battery, we need more fine grain tuning in our apps.

Twitter and Facebook apps are like either all or nothing. Either they run continuously or they get zero updates. The Facebook widget can't even be customized. I have no idea how often that app accesses the internet even though I turned off notifications and BG updates in the app itself. However the widget obviously takes over and updates on its own.

A Nexus or Incredible with an extended battery would last longer than the iPhone 4 in all circumstances and only be about as thick as a Moto Droid. Could also buy a spare stock battery for $15 and keep it in your wallet.

And a Moto Droid is fat by today's standards. It's like 50% thicker than an iPhone 4. Its 1400mAh battery looks like a joke compared to the iPhone one now.

 

[AMDZen]

A Nexus or Incredible with an extended battery would last longer than the iPhone 4 in all circumstances and only be about as thick as a Moto Droid. Could also buy a spare stock battery for $15 and keep it in your wallet.

That sounds horrible. There is enough shit in my wallet, I'm constantly trying to clean it out. Maybe you have the George Costanza(sp?) wallet but wow, that is crazy

 

[QueBert]

A Nexus or Incredible with an extended battery would last longer than the iPhone 4 in all circumstances and only be about as thick as a Moto Droid. Could also buy a spare stock battery for $15 and keep it in your wallet.

Why not get an iPhone with the extended battery case? It'll have better battery life than either you mentioned. Carrying a 2nd battery is something maybe 1% of the people would consider doing. I know I never would. And a iPhone 4 with the Flex Max battery case would be thinner than a Moto Droid and have about 2x the battery life of any Android phone, even with a 2300 mAH extended battery. I guess I could carry an Android with the extended battery AND a 2nd extended battery in my pocket to have better battery life than an iPhone. Sounds like a winner to me.

 

[Spoooon]

Instead of Android this and iOS that, let's be glad that they are pushing each other to improve their products with each iteration.

Android is behind in some areas and ahead in others, as is iOS. And with every iteration of their software, they incorporate or one up the competition. That's what we need to see.

 

[tatteredpotato]

I feel like iOS4 and iPhone 4 have pushed iPhone far ahead of Android again. Froyo brings out nice features, but we still have a mess when it comes to battery management. Android's management of multitasking is terrible as there are rogue apps that still get to run free and eat up CPU cycles and widgets get stopped for no reason sometimes.

And even then the home screen is unpolished and not smooth enough that we have to rely on 3rd party home screens. Maybe Froyo changes this all, but I was thinking of push notifications today. Apple did a great job there even though the notification badge is annoying. The APIs they implemented have allowed devs to effectively use the push notification system whereas Android still needs the app fully open.

It all comes down to the companies vision for the platform. Apple says this is how your phone should be so we're going to do all we can to ensure that. Google says we're going to put out a platform and let you do wtf ever with it. Apples approach will obviously yield better battery life and stability OOB but it comes at a cost of user freedom. On android you can choose to have a live wallpaper if you want. You can choose to run an app that hits your radio hard in the background. You can choose to ditch the stock Apple software for third party alternatives. The problem with this though is that poorly written apps can abuse this power and have detrimental effects on your phone. Google needs a better way for users to identify what apps are using a lot of battery and notify users so they don't accidentally install an RSS reader that decides to refresh every 30 seconds. Essentially the problem with Android isn't allowing certain apps to use a lot of battery, it's the apps that do it unbeknownst to the user.

Personally from what I've read the latest iPhone update seemed pretty 'meh' to me. The hardware refresh is nice and would probably be about enough to encourage me to upgrade, but the software didn't seem to gain much (like I said I haven't had a chance to use on yet). Apple seems to have a very Top-Down design strategy with their products. By this I mean they sit down and say "this is how I want to be able to use the device and this is the way I want to interact with it". Contrast that to many companies who start with reference designs and build up to a design that they tack a UI onto.

In the end I agree with Anand's conclusion that there are people who fit well with the iPhone, and there are people who fit well with the Android market. I don't think either provides an optimal solution yet, but if there was one it would lie somewhere in the middle. I'm still very interested to see how the new WinMo will fit into the market (taking Apple customers vs taking Android customers), but the market definitely have a lot of evolving left to do.

 

[TheWart]

It all comes down to the companies vision for the platform. Apple says this is how your phone should be so we're going to do all we can to ensure that. Google says we're going to put out a platform and let you do wtf ever with it. Apples approach will obviously yield better battery life and stability OOB but it comes at a cost of user freedom. On android you can choose to have a live wallpaper if you want. You can choose to run an app that hits your radio hard in the background. You can choose to ditch the stock Apple software for third party alternatives. The problem with this though is that poorly written apps can abuse this power and have detrimental effects on your phone. Google needs a better way for users to identify what apps are using a lot of battery and notify users so they don't accidentally install an RSS reader that decides to refresh every 30 seconds. Essentially the problem with Android isn't allowing certain apps to use a lot of battery, it's the apps that do it unbeknownst to the user.

*snip*

Fair enough. I used to love tinkering with computers when I was in HS, but now I just want things to work and not to have to worry about them, and that mentality carries over ten fold when it comes to phones. I really, really, really dont want to have to micromanage my phone to get acceptable battery life or to install some app. for example, if I want to find an App, the iTunes App store is super easy. For all the crap (some deservedly, some not) Apple gets over the app store, I am glad it looks like it does and not like this:

So let's see, the top results are copyright-infringing spam ringtone apps...that Google is monetizing through ads. Yea, I'll pass. Oh yea, wanna use AMEX? Sorry.

 

[zoiks]

Fair enough. I used to love tinkering with computers when I was in HS, but now I just want things to work and not to have to worry about them, and that mentality carries over ten fold when it comes to phones. I really, really, really dont want to have to micromanage my phone to get acceptable battery life or to install some app. for example, if I want to find an App, the iTunes App store is super easy. For all the crap (some deservedly, some not) Apple gets over the app store, I am glad it looks like it does and not like this:

So let's see, the top results are copyright-infringing spam ringtone apps...that Google is monetizing through ads. Yea, I'll pass. Oh yea, wanna use AMEX? Sorry.

Cool. I think that's awesome. More android for me. Pass on the iPhone(y).

 

[Zebo]

Andriods are non starters for me due to battery life. My TP2 with similar battery life is miserable. Other than that seems to be a toss up. If I sat in an office all day I'd prolly opt for cheaper plan on Sprint and go with EVO though.

 

[Spoooon]

So let's see, the top results are copyright-infringing spam ringtone apps...that Google is monetizing through ads. Yea, I'll pass. Oh yea, wanna use AMEX? Sorry.

I would be happier with the fact that there is crap all over the app store if Google would provide better search tools. I try to "report" copyright infringing stuff every now and then when I'm browsing apps, but this is one area where a little more policing would be nice.

Really, there needs to be a happy medium between freedom and control.

 

[dwell]

Here's the article TheWart's images come from:

http://nanocr.eu/2010/06/27/googles-mismanagement-of-the-android-market/

Just proves open is a double-sided sword.

 

[TheWart]

I would be happier with the fact that there is crap all over the app store if Google would provide better search tools. I try to "report" copyright infringing stuff every now and then when I'm browsing apps, but this is one area where a little more policing would be nice.

Really, there needs to be a happy medium between freedom and control.

Yea, I can't really understand how Google of all companies has such a horrible search tool for the Android App Store.

@dwell

Yea, I forgot to add that link, thanks for putting it up