Posted by DragonEye
My iphone user review: My phone FEELS obsolete
First off I would like to thank evilgabbie for unlocking my iphone yesterday without his efforts I wouldn’t get to play with my new super cool toy. So if you need your iphone unlocked he’s the man to do it. I'd also like to thank carsmovies for bringing it over from the US.
I’ve played with virtually every phone out there and lately have been using a SE p1i. I’d say I’m quite familiar with Apple products, I’m currently using a macbook and have also used the old school Apples in school playing Oregon trail.. lol. I have never really owned my own ipod though, never saw the need cause my cellphone was always my primary choice for entertainment (music, video etc..) When I first saw the iphone I was excited. Steve Jobs has such a great skill at hyping products… Multi-touch, accelerometer, 8 gigs, how could one not be excited?? After the dust settled I too had the same concerns as most.. no keys? Wtf? Is this really going to work? Well anyway lets find out… on with the review..
Iphone
Build Quality.. simply glorious!!!!
The iphone is packed in a nice cute little box… it’s got that whole minimalist feeling… packed inside is an iphone, headset, charger, cable, cleaning cloth, headphones and some very simple instructions…even the box looks better then most… (some Motorola boxes are pretty cool though)
The box might be small but it packs some serious stuff
The iphone feels fantastic in your hands. It feels so luxurious, smart and simple, it just screams quality. The weight is nice even though some may think it’s heavy. I think it adds to the essence of quality… for the people that have held the LG prada if you compare it to the iphone you’ll see what I mean when it comes to the feel of quality. It almost feels like a marble slate or something. They’ve managed to make it thin but it doesn’t feel flimsy like a samsung slider. EVERY MANUFACTURER should use the iphone as benchmark on how a phone should feel IMO.. enough with the wobbly flimsy plastic and squeaky parts…true, not all phones are just a simple slab but then manufacturers need to start making them like the nokia luna 8600.
Simply put this phone has no wobbles, no squeaking or any sort of common annoyances in build that we’ve most learned to live with in our cellphones and for that Apple gets my respect in that department.
Touchscreen
The iphone is equipped with a gorgeous screen. I believe the official specs are 320x480, 3.5 inches and 16 million colours. It is truly beautiful to look at. I’m not sure if it’s the best screen I’ve ever seen but it’s certainly seems like it. The screen performs exceptionally well in direct sunlight which is quite an achievement considering most touchscreen phones usually get blasted for that.
Of course any touchscreen will be a fingerprint magnet and the iphone is no exception. However, because it is a flush surface and not recessed like most other phones it makes it easy to clean any smudges you may get on it. Cleaning the screen on my p1i can be quite a pain in comparison. Nevertheless it’ll be a petpeeve for us anal hofers I’m sure.
Easy to see on this sunny day
UI
Well everyone heard Mr. Jobs ranting and raving about the iphone being a revolutionary device that’s reinventing the phone as we know it.… While I do enjoy using the UI and find it extremely simple, easy and logical to use it’s really not that revolutionary.. I’d say it’s more of a simplified approach to how a phone should work. The iphone’s use of eyecandy is what sells the product. All the neat little pop-ups, scrolling and genie effects are very very cool but sadly it’s lacking in the functionality department.
The iphone takes a macro view of how things should be on the phone…. It is not a phone for one that likes to or needs to micro-mange. Now I understand why apple has done this but at the same time I can see why it would be frustrating for some.
I’ll list some examples
-You want to make a custom gallery of pics on the fly on your iphone>>> well you’ll need to do that through you computer through itunes, iphoto or whatever…
-You want to make a new “group” for certain contact>>>can’t do it.. use your computer
-You want to delete some files on your iphone..>>>> can’t do that either do it on your computer...
-You want to delete all your contacts for whatever reason…do it through your computer..
Now I’m not bashing the UI.. like I said I enjoy it but it does feel at times that you are trapped in a bubble. Nothing wrong with being in the bubble though as it’s plenty of fun.
Apple has managed to make everything logical and straightforward to use. Everything feels like it’s at the tip of your fingers and not buried within menus, folders and subfolders. Having said that it’s not perfect, I don’t necessarily like scrolling through stuff all the time. So a quick “spotlight” function would be quite useful in areas like sms and contacts for example.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the iphone.. whether 3rd party apps will crack it open and add functionality or whether the next iphone will feel less shallow. Again as this product seems to be aimed at the masses I don’t think they’ll have a problem adjusting to the ideal world apple has created for them… after all I didn’t realize it really till I started thinking about what to write in this review.
All the settings are placed is one place…making it all seem so simple
Multitasking
The iphone does not have a visible taskmanager so again micromanagement freaks may lose their minds. Everything seems to be always open and running in the background and it works quite well. I’ve always believed that you shouldn’t have to truly manage your tasks on a phone… apps should just open when I want them to and do what I want them too.. I hate closing apps, compressing memory etc… It’s kinda like I don’t need to know how it works.. I just need it to work. I’ve had no issues with the iphone in this department at all. I can check email, surf, listen to music and respond to sms with no interruptions. There have been times where the phone needs a few seconds to pop up the appropriate app but overall it’s a smooth and painless transition from app to app.
I have noticed the keyboard type slowing down a few times and the sms app slow down probably due to processing all the threading I guess but overall it’s a multitasking champ imo. Not sure what the ram or processor is in this thing.. but it’s fast and has no memory issues so I’m not too concerned at what the technical specs are…
Misc Apps..
It comes with stocks, weather, google maps… these apps perform just like widget mac brothers so I haven’t gone too much into detail about them. Using them are fun though.
Youtube.. doesn’t work on my phone.. I use daily motion instead… you can get youtube working on unlocked phones.. but I don’t like the way you have to do it…
Battery life
Well I don’t think I’ve had the iphone long enough but so far I’ve been using it like crazy for various tasks and I’m able to get through the day.. I’ll provide more updates to this later.
3rd party
As of right now there is no official third party app support of the iphone. People have been developing a lot of “unofficially” supported apps though. These apps add some additional functionality that should be pretty useful.. and I hope to see people continue to develop for the iphone. Along with that we’ve seen a lot of apps that allow you to customize your ringtones, skins etc..etc…
The dock app and a smudged screen
Some neat apps
-nintendo emulator
-RSS reader
-Squid: file browser (let’s you see all the folders and sys files that make the iphone run)
-iflash: flashlight app
-swaptunes.. (sharing music between computers)
Multi-touch
I think everyone was freakin out when they saw this demo’d at the keynote. Of course then people started digging around and saying this has been around forever and apple stole it. Lol…I don’t think they stole anything it’s all about finding the latest tech and seeing the opportunity to use it.. after all apple never said they invented it.. they’re just bringing it to us in a pretty little package. The multi-touch stuff is neat. And works very well. It’s great for browser and zooming in on pics. Again what is impressive is the speed in which the iphone is able to zoom and compress etc..etc…
SMS threading is pretty cool….
The Qwerty keyboard…
It really does work.. and it’s not that hard to use… just have a little faith in the system. Just start touching the onscreen buttons and the phone will work it’s magic. I’ll admit that I wasn’t sold on this at first but I’ve been able to adjust to it almost instantly… it may be because I’ve been playing with the touchscreen on the p1i for the last few weeks. I feel like I’m typing faster then ever before on a qwerty…probably cause touching a screen is faster then pressing a button…. The word prediction is very good and it will continue to grow according to your habits… true there is no tactile feedback which means you’ll have to glance occasionally at the screen but that can be said about any phone with no keys.. but the iphone’s prediction text makes up for it imo. If SE where to join their predictive text systems together it would be game over lol.
Attached is a short clip pretty much a walkthrough of all the core features… sadly I don’t have any great video recording devices so the quality isn’t the best…hope you can what’s going on..
Short iphone clip
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mkh4LSE0Ed8
Media
We heard it ourselves Apple called it the best ipod created to date. So does it live up to the hype? In a word I’d say “yes”. It’s great for multimedia. The storage is quite respectable for a phone; available in 4 or 8 gigs. Of course I had no issue loading up the 8 gigs lol. People have been wondering why they didn’t go bigger but of course as a Gen 1 device apple has to make sure it’s just enough so people can “upgrade” later... afterall it’s about making a quick buck right?
No issues using the ipod.. it sync’d with itunes and viola my music and videos were all loaded up. (I had to convert some of my videos to the ipod mp4 standard though… I did a little cropping cause the iphone isn’t 16x9 and if you stretch the video it looks grainy..) The ipod interface is great, easy to use and fast.. the way it can process the information is truly impressive… there is no “please wait” the ipod just does everything in the background and just works as it should…there are times where it may need a second or two though which is quite forgivable imo. It can also remember where my video left off before I stopped it… it doesn’t do that for just one video at a time though.. it does it for all that I have started and stopped.. it functions exactly as my macbook and quicktime would.
The photo viewer is also quite impressive, pinch and scroll and zoom with your fingers… looks nice and performs fast. There is no waiting either all the images load almost instantly.. I had about 500 pics in the gallery from the video demo and it just scrolled with ease.
The super ipod?? Imagine if it was 80 gigs lol
However you cannot delete sync’d images and cannot make a gallery or slideshow on-the-fly so what’s on your iphone stays on your iphone.
Now apple has designed this to work strictly though itunes.. for all aspects not just media.. contacts, calendar everything is though itunes.. kinda odd but it works… but there are drawbacks.. no Bluetooth syncing, no sending any file type via bluetooth , no vcard, no removeable drive support etc. again its simple to use but not everyone will enjoy the lockdown feel.
Camera
it's quite good.. no settings just point and shoot.
Here are some samples against a fellow 2.0 camera the e65..everythin is shot in automode cause the iphone has no settings..
Top is iphone, bottom is e65…. The iphone does really well…
In the thumbnails the first pic is from the iphone and the second is from the e65.. but if you it's reversed when you open the links...e65 is first and iphone is second... my mistake...i uploaded them in the wrong order as my links..
pics if you can't see thumbs
http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000051524623496397
http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000805507221320015
There is no video recording.
Email easy to setup and works without issues.. I don’t really use too much so I kinda forgot about this feature. I setup my gmail and it worked like it should..I was able to view pdf and excel attachments as well.
Edge/data
I’m not really a data whore so I didn’t really do any speedtests.. edge is sneaky on the iphone. If an app needs data it’s just helps itself when you start it up.. It doesn’t ask for permissions.. again smooth and seamless which is good but if you’re using it unlocked and not on at&t be careful as your data will go through the roof…Us Canadians don’t have these $20 data plans.. damn ROGERS!
Browser
Browsing has never been better on a mobile device. The safari browser is fast and fun to use. Haven’t had any issues with it visiting various websites and forums. It can work vertical or horizontal. The keyboard will go landscape in the browser as well. The best part no crashing and no memory full please close errors.
A few browser shots.. it’s kinda like s60 safari on steriods
The little things
I’d like to say the iphone has a lot of the little things thought out on a phone that truly makes it great to use. The proximity detector and accelerometers are very well implemented. At the same time it’s missing certain things that can truly annoy someone…
Here are a few of the little things that could also be major things depending on who you are they are in no particular order.
-Status light… cause the iphone looks like it’s off when the screen is on standby it would be nice to have a little message light by the power button or something to show signal or any sort of notification.
-Icons missing.. I’d like to see more status icons on the top bar…like unread messages, missed calls or voicemail etc..etc.. that way you can get visual indicators everywhere and just not on the home screen.
-Forwarding SMS… I use SMS forwarding all the time.. at realize it may cause some confusion with the threading.. but nevertheless a very useful and needed feature imo.
Just this weekend I asked a friend to get me an address so I could pass it on to another friend as I was on the road.. lol he sms’d the info and I couldn’t forward is.. I couldn’t copy and paste it into another text message.. I HAD TO CALL, GO ON SPEAKERPHONE AND READ HIM THE INFO LOL SAD TRULY SAD.
-Copy and paste …pretty sure this one is self-explanatory
-Flash support in the browser.. mind you apple might be the first to get this going... oddly enough seeqpod works but it’s requires flash….
-Vcards are definieitly something they should add.
-And finally maybe an on-the-fly album creator of some sort for the photos.
I know there is plenty more that apple can add… above is just my little wishlist.
I just realized I left up the “phone” part in my review.. well there’s honestly not that much to say.. dialing is pretty easy with the big keys… the function keys are useful.. the speakerphone is decent but I think some will find it too quiet. You can multitask while in a call. I find reception to be decent but not stellar…earpiece volume is good for me but again some people need it really load….sounds quality wasn’t exceptional pretty much sounds and behaves like a normal phone.
In call menu
Conclusion
Overall the device at times can feel a little crippled.. and honesty the need to constantly dock to sync music, video and contacts at this age seems a little dated. I know it’s the apple way but sometimes I just wanna jam a flash card in a phone, share some media through Bluetooth and forward a SMS. At the same time those are my habits and what I’m accustomed to doing.. there is no right or wrong… Like I said before, the iphone is Apple’s little bubble world and if you can survive in it and be happy the iphone will be for you…
As for me I’m still loving it right now.. but I know there will be times where I may get annoyed and frustrated right now the eyecandy is still mesmerizing me. So to me the iphone is a keeper but you might want to keep another device around if you think you’ll need more flexibility but for the average “dumb” phone user I think they would feel right at home with the iphone as a simple yet powerful solution. The iphone makes may make phones FEEL obsolete with its’ stunning looks, snappy eyecandy UI and excellent build.. but if you need a lot of function it’s still not quite there.
This review was a little rushed but I think I’ve covered most of it.. hope you enjoy it.
PS I haven’t really found a single bug in the thing yet….truly amazing.. a lot of missing features but no bugs…I read the thing about 90 bugs a while back but cant remember what they are and have no interest trying to create them…
Size Comparison
[ This Message was edited by: DragonEye on 2007-09-04 03:40 ]
[ This Message was edited by: DragonEye on 2007-09-04 03:41 ]
[ This Message was edited by: DragonEye on 2007-09-04 14:54 ]
Posted by mervy
Very Very Nice Review........we can only wait n wait n wait to even see on of those here in Dubai...
Posted by michael the mage
Thank you very much for the review! Great work and I now know for sure How much I love my P990i and will in the future!
I could not find a 'big' thing on "there is NO video recording and hence NO MMS, which is in 2007 pathetic. SMS was late 90's and I also could not find if iphone even has the eSMS which can attach predefined pics, sounds, etc.
Again, thanks!
Posted by SloopJohnB
Great review!! congrats
May I ask how was your iPhone unlocked?
Posted by DragonEye
On 2007-09-04 06:15:26, michael the mage wrote:
Thank you very much for the review! Great work and I now know for sure How much I love my P990i and will in the future!
I could not find a 'big' thing on "there is NO video recording and hence NO MMS, which is in 2007 pathetic. SMS was late 90's and I also could not find if iphone even has the eSMS which can attach predefined pics, sounds, etc.
Again, thanks!
the big thing is the interface... no UI on a phone has been more enjoyable to use IMO...
On 2007-09-04 06:36:50, SloopJohnB wrote:
Great review!! congrats
May I ask how was your iPhone unlocked?
Geohotz' modified method.. hardware unlock via pins...
_________________
Shaolinmonk on HOFO Official PHONE JUNKIE
My P1i Review
http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=152437&start=0
[ This Message was edited by: DragonEye on 2007-09-04 14:56 ]
Posted by makbil
Great review @DragonEye, thanks.
Personally, it confirms my impression that although very appealing in terms of looks, stability and UI, not suitable for my usage habits. I guess with all its flaws, the P990 is still the best device for me.
Posted by himlims_nl
i got to play with it 2 weeks ago, a customer got one.
and he was glad to show(off) his way too expensive phone to me.
like you i was very supprised with the solid and quality look and feel.
it realy does feel you're holding a solid phone.
everything seems so logical and fast ..
Posted by DragonEye
On 2007-09-05 10:31:42, makbil wrote:
Great review @DragonEye, thanks.
Personally, it confirms my impression that although very appealing in terms of looks, stability and UI, not suitable for my usage habits. I guess with all its flaws, the P990 is still the best device for me.
see the interesting thing is ... if apple were to add an "advanced" fucntionality version it would be amazing... every other UI feels rudimentary in comparison to it...
I want my p1i to have all the eyecanady but the best i can get is transitions and they slow down the phone lol....
well SE is using the PSP stuff in media now that is quite pleasing on the eyes...
Posted by 701
I'll be glad to test one as soon as they launch the european 3G version.For the moment it lacks some basic things I need but....who knows?:)
Posted by fbloise
Nice review!
So the iphone isnt that great after all.
I've heard that you cant send or receive any kind of files via bluetooth. Is that true?
Posted by amnesia
yes it's true. It's mentioned in his review.
Unlock it using my tutorial here on esato.
(It's been out in Doha - Qatar for some time now
)
_________________
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[ This Message was edited by: amnesia on 2007-10-09 03:32 ]
Posted by Miss UK
thats display looks really good it does look nice aswell..
good review too made a pleasant read thanks
Posted by SaLiH
Great review, even dough I'm not a huge fan of iPhone!
Posted by fbloise
I better wait for the W960.
Posted by jcwhite_uk
For me that main bit missing is 3G. I use it a lot to connect my laptop to the net when out of the office and EDGE isnt available in the uk with a good data tariff.
Posted by NightBlade
Camera? Good? You've got to be kidding me.
The camera sucks, man.
Posted by fbloise
Yes, camar ais not good at all.
The W850 carries a way better cam!
Posted by NightBlade
Hahaha, I just read that you can't delete files.
How lame is that?
Oh, and the lack of Java is a big nono. How am I supposed to properly surf the net with its WiFi without Java?
Posted by max_wedge
Dragoneye, excellent review mate, brilliant to get some honest well balanced info on what it's like ot actually use the iphone. It sounds a lovely and apealing phone, I like the multimedia and touchscreen stuff. But ultimately I am one of those people who like to micro-manage as well as someone who uses bluetooth and java a lot, so I'll never be interested replacing my main mobile with an iphone. However it does sound a nice phone, and I hope some of it's innovations make it into some more featured and less proprietary platforms such as P series or HTC.
Posted by Alexandra
The iPhone is crap, as highlited by this review. Why do so many people like it?
By the way, a good camera!?
Posted by Wuz
Thanks for an excellent, well put together and intelligent review.
Posted by psikey
Good review but nothing to sway me from the W960i when available as the upgrade from my P990i (subject to price/reviews of course!).
The iPhone does look very nice but it's missing too much functionallty and for portable music I'm still totally happy with my 8GB Nano.
Posted by DragonEye
well the camera outperformed the e65 with ease so i'd say yes its decent..
i love the iphone the more i use it... a lot more fun then my p1i and i love that too...
unlocking is done cheap for me by my friend.. but market price now is $100 to $150 cad per unlock...
On 2007-09-07 10:49:11, NightBlade wrote:
Hahaha, I just read that you can't delete files.
How lame is that?
Oh, and the lack of Java is a big nono. How am I supposed to properly surf the net with its WiFi without Java?
i said you can't delete sync'd media.. pictures and music...but at the same time there's lots of 3rd party apps being developed that are increasing the phones usefulness..
lol don't hate the broswer is the best ever on a mobile device...
_________________
Shaolinmonk on HOFO Official PHONE JUNKIE
My P1i Review
http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=152437&start=0
[ This Message was edited by: DragonEye on 2007-09-07 16:32 ]
Posted by max_wedge
exactly, the browser is one of the strong points.
It's a crippled phone, and I couldn't abide that which is why I won't buy one.
Posted by amnesia
I have mentioned myself that I don't like it because of the lack of MMS, good camera, and 3G (and I wished it had satnav)
However, I with the price drop I decided to get one for myself. I'm considering it a second phone. Specifically an iPod with a phone feature
Posted by AbuBasim
Did you see this one?
Bitingly satirical iPhone wallpapers take fun out of purchase
If only it weren't true.
(Source.)
Posted by DragonEye
lol no more obsolete then my old p990i
Posted by max_wedge
that's not saying much
What about compared to your P1?
Posted by DragonEye
On 2007-09-08 08:44:07, max_wedge wrote:
that's not saying much
What about compared to your P1?
eyecandy makes my p1i look like dos.... such a shame...
Posted by jesal
wow unlocked iphones cool enough. can it do video recording cuz i keep hearing u cannot. whats the retail to thoese ?
Posted by Shazee
Great review DragonEye. Thanx!
(But I'm still waiting for my W960i...
)
Posted by DragonEye
bump since you guys in europe are getting real soon...
Posted by fbloise
Nice review!
Posted by carkitter
Excellent review Dragoneye!
The iPhone is Awesome and Frustratingly crippled at the same time and it cause me no end of stress while I became accustomed to it. I'd just recently decided it was a keeper and probably very long term too, when my laptop died and I found that I couldn't synch my music and videos back to my new computer. Aaarrgghh! So crippled!
oh well...
Loving my iPhone but still eyeing up my next SE purchase.
I can't see Apple getting any more of my money.
Posted by Neo-Tech
Yeah, it's a shame iTunes is awesomely stupid in terms of having to Synchronize. Somebody needs to work on a alternative. Anyways, back on topic now. Great review, that second picture with the sunshine on the boxes looked so nice, reminded me of the hot sun
. Good work.
Posted by vegetaleb
Jailbreaking is the alternative
Posted by fbloise
Wow, I've had an iPhone 2G for about 2 weeks and the result is awesome.
Is not the failure from last year. Now most of the apps are stable, in the past they were buggy.