Apple’s iPhone has certainly made an impact on the cell phone market. Despite ample hype to the contrary, however, the iPhone isn't so much a technological breakthrough as it is a prominent step forward in usability and design. The iPhone, an AT&T exclusive, is incredibly easy to use, and its big, bright 3.5-inch touch screen is great for watching videos. On the other hand, browsing the Web is extremely slow and the on-screen keyboard takes some getting used to. The iPhone itself measures 2.4 x 4.5 x 0.455 inches and weighs in at a rather heavy 5.12 ounces. Although it’s a little hefty, it fits well into the hand, and is one of the best looking phones out there. This mobile rock star comes in two price categories: $299 for a 4GB model or $399 for an 8GB model. The 4GB model has been discontinued, but is still available while supplies last.
Touch screen phones normally take longer to dial numbers, but this wasn't the case for the iPhone. On average, we found it took a little less than 4 seconds to dial a number on the big touch screen. This is pretty good considering most phones take about 4.5 seconds, with other touch screen phones usually taking 5.5 seconds or more. Sure, you won't save years of your life, but it does show what a well-designed touch screen is capable of. The iPhone is a bit less impressive with its contacts management and organizational features, though. The contacts manager is simple, but adequate, while the notes and calendar applications are mediocre at best. In addition, some features are a no-show, such as a to-do list. If you're used to a more fully-featured phone (such as a BlackBerry), you'll wince at the primitive organizational features of the iPhone.
The audio quality of the iPhone is impressive. Voices were clear and easy to understand with both sent and received sound, and the frequency range of the human voice was well reproduced. We did find one problem, though; the side tone (how much of your own voice the phone feeds back into the speaker, so you can judge how loudly you're talking) was on the high side, so you might find yourself whispering.
It comes from the people behind the iPod, so it’s no surprise that the iPhone can handle video and audio playback. It plays your music and video through an interface very similar to the iPod's, so if you're familiar with such a device, you'll have no problem using it. It also uses the same software (iTunes) to manage and copy your media to the device. This area is most likely a huge reason why a prospective buyer would be interested in an iPhone; it combines a cell phone and a video iPod in one device, and does it well. The 2-megapixel camera is less than stellar, however. While captured colors look better than most phones, the images are fuzzy. The camera also can't take videos, a feature present on most other phones.
Messaging on the iPhone has its ups and downs. Text messaging is easy to do, but there aren't any MMS capabilities. As far as e-mail, the iPhone is a mixed bag; the excellent e-mail client works with e-mail services from Apple, Yahoo!, Gmail, and others, and it's one of the few phones able to handle HTML in messages. On the downside, the iPhone won't work with corporate e-mail servers; you'd be better off with a BlackBerry if you're looking to access your work e-mail account. Navigating the Web is fairly easy, thanks to the excellent Safari Web browser, which does a great job rendering websites. In fact, the entire OS is intuitive and easy to use. The only major software-related shortcoming is the iPhone's extensibility: Apple doesn't currently allow other programmers to write programs for the iPhone. Unfortunately, this includes games, which the iPhone still woefully lacks.
The Web browser, unfortunately, is slow. The iPhone uses an EDGE data connection, which is much slower than the EVDO connections other phones use. If you are in range of a Wi-Fi network, you can use it to browse much faster, but browsing the Web over EDGE is a frustratingly slow experience.
The battery life of the iPhone is another high point. In our tests, the iPhone lasted for 7 hours and 4 minutes of talk time and managed to play music over its (surprisingly good) built-in speakers for 10 hours and 46 minutes. Switching to the included headphones let the iPhone muscle through an incredible 31 hours and 48 minutes of music playback. The iPhone also held up well with Web browsing, which is very taxing on a phone. It browsed for 5 hours and 13 minutes straight, which is slightly subpar for time, but pretty impressive given the size and brightness of the iPhone's screen.
When considering the iPhone, you need to examine why you're shopping for a phone in the first place. If you want the newest, shiniest gadget available, that's the iPhone. If you don't like the touch-screen interface, or simply want an alternative, the $299 Helio Ocean might be worth your consideration. The Ocean offers much of the functionality of the iPhone and remains a bit cheaper. If you’re looking for business functionality, such as corporate e-mail or comprehensive organizational features, the iPhone won't cut it. In this case you should go with a BlackBerry or a Windows Mobile phone instead. If you are looking for an all-in-one device that combines an MP3 player and a cell phone into one convenient package, the iPhone is certainly a good choice.
For a more in-depth review, visit the Apple iPhone Review at our partner WirelessInfo.com
