Anand Reviews the Apple iPhone 3G
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 16, 2008 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
AT&T: The iPhone’s Worst Feature?
When I originally reviewed the iPhone I felt that the voice quality was reasonable, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either. Since then I noticed that the voice quality not only tends to vary a lot more than any of my phones in the past, but at its worst, the original iPhone’s voice quality is pretty bad. It’s not an issue of volume, it’s an issue of clarity. At its worst, everyone comes through sounding like they are talking with a mouthful of food - their voices are just muffled/slurred. A friend of mine has huge lips and listening to him talk is already difficult, but on the first iPhone I can barely understand him. At its best, the original iPhone is merely average when it comes to voice quality.
That's not uncommon on AT&T
The iPhone 3G addresses this issue in a major way - both receiving and transmitting voice quality is significantly improved. I can’t certifiably say that the problems have been fixed completely, it’s noticeably better - to the point where people I talk to regularly on the phone have noticed the improved quality. I will say that there are still difficulties understanding some people but it’s unclear whether or not that’s an AT&T/iPhone 3G issue or an issue with the other end of the line.
Then we get to AT&T itself. When the iPhone was announced as an AT&T/Cingular exclusive, many groaned but admittedly I didn’t really understand the complaint. I hadn’t been on Cingular in a few years and whenever I roamed on their network it seemed fine. I assumed it was simply a case of things getting blown out of proportion, after all, how bad could it be? Ohgod it’s horrible.
AT&T’s network coverage is just not good; my friends on Verizon or Sprint always have better coverage than me, and my old T-Mobile phones fair a lot better than when I’m on AT&T. Whenever I’m in a place where I get zero coverage, anyone near me with a Verizon phone always has full strength. Granted there are areas where I've got no issues with coverage, quite a few at that, but for me and others I know - AT&T always seems to have worse coverage than Verizon. Your mileage may vary depending on your location, as many have pointed out, the best I can offer is my experience.
To make matters worse, AT&T’s coverage has gotten worse over time around my house. It’s like a Windows machine that has gone without a reinstall in a few years, performance just isn’t where it used to be.
The iPhone 3G definitely improves reception over the original phone, but doesn’t fix the underlying issues with AT&T’s network coverage. The iPhone is still good enough where I’d put up with sub-Verizon coverage on AT&T’s network and I do believe that GSM support is key, but perhaps if Apple can sell enough of these it can pressure AT&T to improve its coverage (I know, wishful thinking).
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robinthakur - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link
And naturally, the 'competitor' that you chose, the N95 supports 4G does it? Don't make me laugh. I used to have an N95 and I upgraded to the iPhone after having used one and being uber impressed. The N95 might have a longer spec sheet anda better camera, but for usability the iPhone is so far ahead its almost comical. People seem upset that Apple got something right pretty much first time which all the other manufacturers still can't do. Just look at the mess that is Windows Mobile.Obrut - Friday, July 18, 2008 - link
Robin,1. I'm talking about N95 8GB and not N95, there is a quite big difference. But nevermind - you can pick N96. It even has built-in TV-tuner.
2. I never said N95 supports 4G. I was talking about the differences between North America and Europe for example. 4G is for my laptop and stationary phone.
Besides I never said that iPhone is a bad phone at all.
Obrut - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link
For the clumsiness - I agree.4G is available here (Bulgaria), though we're the only country in Europe with 4G coverage (yet). I mean nation-wide WiMAX coverage over 4G equipment.
As for the install base - compare the number of Symbian applications over iPhone apps...
A-GPS - I've been using this for long time and I can't even imagine that the first iPhone is lacking this. So A-GPS - no news, welcome to the club.
Accelerometer - welcome to the club also.
Photo - 2 MP means no camera at all
Flash support - this feature is mandatory for decent browsing experience.
Battery - how usefull is a phone which you should recharge twice a day (in case you're using it for more than talk and that's the big idea with iPhone)
FM Radio, Java, etc... just read this: http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone2=2088...">http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone2=2088...
rubbahbandman - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link
Epic review. This phone looked like a steal at $200, but man it really is spendy once you do the math for those 2 year contracts. For now, I think I'll hold off until I can find out what's in store with the Google phone.Griswold - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link
There will be no "google phone". You'll just get whatever the various manufacturers do with android and last but not least the telcos feed you - no magic google bullet that will make everything glorious.And yet, there are already dark clouds on the android horizon. Open source they said? Why is it that only a handful developers under NDA get SDK updates and the rest is forced to use outdated, bugged versions?
More about it and a petition can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/6hn7m7">http://tinyurl.com/6hn7m7
With that in mind, android could face some major delays... big chance for nokia (and their newly founded, open symbian alliance) and apple to steamroll over googles android parade before it really took off.
shortylickens - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link
With the phone, that is. The article is exactly what I've come to expect from Anand, nothing less.I will admit I am normally an Apple hater. I lady I know at work made her husband get her this as soon as it came out. She was showing it off to everybody on Monday. I admit it was pretty darn sweet and had a ton of useful features. When I went to the AT&T site and saw I could get the 8 gig version for 200 bucks I was astonished.
Of course, AT&T will probably have some way to leech a ridiculous amount of money from me with the service, but the phone itself is great and a really good deal right now.
Bremen7000 - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link
Maybe the webpage load times are specific to your area? Ars's findings were significantly more in favor of 3G: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/iphone3g-r...">http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/iphone3g-r...And I agree with the above posters, you should know better than to complain about a specific carrier's reception without heavily qualifying it.
GTaudiophile - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link
I refuse to buy one until I can use it (legit) with T-Mobile.Arc 0V - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link
Same iPhone should be on more carriers than AT&T but oh well. On the other hand I love my Verizon service. I travel a lot with family and friends, and my cousin and a friend have T-Mobile and the other has AT&T, and I can not count how many times I have service when they don't (wow lots of ands). By travel I mean like out of state constantly either driving or flying.imaheadcase - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link
Yes 3 articles on Iphone. Sad, pretty sad change of course for the site.When can we expect to see a preview, review, and feature set of the Ford Escort, or Bud Light with Lime? I await with anticipation!