iPhone 4 reviews roundup
Considering that some lucky early adopters got their new phones today and a large flood of preorders is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, it's no surprise that the embargo has fallen and the first enthusiastic reviews of the new iPhone 4 have been posted. The list and links below:
David Pogue in the New York Times...
"Now, the iPhone is no longer the undisputed king of app phones. In particular, the technically inclined may find greater flexibility and choice among its Android rivals, like the HTC Incredible and Evo. They're more complicated, and their app store not as good, but they're loaded with droolworthy features like turn-by-turn GPS instructions, speech recognition that saves you typing, removable batteries and a choice of cell networks.
If what you care about, however, is size and shape, beauty and battery life, polish and pleasure, then the iPhone 4 is calling your name."
"We're not going to beat around the bush -- in our approximation, the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market right now. The combination of gorgeous new hardware, that amazing display, upgraded cameras, and major improvements to the operating system make this an extremely formidable package.
Yes, there are still pain points that we want to see Apple fix, and yes, there are some amazing alternatives to the iPhone 4 out there. But when it comes to the total package -- fit and finish in both software and hardware, performance, app selection, and all of the little details that make a device like this what it is -- we think it's the cream of the current crop."
Walt Mossberg for the Wall Street Journal and All Things D...
"I've been testing the iPhone 4 for more than a week. In both hardware and software, it is a major leap over its already-excellent predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.
It has some downsides and limitations -- most important, the overwhelmed AT&T network in the U.S., which, in my tests, the new phone handled sometimes better and, unfortunately, sometimes worse than its predecessor. I'll get into that below. But, overall, Apple (AAPL) has delivered a big, well-designed update that, in my view, keeps it in the lead in the smartphone wars."
Xeni Jardin for Boing Boing...
"The fourth incarnation of Apple's iPhone is an incrementally improved, familiar device -- not a new kind of device, as was the case with the recent introduction of iPad. Yes, the notable features with iPhone 4 -- both the device and the iOS4, which came out yesterday in advance of the iPhone itself -- are mostly tweaks. But what tweaks they are: Apple's focus on improvement is as much key to the quality of its products as innovation. But there's one flaw it can't completely eliminate: the unreliable quality of calls placed over AT&T, which remains the iPhone's only U.S. carrier. ... Would I buy it? Yes."
"The new iPhone 4 I've been testing for about a week and a half -- along with the major refresh of the mobile operating system software at the core of recent models -- demonstrates once again why Apple's handset is the one to beat, even as it faces fierce competition from phones based on Google's Android platform, among others.
...As with previous iPhones, the latest model breaks new ground. FaceTime video calling on the iPhone 4 is one of those cool "seeing is believing" features, and it arrives on top of several across-the-board enhancements. And iOS 4 is a mostly terrific software upgrade.
Cutting through the hype, Apple has given longtime diehards, and first-time iPhone owners, plenty to cheer about."
