iPhone 4 first hands-on! (update: FaceTime video demo)
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted June 7th 2010 3:08PM
posted June 7th 2010 3:08PM
Some takeaways about the device:
- As we said, it's shockingly thin.
- The screen is truly outrageous -- you basically cannot see pixels on it. We're not being hyperbolic when we say it's easily the best looking mobile phone screen we've ever laid eyes on.
- The build quality is really solid. The home button feels much snappier, and on the whole it just feels like a tightly-packed device, but it's not heavy.
- The side buttons are really nice and clicky.
- iOS 4 is very familiar -- there's not a lot added to fit and finish.
- The general speed of the whole OS is way snappier. The camera app in particular is noticeably faster -- shots get snapped in an instant.
WAKE UP PEOPLE... this is nothing new!! and yes EVEN on cell phones. This has been around for years. Just because apple decides to name it and for everyone to drink it does not make it new.... And the quality of the video transmission looks terrible. Just use your laptop and Skype. It will cost far less and work far better.
@Thor e
yeah it's actually nothing new, Korea had video chat back in 2001 lol
@Thor e
i agree wit'chu...its not new... Japan's had it for quite some time now... also, front 'n' back cameras have been around for a long time too, the one i remember is sony ericsson's P1i back in 2007....
@Thor e
I would have to agree, and the shape of it is just terrible to me, I liked the original.
"Best looking mobile screen wev'e ever laid eyes on"
Yeah, except the numerous smartphones with infinite contrast AMOLED's.
Where's the kickstand?
@dalex7777 why would you want something as ugly as a kick stand?!
you guys are fighting over a phone...
@kratos2029
lol
@kratos2029 thanks for being so sensible!
@Fragmented
Who's pocket are YOU talking about?
Holy sh*t this iphone is f**king amazing
@lord voldemort It's nice -- I'll certainly be upgrading my 3gs -- but it really doesn't warrant that kind of reaction. There's nothing particularly mind-blowing or shocking here, just solid, iterative improvements.
@Faxmonkey Dude between this and maybe an Evo there is nothing that you can buy now that will have all the features of the new iPhone. So you only have EVO left which is no go for me because I am on a family plan with AT&T so what should I do?
@kyphem Change Carriers - STAT!
@kyphem
I'd say, you're stuck between a rock and hard place
(...I'm in the same boat with you man) =- (
JOSHUA you are suppose to shoot with aperture higher so we get more of the phone in focus. I mean come on you are an editor in chief and can't use a camera. Like half of the video camera goes out of focus if you close that aperture just a bit the focus issue will be not as prevalent. Video sucked.
Looks prettier and awesomer than previous iPhones. Might be worth buying to jailbreak :)
super oled is way better, no comparison here.
Is this an Engadget video that works on the iPad? Dommy eyes deceive me?
The FaceTime feature has to be a joke. Only over Wifi? Why not lower the bitrate of the video and quality of the sound and make it available over 3G?
We've had the feature since 2003 in Sweden and phones that support it since then. It was cool the first year or so, then it died out. NO ONE uses it and the deaf people just text - not doing their signals over a freaking phone.
The only reason I can think of for FaceTime is if you're in a McDonalds and you need to ask the wife what to get and you can't be arsed to read everythng =]
looks kinda laggy, like old 3g vid calls
that demonstration settles it... evo it is... only wifi and and the video was not smooth at all......
@rage55
the demo was laggy because of the networks available at the show. They were overloaded. Even on my brand new shiny laptop I have lag in my video chat when talking to my neighbor. The Evo is the same, unless you are on WIFI the thing is just as laggy if not worse, dont tell me I am wrong I just saw it in action today, being demoed by the "PROS".
whats that rectangle above the speaker up the top? its only noticeably in the white model from what i can see, and its visible in the press shots as well. could it be the light sensor?
...But why is 'Face-Time' only work through WiFi?
doesn't make any sense....
@The LadyKiller
It's just Apple philosophy 101. Rather than release something in a wide way and have a ton of problems, they typically release it in a narrow sense first. Now FaceTime is only iPhone4-to-iPhone4 and only over WiFi. You'll soon see iChat's name in OSX changed to FaceTime, and it will be compatible between iPhone 4 and all Macs with the newest OS. Once that is working smoothly, you might see it over the wireless network, but that's just as much an AT&T issue as anything (3G should be able to handle FaceTime with a certian number of users, but maybe not).
What happened to the June 9 2010 article by Paul Miller titled "iPhone or EVO: which one should you get?". It was a balanced article discussing pros and cons of each. There was a poll with the article that was showing Evo ahead of Apple. Then the article was deleted. Is it true that Apple demanded AOL pull the article????
@Kelly S
I don't know why the article was pulled... but don't listen to this guy. He has posted this same exact comment in five different articles on Engadget. If you read his prior posts, he's obviously an Android fanboy trying to spread a rumor. Don't believe anything he says.
Hmm, I looked at the EVO today and I thought it was very well put together. I personally didnt care for how large it was. I have a laptop for that... I also thought it was funny as hell when the thing locked up when the guy was demoing it to me making him force quit the camera app. Anyhow, I want to get away from ATT so badly because they blow on so many levels but I am not willing to settle for substandard apps and software.
Has everyone else forgotten about the game center app that Apple discussed at the iOS4 unveiling back in April? I haven't heard even a peep about it since iPhone 4 came out... What's up?
Hey Engadget: PLEASE please PLEASE do a thorough review of the HD Video Camera asap -- I want to know how well this thing compares to, say, the FlipHD so that I can decide whether the iPhone4 is worth the upgrade for me. Thanks!