Mobility Digest Review: Verizon Wireless Apple iPhone 4 – 16 GB

Ok, I’m sure everybody knows what the product I have for review today is, there’s really not much need for an intro at all is there? I guess I have to though right? I have the iPhone 4 for review, but it’s for Verizon and not AT&T, yes AT&T has lost its grip on iPhone exclusivity.

I should also note that I’m probably going to take a lot of flak for this review as I honestly don’t like the iPhone 4. I’ll be honest again and say I’m not a fan of Apple, but I’ll give anything a chance as that’s what I’m supposed to do as a reviewer. Don’t get me wrong though, I own an iPod Touch and a couple iPod nanos actually, and they’re not bad. I like the iPod Touch especially for games but I’m not at all fond of the iPhone 4. There are some things that I don’t care for about the iPod Touch and they carry over to the iPhone 4 as it’s all Apple and their closed ecosystem as it is. Anyway, this review will be as in-depth as I can get, or as I think it should be, and I’m sure you’ve seen it all before. So you Apple fans may hate me after this review, but I don’t really care, I’m going to tell it how I see it.

On a side note I’ve noticed more women than men with iPhones. I pay attention, or at least I try to especially when it comes to gadgets. I like to see who has what and from what I’ve seen first hand, more women than men have iPhones. What that exactly means, you judge for yourself…

Author: Kristofer Brozio

Vendor: Verizon Wireless

Price: Full Retail Price: $649.99
PRICE with 2-Year contract: $199.99

Overall Rating: 4/5

Specs/Features:

Apple iPhone 4 – 16 GB

There are smartphones, and then there’s the iPhone 4. It continues to set the standard with its stunning Retina display, powerful A4 chip, and long battery life. And with the world’s largest selection of apps, there’s almost no limit to what the iPhone 4 can do.

Key Features:
FaceTime Video Calling
iPhone 4 and iPad 2 makes video calling a reality, so you can see friends while you talk to them. Facetime works over Wi-Fi on iPhone 4, the new iPod touch and a Mac.

Retina Display
It’s the sharpest, highest resolution phone screen ever. With a remarkable 960-by-640 resolution in a 3.5 inch display, images and text look amazingly crisp.

Multitasking
Run multiple apps at the same time and switch between them instantly. All without sacrificing performance or battery life.

HD Video Recording & Editing
You can record, edit and share HD video right on your iPhone. So now you’ll always have a great HD video camera with you.

5 Megapixel Camera with LED Flash
The 5-megapixel camera includes a 5x digital zoom, a built-in LED flash and improved low-light performance.

3G Mobile Hotspot Capable available with iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless

What’s in the Box?

Let’s start with a quick unboxing video:

 

Included with the iPhone 4 are a set of earbuds, USB cable, AC adapter and documentation.

There aren’t many buttons on the iPhone 4, just the Home Button on the front, a power button, volume buttons and a ringer slider and then there’s an audio jack as well.

The iPhone 4 design is questionable in my opinion, it’s basically a slab of glass really. There’s glass on top and bottom then metal in between. The styling though is nice looking, I’ll give it that. The phone itself is much heavier that it looks, but it’s a nice solid feel.

 

Impressions / Review:

So Slide to Unlock the phone, it’s common on most every phone these days.

When I got to the main screen I didn’t find as much as I thought I would. One thing missing was FaceTime, and Games, where are the games? Then I had to ask myself what the heck am I going to do with a Stock program? Seriously how many people out there use the stock app? The best part of it is that you can’t delete it,. well actually you can’t delete anything that’s already on the phone at stock. ( I know you can if you Jailbreak the phone, but the average soccer mom isn’t going to do that.) You’ll also see iTunes, Weather, Maps, Calendar, Notes, Game Center, Photos, Messages, Camera, Contacts, App Store, Settings and a shortcut for Utilities that include a Calculator, Compass, Clock and Voice Memo app. Then at bottom of the phone are shortcuts for Phone, Mail, Safari Browser and iPod.

Here’s most of the apps opened up:

So the iPhone 4 is a phone right? Yes it’s much more than that, but the main purpose I would think would be to make calls and call quality on the iPhone is not that good honestly. I’ve heard much better from much more inexpensive phones sadly. This iPhone is an expensive phone that’s for sure, and I would think it would be able to make calls well, but it doesn’t. Calls are just not that good, they’re a bit muffled and not exactly clear. I expected much better truly. I know it’s not the Verizon network as I’ve tested many of their phones, and they’re all different, some are better than others. The iPhone 4 isn’t the worst, but it isn’t the best either, more of in the middle.

The keyboard is another small thing that I don’t care for about the iPhone 4, it just seems too small for me. I found myself making many mistakes when trying to type as fast as I normally would on my Captivate.

The browser works well, it seems fast, not many real issues here.

The camera isn’t as good as I expected it to be, pictures don’t seem that good especially indoors even with the flash. Outdoor pictures are very good, and video is surprisingly decent as well. I also have to ask, where are the camera settings? I couldn’t find any at all, no way to adjust white balance or ISO or anything really. How come there are no settings on this camera?

Ok let’s take a quick look at the Settings. The wi-fi works well, I had no problems connecting to the my home network. The other settings are fairly basic as you can see below.

Then here’s the Settings expanded, yes there’s a lot here.

The iPhone is an iPod as well so you can listen to music, podcasts or even watch videos. This works just fine, no issues here.

Last but not least is iTunes. You can access it right fro your phone instead of going to your computer, this is nice to grab music and apps quickly while on the go. The main issue I have with iTunes is that you iDevices are tethered to it, you’re stuck truly. If you have an iDevice you must have iTunes installed on your computer to be able to do anything with your devices.

One last thing I have to add or question is why isn’t the storage expandable? Seriously though, why can’t I put a microSD card in the iPhone 4 and put more stuff on it? That’s just bad design really..

There’s no flash, so that’s out for web browsing.

The screen size is only 3.5″, where my Captivate is 4″. Yes the iPhone screen looks nice, but it’s still a bit too small for my tastes.

 

Conclusion:

I’ll be honest here, you couldn’t give me an iPhone 4 for free; I’d most likely turn it down. Maybe I wouldn’t, I mean I could take it and then sell it right?

Seriously though the iPhone 4, objectively, isn’t a bad phone, but it’s not one for me. I’ve been using it for quite some time now to give it a chance and I just don’t care for it at all honestly.

If you’re accustomed to and have an affinity for Apple devices then I’m sure you’ll be more than happy with the iPhone 4. Personally I don’t like the closed ecosystem that Apple offers it’s users, I don’t want to be tied to iTunes as you basically have to be.

It’s all my opinion here of course, I’m sure you have you’re own especially if you’re an Apple lover. I know I’m going to here about it in the comments, so go ahead and enjoy yourself.

Overall it’s not a bad phone, I give it a 4 out of 5.

 

Pros:
+Nice styling

+Easy to use

+Seems well made

+Decent video camera and outdoor pictures

 

Cons:
-Not the greatest call quality

-Indoor picture quality could be better

-Tied to iTunes

-Can’t delete pre-installed apps