This is a review i read. This is from a everyday user of the product. I tend to take these in consideration more then people who have had the phone for 15 min in a store. To me the device sounds solid and has quirks just like all the blackberrys do. I can remember people complaining about there pearl. All devices have growing pains.
My purchase experience was outstanding. I went to my local Apple store and once I was waited on, I was out of there in about 15 to 20 minutes. They were very organized and made the process very easy.
Brought it home and connected with iTunes to activate. That process was very impressive. Very fast, smooth and no problems. I was not surprised however as I knew what to expect since I had read all about it on the web site prior to the purchase. A smart way to activate phones.
The iPhone checks my Yahoo mail every 15 minutes.
My same Yahoo account is push mail on my BlackBerry but that's normal as BB servers provide push mail service. I'm sure down the line Apple may provide this, but at the moment you've got to wait. I did not expect it to be push however since the iPhone is mainly an entertainment device not designed for work.
I find the touch sensitive keyboard very well thought out, but slightly miserable to use. Itxxx8217;s OK for the odd email here and there but I would not want to try and use it daily as I process about 30 to 40 emails a day while traveling (using my BB) and a regular keyboard is so much easier and you donxxx8217;t have to look at the device to use it.
While Outlook syncs nicely with the iPhone it too is really slow compared to the speed of a sync on my BlackBerry. I timed it, with the somewhat large contact list I have (3,500 contacts) it takes just under 30 seconds on the BlackBerry. The same operation on the iPhone is 2.5 minutes. But again I did not expect it to be able to perform as fast as a BlackBerry so I'm not unhappy.
The phone quality is a bit weak and not that clear, however I must remember that it's Apples first try at cramming so many features into one device. Itxxx8217;s usable and thatxxx8217;s good enough.
The internet experience on WiFi is decent, just average overall. I'm surprised that it's about 15% slower than my laptop. I have an E61 Nokia smart phone with WiFi and it's the same speed as my laptop, so that's what I was expecting from the iPhone. Again, I'm thinking it's because Apple has no experience in this field with mobile devices and therefore we the public are like the beta testers of iPhone version 1.0. I donxxx8217;t mind. The only area that is pretty bad is the internet experience using EDGE. Compared to my 3G Blackjack (which is 3G) the iPhone is very slow. I think itxxx8217;s bad enough, that hopefully lots of people will complain to Apple and due to that pressure Apple will respond with a 3G version before XMAS. Then I will just dump this one on eBay and get the 3G model with the faster connection. I use the net a lot and the iPhone is perfect with the large display, but with the slow connection itxxx8217;s horrible. Then again I knew it would be, so itxxx8217;s not like itxxx8217;s a surprise or anything. I can use my Blackjack to get me by.
The iPod functions like Video, music and pictures are all just as good as my 80GB Video iPod, just very limited as with 8GB you really can't put much on it. But again I expected this limitation as I read everything about the phone prior to purchasing so I knew what to expect. This is the reason for the purchase as I like that everything is all on one device even if there are some rather big compromises and somewhat of a lack of speed. Getting the music, pictures and other stuff into the iPhone was easy as Ixxx8217;ve been using an iPod for years and spent some time getting iTunes ready to load what I wanted on my iPhone in advance.
The Camera is OK. It may be just a bit better than my K550i Sony Ericsson, but only under certain conditions and again I've only had the iPhone since 6:30pm yesterday. I feel that it is adequate and itxxx8217;s not something that is a deal breaker. However it would be nice if it had a better camera.
The build quality of the device is stellar, typical Apple, very well designed, sturdy and good looking. I must say that the key to keeping it this way will be to avoid dropping it. I think that it will scratch up a fair amount when dropped, so avoiding that is a priority.
The glass display is a bit on the shiny side, and reflects a fair amount. However perhaps with time it something that you get used to. The colors are very nice and the resolution is not bad. The icons can be a bit fuzzy on the edges but thatxxx8217;s probably because I have very good vision and I notice things like that, just a minor detail. Once you use it for awhile there are so many fingerprints that itxxx8217;s less noticeable. I keep a small soft micro fiber cloth and a bit of screen cleaning liquid in my bag so I can clean it frequently. Itxxx8217;s really nice when super clean.
No idea about battery performance yet, even though I used it from about 7:30pm until about 3am in the morning, and then again from 7:30am this morning until about noon, then I took a few minutes to write this report. Anyway I was too focused on everything else and Ixxx8217;m not picky about battery times anyway as I always carry the charger with me.
So that is my initial impression after about 11 to 12 hours of usage. Overall I give Apple good marks as it all works. As noted some of the functions need improvement in the speed department, however for a first try I think Apple did OK. I think this is a good starting point for them, and the next version should be much better and so much faster.
For now I'm happy as I knew that it would be slow based on the specs and lack of 3G. I mainly purchased it because I'm an early adopter, it will not be my main phone and thus it really doesn't matter that much.
I am a serious phone enthusiast with three lines and several new unlocked phones. I use my BlackBerry during the week. My Samsung A717 when I want to carry a small, fast & light 3G flip phone with really strong, clear phone reception, when out hiking or going to the beach, or on the boat, where one would not want to carry the iPhone. Finally, I plan on carrying my iPhone for fun on other evenings during the week and on the weekends. It's a phone that is like my PSP, just for fun.
If they work diligently, I believe that in a year or so, Apple will have the bugs worked out of the iPhone and at that time it may be good enough to be the only phone one carries, except for those times you want a small phone for an active weekend out.
On a scale of 1 xxx8211; 10 I rate it as a solid 7.0, very good for their first try.
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