Apple iPhone Review

Overall Rating

Beautifully built and well thought out. Excellent screen and user interface. Huge memory and great for use on the internet.

Very few user definable settings, poor ringtone choice, speaker phone too quiet in noisy environments, too heavy for a phone and texting can be difficult!

Firstly let me say that I love the iPhone and have been using one un-locked in the UK for a few weeks now (contrary to other mobile phone reviews of the iPhone I read). It has on it my full contacts list, my music and video library and I use it every day for my appointments diary and for keeping notes. Oh... and I send texts and make phone calls on it too!
Most of which it does very well, BUT, there are great deal of things that the iPhone DOESN'T DO which you should be aware of before you part with your hard earned cash on eBay or O2 for a contract.
Firstly, if you are wanting to use one and you don't have iTunes, forget it! The iPhone is designed to be use in conjunction with Apple's money maker so if ya gonna get an iPhone, get iTunes and load it onto your computer before you start. Even the unlocked ones need to use iTunes for syncing. Obviously there is no 3G so it can be slow unless you are in a Wi-Fi hot spot or you use it at home on your own network, then it is superb. The O2 models will be able to use the newly up-graded EDGE system (as long as you're in the right area) but otherwise it is down to good old GPRS for the web stuff I'm afraid. Also there is no voice dialling or recording possible, a bit of a problem if you are going to use your iPhone in the car! The on board Bluetooth can only be used to link the iPhone to a car kit or headset and can't be used to do file transfers from your PC or Mac! Any such transfers have to be down via iTunes... assuming you have it of course.
If you are a texter then you are in for a few problems there too. Leaving aside the 'tricky' if you have large fingers, touch screen system, the iPhone has no way of putting messages into 'drafts' for sending later and has no 'templates'. If you use delivery reports for your SMS messages then forget them on the iPhone cos it doesn't support them either! You can't change the text message or email alert tones and the ringtone choice is to say the least very limited. This is bourne out by the fact that Apple are now introducing 'ringtones' for the iPhone on the iTunes site... but you have to pay for them of course!
If you are into your photography then the iPhones built-in 2 megapixel offering will leave you cold with absolutely no setting adjustments at all. Point and shoot for the contacts list is the best you can really hope for.
At this point you are probably thinking that the so called 'Jesus' phone got its name because that's what people said when they saw what was missing. But no! You only have to use one for a few minutes in the pub and watch the reaction of people around you as you show them the iPhone. Everybody admires it and nearly everybody seems to want one. As from November 9th you can have one in the UK as long as you spend nearly £290 and then commit yourself to a 18 month contract for at least £35 a month with O2! Thats a lot of cash for a phone that is technologically out of date, but I think, just like in the US they will sell like hot cakes over here. My opinion is that if you have the choice of an iPhone on that kind of contract or a FREE Nokia N95 on a similar contract then the Nokia would be the obvious choice. It won't get you the admiring looks of the iPhone but it is a far better overall package.
Will I part with my iPhone? No! I've grown to love it. It's like having an Aston Martin DB9 on the drive but still wanting to go out in your Triumph Stag. It hasn't got anywhere near as many toys but it still gives you the bigger buzz.

Members' Comments onscarborian's Review

• Botman on 15th Oct 2007

  I found this review helpful because... it helps in understanding the skills of the telephone before to buy it.
  
  Botman

• caedlin2001 on 2nd Jan 2008

  Hmmm, I linked to i-tunes no 3g,no video or video calling.2g dinosaur,me thinks!

  Not to worry, Apple's cash cow will remedy this around May by sticking 3g into there new i-phone.

  I wonder when they'll stop updating the i-tune money spinner(first 8Gb then 16Gb and so on,then get the new blue i-phone with gold spots on it then get the gold i-phone with blue spots on!!!!)

  It's the same old trick they use with i-pod!

  Thank heavens I had the sense to go for the Samsung F700(sure they'll bring updated versions but at least this starts at a decent spec and I CAN USE MY OWN MUSIC NOT RENT IT FROM APPLE)

  Will you I-poddies never learn??

• stevecbj on 1st Mar 2008

  I found this review helpful because... it gave an objective review of both the positives and negatives, enabling you to make a balanced decision.