It seems that some ‘very lucky’ people has been allowed to play around with the iPhone 4 before the launch date on Thursday the 24th, and now that Apple’s embargo has been lifted up, we can read some of these reviews.
The reviewers seem to be divided into 2 camps, in one side are the tech-journalists from the mainstream media, and on the other side are the tech-bloggers.
It is interesting to read the each reviews from both camps, because they have different emphasis and depth.
Reviews from the tech-journalists, represented by Walt Mossberg from All Things Digital, David Pogue from The New York Times and Ed Baig from USA Today, tend to touch on topics such as look and feel, the new IOS4 (Multitasking and App Folder) and most prominently the Facetime, which they seem to agree that it’s the iPhone’s killer feature.
It’s not the first phone with both a front and back camera. It’s not even the first one to make video calls. But the iPhone 4 is the first phone to make good video calls, reliably, with no sign-up or setup, with a single tap. The picture and audio are rock solid, with very little delay, and it works the first time and every time. – David Pogue
FaceTime video calling on the iPhone 4 is one of those cool “seeing is believing” features … – Ed Baig
Meanwhile, from the tech-bloggers, represented by Xeni Jardin from Boing-Boing and Joshua Topolsky from Engadget, we have a more thorough and in-depth hands-on review.
Xeni was particularly giving the new iPhone Camera a run, and was pleased with the quality of the pictures the iPhone took compare to the old versions (expectedly). She also noticed that the shutter speed has become … speedier.
I brought my iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 to the Venice Beach skate park, to take shots of fast-moving skaters in those magical aerial moments, just before a swan-dive into the belly of the bowl. With earlier iPhones, man, just forget it. You’re using the wrong device. Response is too sluggish for good odds on getting good action shots. But with iPhone 4, I was able to tap-tap-tap in rapid succession, or tap once at just the right instant, and bring home some real trophy jpegs. – Xeni Jardin
As for Engadget review, as usual, they tested almost everything we want to know from this new piece of hardware and software. I’m particularly impressed on this photo comparison between the new and the old iPhone display. It really shows off how good the Retina Display is. [Photo courtesy of Engadget]
Marvelous!
Joshua’s last words sum up the whole thing:
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.
Have you received your iPhone 4? If you have, we would like to know how it is :)
No related posts.
One Response to “iPhone 4 Hands-On Reviews Are Starting To Surface”