iPhone: First Impressions

// Filed in: Reviews
gallery4_20070621
iPhone
Review by: Rick Chin
http://www.apple.com/iphone
Price: $499 for 4GB, $599 for 8GB, 2 Year Contract with AT&T Required

I worked with an iPhone for a while on Tuesday at the Mall of Millennia. Here are my first impressions. Before reading this, you should know I rely heavy on my Blackberry phone for work, so I’m looking at this from a business user viewpoint.

Note: This review was done just after the iPhone was released. Because much of the functionality on the iPhone is software based, it is very possible that a software update has corrected some of the concerns since this review was written

BIG WINS
  • Drop dead gorgeous
  • Great fit and feel when being held in your hand
  • Great screen
  • Real HTML email viewing
  • Excellent web browsing
  • Typical great Apple UI with some hiccups
  • Live traffic reporting
  • WiFi
  • Great battery life
  • Correct-as-you-type works very well
 
DEAL BREAKERS
  • Phone calls do not interrupt web browsing or YouTube video if they are using EDGE network – phone calls should always take precedence
  • No BCC field on email – a serious oversight
  • Can’t use folders to store/categorize emails
  • Awkward way that Microsoft Entourage syncs with iPhone – sync to Address Book and iCal
  • Awkward way that Microsoft Outlook syncs with iPhone – sync through iTunes (possibly fixed by rumored MS ActiveSync compatibility coming soon)
  • No over-the-air or live synching of contacts, calendar, email, etc. – tough to think about if you’re used to Blackberry push email
  • No automatic way to download email more frequently than every 15 minutes vs. push email automatic delivery – again, whole conversations can occur in that 15 minute gap – I’d like to check every 1 or 2 minutes
  • Backspace key right next to the Return/Go/Search key – frequent mis-hits of the Return/Go/Search when trying to press Backspace
  • No numbers, period, or comma characters on the first keyboard – have to go to an auxiliary virtual keyboard instead
  • No search ability for contact names, just scrolling and alphabet index – if you’ve got a couple of thousand business contacts, you need search ability
  • Incredibly limited sort order options for contacts
  • No ability to delete groups of emails – must delete one at a time which is painful if you get a lot of email
  • Messages sent on iPhone are not synced to Mail.app's Sent folder
  • iPhone has its own set of non-contact addresses you manually enter and they don’t go back into Mail.app or Address Book
  • IMAP messages cannot be marked as “read”
  • Can’t mark all or selected as “read” or “unread”
  • No spell check beside the interactive one when typing
  • Can only download and view the latest 200 messages – bad for those who travel on long flights and get a lot of email
  • No To Do list – an incredible oversight for a Personal Information Manager device
 
BIG MISSES
  • No voice activated dialing
  • Only EDGE 2.5G instead of 3G data speed
  • Headphone jack doesn’t support other headphones without adapter
  • No week view in calendar
  • No MMS
  • Many incompatible iPod accessories
  • POP mail read on iPhone does not get marked read in Mail.app after sync
  • No search for iPod artists or album names
  • No iChat instant messaging
  • No color categorization on calendars
  • No flash, zoom, or video record functions on camera
  • No GPS feature (would have made Google Maps even more awesome)
  • “Clear” button on the calculator is in a horrible spot, likely to be hit accidentally
  • Notes uses the hard-to-read font Marker Felt
 
THINGS THAT SHOULD BE IMPROVED ASAP
  • Only 2 MP camera
  • No custom ring tones yet
  • No empty trash option
  • More consistent UI color theme
  • More consistent use of gestures in the interface
  • Ability to listen to music via Bluetooth aka Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Streaming (A2DP)
  • Phone security options
|