Exclusive hands on iPhone 4 review

Tick follows tock follows tick follows tock. We have been waiting. Waiting since last year. But there was no sign of the biggest thing that happened to the iPhone since its original masterpiece. So we hoped onto a jet plane to land at the Regent Street, London, stood in the queue for 5 hours without complain to pocket this 9.3 mm, 137 grams glass slab. And now after using it for months we can happily echo Mr. Jobs keynote comment, “iPhone 4 is the biggest leap since the original iPhone.

Hardware: Redesigned

This is the fourth version of the phone and Apple has completely rethought its strategy on how the phone should look and feel. The result: a lethal combination of aluminosilicate glass and stainless steel band. So no more curved, plasticky look of its predecessors, this is industrial design at its best. A solid piece of hardware that feels hefty in your palm. So what’s so special about this aluminosilicate glass? Apple promises the screen to be "20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic and it’s the same glass used in the windshields of helicopters”. Wow! Even though we were tempted to test it we couldn’t take the risk of damaging the phone for which we had to travel four thousand plus miles. iFixit rejoice.

 

Let’s take a look at the other external features of the phone. The left side of the phone has the new volume buttons and a mute switch. On the right side is the Micro-SIM slot, and the top of the band has the on/off- sleep/wake button, headphone jack, and a new noise-canceling microphone. The bottom part has a speaker, microphone, and the 30-pin dock connector port. The front side of the phone has a small slit for the earpiece and the front-facing VGA camera with the iconic home button while the backside of the phone boasts off the new five-megapixel camera paired with its LED flash and, the shiny Apple logo.

Like the exterior too the interior has undergone a drastic change. The iPhone is powered with Apple’s custom A4 chip - an ARM Cortex-A8-based 1 GHz CPU, 512 RAM and 16 or 32 GB internal storage.

In terms of wireless, the iPhone 4 is packed with an 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi radio, as well as a quad-band HSUPA chip and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.
This complete exterior and interior redesign has a big impact on the battery life. The built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery is bigger in size providing more life to the phone.

But one of the most significant changes that have given the fanboys an adrenaline rush is the display. The 960 x 640 IPS LED backlit, dubbed as the "Retina Display" showcases a gorgeous 326ppi pixel density along with an 800:1 contrast ratio. Honestly, we’ve never seen a more detailed, clear screen on any mobile device.

Since its launch in 2007, the camera has always been a week spot of this ‘revolutionized device’. Now with a five-megapixel camera Apple is finally listening to the consumers who want to leave their ‘point and shoot’ cameras at home. We must say the pictures look stunning. Moreover, it now can shoot HD (720p) videos at up to 30 frames per second with audio.  Though low-light condition is still a bit of a problem but day light recording is quite crisp. Adding to the main camera is the front camera mainly used for video calling (read FaceTime).  Yes, you can shoot VGA-quality photos and video at up to 30 frames per second. 

Software: Refreshed

When Apple launched iPhone 4 last year it came with a refreshed and renamed iOS (Apple’s Operating System) offering Apple’s version of multitasking, a video calling feature, folders, Unified Mailbox, and lots of other facelifts. But one thing was missing, tethering iPhone 4 with your iPad or Mac. Fortunately now with iOS 4.3.2 avid travelers can take a breather.

To us one of the biggest disadvantages of iPhone 3G/3GS was lack of multitasking. By multitasking we mean, you open your iPod (app) to play your favorite album, switch to the Twitter app to post a tweet, open the camera and take a snap, check back new mails, cut-copy-paste a contact details and send an SMS, back to the iPod to change the music. This may not be "true" multitasking for the techies, but it acts as multitasking for a common man. So no complain.

But we have problem with the much-hyped FaceTime or video calling. Yes, it’s just video calling, no matter how Apple markets it. And it does transmit crisp video but only works over Wi-Fi! We will be waiting for the day when we could make video calls over 3G.

However, the biggest advantage of iOS 4.3 running on iPhone 4 is now you can tether your and Mac or iPad (WiFi only) using your iPhone 4 data package. So imagine you are on a Wi-Fi less zone and you are not carrying your 3G data dongle, but if you have an iPhone 4 you are saved from all the stress.  This is definitely a big bonus as this feature is available with the Green Robot devices for long.

Folders are folders. We're happy that Apple has included this long due feature. You drag and drop one app on another and it will create a folder for you. You can relabel it according to your choice and can store up to 12 apps/webpage shortcuts. Basically organizing similar apps in one group.

Last but not the least mail improvements actually helped a lot of us who use multiple replies in a single mail. A unified inbox and threaded messaging has considerably made mail usage on iPhone 4 more enjoyable.

Apps: Reinvented

Apps form the backbone of this phone. With over 350,000 apps available on the iTunes Apps Store the patented slogan “There’s an app for that” truly makes sense. Almost all these apps are by third party developers barring few. These apps, developed by Apple, come inbuilt with the iPhone 4.

Voice Memos: You can call it as your Dictaphone; this app comes really handy in meetings or if you want to take a note while driving.
 
Find iPhone: The easiest thing to lose is your iPhone. For that matter any phone. But with Find iPhone app searching your iPhone becomes super easy. Once paired with MobileMe you can locate exactly where you have left your phone.

iBooks: Bookworm? Then this app is for you. You can download the latest best-selling books or your favorite classics – day or night. Browse your library on a beautiful bookshelf, tap a book to open it, flip through pages with a swipe or a tap, and bookmark or add notes to your favorite passages.

iMovie: Those who have used this app on a Mac needs no introduction. Those who haven’t, it’s a miniature video editing tool. Though it’s not going to upload a HD quality video on YouTube (for that you need to transfer the file on your Mac/PC) it comes quite handy for small edits and uploads.

Game Centre: We all love to play games. Single Player or Multi-players. But what about challenging someone online? With Game Center that resembles Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network with leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations, things can’t get better than this.

So all in all when you combine the robust hardware with a sleek operating system, and thousands of apps the iPhone 4 is definitely THE phone available at this point of time.

With rumor mill working on full throttle for iPhone 5 launch at WWDC 2011, launch of iPad 2 in India along with 11 other countries, and Airtel and Aircel offering iPhone 4 pre-order, we here can hope for one thing… iPhone 4 in Black and White model launching in India in June-July. Till then we are waiting. Tick follows tock follows tick follows tock.

Also check out Apple iphone 4 pictures and handy iphone 4 user guides that will help you navigate your Apple iphone 4 easily.


Siddhartha Banerjee is a digital strategist, specializing in mobile media. After relocating to India last year, he switched careers and became a self-taught iOS app developer and created MeterDown, the number one featured app on the Indian app store (travel) and SARI – World’s first ever app on Sari draping on any mobile platform. Twitter: @theappstar