Anandtech's iPhone 4 review | Hacker News Reader

Anandtech's iPhone 4 review

anandtech.com

44 pointspieter16 comments

Interestingly, looks like the infamous antenna issue is now up to YOU: how important is that functionality to you?

Radio reception, like anything really, is a trade-off. The external antenna without a bumper case offers greater sensibility with good looks at the expense of the "cup" holding pattern.

Do you want absolute best signal? Don't hold it that way... :) Wanna hold it any way you like? Get a bumper case. Want the good looks while you have mostly good coverage? Keep the iPhone as it comes by default, hold careful if you tend to drop connections often.

The choice is really yours. Who said Apple doesn't give you choices... :)

I appreciated the clarification that signal strength (dB) and signal quality (SNR) are two different things -- that all the phones tested got lower signal when "tightly cupped", but with the iPhone 4 despite the lower dB, the new antenna design holds calls and gets higher speeds than other phones:

> "I can honestly say that I've never held onto so many calls and data simultaneously on 1 bar at -113 dB as I have with the iPhone 4 ... reception is massively better on the iPhone 4 in actual use."

And that there's another benefit to the new antenna design:

> "WiFi signal has changed as well... though not how one would expect. Holding the phone with no case actually improves WiFi signal strength by a measurable 5 to 10 dB."

"the new antenna design holds calls and gets higher speeds than other phones"

Other iPhones right? Is there indication that this is a comparison with other phones on ATT besides the iPhone?

An extremely well written interview, the best yet. Apple's decision to remove the Field Test from i0S4, the introduction of the iPhone Bumper case, and the complete disregard to the numerous complaints so far has heightened my suspicions that they were well aware of the problems with the external antenna but assumed they could get away with it.

I think you meant "Review".

Yes, Extremely detailed.

I think they assumed very correctly.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/06/28iphone.html.

What gets me the most of this situation is not the "lovely smartphone, terrible at making calls" dichotomy, because that's not really new to me... it's the response that Apple gave ("Steve Jobs" saying 'hold it differently or get a case') and the fact that so many people consider this both appropriate and in fact defensible as a paradigm / response.

Where did you get the "terrible at making calls" part from? BTW, is this piece by NOKIA considered inappropriate too: http://funsizebytes.com/post/745721120/instructions-from-my-... ?

"terrible" is, fairly, an exaggeration. I just meant to emphasize that, in comparison with the great features it offers as a technology device, it has rarely been considered superlative for its voice telephony featureset in any particular regard - be it voice quality, signal strength, etc. Common problems in fact, are often reported on all those fronts by people I know with iPhones (and me when talking to them). Combine with AT&T woes, add hyperbole, and you have my assessment.

There's an equally in depth review of the Evo 4G that appears to have been written at the same time (shared photo and speed comparisions etc.):

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3791/the-sprint-htc-evo-4g-rev...

> The iPhone 4 is slightly heavier than the 3GS (4.8oz vs. 4.7oz). You feel the added weight...

Also, he can definitely tell that the penis enlargement cream is working.

Have you used the iPhone 4? You definitely feel the extra weight, but not because it's heavier but because it's more dense. It's quite a bit thinner yet slightly heavier which gives the impression of it being noticeably heavier.

> You definitely feel the extra weight

This the same sloppy language I was poking fun of in the original article. I highly doubt that you can detect a ~2% difference in weight of 0.1oz. If the wording were "it's only 0.1oz heavier, but the increased density makes it seem heavier", I wouldn't have commented.

What would happen if you shock an iPhone 4 with static electricity?

Let me guess: it looks really nice and has a great screen?

You've obviously never read a review by Anand Shimpi.

Obviously I meant in summary - clearly he has made a lot more words than that.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com