Consumer Reports Still Not Recommending iPhone 4

[igirlca]

to everyone saying they believe this footage of other phones having the identical issue...i have 3 nexus ones here, 2 desires, 1 incredible, 5 blackberry models, and 4 iphone models, and 1 palm pre.. i am gripping the **** out of them in every way i can, and while there is some degredation of db strength, it's nowhere near what it is on the iphone 4.

i'm not going to post video of it, frankly i don't care whether you believe it or not, the level at which people believe steve jobs is sickening regardless. and i love apple products.

i've recently switched to nexus one full time, but i still got an iphone4 because i'm part of a blog to report on them.

it's a great phone if you ignore all the typical apple nonsense, but the antenna issue is maybe the worst thing apple has ever done. and they've just made it worse in a gross attempt at trying to make it go away. their marketshare dropped 4 whole percentage points in q1 and android is selling like hotcakes, now is not the time to take cheap shots and pretend you don't have competition.

but thats really apples whole image isn't it, everything else is ****? that's gotten them this far and i guess ..why would they change that? they've been fooling people for years with 'we don't get viruses or spyware' and people still to this day believe that. it doesn't matter that every tech and programming publication consistently rates them the least secure operating system, people think you can't get a virus on a mac.

people were screaming for a recall here too, until steve said the problem doesn't exist, but if you're going to be such a baby we'll give you a free case. lol what? then to my dismay i see people going along with it... well there it is guys...steve said it doesn't really exist, lets move on.

i hate to break it to the die hards, but blind loyalty will not only not get YOU anywhere, not demanding your products be held to a standard will also degrade the quality of your precious apple future. if you don't demand they give you stuff that works now, the brand will only get worse.

quit being willfully ignorant consumers with this company. they treat you like you cant even figure out how to change an sms sound or install an app outside of the app store, and you treat them like they're gods. get real.

this return percentage he flashed is also ***** ridiculous, everybody was waiting to see what apples move was before returning, i'd LOOOOOVE to see what the return rate is 1-3 months from now. i bet it exceeds every other smartphone on the market.

 

[wizard]

Horrible customers are Apples biggest problem right now.

I don't think Consumer Reports is hurting their rep but it is true about iPhones still selling. I setup the return of mine today and went to the Apple store where they could not help me because I bought it through the online apple store, incredibly stupid for the 2 systems to not be combined. Anyways people were coming in to buy the iPhone 4 which they didn't have any of. Then I had to go to the AT&T store to get a new sim for my old iPhone 3g so i would have a phone while the 4 is being shipped back. While waiting there for 30 minutes everyone that came in except for 2 people asked about buying the iPhone 4. Amazing. Either people live under rocks or people just don't care if they can make a phone call on a phone or not

it is more a case of people recognizing that iPhone is the best tool of it's type. Plus people being intelligent enough to use the tool properly.

Oh and while I was sitting in the AT&T store my signal on my iPhone 4 which was still active was dropping up and down. Got my iPhone 3G reactivated and I've been at full signal ever since.

Which means absolutely nothing because my 3G will show variability in the bars too. Just sitting on a table with no one touching it. The point is you don't know why the signal was or is varying at any one time. It could be a cell tower issue or intermitant interference. You need more information than you have to state that the problem rests with the iPhone 4.

No matter how I hold the 3G I cannot get the signal to drop whereas just touching the bars on the 4 would cause a quick drop.

In a nut shell the problem is you, don't touch the gap and you won't have a problem. Your stupidity here is no different than the guy that puts his thumb on a nails head, smashes it and then blames the hammer. Sorry to say that but I'm just really tired of this sort of posting nonsense and really think people need to be held accountable.

Do you blame your IR remote if you are trying to use it from another room? There is an expectation that the user will do his part here.

Further you can't deny the reality that all RF system antennas interact with the environment. Anyone that has ever used a portable FM radio should understand this. But it isn't just an issue for FM radios because the physics is the same for all RF devices. That EM field interacts in one way or another with everything around the antenna.

I don't care what Apple said today, this is a design flaw and I won't be buying an iPhone 5 until many months after the release.

Funny but it is normal operating procedure here to wait a bit after a new product comes out. That to let the lemmings do the field testing. Even then I still got caught up in some of the issues the 3G had early in it's life time. Interestingly these issues where far worst than anything happening with iPhone 4 right now. However there was not any of this negative hysteria that we have today. I attribute that directly to types of customers buying the iPhone today.

I still think they are great phones and an awesome OS, this one was flawed pretty badly and for them to basically say "well everyone else is bad too so its not our fault" is a horrible way to treat your customers.

It is pretty ignorant for you as a customer to expect Apple to come up with new physical laws to govern the iPhone. More so it is pretty pathetic that you find a way to fail communications on an iPhone (bridge the bar) and then slag Apple because you can get the device to fail in a specific way. Why don't you just short the iPod connector and then claim Apple was shortsighted because you want to be able to short the connector? In a nut shell that appears to be your point that the iPhone should work no matter what you do with it. I can not accept that at all, because there is no way for Apple or any other manufacture to make a device that can effectively withstand every users abusive use.

I would look at an android based phone but none of the cool ones come for AT&T.

Would it not have been far simpler to deal with you improper usage of the iPhone instead of running around with this silly mission? Think about it, avoiding bridging the bar is pretty cheap even if you have to buy a case. It really appears that you are caught up in the mass hysteria caused by the web sites. You want to believe the iPhone 4 is defective because everybody says that when you do xyz the signal drops. However it doesn't occur to you to not do xyz but instead become an active user of the iPhone.

As a side note there is a bit of nautical wisdom that says never leave a big boat for a smaller one in an emergency unless you really have to. There where reports a year or two ago of a family that did just that because they thought their sail boat was sinking. A couple of them died awaiting rescue. Worst the sail boat never sank. Panic is a very dangerous thing that can easily be amplified by those around you. It is something to keep in mind when faced with trying situations in life. Breath deep and think.


Dave
Dave

 

[igirlca]

it is more a case of people recognizing that iPhone is the best tool of it's type. Plus people being intelligent enough to use the tool properly.

well sir, apple certainly doesn't think you're intelligent enough to use the tool properly, otherwise you'd have flash and be installing non appstore apps on it.

In a nut shell the problem is you, don't touch the gap and you won't have a problem. Your stupidity here is no different than the guy that puts his thumb on a nails head, smashes it and then blames the hammer. Sorry to say that but I'm just really tired of this sort of posting nonsense and really think people need to be held accountable.

actually i thought this thread was rather delightful and intelligent until reading your unprecedented loyalty to admittedly failed hardware. he's not stupid for touching the phone and losing signal, this issue was acknowledged by apple themselves, might want to check your facts, or check your attitude.

you dave, are unintelligent, bitter, uninformed, and cynical. keep dancing while steve pulls the strings clown.

 

[macsmurf]

Further you can't deny the reality that all RF system antennas interact with the environment.

Nobody is denying this.

It is pretty ignorant for you as a customer to expect Apple to come up with new physical laws to govern the iPhone.

Then maybe you can explain how the bumper apparently defy the laws of physics?

There is a test by anandtech that has been widely circulated on the forum: http://www.anandtech.com/Show/Index...ne-4-redux-analyzing-apples-ios-41-signal-fix

This clearly shows that there are two issues:

One is the issue of your hand blocking the signal. All phones have this and that is what Jobs referred to when he talked about the laws of physics.

The other one happens when you touch the antenna directly, bridging the two antennas. This one is what everyone is talking about. Lets be nice and call it a design tradeoff as it can be worked around by not holding the phone in such a way that you do that or by using a bumper. Whether those workarounds appeal to you is a matter of choice. I'm a lefty which makes it difficult to not hold the phone that way.

However, by pretending there is only one issue, Apple is being disingenuous and logically inconsistent. I think that is what people are pointing out and a lot of people are pointedly ignoring.

 

[Fluffy Bunny]

PC World Removes iPhone 4 from Top 10 Chart

From PC World:
"iPhone 4: Why We’ve Reconsidered Its Rating
Ginny Mies and Melissa J. Perenson, PC World
Jul 16, 2010 7:17 pm

If you were following this morning's Apple press conference, you may have seen PCWorld's name listed as one of the publications that lauded the iPhone 4 as the number one smartphone available. Unfortunately, after today's news and the number of issues that drove Apple to call this press conference in the first place, PCWorld has decided to take the iPhone 4 off our Top 10 Cell Phones chart and reassign it a "pending" rating."

 

[Max(IT)]

From PC World:
"iPhone 4: Why We’ve Reconsidered Its Rating
Ginny Mies and Melissa J. Perenson, PC World
Jul 16, 2010 7:17 pm

If you were following this morning's Apple press conference, you may have seen PCWorld's name listed as one of the publications that lauded the iPhone 4 as the number one smartphone available. Unfortunately, after today's news and the number of issues that drove Apple to call this press conference in the first place, PCWorld has decided to take the iPhone 4 off our Top 10 Cell Phones chart and reassign it a "pending" rating."

Are they also going to give a "pending" rating to the Blackberry 9700, the HTC Droid Eris, and the Samsung Omnia II, and any other smartphone with the same exact problem? And will they ask them to send out a free case? Apple did.

 

[fifthworld]

Hey Consumer Reports, Steve Jobs said they would take care of all customers.

A. They would give free cases or refund APPLE purchased cases a refund.

B. If the consumer was absolutely not satisfied then they could return phone for refund.

Sounds pretty solid to me.

What else do you want. Blood from Steve Jobs?
I was impressed with the response from Apple concerning this situation.

What strange think to say. It's not that CR is rating Apple, they are rating the iPh4.

 

[viewfly]

Got my IP4...I can deal with it.

Played with my IP4 this weekend. Very impressed. Verified the left hand side sweet spot - yes it attenuates RF (I measure in dBm) and Data speeds severely.

But I can deal with it...without a case.

Interestingly, the other 'sweet spot'...top of phone black band where the two antennas also meet has NO effect. Nor does touching the metal anywhere else. Also I can touch just below or above the left bottom sweet spot...no effect on data speeds. So I think the reason has to do with the way this Penta-Band antenna is fed RF...and how difficult/complicated that is to do without consequences. But having a metal external antenna is, in general, not bad...one can touch it anywhere else with no effect.

Actually the left bottom sweet spot ( 1mm x 6mm wide) is only 0.01% of the total area of the metal band...pretty easy to avoid...much easier to avoid than one of my old stubby antennas.

Placed my Bold 9700 3G in dBm mode (ALT + MNLL) and held it at its sweet spot...verified that it drops like IP4...around 20 dB.

Here are Apple's tests (note the footnote...must begin in a weak celluar area of around -90 dBm to see the 'bar' effect, i.e. 5 bars on the old bar scale). http://www.apple.com/antenna/

Nokia is being quiet now because they know that for decades they have printed manuals to avoid certain spots on all Nokia phones.

Summary: this phone has so many good features that I can deal with the RF issue like any intelligent geek can....just don't place my finger in the wrong spot...sort of like not placing your finger over the camera lens. Whereas other phones don't do what I need from a smartphone...so going with them has more problems for me. (just my opinion and situation)

BUT, I agree....Apple makes devices 'for the rest of us'...meaning non-geeks. So it should have been more consumer friendly. AND, at least Apple should have placed a warning in the manual. But the antenna reception is improved over the 3GS...if you avoid the sweet spot.

I also got a bumper...because I use cases sometimes. It works and gives no problem. But I'm mostly going 'naked' with a Sena Ultra Slim case. I tried insulating 'Kapton' tape (a DuPont product used in transformers, PCs, and radios) over the lower gap. It was not thick enough to solve the problem, but helped a little. So I kind of doubt duct tape will solve it either.

 

[Max(IT)]

to everyone saying they believe this footage of other phones having the identical issue...i have 3 nexus ones here, 2 desires, 1 incredible, 5 blackberry models, and 4 iphone models, and 1 palm pre.. i am gripping the **** out of them in every way i can, and while there is some degredation of db strength, it's nowhere near what it is on the iphone 4.

i'm not going to post video of it, frankly i don't care whether you believe it or not, the level at which people believe steve jobs is sickening regardless. and i love apple products.

i've recently switched to nexus one full time, but i still got an iphone4 because i'm part of a blog to report on them.

it's a great phone if you ignore all the typical apple nonsense, but the antenna issue is maybe the worst thing apple has ever done. and they've just made it worse in a gross attempt at trying to make it go away. their marketshare dropped 4 whole percentage points in q1 and android is selling like hotcakes, now is not the time to take cheap shots and pretend you don't have competition.

but thats really apples whole image isn't it, everything else is ****? that's gotten them this far and i guess ..why would they change that? they've been fooling people for years with 'we don't get viruses or spyware' and people still to this day believe that. it doesn't matter that every tech and programming publication consistently rates them the least secure operating system, people think you can't get a virus on a mac.

people were screaming for a recall here too, until steve said the problem doesn't exist, but if you're going to be such a baby we'll give you a free case. lol what? then to my dismay i see people going along with it... well there it is guys...steve said it doesn't really exist, lets move on.

i hate to break it to the die hards, but blind loyalty will not only not get YOU anywhere, not demanding your products be held to a standard will also degrade the quality of your precious apple future. if you don't demand they give you stuff that works now, the brand will only get worse.

quit being willfully ignorant consumers with this company. they treat you like you cant even figure out how to change an sms sound or install an app outside of the app store, and you treat them like they're gods. get real.

this return percentage he flashed is also ***** ridiculous, everybody was waiting to see what apples move was before returning, i'd LOOOOOVE to see what the return rate is 1-3 months from now. i bet it exceeds every other smartphone on the market.

Except your beloved Nexus One is one of the worst smartphones when you speak about basics like reception and battery life ...
But yeah, we trust you

What a joke most of the posters in this thread are.

Consumer Reports doesn't hate the iPhone 4. In fact, they think it's the best phone on the market. But once they thoroughly tested the antenna problem they found it to have a serious enough hardware flaw to not recommend it until Apple fixed the problem.

They and Anandtech both did testing that found all phones suffer from some level of attenuation, nobody doubts this, but that isn't the problem. The problem is that the iPhone 4's external antenna design causes their attenuation problems to be more severe than the norm. Bare contact with the antenna is bad (making it worse than other phones) but combine it with the fact that you don't need a death grip (like other phones) but only 1 finger to create the problem, and you have a major flaw that Apple should address.

What Apple did yesterday was nothing short of straight propaganda.

They said: All phones suffer attenuation.
The truth: the iPhone 4 suffers more from attenuation.

They ignored the core issue completely and are now spewing PR propaganda and guess what? The other companies are now fighting back with statements. Apple F'd up on this and I expect RIM, HTC and others to now do thorough testing that will expose raw data showing the truth.

I'm not going to act like the iPhone 4 is completely unusable but I have no doubt that Apple crossed an acceptable threshold when they chose this antenna design. Watch the next iPhone not even have an external antenna.

The joke is the army of newbies like you who joined the forum in June-July 2010 ....
And last time I checked the only "fight back" by Nokia, Htc and Rim was a completely BS statement about their phones, backed up by NOTHING more than words. At least Apple showed us videos ...

 

[pirateRACE]

I think Consumer Reports is flawed. They don't recommend a phone that they rated the highest in it's category.

I don't see how they can be a trusted source of independent reviews with such conflicting reports.

 

[MotiB]

Phones are not perfect. neither some press conferences.

Jobs promised here a free silicon case for each iPhone owner.
Listen Steve: You buy an apple iPhone because of its design. Because it feels great in your hand. If you wanted to hold a plastic feeling phone, you could have bought a plain old Nokia instead, at a fraction of the price.

Moti

 

[rcandre2]

Pulled this off of engadget.com... love it... t-shirts anyone?

 

[afrowq]

Like when they recommend the 2007 Camry with no data on it and then get egg on their face when it had transmission issues?

Or just because it is Toyota, they give them the benefit of the doubt they would fix the 2005 Avalon issues?

Can you provide a link or a reference for what you're talking about here? I can't find anything about it online.

 

[quagmire]

Can you provide a link or a reference for what you're talking about here? I can't find anything about it online.

Couldn't find a working link for the 2005 Avalon story, but here is the blind recommendation for Toyota.

The V6 version of the company's top-selling Camry, and the four-wheel-drive V8 version of the Tundra pickup, both redesigned for 2007, now rate below average in Consumer Reports' predicted reliability rating. (This rating does not apply to previous model years.) In addition, the all-wheel-drive version of the Lexus GS sedan also received a below average rating. Because Consumer Reports does not recommend models with below-average reliability, these models no longer make CR's "Recommended" list.

Previously, new and redesigned Toyota models were recommended because of the automaker's excellent track record, even if CR didn't have sufficient reliability data on the new model.

Still, because of these findings, CR will no longer recommend any new or redesigned Toyota-built models without reliability data on a specific design.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2007/10/car-reliability.html

They recommended those vehicles without any data. So when they had issues, they had egg on their face.

 

[GoodWatch]

Except your beloved Nexus One is one of the worst smartphones when you speak about basics like reception and battery life ...
But yeah, we trust you



The joke is the army of newbies like you who joined the forum in June-July 2010 ....
And last time I checked the only "fight back" by Nokia, Htc and Rim was a completely BS statement about their phones, backed up by NOTHING more than words. At least Apple showed us videos ...

Or the joke is on the likes of you, who believe (with the emphasis on believe) everything iGod says. Ahh yes, those videos. Very convincing evidence

 

[JD914]

Consumer Reports still gives Apple’s iPhone 4 the big thumbs down

From BGR:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010...ll-gives-apples-iphone-4-the-big-thumbs-down/

In response to Apple’s antenna-oriented press event, Consumer Reports responded by refusing to give the Apple iPhone 4 its golden seal of approval. The consumer product ratings company commended Apple for taking a first step in solving the antenna problem but denounced Apple’s case giveaway as a limited and temporary fix. Consumer Reports states:

Consumer Reports believes Apple’s offer of free cases is a good first step. However, Apple has indicated that this is not a long-term solution, it has guaranteed the offer only through September 30th, and has not extended it unequivocally to customers who bought cases from third-party vendors. We look forward to a long-term fix from Apple. As things currently stand, the iPhone 4 is still not one of our Recommended models.

Consumer Reports joins a growing list of companies, including Nokia and RIM, that are responding in a less than favorable way to Apple’s proposed solution.

 

[D1G1T4L]

Consumer Reports can give it any rating they want. In the end I'll decide if I am happy with the product or not.

 

[JD914]

Consumer Reports can give it any rating they want. In the end I'll decide if I am happy with the product or not.

You're correct, It's your perrogative to be happy with a defective device.

 

[sammich]

It isn't a thumbs down. It's a thumb sideways. It's just not recommending it, it's not trashing it.

 

[191185]

Consumer reports is correct . . . . I cannot recomend this phone either. .. .

would you buy a keyboard that you couldn't use the "H" key ? but instead had to push a new button that you get in the mail, that plugs into your usb, and is a stand alone button ?


IF APPLE SOLD TIRES, THEY WOULD NEED "FIX-A-FLAT" from day one... but that would be okay with everyone who has a iphone 4 and says " just don't put your finger in that spot and you won't have any problems with the phone"

why not just go buy some egg shells and walk on them ...

 

[Steviejobz]

Consumer Reports had just fallen back to being used for toaster and refrigerator reviews only. Most electronic buyers under 40 have a whole host of gadget blogs to get reviews and commentary.

They can no longer be trusted. They were for it, before they realized being against it would be good for PR. But it backfired. I will be looking elsewhere for a review on my next kitchen appliance.

 

[Steviejobz]

You're correct, It's your perrogative to be happy with a defective device.

But mine exhibits no defect. If you live in an area where signal is weak, then you shouldnt buy an iphone, or return it if you already did. I hear the Evo or Droid X, which weigh more than my laptop, work marginally better. Go for it.

Kind of why you dont see too many solar panels in rainy cities. Doesnt mean they are defective.

 

[JD914]

Consumer Reports had just fallen back to being used for toaster and refrigerator reviews only. Most electronic buyers under 40 have a whole host of gadget blogs to get reviews and commentary.

They can no longer be trusted. They were for it, before they realized being against it would be good for PR. But it backfired. I will be looking elsewhere for a review on my next kitchen appliance.

If they gave iPhone 4 raving reviews you would not bash CR BUT since they are critical of something YOU own and thought you made a good purchace you are all up in arms.

BTW once Consumer Reports put thier two cents into Iphone, 4 Apple hurried to do major damage control (holding a press conference). This just goes to show you that unlike YOU, the electronics industry heeds what a credible and unbiased publication like CR has to say about thier products.

 

[RalfTheDog]

Or the joke is on the likes of you, who believe (with the emphasis on believe) everything iGod says. Ahh yes, those videos. Very convincing evidence

I think it funny when those of us who have iP4s get fantastic reception, even in places where the signal strength is very week. The fact is, I have an iP4. I get better reception than others who do not. Can I make the signal strength drop? yes. Is it the best cell phone I have ever had, with the best signal strength? Yes. I can get solid three bars where my 3GS has a hard time finding a tower.

From the perspective of a person who has the phone, this is a non issue.

 

[Megalobyte]

Consumer reports is correct . . . . I cannot recomend this phone either. .. .

would you buy a keyboard that you couldn't use the "H" key ? but instead had to push a new button that you get in the mail, that plugs into your usb, and is a stand alone button ?


IF APPLE SOLD TIRES, THEY WOULD NEED "FIX-A-FLAT" from day one... but that would be okay with everyone who has a iphone 4 and says " just don't put your finger in that spot and you won't have any problems with the phone"

why not just go buy some egg shells and walk on them ...

Everyone will of course decide for themselves, all I can say is, I would have put it in a case regardless, as I think most do, and my ip4 gets noticably better reception than my 3GS did. In fact, even without a case as well. I have had decent data speeds in spots that my 3GS couldn't operate in, so, the defect simply doesn't exist for me and thus, I do not in any way feel like I have a flawed phone, though I don't discount that others do have real issues. But if I have a perfect phone, why am I in denial about anything? I get superior reception with or without a case, plus a phone that is orders of magnitude better than the 3GS, so if I'm in denial, well, then that's where I want to be.