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Had a go on an iPhone 4 today for the 1st time

R

ri0ku

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 11, 2009
952
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So today I jumped into the 02 store and had a look at the new iPhone 4 (1st time since it came out as I havnt had time to go shopping lately)

1st thing I think the new design is slick and looks great and the speed of the device is excellent. I think the new retina display looks great HOWEVER... absolutely been over exaggerated in these boards... its good but its not as "God like" as allot of people have been making it out to be.

For the signal issue... I tried everything and could not get it to drop below 4 bars :S I tried holding it like everyone who's having issues with and no matter what I did it wouldn't drop signal.... (I even got odd looks from the 02 guy in store when he saw me trying to hold it in different ways)

Camera Quality is great looks much better than the 3G's camera that my sister owns.

I know allot of people wont even care about this thread... I am just posting to tell how I thought of it and what my experience was. This is not a review of any kind...

I was quite shocked about the signal not dropping... as I expected it to happen quite fast due to all the complaints and threads about it but seriously... it would not drop below 4 bars. (Might just be a one off though... I do not doubt all the people who have the issues as you guys with the issue have proven it in multiple ways which I hope you soon will obtain a fix for)

I like it so I am going to get one... 1st iPhone I will have owned.
 
ri0ku said:
So today I jumped into the 02 store and had a look at the new iPhone 4 (1st time since it came out as I havnt had time to go shopping lately)

1st thing I think the new design is slick and looks great and the speed of the device is excellent. I think the new retina display looks great HOWEVER... absolutely been over exaggerated in these boards... its good but its not as "God like" as allot of people have been making it out to be.

For the signal issue... I tried everything and could not get it to drop below 4 bars :S I tried holding it like everyone who's having issues with and no matter what I did it wouldn't drop signal.... (I even got odd looks from the 02 guy in store when he saw me trying to hold it in different ways)

Camera Quality is great looks much better than the 3G's camera that my sister owns.

I know allot of people wont even care about this thread... I am just posting to tell how I thought of it and what my experience was. This is not a review of any kind...

I was quite shocked about the signal not dropping... as I expected it to happen quite fast due to all the complaints and threads about it but seriously... it would not drop below 4 bars. (Might just be a one off though... I do not doubt all the people who have the issues as you guys with the issue have proven it in multiple ways which I hope you soon will obtain a fix for)

I like it so I am going to get one... 1st iPhone I will have owned.
Click to expand...

Signal was fine because its a well known fact that all At&T stores and Apple stores have mini towers in the basement for the best reception possible.
 
I played with one for the first time the other day at an at&t store. I never really noticed anything about the display now that you mentioned it. It didn't stick out at the time. I was very impressed with the build quality compared to my 3gs though. I did the death grip test and sure enough the signal did go down several bars in my case. But my 3gs will do that in weaker signal areas like my house. If I hold it any other way it seemed fine. I got the feeling it's the media overblowing the issue more than anything. Mine's on order can't wait to get it.
 
He was in an O2 store, not an Apple store and we don't even have AT&T stores here ;).

I get your point though, O2 probably has something similar so it's pretty pointless doing the so called death grip test inside ANY mobile shop.

-edit-
It was in Boro!, hmmm not far from Whitby, might have to have a looksie as i've not seen the iphone4 yet as i've been waiting to see what the new firmware does to the reception (if anything).
 
stevensteven123 said:
Signal was fine because its a well known fact that all At&T stores and Apple stores have mini towers in the basement for the best reception possible.
Click to expand...

I think 02 is a different cell carrier in europe. Although I would imagine they do they same thing.
 
stevensteven123 said:
Signal was fine because its a well known fact that all At&T stores and Apple stores have mini towers in the basement for the best reception possible.
Click to expand...

People have tested it out in stores as well, and made threads about the bars dropping.
 
The display is amazing.. Did you do a side by side with a 3GS ? didn't think so. If you would have you would have noticed a HUGE difference in resolution
 
yeah people have made videos of standing in other mobile stores and even the apple store and had the signal go down... its very strange. Just to add... I looked at the android phone next to the iphone 4 (cant remember the name of it) and it had less signal than the iphone 4 as did the blackberry phones that where also near the iphones.

So... in my experience the iPhone 4 had the better signal (oddly though it wasnt plugged into its charger it was unplugged but obviously had a charge which is strange as normaly in mobile shops the phones are stuck in charge and locked to there stand permanently, the iphone was locked in place but the pin connecter wasnt plugged in)

Doubt that has anything to do with signal though...
 
stevensteven123 said:
Signal was fine because its a well known fact that all At&T stores and Apple stores have mini towers in the basement for the best reception possible.
Click to expand...
Someone needs to tell my AT&T store that then because I was dropping bars just sitting on a desk. Guess they didn't get the memo.
 
aawil said:
I think 02 is a different cell carrier in europe. Although I would imagine they do they same thing.
Click to expand...

Indeed.

But we don't have 'cell carriers' here in the UK, we have mobile networks ;), heck we don't even cell phones at all and we don't buy 'plans' for them, instead we have mobiles and tariffs.

;)


Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
stevensteven123 said:
Signal was fine because its a well known fact that all At&T stores and Apple stores have mini towers in the basement for the best reception possible.
Click to expand...

Apple store in my mall has 1 bar on almost every att phone, walk right outside and you get 5 bars. explain that?
 
TeamDNA said:
The display is amazing.. Did you do a side by side with a 3GS ? didn't think so. If you would have you would have noticed a HUGE difference in resolution
Click to expand...

I notised the difference... and yes my friend had his 3gs with him and I had my ipad with me... like i said the screen looks great just not as great as most people have been obsessing over.

So don't post a "didnt think so" post if you were not there. Its my opinion not a fact. I still think it looks great... obviously much better than previous generations but its nowhere near as great as people have portrayed it.
 
Guys, who cares if they have signal boosters in the store. The claim is that holding the iPhone causes bars and signal loss. Period. If signal is awesome and nothing drops, then maybe Steve's claim about people who are seeing drops are in low service areas.
 
I tried one for the first time earlier in the Apple Store on Regent Street. This is right in the middle of London. I managed robber the new iPhone from 5 bars to 1 really easy, all I had to do was grip it fairly tightly in my left hand.

I also don't think the retina is as good as everyone makes out, sure it's crystal clear but it's still only 3.5". And the phone felt horrible to hold, edges were sharp and it attracted fingerprints so bad.

Just my $.02 (;
 
I have to agree on the display. I looked at a non-updated icon right next to an updated icon, and the difference was pretty big, but not like "Wow, OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD", as most people on here have been making it out to be. And I have 20/20 vision. I think I'll notice it, but not as much as the huge design change on a daily basis.

And I could never get Apple Store iPhones to drop bars...maybe I was not holding it tight enough, but it was unnatural enough to use it the way I was (so basically, I'll probably never experience it).
 
ri0ku said:
I think the new retina display looks great HOWEVER... absolutely been over exaggerated in these boards... its good but its not as "God like" as allot of people have been making it out to be.
Click to expand...

Wait until you go for a week with the iPhone 4 then return to the previous versions.

Hellishness said:
I have to agree on the display. I looked at a non-updated icon right next to an updated icon, and the difference was pretty big, but not like "Wow, OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD", as most people on here have been making it out to be. And I have 20/20 vision. I think I'll notice it, but not as much as the huge design change on a daily basis.
Click to expand...

3G/3GS owners tend to say that. Obviously some bias on both sides and it's somewhere in between.
 
Cloysterpeteuk said:
Indeed.

But we don't have 'cell carriers' here in the UK, we have mobile networks ;), heck we don't even cell phones at all and we don't buy 'plans' for them, instead we have mobiles and tariffs.

;)


Sorry, couldn't resist.
Click to expand...


Yet you have a chain called "carphone warehouse", when's the last time anyone called them a car phone? ;)
 
antster94 said:
I tried one for the first time earlier in the Apple Store on Regent Street. This is right in the middle of London. I managed robber the new iPhone from 5 bars to 1 really easy, all I had to do was grip it fairly tightly in my left hand.

I also don't think the retina is as good as everyone makes out, sure it's crystal clear but it's still only 3.5". And the phone felt horrible to hold, edges were sharp and it attracted fingerprints so bad.

Just my $.02 (;
Click to expand...

Edges are rubber... or whatever material that surrounds the glass on the back and front.
 
Bars mean nothing on all cell phones and are just a hold over from analog cell service. Unfortunately if a phone didn't have these "fake" signal indicators consumers would be turned off so they are still included. A better and more accurate system would be an indicator if the device loses or doesn't have service.
 
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