Sum and Substance

Thumbs Up:

Great display, improved design, lots of new features, better performance, lots of goodies offered by iOS 4

Thumbs Down:

AT&T reception is a cause of concern

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Apple iPhone 4 has a 3.5 inch Retina display with 960-by-640-pixel resolution along with 326 ppi. The contrast ratio is 800:1, brightness at max level is 500 cd/m2. The phone is 4.5 inches high, 2.31 inches wide, 0.37 inch deep and weighs 4.8 ounces. The 5 megapixel camera can take 720p videos at 30 fps. It has LED flash and 5xdigital zoom. Sensors include Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer and 3-axis gyro.

Supported audio formats are Protected AAC (from the iTunes Store), AAC (8-320 Kbps), MP3 (8-320 Kbps), HE-AAC, MP3 VBR, Apple Lossless, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), AIFF, and WAV. Supported video formats are H.264 video up to 720p, 30 fps, stereo audio in .m4v, .mov and .mp4 file formats, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 fps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mov, and .mp4 file formats; Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps/channel, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format, Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 fps, audio in ulaw.

Razzle Dazzle:

Apple iPhone 4′s design has changed and we really liked it. This doesn’t mean that the 3GS design was awful but the design is improved here. The back and front sides are covered in glass sheets and on the border, there is the stainless steel band. The phone doesn’t wobble now when you put it on a table. There are two color options: black and white. We prefer the former.

Inside Dope:

Apple iPhone 4 has a revamped design, new display, fast processor and tons of new features. Apple has made a whole new phone here instead of just putting in some new features like it did for iPhone 3G. This new phone also has the new iOS4 and it also comes with lots of goodies and features. It is the combination of iPhone 4 and the new OS that makes this phone a great device. Some of new features made our eye balls pop out and the hardware inside too is impressive. This device is not totally free from defects though. For instance, AT&T’s signal reception for call quality is still a matter of concern. We also doubt if FaceTime video calling will last long once the novelty wears off.

Here in the US, the Apple iPhone 4 is sold by AT&T. You will have to sign a new 2 year contract; the 32 GB model costs $299 and 16 GB model costs $199. The phone is also available without a contract for $699 and $599 respectively but the handset still comes locked with AT&T.

Apple iPhone 4 has the same display size as its predecessor but the resolution has been improved to a whopping 940×640 pixels. One square inch has 326 pixels. The screen also has a ‘Retina Display’ technology and Apple says this resolution is improved up to four times. Same IPS panel is used here, like the iPad and the contrast ratio is 800:1. The screen has been improved probably to fend off any competition by AMOLED display from phones like HTC Evo 4G. This display has to be the best we have ever seen in a smartphone.

The phone also has accelerometer, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor. Their functionality is still the same. Multitasking is the another big addition here. You were able to multitask on previous iPhones too, like for the music player but now this functionality is extended to third apps also. Just double tap the home button and you will see a list of apps which are currently running.

It is very easy to manage the Apple iPhone 4′s multitasking menu. For opening up an app which is running, all you have to do is scroll through the menu and then that icon once. For ending the app, just long press on it and a small box will pop up in which you have to choose the delete button. It is quite easy to switch amongst the apps too. The experience is really cool and typical of Apple.

We know Apple has a good prowess in e-mails but you couldn’t switch between multiple accounts for reading new messages. IOS4 comes with unified inbox which can be accessed under the Mail option. For accessing all the messages from all accounts, go to “All inboxes”. The universal inbox can be used to access the individual folders. However, you cannot move or delete the mails.

Apple iPhone 4 has a five megapixel resolution camera and it now comes with LED flash and 5x digital zoom. The highlight here is the inclusion of 720p HD video at 30 fps. This is not the first smartphone to have HD recording feature but we really liked the quality here. On the downside, Apple still doesn’t give color tones or brightness control. The interface is pretty much the same as the iPhone 3GS. You get a new button which relates to the flash. You can also choose from “always on” and “auto” modes. There is also a button which switches between the front and back camera. Apart from the face time calls, the front camera can also be used for taking self portraits. The best part about the camera is its 5x zoom feature. For using it, just tap the screen and you will get a zoom bar.

Nitty Gritty:

This is an absolutely gorgeous phone we will certainly recommend it to you, if you are looking for a smartphone. There are some issues here but that is eclipsed by the tons of improvements that the device has now.

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