Apple's iPhone: The Future is Here
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 2, 2007 6:13 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
It's an iPod Dammit
The one aspect of the iPhone that still hasn't sunk in for me is the fact that this thing is actually an iPod. Inevitably the majority of attention has been placed on the phone/internet aspects of the iPhone, while its ability to be an iPod has been relegated to a casual mention in passing. But the iPhone is quite capable of replacing your iPod, provided that you're not dependent on having more than 8GB of music with you at all times. True music aficionados will still hang on to their iPods, but the iPhone is designed for the crowd with slightly less music who love their iPods but hate carrying two devices around. If you carry your iPod around everywhere, the iPhone should be quite tempting as it helps reduce pocket clutter.
The iPod + phone meld not only makes sense, but it's done well on the iPhone. About the only thing that's missing is the ability to assign your MP3 files as ringtones.
The classic iPod interface is changed, having been replaced by something that conforms better to the iPhone UI. Playlists are obviously still supported, as is the ability to create a playlist On-The-Go.
You can browse music according to artists, songs, albums, composers or genres. You can even customize the menu at the bottom of the iPod screen to give you direct access to audiobooks or podcasts. The one thing that I'm really missing that's present in iTunes on the Mac/PC is the ability to type and search by name for a song/artist/album.
Viewing all the tracks on an album gives you this slick interface, the slider at the bottom controls volume
Tilt the iPhone on its side and you get a layout of album covers to flip through, much like you would at a record store, if you'd like to listen to an album in particular. If you have a lot of music that's unreleased (or poorly pirated), you'll be greeted with a bunch of blank album covers which ruins some of the beauty of this feature.
This would look cooler if everything had album art
There doesn't seem to be a full hold mode on the iPhone; while hitting the sleep/wake button will prevent you from accidentally hitting anything on the screen, the volume rocker is still active.
Thankfully the iPhone has a volume limiter that you can engage to prevent you from accidentally ruining your hearing while listening to music with the iPhone in your pocket.
The speaker on the iPhone, while well suited for voice conversations, is not great for listening to music. It's functional but prepared for distortion-a-plenty, you're better off sticking to headphones.
The earbuds that come with the iPhone are a standard set of iPod headphones with a mic/button about 5 inches below the right earbud. If you're listening to music when you get a phone call, the iPhone will automatically fade out and pause your music so that you can answer your call (just click the button on the headphones). Click the button again to hang up and you're back to your music.
When I first went to try video playback on the iPhone I was lost, I kept looking around for a video player until I eventually remembered that the iPod button was all encompassing - audio and video seekers can find refuge there. The video formats supported by the iPhone are the same as the iPod and Apple TV, you're basically limited to low bitrate H.264/MPEG-4 files, both of which Quicktime Pro will encode for you. The iPhone is in dire need of DivX/XviD support, but that's something Apple will never do, so either plan on converting anything you want to watch to H.264/MPEG-4 or wait for someone to hack this thing.
Videos look great on the iPhone and as a whole, it puts competing devices to shame. While both the Blackjack and Blackberry can play MP3s and videos neither has the storage or interface of the iPhone, they are functional but not nearly as well done as a dedicated iPod or in this case an iPod within the iPhone.
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EODetroit - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Holy Comprehensive Review Batman! That took most of my morning at work, good thing its practically a holiday here already.Now my question is:
How many poop pictures has Anand received from the A-Tech staff?
Haha
Shimmishim - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Yes. It was a good read. One of the best reviews of any piece of hardware (computer or consumer related) I've read in a long time.Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Thanks guys :)And no, zero poop-pictures from AT staff.
Take care,
Anand
LoneWolf15 - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
While not perfect as a product either, Anandtech completely skipped any Palm Treo devices for this comparison. The Treo has done SMS by contact for some time now, just as you have mentioned the iPhone does (I've had it on both the 650p and 750p; I'm sure the new 755p does as well). While I have some issues with Palm support as far as their product goes, I still haven't seen a smartphone that can do better --I blame this at least in part due to carrier wars and desire for control (i.e., crippled Bluetooth, not adding WiFi, so carriers can make you pay for everything through them), rather than blaming cell phone manufacturers.Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
There were a number of products I would've liked to have included, but I was very limited by time so I tried to shoot for two of the most popular: the Curve and the Blackjack. I've already dropped Nokia an email but I'll do the same for Palm and see what comes of it :)Take care,
Anand
retrospooty - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Ya, quite alot of things like that the Treo has done, and done well for a long time now, all that and an open platform. The issue is the latest Treo is, 4 years later, still the same repackaged Treo, with a few minor upgrades. The iPhone is by far the best UI, and that alone will be its saving grace, and its legacy on the industry. A few years from now, REAL smartphone manufacturers will copy the UI and improve everything, and do it cheaply, and on all carriers. That is the best thing about the iPhone.LoneWolf15 - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Actually, in 4 years, the Treo added Bluetooth (the first 600p didn't have it), EVDO (the iPhone has only EDGE, which has been rated far slower, and slowest when provided by AT&T/Cingular, the single carrier of the iPhone), an SD card slot (600p didn't have one), and several other features.As I said, the Treo isn't perfect. And I think the UI of the iPhone is pretty spiffy, plus I'll bet it has the best web browser of any phone on the market. But I don't think I could do without a real (by real I mean tactile) QWERTY keyboard (I rely on text messages for work, since cell reception can be spotty in a reinforced concrete building), I like having EVDO support, and I like the fact that I can choose from Sprint, T-Mobile, Alltel, Verizon, or AT&T Cingular for a Treo (AT&T/Cingular has little or no reception in my work area, so it nixes any thought of an iPhone, and by my understanding, they have a five-year exclusive agreement with Apple). And I can get a Treo for a few hundred less as well.
I want to like the iPhone. Unfortunately, Apple set conditions of pricing and carrier that mean I'll never find out how good a phone it might really be.
sviola - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Not only the Palm Treo, but the Nokia N95, which is just awesome:In-built GPS and Navigation Program (over 100+ countries maps)
5 MP Camera with Zeiss Lens and Optical Zoom, and Video Recording
Symbian OS
Plays MP3, video, etc
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, TV out
Quadriband GSM/WCDMA (3G)
MicroSD Card Reader
Among many other features.
rowcroft - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
The iPhone looks great, but the big gotcha for me is that I routinely use my 8525 to access the internet on my laptop. Can't do that with the iPhone from what I understand.As for all the comparisons to Verizon & such, if you look at the total cost of ownership (Verizon's data plan is significantly more expensive), the iPhone is just a few dollars cheaper than the Blackjack w/Verizon.
Locutus465 - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
I've got a Samsung i720 with verizon... For a "last gen" PDA phone priced at just $100 brand new from verizon when I got it, it's pretty sweet. Admitingly the display isn't quite as good as apples, but as far as functionality it does everything the iPhone does and more. I also appriciate the sliding screen with which reveals a keyboard. There's also the other advanatages I mentioned earlier, i.e. Windows Mobile being open to 3rd party development etc.