iPhone 4 Hands-on DasReview

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Curious about shedding some cash for Apples latest trendsetter? Well here is a few tips to guide you to a well informed decision. What you should know about the new iPhone 4 is the new features and how accurate their claims are.

So first off, if your AT&T or Rogers service is available for an upgrade then that should help you make the decision as it is $199 to upgrade to a 16GB iPhone 4, and $299 for an 32GB iPhone 4. If you are unavailable at this time for an upgrade, you may want to wait as it is another $100 on top of that.

The iPhone now does 5 megapixel picture with 5x digital zoom from front and back with a backside only flash LED. Now when you hear those numbers, do not assume that this will be the same quality as  a Sony Cybershot 5 megapixel camera. There is much more to photography than megapixels and  digital zoom. With that said, the camera is still a big improvement in quality when compared to camera phones in the market. Check out my tests taken below with iPhone 4.

The video camera now records in 720p and up to 30 fps [frames per second] and also takes advantage of the LED lighting on the front. The video quality is more then good enough to put out great videos on youtube, and we made one here to prove it. Audio quality is quite improved from prior iPhone 3G[S]

The iPhone frame is new and improved with a stainless steel frame antenna band around the phone to improve signal and better protect. There has already been two bad reports about this already though unfortunately for Apple. People are reporting that bars are lost when gripping around the phone, and the screens are cracking when dropped on the sidewalk. The screen cracks are assumed to be due to the super reinforced frame forcing the screen to take the full impact.

The processor is Apples own creation called the “A4 chip“. This mini processing beast paired with the doubled-up 512 ram improvement makes the new iPhone OS4 the most smooth phone I have used to date. Not to mention the higher retina display, as the phone sharpness is on another level now. Seamlessly, I have been switching from task to task with ease. From the net, to a phone call, to a text, to my music and so on.

The big new OS feature would have to be “FaceTime.” You now have the ability with two people with the iPhone 4 to talk and see each other simultaneously by taking advantage of the front camera lens. This of course is only possible if both users have an iPhone 4. To use, you simply go from your contact list to the friend with an iPhone 4 and press “FaceTime” and the request will be made. When they accept you will see each other.

All and all, it is not PERFECT, but it is a fairly priced product and is a big improvement from its predecessors. For what you pay (with an upgrade discount) you are getting quite the bang for your buck.