It seems to me like any Apple product that gets released gets so much scrutiny but it is expected. Most of Apple’s products are top notch, and in almost every way the iPhone 4 is, in my opinion, just as good as my 3Gs was. At first I was a little concerned with the antenna issues but even without the case I had better reception than I ever did with my 3Gs. This made me really happy, after all it is first and foremost a phone.

Now I’m not going to go into all the neat features like the resolution, gyroscope, processor speed, FaceTime , and HD Video. We’ve all seen the reviews but it seems like depending on who you ask the problems for each phone are different. I will comment on my favorite features.

First, the bad:

As I said before I didn’t have any antenna issues in terms of the cell service. I have seen some really odd issues with the wifi reception. I have an 1900 sq. ft. house with 3 Apple access points (a Time Capsule, a gigabit AirPort Extreme and an AirPort Express all running 802.11b/g/n). With my 3Gs and wife’s 3G and all other devices I get a full signal in any area of the house. Not so with my new phone. I get 3 bars sometimes but even when less than 10 ft from the AP I only get 2 bars and in the more remote areas only 1 or nothing. I don’t know if it is related to my home network or what. It does impact most Internet related tasks, it seems like if your on the edge of switching between wireless speeds it actually cuts the connection off and you get an error.

The second issue I seem to have is low light photography. If I’m not outside the pictures seem like they are a bit yellowish and there seems to be other coloring issues in dark areas. The movies seem fine and very clear which leads me to believe this is a software issue (and it’s highly likely the wifi problem is too) so I will check with AT&T and Apple to be sure it’s not hardware and hopefully they’ll have another iOS 4 patch soon.

As for the major issues like the lack of coating on the antennas, yellowing of pixels on the display or non opening rear camera shutter, I really can’t comment as I haven’t had those issues so it looks like they were limited and Apple put the issues to rest.

Now the good:

I am extremely happy so far. The video is awesome, better reception and the sound quality are superb, much better than my 3Gs even with the 4.01 iOS update installed. Lastly the battery life is way better than my 3Gs was. The glass is definitely better than the glass on the 3Gs. It actually feels like you could stick it in a pocket with keys and have no scratches. It does feel like it could take a good fall too. I was always careful with my 3Gs to not let it drop on a solid (concrete or asphalt) surface. Honestly I am expecting my phone to look better after a few months with no case than the 3Gs. The older iPhones had metal backing that would scratch so easily that I couldn’t believe it, I had scratched mine with a few coins in my pocket a few days after I purchased it, I actually bought my case to make it look better not to protect it. As Apple is now giving away the free cases I went for one similar to the one I had on my 3Gs, an Incase super thin black case that is only there to protect the back glass in a small fall. I don’t really think that I need the case for better signal (I could make the phones signal go down to almost nothing by holding my hands all around the phone but I got the same result with my 3Gs and my Mom’s Droid), I really just want the case to give the phone a little bulk. Yes I guess I am complaining that the phone is too thin.

Lastly, I’ll touch on some of the other options mainly the Droid X. I had Verizon for years. It was ok but I honestly like AT&T better. I get service all over New Mexico, even way out where I hunt (never had Verizon service out there). I like the screen size on the Droid X and the HTC Evo but they’re running Android OS, they are also freaking huge. I like the size of the screen but it’s a fucking phone. I have an iPad for the big screen watching movies or even a laptop or my TV. Why on earth would I want a gigantic screen in my pocket just to watch the occasional video clip? Not that I am bagging on these devices. They’re great phones too and have their own pluses and minuses. I’m just giving my reasons for not wanting one. I could definitely use the speed of Sprint and the price too. But I couldn’t handle the large phones or the lack of service (for Sprint at least) for a bit more screen space. There is also the apps. With the iPhone I don’t have to worry about funky stuff infecting my phone, and the stability of the apps is really reliable, I know if I spend money on an app it’s going to work. I guess those are my biggest issues with Android but Apple does need to keep up to keep their spot at the top.

Julie and Erv’s Wedding

Pictures from Vegas trip for Julie and Erv’s wedding.