[Closed] iPhone 4 - should I?

lolz

I've had mine for over 18 months and it's an awesome piece of kit. Previous two phones were Android- and Windows-based which were very underwhelming comparison.

Pros
- still has the best overall interface and OS IMO
- app store: everything you could think of to make certain aspects of your day to day life better/easier
- very durable and stable: have only rebooted mine about 3 times ever
- good battery
- amazing display: pi55es over the competition
- recent OS upgrade has improved everyday usage too, e.g. notifications (yes, Android had it 2 years before, but iOS version looks better 🙂 )

Cons
- normally expensive (even the insurance can be £15/m)
- unintuitive phone, messaging and calendar functionality
- only truly customisable via jailbreaking

Those cons would probably be enough for me to not get another one if I ONLY wanted a cheap phone for calls/texting/calendar stuff. But if you want the other bits then it's either one of these or a top end Android.

EDIT: doubt I'll bother with the upgrade to 5 unless it does something revolutionary. No need to IMO because it's the OS and app store that still make it the best device for me. Although the chances are I'll be able to buy the 5 and sell my 4 and be in profit, so I might get one ...

Buy one.

( Makes a note to check the classifides 'for sale' section in a week for a cheap iPhone 4 )

Cons
- normally expensive (even the insurance can be £15/m)
- unintuitive phone, messaging and calendar functionality
- only truly customisable via jailbreaking

I've never had phone insurance and I've owned a mobile since 1995!

Your second con worries me though. I'll have another play on the test ones in Carphonewarehouse and look at those areas specifically.

Third con- not an issue, its visual, simple to use that I like.

Gary C. I buy phones to use and after just one week it wouldn't look saleable.

Edit- I tried mrshora's Samsung Galaxy and it just annoyed me royally. Couldn't put my finger on why.

unintuitive phone and messaging and callander /

your having a giraffe - what more do you want from it ? i thought it was quite easy for a touch screen - 02 XDA mini - now that was unintuitive piece of crap

only thing that it could be improved with imo is get rid of that notifications pish and make the lock screen a home screen with a larger clock , your next 2 or 3 calander entries , the number of emails you have like the old nokia e71 home screen - much better use of screen real estate than "app icons"

Your second con worries me though.

Put it this way, it could be better on all those counts. It's all workable but IMO seems to have stood still while the rest of the OS has improved. Am not even sure why I don't really like the call functionality - something about it just irks me. Calendar UI is just shit though.

i suggest an otterbox defender or griffin survivor as well - lost count of the ammount of times mines been dropped or got wet in my camel back - griffing survivor case keeps it sound as a pound .

my dad the serial phone destroyer - hes a builder and the dust from cutting and the like+ moisture from going inside outside all the time kills them(as in everyphone he has ever had bar his nokia one,5110 and 3110 - but we all know that in the event of nuclear disaster those phones would still work) in under 8 months normally but in the otterbox it has survived for 2 years now and still looks like new when he takes it out

If you are hard on phones, get yourself a few screen protectors so if you scratch it, you can just put a new one on.

Then one of these cases... http://bit.ly/H8oFeR

much better use of screen real estate than "app icons"

you can turn off any app notifications you don't want in settings>notifications

Between the iPhone and the Desire, the iPhone is the better phone; apples and oranges, the Desire is an old phone now.

Something like the HTC Sensation or SGS2 would be a more appropriate competitor.

warton i know you can and have - but it still doesnt improve matters its a poor implementation of notifications !

I really like how the iPhone works with notifications. Have you seen it with the upgraded OS with the pull down bar at the top?

I have an E71 at the moment and am rather looking forward to getting rid of it. With the exception of it's awesome build quality.

yeah ive got the latest ios its the same on my ipad - i guess ive turned into a bit of an apple fan boy but my e71s home screen was a thing for functional beauty - getting it to auto sync with my exchange account was another story though where as my iphone was a synch !

have a nokia c02 for work phone and for a 90 quid candy bar phone its actually very impressive in a lives at the bottom of my camel back when im out riding due to battery lasting for days kind of way but still has a good camera etc.

being a works phone its fully waterproof 😉

I'll have another play on the test ones in Carphonewarehouse

I'd do that with any phone you're considering. They're very subjective things so make sure you test as many areas as you can.

I'm not going to buy apps and I'm not going to play music on it either.

Then WTF do you need an iphone 4 or a HTC Desire?

Numpty! 🙄

Then WTF do you need an iphone 4 or a HTC Desire?

I assume he means he will only be using [i]free[/i] apps - presumably because after dropping a few hundred quid on a phone, paying 69p for an app is a step too far! 😀

[*]I have a 4S....amazing phone, kind of the only thing you need to carry with you (apart from Money), love the GPS, sat nav, biking apps, web, mail etc. But just got a work Blackberry. Selling if for £380 if you're interested once I get the unlock code through. Only 6 months old !

That's the kind of logic that we're all used too.

I know! I'll pay a fair old premium for a product that's more expensive as it comes equipped with a load of features I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of ever using 😀

There was another thread on here earlier this week regarding someone struggling to get a GPS lock when using navigation apps on an Android phone of some sort or other. I've never had such issues with my iPhone 4. If you're going to use it to track your rides and/or navigate that's an important consideration.

PS If you buy a smart phone I GUARANTEE you will use apps, even if only the free ones.

presumably because after dropping a few hundred quid on a phone

People actually pay that for mobile phones??!

Late adopters cream the hardwork of peoples wallets who have been before them.

Edit: I saw a few 'handset only' prices upto £500 -one on a Samsung Note. Madness. Utter madness.

People actually pay that for mobile phones??!

You planning on stealing one then?

Its ok Jamie. He hasn't yet worked out yet that if you get a contract, over the lifespan of it you will have[i] actually[/i] paid for the phone

The constant internal monologue within his enormous bulbous head generally takes place at about this level....

[img] http://www.google.com/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://codinghorror.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a85dcdae970b01287770320f970c-pi&sa=X&ei=NWh5T_yYL-TS0QX48t2bDQ&ved=0CA4Q8wc&usg=AFQjCNE_Wr-XtcVJlpsZa-Mgzsel11thdA [/img]

You planning on stealing one then?

So you are willing to drop a few hundred buying the [b]latest[/b] phone plus the monthly rental ontop when you can acquire the last model (that was hardly shonky) for free and get a great competitive monthly rate.

Do you know how the telecoms industry work?

[img] [/img]

Madness

Hora, it's really not madness at all. If you're determined to view a Samsung Galaxy or an iPhone as a "phone" then of course it seems a lot of money. If you're not going to use the MP3 player, Satnav, GPS tracking, the web browser, the on-demand TV, the camera, the video recorder, the camera/video editing software, Facebook, Twitter, internet radio, e-book reader, games player....etc....then it will seem expensive. If all you want is a phone go to Tesco and get a PAYG for £15. Smart phones have more/better functionality available than most people's home PCs/laptops and often at a lesser price.

So you are willing to drop a few hundred buying the latest phone plus the monthly rental...

I never said that now did I? I was merely suggesting you will be paying, despite your protestations, for the phone one way or another.

Don't be a donut all the time, Hora.

I hear you but for me the standard product shouldnt need additional 'apps to run those basics (well the majority of those are basics on todays phones).

The only things I wouldn't be using is listening to music/TV or internet radio. All the rest are standard fair now on most Android/Windows phones.

Do you know how the telecoms industry work?

Oh... this will be good. Care to enlighten us all? Seems like you've pretty much got the measure of everything, to me.

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Jamie, did you have anything of worth to add to the topic or is it negative use of the forum? Plus 'Lolz'? WTF.

So you are willing to drop a few hundred buying the latest phone plus the monthly rental ontop when you can acquire the last model (that was hardly shonky) for free and get a great competitive monthly rate.

My last upgrade was from a iPhone 3G to a 4 (when the 4 was new). They gave me enough of a trade in for the 3G that we didn't pay anything upfront for the new handset. Then renegotiated the tariff back down after 12 months to make sure we didn't pay too much on "rental" either.

I hear you but for me the standard product shouldnt need additional 'apps to run those basics

Would you expect to be able to do everything on your PC without installing any software?

With every week that goes by, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, you constantly stagger me with the shear depth of your rank stupidity

Iphone4 - I still love mine.

Add screen protector and case/band
any phone to protect it.

I wouldn't buy a new one though unless it was
dead cheap.

I hear you but for me the standard product shouldnt need additional 'apps to run those basics

Yeah much better to stifle competition and creativity by providing crappy built-in apps to do everything.

Worked well for Microsoft with Internet Explorer...

All the rest are standard fair now on most Android/Windows phones.

Erm.. I'm pretty sure most droid owners install third party apps as well.

I hear you but for me the standard product shouldnt need additional 'apps to run those basics

But by your own admission you don't want to use everything, so is it not better for you to be able to choose? That said, most of my list IS standard on an iPhone and the other stuff is free or pennies. The word "app" doesn't mean it is something you have to add on later.

you can acquire the last model [s]for free and get[/s] [b]on credit over two years marketed as[/b] a great competitive monthly rate.

FTFY.

With every week that goes by, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, you constantly stagger me with the shear depth of your rank stupidity

Do you have to install camera, a diary, video camera, pay for a web browser, GPS etc etc on your phone? My Blackberry 9700 came with all this and more as standard. Give it a rest. If you've got weekend blues, make yourself a coffee?

Do you have to install camera, a diary, video camera, pay for a web browser, GPS

no

Can you make a great phone even better by adding more - often FOC - apps? Yes

In answer to your OP, absolutely get one if you can afford it. They are amazing devices. Then come back on here and let us know how you get on.

[img] http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2B3wbhpmeL._SL500_AA300_.jp g" target="_blank">http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2B3wbhpmeL._SL500_AA300_.jp g"/> &sa=X&ei=Um55T9i1Oa2a1AWckai-DQ&ved=0CAsQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNFFxKHFHCAtqGzlL5hu6Gi_khop7A[/img]

It's difficult to recommend, or not, a product when we're gifted with neither an insight as to your intended usage nor telepathy.

You've essentially said "I want a high-end consumer device in order to not use several features." Throw us a bone here.

Mmmmm the ability is there/to improve/utilise. Saying this when I got my first (decent) internet-connectible phone I didn't look back. Ok, I'll have another play on the iphone then ask my provider to give me their best deal.. Sort of using your LBS to check sizing then using CRC to order 😆

To be fair to Hora I think I know where he's coming from here. I resisted smart phones for quite a while, 'cos I was always looking at the phone side of them and finding it wanting compared to previous mobiles I'd owned. It was only when I got one in my sticky paws and actually used it - and realised what it could do - that I was truly won over. I even learnt to [s]love[/s] put up with the phone side of it.

Well if your Blackberry 9700 is so bloody great, then just get another one?

All the features you describe are standard stuff on even the cheapest mobile nowadays. if you're not going to add any further functionality to it with any apps, then WTF would you even think of buying an expensive Smartphone? Not rocket science, is it?

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Well if your Blackberry 9700 is so bloody great, then just get another one?

Change.

You can "use" GPS out of the box, sure, just like your Blackberry did. To do what? Did the Blackberry come with OS maps, turn-by-turn in-car sat-nav software, ride tracking applications, interval training, geocaching, the London Tube map...?

You can "use" GPS out of the box, sure, just like your Blackberry did. To do what? Did the Blackberry come with OS maps, turn-by-turn in-car sat-nav software, ride tracking applications, interval training, geocaching, the London Tube map...?

Point taken.

Its worth bearing in mind that an iphone 4 with a few appropriate apps will keep a child amused for hours

My 2 year old niece developed a bizarre thing about Nigella Lawsons app, and sit and watch her cook. We reckoned it was nork-related.

My two, when in the car, will take it in turns playing

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