Customer Reviews

Apple iPhone 4 Black Smartphone 32GB (AT&T)

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Below is my review of the 16GB model that I purchased in September. The two models are completely identical with the only exception being the additional 16G of storage space. Performance is totally unaffected by this....... Please note that this is strictly my opinion of the phone itself, I have no knowledge of this seller or the condition of the phones they sell.

I had the 8GB 3G model and thought that was great, until I got a demo of the iPhone 4. Man is this version is light years ahead of the original model.

With a 1Ghz CPU, and 16GB of flash memory, this thing is a portable office/entertainment center par excellence. I've had this phone for 3 months without a single problem, the display is nice and sharp, the apps load very fast, and I now have over 130 apps to perform just about every duty you could possibly think of with absolutely no impact on performance. And on the ATT 3G network, I average download speeds of around 1.8Mbps, and over 1M upload speeds....and how do I know that, cause I got an app that tells me that's how. BTW, the display is the equivalent of a 960x640 on your desktop (double the 3G model) so what you see is essentially a high res yield and page loads are superfast. And resident memory, after a full days use I just checked and still had 120Mb of Ram available. On the 3G model that number was usually down around 4Mb by the end of the work day and had to be refreshed.

I was in the computer/design/manufacturing business for 20 years, and this is by far the most amazing piece of technology I have ever seen or imagined. Even the battery life is 3x better than the previous model, and thats a good thing cause its integrated but a full charge should yield and entire days work of calls, emails, surfing the web, SMS messaging, and play. I no longer need my laptop cause there's nothing I cant do with the iPhone, and that includes sending faxes, editing Excel or Word documents, and even printing. A flash for the 5MP camera, an HD video camera, and even real time video conferencing over a wireless network, and Bluetooth that unlike the 3G model is actually compatible with everything you throw at it, including Garmin GPS....just amazing. This thing even has 2 mics with noise suppression so calls are clearer on the other end. Man, Apple hit this one out of the park.

BTW, with all the apps, music, and videos I've got loaded on this thing I've still got 10GB of flash memory remaining. I cant imagine why anybody would need more storage, and the 32GB model isn't any faster and doesn't have any more features. You'll need iTunes on your desktop to get the most out of this phone and iTunes can be a little intimidating at first but its worth the trouble, and all the instruction you need can be found on the web or Youtube for transferring photos, videos, music, apps, etc.

Update 12/09/10: I've been reading up on the "antenna problem" with the iPhone 4G and have this to say.... It is easily cured by slapping on a hard case or shell on the phone, which eliminates the issue I see some people complaining about. I have personally never experienced this issue because I left the AT&T store with a protective shell on my phone which virtually everybody I've ever seen with an iPhone has anyway. Very simply you CANNOT replicate the reported "death grip" problem with a shell around the outer frame. Cant be done. And BTW, I don't know if its due to network improvements or what but lately I'm getting 4Mbps download speeds so if anything I'm happier with my purchase now than I was 4 months ago. Zero complaints, and that's something most smartphone users of other OEM products can't say.

A final word: Beware negative reviews on here that are filled with bad English and are authored by individuals who have written only one review (on the iPhone) and posted it in several locations on Amazon's site. Its easy to pick these out, and they have no doubt been written by the same person. See the comments section for a definitive review on the Iphone 4 and the overblown "antenna issue" from Anandtech.com

A final final word: Apparently this phone from Worldwide Distributors is LOCKED! If you plan to use this phone outside AT&T's network you are screwed. All the one star reviews are from idiots that paid $800 for this phone without doing proper due diligence.

Oh wait, I do have one complaint about the iPhone 4. Several times a month my girlfriend gets mad at me and hangs up in the middle of the conversation so I guess I'm suffering from this "dropped call" thing after all. haw haw

If you are looking to buy an iPhone-whether 3, 3GS, or 4 DO NOT BUY ONE WITH DUAL SIMS! Those are a Chinese knock off called sciphone or hiPhone. They only look like iPhones! They are java based, have no apps, do not have the storage capacity stated in the ads, won't sync with iTunes, and if it breaks you will be laughed out of the Apple store if you show up with it to get repairs. Don't be ripped off. And if you see one listed, report it to amazon-these are a direct violation of copyright laws. Just a friendly warning :)

The iPhone4 is the first smartphone I ever owned so I'm just going with what I know. This review is not regarding AT&T (service sucks), but I'm not reviewing AT&T.

I love the iPhone4 because of all the apps you can get to organize your life and it's camera. Who knew that your life can be organized in the palm of your hands? I've been able to sell and buy off the eBay app. Purchase from Living Social, Groupon and Amazon. Price compare with RedLaser. Go on the internet to check email/search. I no longer have to carry my wallet/keys full of membership cards because I have an app that scanned all those numbers. I cannot live without my iPhone. The iPhone4 has now replaced my GPS, my calender book, my iPod, and point and shoot camera. My purse is now so much lighter.

Camera quality is superb during the day. Use at night isn't so great. Gave 4 stars instead of 5 cause of camera and night mode quality.

I don't know what I'll do if I ever lose it...:/

I have owned this product for 10 months now and the iPhone 4 is leaps and bounds superior to its Apple predecessors in both features and quality.

Pros:
*Consolidating my phone, browser, email, camera & iPod makes my digital life much easier.
*The rear-facing camera performs so well that I no longer carry a digital camera with me on vacations.
*The high resolution screen displays video so well that I often forget that I am viewing it on such a small device.
*Reasonably priced at $200 (at the time of my purchase) for something that does so much.
*Mobile Safari renders pages much better than any other mobile browser.
*The device integrates all of my email and calendar accounts very well.
*The ability to store my contacts server side puts me at ease. I know that if I lose my phone, a simple re-sync will bring all of my contacts back to a new device.
*I have not had issues with the alarm, which I use every day.
*A plethora of apps makes this device a shopping and entertainment delight.

Cons:
*No Flash support (I hope HTML5 picks up quickly).
*Battery drains after ~30 hours of normal use. I typically charge it every night.
*The AT&T network is horrible with customer service to match....and it all costs too much.
*I have a love/hate relationship with the iOS spellcheck... but I usually lean towards hating it.
*In order to update the iOS, you must connect the phone to your computer. I do not like iTunes whatsoever and I should be able to update over WiFi at very least with an over the air backup to MobileMe.

Notes:
1.The forward facing camera is a "cool" feature but I don't use it as much as I thought I would. With FaceTime requiring WiFi, I find myself using other computers for larger screens and bigger speakers.

2.Apple's AppCenter screening makes it difficult for some really cool apps to be available; however, they also keep a lot of the harmful ones away.

3. I have convinced 2 other people to purchase this phone and they absolutely love them too!

Best phone ever made, destroys the droid, I have this for verizon and have not had the problems that the att customers say they have.

I loved this phone but had to return it because it dropped 80% of the calls I made. I had an LG Chocolate and it never droped a call. If you compare the signal strength of this phone with others it will be less and I showed the guy in the Gastonia NC store how it had two bars less that my LG and the Droid X on display. I even bought a $300 signal booster which got it up to 4 bars at my office and it still dropped calls. Verizon told me the antenna is in the stainless edge and a holder might help. I decided to exchange it for the Droid X which seems to have a better antenna and signal strength. In my opinion, the product is not ready for market. Before you buy, compare the number of bars (signal) with your current phone and others you may be considering. Btw, tech service and customer service were awesome and they troubleshot the problem for over 3 hours. After I realized it was the Iphone4, they were happy to exchange it within the 15 day window. It was quite an inconvenience to exchange the phone and there was a $35 restocking fee, but it was better than the alternative of living with dropped calls for the next 2 years. Sorry for the bad review, but if you can't complete a call what good is having the coolest phone in town?

BTW, I tried to leave this review on Verizon and after I left a 1 star review I was redirected to another page and the review didn't take. After that I tried again several times and it said in the address bar "forbidden" when I clicked on leave a review. I guess that would explain why the phone has a 5 star review on their site. Don't believe it, try it yourself. How unfair is that to consumers?

BE CAREFUL! This phone is under the unlocked phone category but it is NOT UNLOCKED. True, it does not come with a service contract, but it only works with AT&T in the USA. BE CAREFUL!

I'm a traditionalist when it comes to mobile phones - I want one that I can make calls on. Well, that used to be the case. It's important you sign up with a good provider - heaps of data useage etc - and after that you'll become dependent ont his gadget.
My top uses:
1. Phone calls and texts (love the way the text messages are displayed as a conversation)
2. Email. I use Safari to check my hotmail, because I find it annoying that the built in inbox doesn't update my hotmail.
3. Application: Words with Friends - Great fun way to play Scrabble on the go with friends

Other common uses are alarm clock, timer, three or four other good applications and the notes tool.

I'd recommend this product to anyone. I'm yet to have any problems.

Let me start by noting that I am new to the iPhone universe. I got tired of waiting for Apple to jump the AT&T platform and decided to go ahead anyway. I am happy overall but there are s few points I would like to make:

(1) WHERE YOU PURCHASE YOUR iPHONE MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE - Avoid making a purchase at an AT&T or cell phone store, their iPhone stock is the bottom of the barrel. Your best option is an actual Apple store if you live close enough to one; otherwise, Apple.com is good. please note that an Apple retail store and their online store are two different animals. If you make a purchase online, you need to return online for a refund.

(2) EXCHANGED iPHONES ARE REFURBISHED OR OPENED iPHONES. I purchased a brand new iPhone online and when it had issues, was told to go to a retail store. The retail store explained they used a different computer system then the online store and that only an exchange was available. Exchanges are, more often then not, refurbished ones but carry the warranty of the original purchase.

(3) REFURBISHED iPHONES ARE ONLY AVAILABLE FOR SALE ONLINE - you can get anywhere from $50-$100 off the oriignal price if you chose a refurbished iPhone but the warranty is shorter then a new one. These options might include wear so be sure to read all the details. Be very careful, you might save money upfront but with all the internal antenna issues, you might end up paying much more in the long run.

(4) SIZE DOES MATTER - Whatever storage size you choose, that's it because the iPhone does not allow cards or usb ports for storage.

My experience has been mixed. I purchased a new iPhone 4 / 32GB online and had problems from the start. The volume of the phone was too low on calls no matter how I adjusted the settings and sometimes, it would not find allow internet access at home even though I have a wireless network. Placing a call to their customer service was easy (1-800-694-7466) and technical support is free for the first 90 days. It was determined that I had a bad internal antenna, which seems to be fairly common. I was told to make an appointment for the Genius Bar (ego much?) at a nearby retail store and that they could get me a new iPhone. Not so fast. My Apple Genius explained how the online and retail stores do NOT operate as one. I could trade in my new iPhone 4 for a refurbished one. Ouch. But as the Genius pointed out, the refurbished one worked and the brand spanking new one did not. My replacement has the same 1 year warranty so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it will last. I have heard stories about it taking a few exchanges before getting one that really works.

Knowing this why would I purchase an iPhone 4? For the convenience and the apps of course! Although Android offers plenty of apps and keeps getting more, the iPhone blows everyone away in this department. I have had the iPhone 4 for a few days and I love the features but not so happy on the function side. iTunes automatically synchs all new apps every time I connect my iPhone to my pc, no matter how I set it. Annoying. It can take up to several minutes to access certain media apps (i.e. Netflix) which is laid at my service provider's (AT&T) door. [Side note: the iPhone 4 for Verizon does NOT allow for talking on the phone and using another feature like the internet] I am not happy with the quality of phone calls but I put up with it. Before having the iPhone 4, I would have said why keep an expensive cell PHONE that provides mediocre phone calls? Once you exerience the fun features of the iPhone 4, it's hard to go back to other phones.

There are plenty of free apps, 99 cent ones and plenty more cool ones that are easily available in iTunes. Your iPhone is intuitive to use and a basic guide is provided with the phone but I strongly suggest going to a retail store and grabbing an Apple Genius to show you the ins and outs if you are a newbie.

Overall, I am happy with this purchase since I got the introductory price ($299) as a new customer. I would not be willing to pay the full price for this iPhone at $699.

I've had my iPhone 4 for months, after an upgrade from the old one. A friend asked for a cell recommend. I told her why I like the iPhone. It's not about the phone.

Big things that matter.

- Pocket Kindle. I read everywhere. And nobody knows what. SF in staff meetings...
- Facebook. A pocketful of friends. Yeah. Let's not look at that one too close.
- Emergency Browser. Handle crises with web access. Too cramped for fun browsing.
- ToDo List. Necessary adult supervision. Also, move undone tasks easily into the future.
- Alarms. My morning alarm Is actually four. Also for events and tasks. More supervision.
- Camera. Great candids while they think you're reading. Or browsing.
- Office docs. Editing not creating. Good for tweaking spreadsheets, viewing PowerPoints, etc.
- Backup. Keep your docs with you. Like your resume. Just in case.
- Email. Fast hits--email the resume while they're still giving the presentation. Be first!
- Distance. Create a cone of privacy with Caller ID, Silent Mode, Call Reject, etc. It's your iPhone.
- Bejeweled. Don't even like it now. Just can't stop. Don't need to. Silent mode for staff meetings.

Little things that don't matter. Much.

- Ugly. A more blocky, Soviet look than the old one. No problem--put a case on it.
- Reception. A problem when you hold it wrong. No problem--put a case on it.
- Slippery. Slides out of the hand. Bounces alarmingly on the floor. No problem--put a case on it.
- Stock. All iPhones are cookie-cut clones. No problem--put a case on it.

So its not about the phone. It's about the apps, mostly. And a little about the case. But you need the phone for them to make sense. So get one.