My initial iPhone review
I posted this on another forum i post on after a bunch of guys asked for a review, so i figured it post it here as well and try to answer any questions anyone has or whatever.
I'll update this soon with a more extensive review after ive had more hands-on time, but for now, heres my mini-writeup.
First off, let me just start by saying that no pictures on the internet do this thing justice, and when you see one in the streets or buy one or play with a friend's, i think you'll agree with me. Its VERY slick and just screams apple. The size is perfect, the weight is substantial enough to remind you that its not a toy, yet remain lightweight, its skinny as hell, and its just plain gorgeous. If anyone is wondering, the at-home activation is a total breeze. Took me less than 5 minutes, EASILY, and most of that time is AT&T activating it over the web. Instantaneously, your old phone is deactivated and the iphone assumes the role.
The polish on the GUI and on the mobile version of OSX is damn near flawless. The touch screen works great, the resolution and colors are gorgeous, and the 3.5" screen is more-than-substantial. Everything is VERY slick, and the simplest things are a delight when you first see/do them, like unlocking the phone with a finger swipe, or seeing the in-line SMS strings. Even simple transitions from one application to another are wonderfully done. All in all, the overall interface is AWESOME, and has really blown me away.
The keyboard issue, to me, honestly seems like its going to fizzle out quickly. 4 hours in, im already starting to get comfortable with 2 thumbs. The auto-correct features are incredible. I really didnt expect that to work well at all, but its been damn near flawless so far. That being said, all in all, typing is still the biggest caveat for me right now, but i suspect that within a week, i will have perfected the technique. Its shockingly intuitive and it is really damn smart.
A quick summary of all the applications:
SMS is slick. Anyone who's used iChat knows the interface. Basically, SMS convos look like IM conversations, and are very polished. Even when the phone is asleep and you're alerted that you have a text, there is a small translucent bubble that appears over the sleep menu with the sender and the first few lines of the message.... VERY nice looking and very well done. Again, the keyboard is the biggest hurdle here.
Calendar is pretty straight forward, and looks like a calendar. It synced well with OS X calendar right off-the-bat.
Photos are awesome, and the whole pinch-to-zoom thing is even cooler as you're doing it. Organization is perfect, and "flipping" through your pictures NEVER gets old. Everyone who sees it in person LOVES that part.
The camera is surprisingly good, IN GOOD LIGHT CONDITIONS. ill be the first to tell you that in low light, its a piece of shit. Same for moving subjects - blurry as hell. My biggest issue with it so far is that its VERY difficult to take a picture of, say, you and another person, by yourself because of the touchscreen interface. You pretty much have to get someone else to take the shot. Overall though, with good light, and a relatively still subject, shots are great for a cell cam. Heres a couple of quick pictures i snapped with it tonight when i stopped by work, in "moderate" to "decent" lighting conditions.
Youtube is awesome. Streaming is VERY quick, playback is smooth, ive had no choppiness whatsoever, etc. Honestly, playback on my home wifi network as faster and much smoother than it is browsing the web on the computer. Ive been pleasantly surprised, cause i expected a pretty choppy experience. Only problem is they havent finished converting their full extensive library yet. NOTE: I havent tried using Youtube on EDGE, and to be honest, i really dont want to. most places im ever at have wifi access anyways.
Stocks... ok it shows stocks. moving on.
Google maps is awesome, and again, has a snappy interface that ive been pleased with. It works just like it does on the computer, so theres really not much to say.
Weather.... same as stocks. Clock... it tells the time. Calculator.... it adds shit. Notes are actually pretty cool, as they use a handwriting font and it looks like its scrawled across a legal pad. again, its all very polished.
PHONE. It works great. Scrolling through contacts is easy and looks great. The favorites feature comes in handy. Numerical keypad is SIMPLE to use. Visual voicemail is awesome and works as advertised.
EMAIL. Though im not using push because i dont use Yahoo, its been pretty nice. It automatically syncs to your email account through itunes... no need to enter your email address or password or anything on the phone. Clever, and very cool when you first turn the phone on and realize your email is already there. As i write this, i have been having problems viewing email attachments, which i assume should be cleared up shortly. For what its worth, im using Gmail.
SAFARI is freaking awesome. Once you get used to the small screen, its really really cool. You can even play embedded quicktime videos within the browser. Highly polished. I have had it freeze up once or twice so far though. It just automatically reverts back to the main menu after a few seconds of any issue in an application.
the IPOD part is actually my favorite just cause its SO slick. TONS of polish on this part. Coverflow is absolutely SILKY smooth, scrolling through your songs is a blast, etc etc - GREAT user experience.
Overall, ive been blown away so far with the experience. It just feels fantastic to toy around with it, and everything is VERY well done. Its not perfect - a few apps have been a tiny bit buggy and there have been a few small caveats, but overall its been awesome. Its been extremely smooth so far, and ive loved showing buddies who have been outspoken iphone haters and watching them slowly start wanting one. bad. lol.
Anybody have any questions or anything? Did i miss anything? Fire away.
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Originally Posted by osnap
i count 5 
it lacks a few features, but thats been acknowleged, and is most likely going to be taken care of soon anyway. lol no need to bash it - just dont buy one if it doesnt cover the bases youd like it to. 
but whatever... you've made your point.
