Just been lent one of these as part of the Device Loan Programme,
Now I have always been a Symbian Fan but with that OS being phased out I'm going to have to find a new home in a few months,
Have been impressed by Android and Windows 7.5 has started to grow on me, but now it's iOS's turn to win me over
On unboxing it I was supprised to find out how heavy it felt when compared to my N8, yet alone the SGS2 I had a few weeks ago, not complaining the weight gives it a solid sturdy feel, gives you the impression there's alot packed into the case and I guess it makes you think premium
Form of the phone actualy reminds me alot of my old N96 (Black Rectangle, Silver band round the side, promenent button in the lower centre portion of the phone)
So anyway worked out how to get the micro sim in, got through the set up, got the twitter app going, downlaoded and got the facebook app working, found out how to group things into folders on the home screen,
Plugged in to the PC and dumped some media from iTunes,
Found it all nice and simple to work out what to do, found the OS slick and responsive,
the big question is now what,
TBH I have been supprised at how un interactive the default desktop is,
Symbian, Android both come with active desktop widgits for things like e-mail, social sites and notifications, the default apple desktop icon's arn't blowing me away, however it is early days
So what I need from the community is some help to get impressed (without spending a packet remember it's a loaner and it's going back in a couple of weeks)
So what apps should I be looking to download,
Things I am specifically looking for would include
1) A swype style keyboard
2) Any kind of active social hub and notifications desktop widgit
3) Active screen saver or similar
4) apps to make me go wow,
also anything I should specifically do or try with the phone
SynthFG wrote:So what apps should I be looking to download,
Things I am specifically looking for would include
1) A swype style keyboard
2) Any kind of active social hub and notifications desktop widgit
3) Active screen saver or similar
4) apps to make me go wow,
also anything I should specifically do or try with the phone
Hi Synth,
No swype Keyboard unless you jailbreak and use Cydia I'm afraid.
If you have installed iOS5 you will see there is a Notification Blind similar to Android, where all your text, email and App notifications will appear.
No widgets I'm afraid, or screen savers!
As far as Apps, I would recommend Asphalt 6 Racing game. only 69p but well worth it! It is Xbox standard graphics and insanely compulsive!
Quite a few of us from here are using Google+ now, why don't you join us?
My Profile
You can enable badges on media Apps, so they show the number of messages available. i.e. a little red disc with the number of messages on.
There isn't so much to "Play" with on the iPhone, as there is with Android. You tend to rely more on the Apps for everything.
If you like Tweaking things, then the iPhone will leave you wanting. If you just need a phone to work and deliver then the iPhone is great!
I have been using an iPhone 4 for a couple of weeks now, and I am very torn as to which way I would go.
However, Ice Cream Sandwhich, ICS, is incredible and the Android in me will probably win the Day.
I have noticed that so many of the Apps that I can get for free on Android I have to pay for with the iPhone!
Have a go with FaceTime if you get a Chance, it really is good quality.
iMessage also works very well.
setup iCloud to backup Apps and everything you get 5Gb free online storage.
Wireless Sync to iTunes also works well.
The Camera and VideoCam are superb!
Let me know how you get on?
See you on Google+...???
So have been playing with this for a few days and if I'm honest the emotion I most feel about this phone is disappointment. It’s supposed to be a market leader, a device which the others follow, yet I’m finding myself asking why
The hardware is nice enough solid, meaty, feels good in the hand and to the touch, looks good, ok the camera is limp, but that’s supposedly rectified in the 4S, the OS itself is slick, responsive, I have no complaints about how the web browser works or the camera and it’s cycle time, the phone doesn’t regularly hang up or jerk around, yet the UI just looks and feels dated.
What do I mean, well Android and Symbian give you almost absolute freedom to customise how the device looks and how much information it presents on the home screens via active widgets, windows 7 looks vibrant and fresh and still presents a significant amount of useful and interesting information, ios by comparison is drab and uninspiring. OK it has a notifications bar, which is a nice feature, but so does windows, Android and Symbian (Belle), It’s hardly a USP, otherwise it’s old fashioned to say the least, grouping apps into homescreen folders whilst useful in reducing clutter does tend to fill the homescreen with drab squares. The phone settings is neither as simple as Windows or as free and open as Android or Symbian and first impressions are that it’s the worst of both worlds, so complex that it’s difficult to find things, so simple that it’s hard to customise properly.
I love the variety of shortcut or web optimised apps that various companies and websites have made available for free, coming from Symbian it’s a whole new world of useful little things everywhere, especially loving the Sky go, ITV, C4 and C5 apps, + tv catchup. However the app store on the phone or in iTunes is a mess, it strikes me that the UI is completely unsuited to handle the volume of apps in the store and is again dated, browsing strikes me as a very hit and miss affair, unless you know what exactly you are searching for this app store strikes me as a bit of a pain.
iOS also strikes me as the most blatantly commercial mobile OS I have used, whilst all mobile manufacturers are trying to sell add on products and services, none are anywhere near as in your face as iOS, which always seems to want to sell me something and rarely offers a free solution.
Other gripes are the multi tasking which is a bit basic and the default media player which is very basic and lacks functionality expected in the modern age.
ound transferring contacts from the N8 to the iPhone a pain in the ###### as I wanted to avoid using cloud services (my hotmail contacts are still messed up from the LG7 I tested a few weeks ago), whilst the N8 can bundle up my contacts into a single message as vcard attachments, the iPhone wouldn’t connect via Bluetooth, the MMS I tried to send disappeared into the aether, so I had to send via email and then save the attachments(contacts to the phone 1 by 1)
Do like how well integrated it is with iTunes, moving media is very simple, tho I think I’d miss the ability to type sms’s into a pc and have the phone send them
So again, I think I must be missing something here, what is available (preferably for free) that will excite me about this phone ?
One other thing I have noticed with this handset
It really doesn't like the sure signal
there is virtually no signal in my house from the local 2G mast (due to it bing sited on the reverse slope of a steep hill I live at the bottom of whic is why I have a SS and why I am with voda,
it also makes it very easy to tell when the phone is connected,
My contract sim in my N8 and my wifes PAYGin her C6-00 never an issue with connecting unless the SS itself is down
Simialrly never had an issue with a PAYG sim in the LG7 or SGS2
the IPhone is much more hit and miss, sometimes it connects, and you see full 5bar 3G other times despite being on the desktop next to the N8 showwing full bars, the iPhone is locked onto the 1bar 2G local mast
Have seen many similar complaints in the SS section of the forum
Hi SynthFG,
Have you got the Sure Signal serial number there and we can try a resync?
It may require de-registering and re-registering through My Account, but if we try this first then we're covering everything, starting with the least intrusive option.
Have you found anything you particularly like yet? The default media player is geared towards the technology Apple has chosen to support - for example, no Flash in the browser, but as you say this does mean it works seamlessly with the various media types available through iTunes.
As a 3GS and iPhone 4 user, the option for better multi-tasking, whilst it may not be quite as good as you were expecting, is a step forward, and the better battery life and processor are great for running iOS5, especially when using the iCloud options.
Dave
Dave,
There's nothing wrong with my sure signal, every other handset I have had has worked fine with it and my wifes and mine continue to do so,
Even the iPhone4 works most of the time, it does however drop it alot more often than any other handset I have had,
I like the phone hardware alot, and many of the things like social integration work better on this handset than most others I have seen,
The range of games is impressive as is the 3D graphics capabilities of the phone,
I've been impressed with how slick and responsive it is and how well it works with itunes,
I'm just underwhelmed by the user interface, it lacks the freshness and ease of use of windows7, and it lacks the vibrancy and customisation available from android and symbian.
The multi tasking you mention is indeed a big step down,
Flash in the browser doesn't bother me so much, reminds me I need to test it on a silverlight heavy site,
The App store has also failed to impress me, whilst it's big, it's not very well organised
If I sound negative it is I guess that I'm just disapointed that this handset hasn't lived up to the high expectations I had, it's a very nice package, but it hasn't blown me away like the SGS2 did, or make me want to play as much as windows7.5
Hi SynthFG,
Dave wasn't implying there was an issue with your VSS although I do find that the iPhone doesn't hand over from Macro to Femto quite as well as other handsets. It would be well worth you turning the device to airplane mode then back again as I've seen this help in the past.
Great thread though 
Cheers,
Lee
TBF speaker placement does appear to be an issue on many mobiles,
The N8 isn't spectacular either, especialy when placed on a soft surface,
A shot in the dark hear but does anyone know if the guys who designed and tested this were left handed ?
Anyway, Tom I'll have a look at Epic Citade, tho I've been getting adicted to metal storm,
I'll be returning the handset sometime this week as I think I have gotten all I need out of it,
Re: speakers, I got a new case yesterday which has an interesting side affect as a result of its design. It's a milled aluminium bumper which is quite thick, and so leaves about 5mm of clearance by the speaker:
Even when I cover the whole of the bottom with my hand, I can still clearly hear the sound at probably about 90% of the normal volume!
chantellepyrek wrote:Ive had quite a few iphones and i usually always jailbreak them...once you jailbreak them believe you me you will be totally impressed...the themes you can get are brilliant and every item of the ui is also themed...and there is so many different apps that you can get of cydia once the phone is jailbroken...so dont give up on the way the iphone looks at the moment...if you want to browse a few of the themes go onto modmyi and search the themes...brilliant
Unfortunatly I've already sent it back, just compiling my full review,
Also as it was a loaner handset Jailbreaking wasn't really an option, however after having played with the default UI of the phone I now understand why it is so popular,
It's a shame as the hardware (bar the camera and the minor speaker issue) is fantastic many of the things that come with the phone like the safari browser are better than the competition and the app availability is 2nd to none, tho the store search needs to be improved
However it's let down by the dated and ugly UI
