Apple iPhone Cell Phone Review
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Alfredo Padilla Published on June 29, 2007 Comment on this |
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Welcome to our comparative review of the Apple iPhone; a feature-by-feature matchup against the LG Prada, Treo 750, Blackberry 8800, Helio Ocean, and Nokia N95. To say the iPhone comes with high expectations is like saying the ocean is a little bit wet. Apple's first foray into the competitive cell phone market comes with the sort of pre-launch hype that most companies would dream of, but this sort of thing can backfire if the product doesn't live up to the hype. That's why we have taken a comparative approach to this review, contrasting the iPhone's functionality to that of other popular handsets such as the Treo 750 and BlackBerry 8800. As always we will be examining every feature in depth. Our testing looks at the phone's sound quality, the camera's image quality and the touch screen's usability. So does the iPhone live up to the expectations? The answer is a qualified yes.
[page title="Tour & Design"]
Front
Left
Top
Bottom
Right
Back
Battery Out
Unlike most phones the iPhone doesn't allow you to easily remove and replace the battery. This means that you won't be able to carry around an additional battery, we'll see later in the review if this will be problematic.
In the Box (6.0)
As well as the iPhone itself, you get a cute pair of headphones (with a very small microphone built into the cable), a USB cable, a small iPod-style dock and the rather adorable little charger. The charger looks like a MacBook charger that's shrunk in the wash, and the USB cable plugs directly into this, so you don't need to take two cables with you on the road. There's also a short how-to document (called Finger Tips) that shows the basic operations of the phone, and a nice little cleaning cloth. The latter is pretty necessary as the screen is a fingerprint magnet.
Handling (8.0)
At 2.4 inches wide, 4.5 inches tall and 0.455 inches thick, the iPhone is deceptively large. But it's a dense little thing, weighing in at a hefty 5.12 ounces. This is on the heavy side; the LG Prada is 3.1 ounces and is much more compact at 2.12 inches wide, 3.88 inches tall, and 0.48 inches thick. Basically, if you're looking for the smallest and lightest touch screen phone out there, the iPhone isn't it; that's the LG Prada.
But despite being a little on the big side, the iPhone handles well; it fits confortably into the hand, and the volume controls fall under the index finger when you are on a call. However, we do worry that it might weigh you down in a long call.
Portability (7.5)
Although the iPhone is heavy, it's the perfect shape to fit into a shirt pocket. It might be too big to fit into a tight pair of pants, though; it's just too big to be comfortable in your most stylish jeans. The smaller LG Prada might be a better pick if you're looking for a phone that you can take partying in a small handbag.
Aesthetics (9.5)
It's not a phrase we use very often, but the iPhone is sex on a stick. The exterior is sleek and stylish, without the distractions that mar other phones. The LG Prada, for instance, has a number of small buttons on the bottom of the front, but the iPhone has just one button that's cleverly integrated into the front panel itself; you don't notice it until you press it. The whole thing is a beautiful piece of design; the sort of thing that Apple does so well. Put it next to a more clumsily designed phone like the Treo 750 and you'll see what some good industrial design can do for a product.
Durability (8.0)
The iPhone feels like a solidly built product; the case is tough and feels like it should stand up well to knocks and bangs. How well the glass screen holds up is another issue. Although Apple claims it is optical glass, we'll have to wait and see how it stands up to rough use.
[page title="Audio Quality"]
Apple has been pushing the iPhone as a do-it-all device; it makes calls and is the best iPod ever. But it's still a phone, and the audio quality is the most important aspect of that. To test the audio quality of calls made with the iPhone we use professional testing equipment; a HATS (Head and Torso Simulator) that simulates the human head and ear and an electro-acoustic analysis program called SoundCheck. The combination allows us to analyze the quality of the sound that the iPhone sends and receives. For more details on how we test the performance of cell phones, see this article on how we test.
Sound Receive Frequency Response (7.58)
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This compares well to other phones. Only two of our five featured phones (the Helio Ocean and the Treo 750) score higher than the iPhone, and they aren't that much better. Whatever Apple is doing with the small speaker inside the iPhone, they are doing it right.
UPDATE: Earlier versions of this review featured an incorrect score, caused by an error in interpreting the results. We have now corrected this mistake; Our apologies for any confusion caused.
| Cell Phone |
Apple iPhone (on AT&T) |
BlackBerry 8800 (on AT&T) |
Helio Ocean (On Helio/Sprint) |
| Score |
7.58 |
6.99 |
7.88 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |
.jpg) |
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| Cell Phone | LG Prada (on AT&T) | Nokia N95 (on AT&T) | Treo 750 (on AT&T) |
| Score | 7.42 | 6.46 | 8.24 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |  |
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Sound Send Frequency Response (7.57)
| Cell Phone |
Apple iPhone (on AT&T) |
BlackBerry 8800 (on AT&T) |
Helio Ocean (On Helio/Sprint) |
| Score |
7.57 |
5.7 |
6.45 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |
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| Cell Phone | LG Prada (on AT&T) | Nokia N95 (on AT&T) | Treo 750 (on AT&T) |
| Score | 7.85 |
6.81 |
7.89 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |  |
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Handset Side Tone (0.8)
Here is a chart comparing the iPhone's side tone to some other handsets.
| Handset | Sidetone Measurement | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 8.8 | 0.8 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 16.72 | 8.72 |
| Helio Ocean | 22 | 6.45 |
| LG Prada | 9.43 | 7.85 |
| Nokia N95 | 19.61 | 6.81 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 22.2 | 5.8 |
[page title="Imaging"] The Apple iPhone's camera function is accessed through an icon in the upper right corner of the main menu. The iPhone has a built-in 2-megapixel digital camera with a lens on the upper right corner of its back side. The lens is smaller than the tip of a pen’s cap, which is common for camera phones.
Resolution (4.18) To test the iPhone's 2-megapixel camera's resolution we took a series of photos of an industry standard resolution chart. We ran the resulting photos through Imatest software, which produces a measure called line widths per pixel height (lw/ph). This measure judges how many alternating white and black lines the camera can discern before they begin blurring together; it's a good measure of how much detail the iPhone's optics and image sensors can capture. You may not need much resolution if you are looking at the images on a cell phone screen (even one as large and nice as the iPhone), but if you are planning on printing, enlarging or otherwise using the images you capture on your cell phone, then you should know about any limitations the resolution may impose.
| Cell Phone |
Apple iPhone (on AT&T) |
BlackBerry 8800 (on AT&T) |
Helio Ocean (On Helio/Sprint) |
| Score |
4.18 |
5.7 |
2.18 |
| Lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 970 / 879 | n/a - no camera | 701 / 476.6 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |
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n/a - no camera |  |
| Cell Phone | LG Prada (on AT&T) | Nokia N95 (on AT&T) | Treo 750 (on AT&T) |
| Score | 7.85 |
6.81 |
7.89 |
| Lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 1026.00 / 1131.00 | 1368.00 / 1223.00 | 926.1 / 681.7 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |  |
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Color (5.22)
To test cell phone cameras' ability to accurately capture colors we take photos of the industry standard GretagMacbeth chart, which displays 24 different colors that are precisely known. We run the photos of the chart through Imatest imaging software, which compares the iPhone camera's captured colors to the original colors from the chart.
The above image is output by Imatest to show the difference between the original colors of the chart and those produced by the iPhone. The original colors are in the small vertical rectangles of each color tile, the iPhone’s captured colors are in the outer frames, and the iPhone’s colors are corrected for luminance in the central square. Imatest also produced the chart below where the circles represent captured colors and the squares represent ideal colors. The line between the two shapes shows the degree of error; ideally, this wouldn’t be seen at all.
| Cell Phone |
Apple iPhone (on AT&T) |
BlackBerry 8800 (on AT&T) |
Helio Ocean (On Helio/Sprint) |
| Score |
5.22 |
5.7 |
6.66 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |
 |
n/a - no camera |  |
| Cell Phone | LG Prada (on AT&T) | Nokia N95 (on AT&T) | Treo 750 (on AT&T) |
| Score | 5.66 | 6.95 | 6.96 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) | .jpg) |
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Noise (1.20) To test the amount of noise produced by the iPhone's camera we took a series of photos of the GretagMacbeth color chart at four different lighting levels: 3000 lux, 1500 lux, 500 lux and 60 lux. We use Imatest to judge noise produced at each lighting level and combine the results into an overall score. As shown in the chart below, the iPhone's noise performance is average compared to other phones. It performed better than the Helio Ocean and LG Prada, but its images weren’t as clean as those of the Nokia N95 and Treo 750.
| Handset | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 1.20 |
| Blackberry 8800 | n/a |
| Helio Ocean | 1.14 |
| LG Prada | 1.13 |
| Nokia N95 | 1.42 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 1.35 |
Live Preview (9.0)
The Apple iPhone has a 3.5-inch widescreen that the manufacturer claimed would be impervious to fingerprints but has proven otherwise. After only a few minutes of use, the screen was smudged with prints that were a bit distracting (granted, our hands were a bit sweaty from typing furiously and then handling the phone). This isn’t too hard to fix: just wipe it on your jeans and you can see past the glossy fingerprints again. It’s a necessary evil: the viewing screen is also the touch screen that accesses everything else on the phone.
The resolution is excellent at 480 x 320 pixels at 160 dpi, so your subjects will always look nice and smooth. Unless you move the phone, of course. Like other camera phones, the iPhone’s live preview blurs subjects until they’re pretty much unrecognizable when the camera is even bumped slightly. The view doesn’t refresh quickly like the screens on real digital cameras so it almost looks like the lights are flickering. On the live preview itself, there is no exposure information. There aren’t any manual controls, so why update users on the current settings? The only icons on the screen include the camera icon that makes the shutter button and a tiny icon that transfers you to the “camera roll” that displays the pictures.
Unlocked Standby to First Shot (8.23)
Unlocked standby to first shot is a measure of how long it takes to go from the home screen unlocked until we have captured a photo. This is useful for those who like to whip their phone out and take a spur of the moment shot. The iPhone was able to complete this process in 2.43 seconds. Below you can see that compared to other handsets this is much faster.
| Handset | Time (sec) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 2.43 | 8.23 |
| Blackberry 8800 | n/a | 0/0 |
| Helio Ocean | 4.10 | 4.88 |
| LG Prada | 7.70 | 2.60 |
| Nokia N95 | 6.50 | 3.08 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 5.77 | 3.47 |
Shot to Shot Time (1.2)
Shot to shot time is a measure of how quickly the camera on the phone can take a series of photos. When possible we use a burst mode for this test. The iPhone does not have a burst mode, but it took 0.4 frames per second when we continuously tapped on the shutter button. A standalone digital camera like the $200 Canon PowerShot A570IS was able to take 1.5 frames per second, which is a little below average for standard cameras. However, this is still much faster than the iPhone. Compared to other camera phones the iPhone was also very slow, as you can see from the chart below. Clearly, this camera is not made for photographing action.
| Handset | FPS | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 0.40 | 1.2 |
| Blackberry 8800 | n/a | 0.0 |
| Helio Ocean | 1.25 | 3.75 |
| LG Prada | 0.55 | 1.65 |
| Nokia N95 | 0.42 | 1.26 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 8.18 | 1.83 |
Shutter to Shot Time (5.0)
Shutter to shot time is a measure of how long it takes the camera to capture a photo after you have depressed the on-screen shutter key. This is important because a slow shutter to shot time means that you may not capture the scene you want or your subjects may have closed their eyes. The iPhone’s shutter button is in the center of a gray horizontal bar on the bottom of the screen, labeled with an icon of a camera. The iPhone's shutter to shot time was 0.4 seconds. This is very good compared to other camera phones. Standalone digital cameras like the Canon PowerShot A570IS generally don't show any delay once the picture is in focus. Taking auto-focus into account the A570IS took 0.4 seconds to capture the shot, compared to the iPhone. Other camera phones have shutter to shot times ranging from one second, for a phone like the N95 that has auto-focus, to as little as a fraction of a second for phones with fixed focus lenses. As you can see below, the iPhone performed very well compared to other camera phones.
| Handset | Time (sec) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 0.40 | 5.0 |
| Blackberry 8800 | n/a | 0.0 |
| Helio Ocean | 0.60 | 3.33 |
| LG Prada | 3.60 | 0.56 |
| Nokia N95 | 1.00 | 1.96 |
| Palm Treo 750 | .88 | 2.27 |
Interface (5.0) The Apple iPhone has only one button. Almost everything is done on the 3.5-inch LCD touch screen. This is a blessing and a curse. The curse is the resulting finger grease that muddles the view on the screen. The blessing is that there aren’t tiny buttons to search for. There really isn’t much “interface” to talk about with the iPhone’s camera: there aren’t any manual settings to control. The only controls are a tiny icon that enters the review mode and the camera button that snaps the pictures.
Photo Album Software Internal (7.0) The iPhone's built-in photo software is one of the items that Apple has highlighted over the past several months. This software is used both for managing photos taken by the camera and viewing photos synchronized from your desktop. When you enter the photo software you are presented with a list of albums, which includes your camera roll, entire photo library and photos from the last 12 months. Tapping on any of these will take you to a screen that displays thumbnails of the photos. As elsewhere on the iPhone you can browse up or down by sliding your finger up and down on the screen. Tapping on the thumbnail will bring up a larger version in the center of the screen with controls on screen that disappear if you don't use them. You can easily bring them back up by tapping on the screen once.
You can easily move between photos by sliding your finger left and right across the screen, which "moves" the next or previous image into place. As has been demonstrated ad nauseum you can enlarge or shrink the photo by using the "pinch" maneuver, which involves using two fingers and moving them apart to zoom in or moving them together to zoom out. You can also revert to the original view by double tapping on the screen. If looking at the original picture, double tapping will zoom slightly. Using the built-in accelerometer you can switch between portrait and landscape view by simply turning the iPhone into the desired orientation. This works flawlessly.
You can start a slideshow by hitting the play graphic that appears on the on-screen controls. The slide shows can be customized by entering the Settings portion of the main menu and entering the Photos sub-heading at the bottom. The only photo settings apply to the slide shows. Images can be set to display for 2, 3, 5, 10, and 20 seconds. The transitions can be set to cube, dissolve, ripple, wipe across, and wipe down. These transitions can’t be previewed in this menu; you have to select them first and go back to the camera’s playback mode to see the effects in action. The slide show can be played on a loop and the images shuffled, if desired. Overall, viewing photos on the camera is nearly flawless. The screen resolution is fabulous, the screen size makes viewing with a crowd easy, and navigating through pictures is a quick process.
Manual Control (0.0)
There isn’t a single manual control on the Apple iPhone. Everything is automatic.
Zoom (0.0)
There is no zoom on the iPhone, optical or digital. If you want to zoom in on something, stand up and walk closer to it. The fixed lens is located in the upper right corner of the back.
Focus (0.0) The focus on the iPhone seems to be fixed. It can focus as close as about 4.5 inches and as far as the eye can see. Another caveat: subjects don’t look focused if they or the iPhone is moving.
Flash (0.0) The Apple iPhone does not have any type of flash, not even a simple LED. While cell phone flashes don't tend to be very good, it is a pity that you don't even get the option to use it; most of the other cell phone cameras we've seen come with at least a simple LED flash. Don’t expect the iPhone to take beautiful pictures in low light.
Metering (0.0)
The metering cannot be changed on the iPhone. It appears to have a spot metering system in place. I tested this by viewing a white scene and moving a small black object into the frame. When the object was around the edges, the exposure was fine. When I moved it to the center, the exposure really blew out. The metering should be fine most of the time and will be ideal if subjects are against a bright background.
White Balance (0.0)
The white balance also can’t be changed; it is set to automatically balance the image. Once again, this is based on the spot metering. The colors weren’t great under tungsten lighting in our studio testing, and weren’t fabulous under the tungsten lights in the office either.
Image Handling (1.0) The image “handling” is more literal on this model than most camera phones. The Apple iPhone allows you to zoom, slide, and otherwise navigate in and through pictures pretty much by petting the LCD screen. As far as editing options go, the iPhone doesn’t have any. It can display images – and it does a great job of that – but handling beyond that is nil. The pinching method of zooming in on pictures looks almost like the image is resizing, but that function can’t be saved.
Video
Overall Video Score (0.0)
The iPhone can't capture video; the camera is for still images only. This is a real pity; most other cell phone cameras can at least capture low-resolution video for candid video shots, and some can do much better. Many higher end handsets capture video at 320 x 240 or better, good enough for posting something on YouTube. The N95 captures VGA (640 x 480) resolution video. Only the BlackBerry 8800 can't capture video, and that's because it doesn't have a camera. So, the iPhone gets 0 for most of the scores in this section.
Video Resolution (0.0)
As it can't capture video, the iPhone gets a 0 score for resolution.
Video Compression (0.0)
As it can't capture video, the iPhone gets a 0 score for compression.
Interface (0.0)
As it can't capture video, the iPhone gets a 0 score for the camcorder interface.
Manual Control (0.0)
As it can't capture video, the iPhone gets a 0 score for manual controls.
Zoom (0.0)
As it can't capture video, the iPhone gets a 0 score for zoom.
Editing (0.0)
As it can't capture video, the iPhone gets a 0 score for editing. If you can't capture videos, you can't edit them.
Modes (0.0)
As it can't capture video, the iPhone gets a 0 score for video shooting modes.
[page title="Making/Receiving Calls"]
Dialing Speed (5.05)
To test dialing speed we time how long it takes to go from the home screen unlocked until we have dialed each of five different test numbers. We take the average time for our score. The iPhone took an average of 3.96 seconds to dial. This is solid score compared to other phones as you can see in the chart below. It's faster than the Blackberry 8800, LG Prada, and Nokia N95. The Helio Ocean was slightly faster when dialing. It's impressive to see a phone with a touch screen interface do well on this test. The Prada, which also uses a touch screen interface, took significantly longer at 5.86 seconds.
| Handset | Time (sec) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 3.96 | 5.05 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 4.35 | 4.60 |
| Helio Ocean | 3.10 | 6.45 |
| LG Prada | 5.86 | 3.41 |
| Nokia N95 | 4.62 | 4.33 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 4.25 | 4.71 |
Talk and End Buttons (5.0)
The iPhone uses on-screen talk and end buttons rather than physical buttons. When you are using the on-screen dial pad ,the send button is highlighted in green near the bottom of the screen. The button was a little small for our tastes. The end button is a long bar along the bottom of the screen that appears while you are on a call. The larger button is easier to hit, which we appreciated. The send button is a little small to use without looking and we found ourselves making mistaken presses when trying to dial quickly. The large end button can probably be used without looking once your muscle memory gets set. Compared to the physical send and end buttons found on most other phones we found the iPhone's on-screen buttons in almost every respect except of course tactile feedback. In fact, we prefer the on-screen buttons to the Nokia N95's terrible send and end buttons.
Call Management (7.0)
The iPhone's call history is accessed from within the phone application. You are presented with a chronological list of all incoming or outgoing calls. Missed calls are indicated in red. You can also filter the list to only view the missed calls. If there are multiple calls to or from a number you will see the number of calls in parentheses next to that number. You can clear the list by hitting the button on the upper left of the screen, however you can't remove individual records. Tapping on an item in the list will immediately call that number. Tapping on the small arrow on right of the record will take you to further details. Here you can see additional information for the caller if they are in your contacts, as well as more detailed information about the time and date of the call and the option to send a text message to the number. There is no way to see information about the duration of an individual call, or the duration of all calls.
During a call the iPhone gives you several large on-screen controls in the center of the screen. These six icons allow you to mute the call, access the keypad, turn on the speaker phone, add a call, place it on hold or access your contacts. Information about your ongoing call is shown at the top of the screen, and if you have multiple calls ongoing it shows two lines for each call. When two calls are ongoing the "add call" button turns into a merge call button, which creates a conference call. As a multi-tasking platform you can access all of the iPhone's features while on a call, just like a Windows Mobile or BlackBerry device. Simply hit the home key and you will be able to launch the application(s) you want. A bright green bar at the top of the phone shows you that you are on a call, and a tap on this bar will take you back to the call screen.
We found the call management features on the iPhone to be fairly complete and easy to use. About the only thing that was missing is the ability to record a phone call and more detailed call and data meters. These are not significant missing features, although the latter may be important to people who are on metered calling/data plans. Overall the iPhone's call management features are very good.
Startup to Call (3.83)
We time how long it takes to turn the phone on and make a call to each of the same test phone numbers we used for our dialing speed test. We take the average time for our score. The iPhone took 26.12 seconds to complete this process. This is better than smartphones like the Nokia N95, which took 36.4 seconds or the Treo 750's 42.26 second time. The BlackBerry 8800 and Helio Ocean do better however at 6.5 and 9.5 seconds respectively, as you can see in the chart below.
| Handset | Time (sec) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 26.12 | 3.83 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 6.50 | 15.38 |
| Helio Ocean | 9.50 | 10.53 |
| LG Prada | 27.46 | 3.64 |
| Nokia N95 | 36.40 | 2.75 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 42.26 | 2.37 |
Ring Volume (8.49)
To test ring volume we set the phone's volume to maximum and find the loudest ringtone we can on the handset. We then use a sound pressure meter from four inches away to measure the volume of the ring in decibels. The iPhone's ring measured 84.9 decibels, which is pretty run of the mill. As you can see from the chart below it's within a couple decibels of most other phones, except for the Nokia N95 which measured an incredible 105.3 decibels
| Handset | Volume (decibels) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 84.9 | 8.49 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 84.00 | 8.40 |
| Helio Ocean | 85.40 | 8.54 |
| LG Prada | 84.60 | 8.46 |
| Nokia N95 | 105.30 | 10.53 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 83.2 | 8.32 |
Ringtone Customizability (0.0)
The iPhone does not allow you to use your own MP3 or other files as ringtones, and you can't use any of the existing services that send new ringtones to your phone. We would be very surprised if Apple didn't start offering a Ringtones service through iTunes, but for now, you're stuck with the existing. This is very disappointing since phones like the Nokia N95, LG Prada and Treo 750 all allow you to use your own music files as ringtones.
Non Audio Alerts (7.0)
The iPhone has a vibration alert that seems a little weak. We were able to just feel in our pants pockets, but we seriously doubt that you will notice it in a jacket pocket or a bag. We were pleased with the full screen alert that shows up when a call comes in, making it very easy to see if you happen to be looking at the phone.
[page title="Messaging"]
Supported Email Services (8.0)
| Apple iPhone |
BlackBerry 8800 |
Helio Ocean |
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| LG Prada |
Nokia N95 |
Treo 750 |
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Push Email (1.0)
The iPhone does not support standard push email services like Exchange or BlackBerry, which is something we're sure many business users out there are saddened by. It does support push email via IMAP, although most IMAP email services don't offer the capability. As Apple announced in January when the iPhone was revealed, Yahoo's IMAP email will support this feature, giving non-corporate users an alternative that few other handsets have offered. Still, we would have much preferred to see the iPhone support standards like BlackBerry and Exchange. The absence of this kind of support leaves the iPhone behind BlackBerry devices like the 8800 or Windows Mobile devices like the Treo 750. Even the Nokia N95, a consumer-oriented device, has free software available that allows you to interact with BlackBerry or Exchange servers.
Multiple Email Accounts (10.0)
The iPhone supports multiple email accounts, up to the five that we test for. This is important as folks nowadays often have multiple email accounts.
HTML and Attachments (10.0)
Email Customizations (6.0)
The iPhone offers a very good selection of options for customizing your email. You can change the number of lines that are displayed for each item in the message list, change your font size and create signatures for outgoing emails. These are more options than most "smart" phones have. The BlackBerry 8800 and Treo 750 only allow you to add signatures as an email customization option. This is one place where the iPhone stands above traditional messaging devices. Although it should be noted that the BlackBerry 8800 and Treo 750 both offer you the option to change font size universally.
Time to a New Message (10.53)
| Handset | Time (sec) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 1.9 | 10.53 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 1.76 | 11.36 |
| Helio Ocean | 2.10 | 9.76 |
| LG Prada | 2.42 | 8.26 |
| Nokia N95 | 4.40 | 4.55 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 2.23 | 8.97 |
Email Usability (8.0)
The iPhone's email interface is fairly straightforward. When you launch the program you are shown a list of messages in the currently activated account. You can hit the mailboxes button on the upper left to go back to a list of folders and accounts. As is standard on the iPhone interface you can scroll through the messages by merely flicking your finger up or down. Tapping on a message will allow you to view it. There are on-screen controls for functions like deleting, responding or composing a new message. You can also delete a message in the inbox view by swiping your finger across it. You can limit how many messages are loaded for each account, however there are no options to sort your messages, which are organized by time of arrival.When you create a new message you are given a new message dialogue and the on-screen keyboard pops up. You are shown the To: and Cc: fields but there is no Bcc: field. Simply start typing in the addresses you want to send to, add a subject and body, and hit the send button to send the message along. You can also add contacts from your address book by hitting the + symbol in the To: field. Commonly used symbols like @ and . are easily accessible on the keyboard.
The iPhone does support auto completion of names when you type them into the To: field in email. This is a nice feature that has been standard on Windows Mobile Professional phones like the Treo 750 and is also found on the BlackBerry 8800. It is not available on Symbian Series 60 devices or most other handsets.
Overall we found the interface very usable. However, it wasn't any more impressive in terms of functionality than the Treo 750 or BlackBerry 8800. It's also missing options compares to these phones, such as the ability to sort your messages by sender and size or add blind carbon copies.
Update: After using the iPhone's email features for a few days now we've found a couple of issues that are worth mentioning. The first is that there is no way to delete a large number of emails at once. Instead when you are in edit mode you will need to hit the "-" sign next to the message and then confirm the deletion. This is annoying, especially for those who need to delete large numbers of spam emails.
The second issue is in switching between accounts. Unlike BlackBerries, which provide a unified inbox, the iPhone has separate folder structures for each account. This means that you will need to back out to the accounts list to view messages in another account. We much prefer the Windows Mobile system that allows you to switch between accounts by using the left/right on the directional pad. Of course the iPhone lacks a directional pad, but we hope Apple adds some functionality to make switching between accounts easier as the current method is onerous, especially for those who want to manage several email accounts on their device.
As a result of these issues we have deducted a point from the iPhone's original email usability score.
Supported IM Services (0.0)
The Apple iPhone does not support any instant messaging services. This is surprising given that instant messaging is a more or less standard feature on most phones. We do have to admit that carriers usually gouge you by charging you for SMS messages when you use IM, but certainly on smart phones you can get programs like Agile Messenger to use your data connection to send instant messages without those extra charges. There is an online app called iPhoneChat that is designed for the iPhone that gives you limited access to AIM. We hope that Apple adds a robust client for IM in the future.
MMS Support (0.0)
Curiously the iPhone does not support MMS. This is a strange omission as we are certain that AT&T would have liked to charge customers for the privilege of sending photos to others. People have argued that you can just send the photo via email, but this overlooks the fact that most people are able to receive an MMS message any time, while you certainly don't have access to your email all the time (all those who are saying that everyone will be carrying an iPhone soon can come back to reality now). We hope this is an area where Apple makes the effort to improve functionality in the future as its a shame to have a phone with all of the multimedia features of the iPhone without the ability to send MMS messages.
SMS Smiley Face Interpretation (0.0)
To test whether a phone interprets smileys as graphical icons or leaves them in text format we send four common emoticons to the phone. We were disappointed that the iPhone left these emoticons in text format rather than showing graphical representations as on the Treo 750 and many other phones.
SMS/MMS Ease of Use (4.0)
The SMS application on the iPhone provides threaded SMS conversations. When you open the application you are presented with a list of currently ongoing with the name of the contact listed. A blue dot next to the name indicates that there is a new message. Tapping on one of the conversations takes you to the threaded view, with sent and received messages shown in alternating bubbles. At the top of the conversation are buttons that allow you to call the contact or see their contact information. At the bottom of the screen is the text entry field. Tapping on this will bring up the on-screen keyboard. There is a clear button in the upper left that clears all of the messages sent or received. In the list of ongoing conversations you can delete a whole session by using the edit button or you can swipe your finger across a conversation. Starting a new conversation can be done by hitting the compose button in the upper left of the conversation list. Unfortunately the SMS program has some serious drawbacks despite all of its graphical niceties. First of all you can't delete individual messages sent or received, meaning that you have to decide to keep an entire conversation or get rid of it all. We also found that you cannot send text messages to multiple users or groups. This is a standard feature on just about every cell phone in the world so we are surprised to see its lack on the iPhone.
Probably the best comparison for the iPhone in this area are Treos, which also have a threaded SMS app. We found that the Treos' application provides much more capabilities in an interface that's just as easy to use. The iPhone's SMS application is sufficient to send or receive a quick text message, but its limitations will frustrate power texters.
Time to a New SMS Message (3.82)
| Handset | Time (sec) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 2.62 | 3.82 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 3.82 | 2.62 |
| Helio Ocean | 3.10 | 4.76 |
| LG Prada | 2.36 | 4.24 |
| Nokia N95 | 0.90 | 11.11 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 2.36 | 4.24 |
[page title="Organizer"]
Synchronization (6.83)
The iPhone synchronizes PIM information with your PC or Mac using iTunes. Simply download and install the software (if you don't already have it) and connect the iPhone to your computer using the included USB cable. iTunes will walk you through the synchronization process. You can synchronize email accounts, contacts, calendars and bookmarks. You can select to synchronize all of your contacts and calendars, or choose a specific group from each. Once you're set up the iPhone will automatically synchronize information when it is connected to your Mac or PC. We found the synchronization system easy to set up and use with good control over what is synchronized across.
The iPhone supports synchronization via USB but not Bluetooth. Your contacts and calendars are synchronized over however tasks are not and there is no category support on the device. Rather you will need to assign which calendar/category items on the phone are assigned to when they are next synchronized. Contact photos are synchronized across. Strangely there is no support for notes synchronization. This is surprising because in Steve Job's keynote at Macworld in January notes were specifically mentioned as an item that could be synchronized.
Synchronization on the iPhone is compatible with both PCs or Macs using iTunes. On the Mac you can synchronize with either the built in PIM programs (Address Book & iCal) or with Microsoft's Entourage program. On the PC you can only synchronize with Outlook.
Alerts (4.0)
Over the Air PIM Sync (0.0)
The iPhone does not support any form of over the air PIM synchronization. This is unfortunate as this has become a key feature of other smart phones. At the very least it would have been nice to see over the air synchronization using Apple's .Mac service, and in the long run we hope to see support for Exchange Server synchronization.
Address Book
Adding Contacts (4.79)
| Handset | Time (sec) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 20.86 | 4.79 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 16.30 | 6.13 |
| Helio Ocean | 21.24 | 4.71 |
| LG Prada | 27.24 | 3.67 |
| Nokia N95 | 25.42 | 3.93 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 16.1 | 6.21 |
Looking/Sorting/Search (2.5)
The only way to search through you contacts on the iPhone is to scroll by "flicking" the screen or by using the alphabet that appears on the right side of the screen. You can change the sort order of your contacts to either first or last name. These are the only search and sorting options you have. Compared to Windows Mobile phones that allow you to view your contacts by company and filter by category this support isn't as robust.
Fields (3.2)
The iPhone has 16 fields available for contacts, including the ability to add multiples of many fields like phone numbers. We were pleased to see the ability to add information like birthdays, nicknames and even notes, where you can add any additional details you like. This compares well to regular phones like the Helio Ocean and LG Prada, which provide 18 and 11 fields respectively. It doesn't compare well with smart phones like the Treo 750, which provides 40 fields, or the Nokia N95's 55 different fields. This is a place where power contact users may not find the iPhone's capabilities sufficient.
Speed Dial/Voice tags/Voice command (1.17)
The iPhone does not have any speed dial in the traditional sense due to the lack of a physical keyboard. You can however create a favorites list in the phone application that gives you quick access to numbers that you dial often. This list can be easily edited and ordered to suit your needs. Those who are used to one touch dialing though should note that this takes several more steps. If the phone is locked you will need to turn it on, unlock it, launch the phone application, hit the favorites tab and then touch the favorite you want to dial. Because of this we are only awarding half our normal number of points for speed dial to the iPhone. There is no support for voice tags or voice command, which is an unfortunate omission as it would have seemed to be a natural fit for a phone with a touch screen interface. It is also surprising because some form of voice dialing has been standard on almost all phones for quite awhile now.
Calendar
Adding Calendar Items (5.29)
| Handset | Time (sec) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 18.92 | 5.29 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 6.92 | 14.45 |
| Helio Ocean | 24.20 | 4.13 |
| LG Prada | 32.50 | 3.08 |
| Nokia N95 | 18.64 | 5.36 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 6.76 | 14.79 |
Calendar Views (4.0)
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| List View | Day View | Month View |
The iPhone's calendar provides three views. A "list" view lists all of the upcoming appointments you have in chronological order. The day view shows the current day divided into one hour increments with appointments inserted at their appointed times. The month view shows the current month. Days that have appointments are indicated with a small dot under the date. At the bottom of the screen in the month view you see a list of that day's events. We found the views to be very simple and easy to use, but would have liked to have seen a weekly view as well. Especially on the iPhone's large screen there could have been a lot of use for a weekly view in landscape orientation. One place where the iPhone again falls behind business oriented devices like the Treo 750 is that you cannot filter the type of appointments you are viewing.
Fields (8.0)
When you create a calendar appointment on the iPhone you have a good selection of fields to fill in. You can set a title and choose a location for the event. Start and end date are there of course, as is the option to create an all day event. You can also set a recurrence pattern. Recurrence on the iPhone is not a customizable as that found on Windows Mobile or BlackBerry devices, giving you the choice of five different patterns. You can set an alert for the appointment, again having to choose from a list of options rather than picking your own time. Finally you can add a note for the appointment. All in all we were rather pleased with the options available when you create an appointment on the iPhone. We do wish we had a bit more control over recurrence and alerts however. We were also missing advanced fields like categories and the ability to invite contacts.
ToDo/Tasks
Adding ToDo/Task (0.0)
The iPhone does not support tasks. So, it's going to score 0 in all of these categories. This is a disappointment; many other phones (such as the BlackBerry 8800 and the Nokia N95 aupport ToDo lists, and can synchronize these lists with desktop programs such as Outlook or Lotus Notes. With the iPhone, all you can do is to create a note that holds your ToDo list, which means you can't categorize tasks, set alarms for tasks or otherwise keep tabs on the list of things you have to do.
ToDo/Task Sorting and Prioritizing (0.0)
See above.
Fields (0.0)
See above.
Notes
Adding Notes (3.95)
To find out how easy it is to add a note to the iPhone we time how long it takes to go from the home screen until we have added a note reminding us about a lunch appointment the following day. We repeat this process five times and take the average for our score. The iPhone took 12.66 seconds to add our sample note. This compares well to other phones, with times simlar to the BlackBerry 8800 and Treo 750 and significantly better than the Ocean, Prada and N95.
| Handset | Score | |
| Apple iPhone | 12.66 | 3.95 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 13.12 | 3.81 |
| Helio Ocean | 16.06 | 3.11 |
| LG Prada | 18.74 | 2.67 |
| Nokia N95 | 17.70 | 2.82 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 11.65 | 4.29 |
Note Interface (4.0)
The notes interface on the iPhone is fairly basic, if pretty (like everything else on the phone). When you first launch the program you are taken immediately to a new note interface. Once you have a note stored you are taken to a simple list of notes from which you can choose the one you want. When you open an existing note you have controls at the bottom of the screen that allow you to switch to the next or previous note, delete the current note or send it via email. The inclusion of the email button is a nice feature that we don't see on many phones. Although the interface is elegant, it does not give users advanced tools like searching through notes or categorizing them.
Note Formatting (0.0)
The iPhone provides not options to format your notes with things like colored text, different font types, bold/italics/underline or adding hand drawn items. The last surprises us the most, we would have thought that a touch screen interface would lend itself to a freehand entry format.
Voice Memo (0.0)
Unlike most phones the iPhone does not allow you to create voice notes. This is an example of several small items that are missing from the iPhone that are found on even entry level cell phones, things like MMS and voice command. Once again we are a little surprised by the lack of support for this feature since you would have thought that voice notes would be an obvious option for a touch screen device.
[page title="Multimedia"]
Accessing Music Software (6.45)
To test how easy it is to get music playing on the iPhone we timed how long it took to go from the home screen unlocked until we have a song playing. We repeat this test five times and take the average for our score. The iPhone was pretty speedy at this; we could get the tunes playing in an average of 3.1 seconds, and the process only took four screen touches. That's because Apple put the iPod application right on the front page; you don't have to scroll, dig through menus or otherwise search for it. However, it is a little slower than the N95; that could get the party started in just 1.69 seconds. But 3.1 seconds is pretty fast.
| Handset | Time (sec) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 3.1 | 6.45 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 5.48 | 3.65 |
| Helio Ocean | 5.20 | 3.85 |