Apple iPhone Cell Phone Review - Connectivity
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Alfredo Padilla Published on June 29, 2007 Comment on this |
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Cellular Bands (8.0)
The iPhone is a quad band (850/900/1800/1900) GSM phone that will work on any GSM network worldwide. This is an important feature for those who travel internationally, as it will allow you to roam on to GSM networks in europe, the far and middle east and many other countries that AT&T has roaming agreements with (although you'll pay a lot for the calls you make). Some cell phones are unlocked and can be used on any network, but the iPhone is, for the moment, locked to only work on AT&T, so you can't just swap the SIM card with one you buy in the country you are visiting. Our score for cellular bands is standardized based on the total number of bands supported.
Data Support Score (3.0)
The iPhone supports GPRS and EDGE on all four of it's GSM bands. EDGE network speed tops out at around 230 kbps. We tested the iPhone's EDGE connection using dslreports.com's mobile test site and achieved download speeds of 77kbit/sec in optimal network conditions. We have to admit that, like many others, we found the lack of 3G support on a device with such a capable web browser to be disappointing. That being said, 3G is a battery hog and would have seriously affected the iPhone's battery life as we've seen on phones like the Treo 750. The presence of Wi-Fi for fast data access when in range of a hotspot also lessens the sting somewhat. Our score for data support is standardized based on the type of data and networks supported.
Bluetooth (5.5)
The iPhone supports Bluetooth 2.0 and we are very pleased to see support for EDR (Enhanced Data Rate). We are much less happy to see how much Apple crippled Bluetooth on the iPhone. In a day when most smart device are able to use Bluetooth to synchronize, send and receive files, dial out to the internet and use stereo bluetooth headphones the iPhone is not able to handle any of these tasks. Basically you can use a mono headset and pair with a car kit, that's about it. On the plus side it handled pairing with a headset easily.
Wi-Fi (5.0)
We are pleased to know that the iPhone supports Wi-Fi in both it's b and g varieties. Wi-Fi provides iPhone users with the fast data connections they need to make full use of the powerful Safari browser. It should be noted though that Wi-Fi usage can have an extremely detrimental affect on battery life, though; we'll be running more tests to determine how much affect it has soon.
Infrared (0.0)
The iPhone does not support Infrared for short range transfers of data. Although a legacy technology it is still widely found on devices such as older notebooks and PDAs.
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