Apple iPhone Cell Phone Review - Hardware
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Alfredo Padilla Published on June 29, 2007 Comment on this |
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Keypad
Text Words Per Minute (7.92)
The capabilities of the iPhone's on screen keyboard has been one of the most widely discussed features since the phone was announced in January. There have been many who feared that it would be slow and difficult to use, especially those who are used to hardware keyboards as found on BlackBerries and Treos. To test the performance of the iPhone's on screen keyboard we used two hands (two thumbs to be specific) to enter a sample sentence and timed how long it took after having familiarized ourselves with the interface. We repeated this test five times and took the average for our score. The iPhone took an average of 24.26 seconds to enter our sample sentence, which works out to 39.6 words per minute (WPM). This is a solid but not spectacular score for a phone with a QWERTY keyboard. You can see from the chart below that the iPhone performed as well as the BlackBerry 8800 and only slightly worse than the Palm Treo 750. It also did significantly better than the Nokia N95's hardware keypad and the LG Prada's virtual keypad.
| Handset | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 39.6 | 7.92 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 39.30 | 7.86 |
| Helio Ocean | 53.00 | 10.60 |
| LG Prada | 33.80 | 6.76 |
| Nokia N95 | 29.28 | 5.86 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 43.8 | 8.8 |
Here is a chart comparing the text entry interface of each handset:
| Apple iPhone |
BlackBerry 8800 |
Helio Ocean |
 |
 |
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| LG Prada |
Nokia N95 |
Treo 750 |
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T9 and Auto Complete (5.0)
The iPhone supports auto completion of words when typing. This can significantly speed up your typing speed, especially when encountering large words and we are very pleased to see this feature. T9 is of course not supported as the phone lacks a keypad for text entry, either physical or virtual. Auto-completion of words is a step up from the BlackBerry 8800, which lacks this feature.
One Hand Usability (6.42)
For the sake of completeness we run our words per minute test again using only a single hand. The iPhone took an average of 29.92 seconds to enter our sample sentence using only a single hand. To be clear we aren't talking about holding the phone in one hand and poking at the screen in another. Instead we typed using a single thumb while the phone was held in the same hand. This time works out to a score of 32.1 WPM. You can see in the chart below that the iPhone's one handed WPM score was just above average, but what's more interesting is that the iPhone's score dropped significantly over two handed usage as is standard with QWERTY phones This despite the fact that you are using a virtual keyboard. Our biggest issue is that the keyboard is a lot of real estate to cover with just one thumb.
| Handset | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 32.1 | 6.42 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 23.10 | 4.61 |
| Helio Ocean | 28.30 | 5.66 |
| LG Prada | 28.50 | 5.70 |
| Nokia N95 | 32.40 | 6.48 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 38.71 | 5.0 |
Keypad Backlighting (0.0)
As the iPhone lacks a keypad it also lacks the need to backlight it, as such it receives no points in this area.
Controls
D-Pad/Joystick (0.0)
The iPhone lacks a traditional directional pad or joystick, instead relying on its touch screen for interacting with the interface.
Touch Screen (9.0)
The iPhone gets zeros in a lot of items in this section because it depends almost entirely on its touch screen for interacting with the device. This means that you better hope the touch screen is good, and in our experience so far we've been very pleased. As with the Prada there's a world of difference when using a touch screen that's designed to be used with your fingers rather than with a stylus as on Windows Mobile devices. We liked the Prada's touch screen interface and found the iPhone takes usability to a whole new level. We found we rarely hit the wrong button on the screen, and functions worked seamlessly, without lag. This even after working with the phone for several hours and opening just about every program on the device. Apple has set a new standard for touch screens with the iPhone and for awhile everyone else will be playing catch up.
Jog Dial (0.0)
The iPhone does not have a jog dial or scroll wheel.
Soft Buttons (0.0)
The iPhone does not have soft buttons as found on many phones.
Volume Control (7.0)
The iPhone's volume keys are located on the left side of the device near the top and just under the silent/ringer switch. The volume keys are a little stiff, but easy to find by feel and provide good tactile feedback.
Power and Standby (7.0)
The power button on the iPhone is located on the top of the device on the right. A single press will put the phone into standby while a long press will shut it off. The button, like the other on the phone, is black and stiff, with good play and feedback when pressed. We are a little worried that it sits above the surrounding plastic and could be hit accidentally, but with the slide unlock feature on the screen this isn's too much of an issue.
Other Buttons (2.0)
In addition to the buttons we've discussed above the iPhone has a couple other useful buttons. On the front of the phone and beneath the screen is the home buttons. This is used to take you back to the home screen from any place in the phone. The home button is large and easy to hit. It provides very good play and tactile feedback. On the left side of the phone above the volume keys is a ringer/silent switch. This button is a switch that move back and forth and is easy to find by feel and use.
Display
Primary Screen Gross Resolution (9.0)
The iPhone display's resolution is 320 x 480 pixels. This is significantly higher than the QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) displays found on most mid to high end phones, including Windows Mobile devices like the AT&T 8525 and Series 60 phones like the Nokia N95. The added resolution is much appreciated, especially since the iPhone depends almost entirely on it's display for usage. Our score for screen resolution is standardized based on the total number of pixels it can display. Below you can see a chart comparing the iPhone's resolution to several other handsets.
| Handset | Resolution | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 320 x 480 | 9.0 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Helio Ocean | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| LG Prada | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Nokia N95 | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 240 x 240 | 5.0 |
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (8.24)
Pixels per inch (PPI) is a measure of how densely pixels are packed into the display. Higher pixel density means richer colors and sharper images on screen. The iPhone's display packs 164.8 pixels per inch. This is about the same as phones like the BlackBerry 8800 and Helio Ocean, as you can see from the chart below. The iPhone's pixel density is significantly better than the Treo 750, LG Prada and Nokia N95. Phone's with higher pixel densities generally have smaller screens, like the LG Chocolate, so for the amount of screen real estate the iPhone performed admirably in this test. Our score for pixel density is standardized based on the PPI score.
| Handset | Pixels Per Inch | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 164.8 | 8.24 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 165.3 | 8.27 |
| Helio Ocean | 168.0 | 8.40 |
| LG Prada | 155.5 | 7.77 |
| Nokia N95 | 153.8 | 7.69 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 141.7 | 7.1 |
Screen Physical Size (8.75)
The iPhone's display measures an impressive 3.5 inches diagonal. This is larger than displays we've seen on other phones as you can see below. Given that the display is the only way to interact with most of the interface we're very appreciative of the size. It's also nice for those that want to use the device for video playback.
| Handset | Size Diagonal (inches) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 3.5 | 8.75 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 2.4 | 6.0 |
| Helio Ocean | 2.4 | 6.0 |
| LG Prada | 3.0 | 7.5 |
| Nokia N95 | 2.6 | 6.5 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 2.4 | 6.0 |
Screen Brightness (16.8)
To measure screen brightness we point the phone's browser at a blank white screen and turn the brightness up to maximum. We then measure the brightness from four inches away using a lux meter. The iPhone's screen measured 168 in our test, an extremely impressive score. As you can see from the chart below the iPhone blows away the competition, with a score 87% above the BlackBerry 8800, it's nearest competition. Luckily the iPhone also has a sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness for you depending on ambient lighting conditions, so your eyes won't be burned out of your sockets most of the time. Of course when sunlight is hitting those 168 lux come in very useful, as you'll see below.
| Handset | Brightness (lux) | Score |
| Apple iPhone | 168 | 15.4 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 90 | 9.0 |
| Helio Ocean | 63 | 4.35 |
| LG Prada | 43 | 3.15 |
| Nokia N95 | 72 | 4.85 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 60 | 5.75 |
Screen Bright Light Performance (8.5)
To find out how well the phone handles bright light conditions we shine 3000 lux of light onto the display, equivalent to a bright sunny day, and judge how legible the screen is. Thanks to its incredibly bright screen the iPhone's display is one of the best we've seen in bright light situations. Almost everything on the screen is completely legible, as good as the BlackBerry 8800, which also boosts brightness up to very impressive levels in bright light. Those who use phones with touch screens, such as the Treo 750, know that bright light performance often suffers, we're glad to see that the iPhone doesn't make that compromise.
Color Depth (6.0)
Unfortunately Apple has released no information regarding color depth (the number of colors that can be displayed on the screen). They have not responded to our requests for this information. Based on the quality of the screen the iPhone is able to display at least 65,000 colors, and probably a lot more. We have awarded the iPhone a score based on that floor, and will update our score when we receive definitive information.
| Handset | Colors | Score |
| Apple iPhone | unknown | 6.0 |
| Blackberry 8800 | 65,000 | 6.0 |
| Helio Ocean | 260,000 | 8.0 |
| LG Prada | 256,000 | 8.0 |
| Nokia N95 | 16 million | 10.0 |
| Palm Treo 750 | 65,000 | 6.0 |
Ports & Storage
Power & Data Ports (3.0)
The iPhone uses the standard iPod 20 pin connector for both data and power. This is of course necessary to ensure compatibility with the large number of iPod accessories out there, but we can't bring ourselves to like a proprietary connector of any type. On the plus side the iPhone does charge over USB just like any other iPod.
Headphone & Jack Compatibility (3.0)
We were very pleased to see a standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone. This means that you will be able to use your own headphones, although the tight fit of the 3.5mm jack may make it difficult for some headphones with larger plugs to fit. Unfortunately there is no support for A2DP and AVRCP for use with Bluetooth Stereo headphones.
Update: It seems that the iPhone's 3.5mm jack is very poorly designed, with many third party headphones unable to fit. You will need to wait for iPhone specific headphones or get an adaptor in order to use many of your own 3.5mm headphones. As such we are deducting a point from the iPhone in this area. The original score was a 4.
Internal Storage (8.0)
The iPhone of course comes in two different models: 4GB or 8GB. Either way you will have much more storage that found on most phones. Even phones that have expansion card slots will have trouble matching the iPhone's storage, although this may change as high capacity cards become more widely available. But for now, the largest MicroSD card you can buy holds 2GB, so the highest capacity iPhone has four times the capacity of other phones. You should bear in mind that even the 8GB model pales in comparison to the 60GB iPods that are now available. So the iPhone is more than big enough to hold a good number of songs, but it's not big enough to bring your entire music collection with you; you'll still need an iPod for that.
Update: There was an error made in calculating the original score for the iPhone. In conjunction with the fact that the 4GB version is no longer available we are correcting this score upward. The original score given was 6.0.
Expansion Slot & Format (0.0)
The iPhone does not have an expansion slot for additional memory. Although this would have been a nice feature, as we stated above we find the included storage to be more than sufficient for a mobile phone.
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