Apple iPhone Cell Phone Review - Value & Comparisons
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Alfredo Padilla Published on June 29, 2007 Comment on this |
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Value (3.0)
The Apple iPhone is available at two price levels, $499 for a 4GB version and $599 for an 8GB version. Either way you're talking about a good chunk of change for a phone. Apple has justified the pricing level by pointing out that some individuals purchase both a smart phone for around $300 and an iPod for around $200. We feel that fewer people than you would expect spend that much on both a phone and an iPod, but of course those who do are the market that Apple will be going after first.
For the vast majority of folks, the iPhone is, and will remain, a premium product that's beyond their price range. If you are looking for smart phone features (such as a decent music player and video support), you can pick up a smart phone such as the Palm Treo 750 for under $200, with a two year contract. When you consider the fact that you are signing up for the same two year contract with the iPhone and are paying $599 for the phone, it's clear that it is not a bargain. We imagine, though that if this first version of the iPhone is successful, you'll see more models at more reasonable pricing levels. Anyone without a fat wallet may want to wait for those future models.
Comparisons
BlackBerry 8800 - If the iPhone is a rebellious youngster, the BlackBerry 8800 is your dad; all business and frowning faces. The 8800 is a business device, and as such, it's miles ahead of the iPhone in many ways. It has much better email features, and the large, open keyboard is much better than the iPhone's on-screen keyboard if you are writing a lot of emails. And the 8800 has a fun side too; it can play music and video, and adding a MicroSD card allows you to store up to 2GB of music and video; enough to keep you amused on an overnight trip or two. But the screen on the 8800 is much smaller than the iPhone, and videos don't look as good. And there's no camera, so no candid photos or video. Some people (such as those who work in security conscious government buildings or the like) may regard this as a plus, but most users like the flexibility of being able to take snaps every now and then. The 8800 does have things the iPhone doesn't though, such as a GPS receiver that can provide turn by turn driving directions thorugh the built-in software. At around $199 with a 2-year contract, the 8800 is a much better choice than the iPhone for those of us who have to work for a living, and need to do this work on the road. 
Helio Ocean - Helio's hottest new handset has a lot in common with the iPhone; it 's a music and media focussed device with lots of user-friendly features. But it has one thing that the iPhone doesn't; a large keypad and QWERTY keyboard. Although we have found that the iPhone's on-screen keyboard works pretty well, many users will prefer a physical keyboard to bash away on when sending messages. The Ocean has a much speedier EVDO data connection, which makes streaming audio and video to the device a much more realistic prospect. And it also has a GPS receiver which works with Google Maps; although the iPhone includes Google Maps, there's no GPS chip to find your current location if you are lost. Otherwise, the choice may be down to price and network; the Ocean costs $295 with a two-year contract (a lot less than the iPhone) . Helio doesn't run their own network; all calls and data go over Sprint) , so if Cingular has spotty or no coverage in your area and Sprint does, the Ocean is a solid alternative that's cheaper and which offers many of the same features as the iPhone.
LG Prada - The stylish LG Prada is the most obvious comparison out there with the iPhone; both use a touch-screen interface and have a minimum of buttons. LG didn't go the whole way with this, though; the Prada has several small buttons on the front for answering and ending calls. And the touch-screen interface is not as well thought through as the iPhone; many aspects are not as logically designed or laid out as the iPhone. And web browsing on the very basic client that's built into the LG Prada is a painful experience; we were not able to complete our web browsing test, as the browser would stop after a few minutes of browsing. The email features were also lacking; there's only a basic email client that But the LG Prada does have the advantage of being unlocked; it will work with any GSM network, although it does not support the GSM 850Mhz band that some carriers use in the USA. And the LG Prada has another thing the iPhone doesn't; a label from one of the world's best known fashion designers. Whether this matters to you enough to pay the hefty $799 price is something we leave to you to decide. 
Nokia N95 - Nokia's N95 is a powerhouse device that has a huge range of features, including a 5 megapixel camera that blows the socks off the iPhone's camera, a GPS receiver and mapping software built in, and a decent keypad. But there is no QWERTY keyboard; we measured the speed of entering text at a pedestrian 29.28 words per minute; much slower than the on-screen keyboard of the iPhone. And the N95 is sold unlocked, leaving you to choose the GSM phone network of your choice. But the N95 has a similar problem as the iPhone when it comes to data; in the USA, it is restricted to a slow EDGE connection. With the iPhone, that's because Apple decided to use this to save battery power, but the N95 just doesn't support the right frequency bands for US high speed data use. 
Palm Treo 750 - The Treo 750 has a number of things that the iPhone does not. For one, there's a decent QWERTY keyboard, which we found allowed us to type at 43.8 words per minute; a little faster than what we managed with the on-screen keyboard of the iPhone. The Treo also runs the Windows Mobile OS, which is much more expandable than the iPhone; there are thousands of applications for Windows Mobile, while Apple aren't allowing develoipers to write their own programs for the iPhone at the moment. But the Treo has a clunky, boxy design that looks rather dated when you put it next to the smoot curves and clean design of the iPhone.
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