iPhone Road Test: Conclusion

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23 Nov 2007, Ian Williams , V3

I've now spent a week with the iPhone and I reckon I've covered pretty much all the ups and downs that a new user will face over time.

Overall the iPhone is a pretty great device, if you know what you're getting and it suits your requirements.

It looks very good, feels solid and the interface is very intuitive. For the most part, the things it does, it does well.

There are plenty of great features from which other mobile developers could really learn, particularly in terms of streamlining the interface.

But the iPhone is too expensive for the average consumer and too limited to be considered a real smartphone.

As I said on day four, this conflict creates a lack of focus for the iPhone as it's something of a jack-of-all-trades, and master of none.

With this in mind, I can't help thinking that Apple is relying heavily on the brand and the hype to help carry sales, but it seems to be working anyway.

A lot of the issues I've highlighted over the past week could be fixed with software updates, so hopefully Apple will take note of the complaints and recommendations and implement or fix these issues.

Apple has also said that a development kit will be available in February, which will allow third-party developers to make applications for the iPhone. This could solve a lot of my reservations about the device.

I will write a final review in two weeks' time to offer my opinion after having got used to using the phone on a daily basis.

If there is anything that any of our readers would like me to look at, or anything you would like to add about the points I've raised during my review, please do so in the Reader Comments section underneath this article.

Do you agree?

My own thoughts as a user

As a gadget, it is quite different to anything else I've had. I am a big user of the calendar, mail and maps.

Mail has no junk filter, so you get everything! EDGE service is patchy, and I've had a few times where I can't use maps or safari, but the phone always seems to work.

The iPhone scans for free wifi every so often and once you have a connection everything works.

I'm keeping mine!

Posted by Jim Hanika, 23 Nov 2007

It's all a compromise

In reading your review, it came across as more of a wish list than anything else. Every device - especially a battery-powered portable one - is an exercise in the art of compromise. EDGE vs. 3G? Added cost and power consumption. Better camera? Again, higher cost, possibly takes more room, probably more storage demands against the 8GB flash memory. It's not that Apple couldn't have made the changes you would like to see, but that given the target audience (non-business), price point, size, weight, battery life, etc. etc. etc., they had to make choices. A better review would have been to take several internet-capable cell phones and compare them against each other, because that would represent the current state-of-the-art.

Posted by Dave, 24 Nov 2007

My Iphone

Love the interface, touch screen is great, e-mail and web viewing excellent. Needs a flash player and some decent office software though, such as MS Word, Excel etc to make this a GREAT phone

Posted by Niel, 26 Nov 2007

I Phone

Battery life disapointing

Posted by Nick, 27 Nov 2007

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