Verizon iPhone 4 reviews come pouring in
Will Brinson
It’s fairly obvious that the media embargo on Verizon iPhone 4 reviews was about 8:00 PM EST (or thereabouts) on Wednesday night, because if you’ve got any tech-related sites in your Google Reader, they’re all piled up one after another.
(It’s also fairly obvious that the people at Verizon don’t have my email address. Because I don’t have a review copy yet. Or perhaps they read my 6 reasons NOT to make the switch?)
Physically, there’s no apparent difference (apparently), except for a pair of rivets that you normally wouldn’t see on AT&T’s version. Those are there to accomodate antenna changes. They shouldn’t bother you too much.
However, there’s one big difference in what you’re going to get with Verizon’s version: non-crappy cell phone service. And this is a recurring theme in every single review from around the web.
Be it Engadget:
We had many, many perfectly connected and sustained calls while on the Verizon iPhone (many times during testing we actually had to switch from our AT&T device to the Verizon device just to complete the call).
I can’t tell you how wonderful it has been to walk through the city while being able to maintain a phone call, or Internet connection. Naturally, there are still a few places I was unable get service, but they’re typically places where it’s understandable — like underground.
In the week I’ve been testing the phone I’ve not experienced a single dropped call, and voice quality has been amazing both for me and those on the other end of the call.
“Holy crap, you sound so much better,” a friend said after I switched to the Verizon handset while walking through downtown San Francisco. “That’s amazing. I can actually hear you.”
So, yeah, if it’s something other than “miserable cell phone service” that you crave, make the move and make it quickly.
However, the Verizon version apparently isn’t without its drawbacks. There’s no Data + Phone, but there IS texting + phone service (I was previously wrong about this, but it makes sense, because MMS and SMS aren’t “data” services anyway). So that’s good news.
Onto tethering, where I was correct — you can’t set up your “Personal Hotspot” and expect to make calls; they’ll kill off your WiFi connection.
The simple solution to this is to put your phone in Airplane mode, although your boss might get pissed when he can’t reach you. But still, it’s nice to see “Personal Connection” alerts that pop up and let you know if you’re within range of an acceptable setup to tether.
Just remember, you’ll also have to pay an extra $20 in order to tether. An unlimited minutes and data plan will run you well over $100 a month ($29.99 for data, $69.99 for the minutes, not counting charges and texts), and if you plan to utilize tethering, it’s going to cost you an extra $20 a month for 2 GB of data. For each additional GB of data you go over that, it’s another $20. So a porn-heavy month on the old phone could end up running you about $175, which is stupid steep.
Still, you might HAVE to tether the phone to get the data service you want because, um, yeah, look at this Speed Test comparison that Joshua Topolsky of Engadget whipped up. (Verizon on the left, AT&T on the right.)
In the words of my girl Liz Lemon: It’s a dealbreaker, ladies. Because that Verizon speed is the definition of weaksauce. Obviously that doesn’t matter as much if you’re utilizing WiFi and/or tethering, but think about how slow videos and pictures can upload NOW. And then think about the future.
I love my phone but I don’t care so much about actually talking to people that I’m willing to sacrifice utility. Hell, that’s why (as I pointed out two days ago) you download the Skype mobile app.
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