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Consumer Reports “can’t recommend the iPhone 4″, but says it’s the “highest rated”
Consumer Reports boldly announced yesterday that they “can’t recommend the iPhone 4”. This is somewhat of a blow to Apple as many other countries are prepping to release this device soon. The reason for the slam was due to the antenna issues. When users hold the iPhone 4 on the left side they slowly start to see reception dwindle down to zero bars. Consumer Reports did say an easy solution was to put a piece of tape on the left side and it will somehow miraculously solve the issue.
However, in an odd and ironic twist Consumer Reports also has an online mobile phone rankings section where users can pay to see full details and breakdowns of smartphone ratings. Can you guess what device is at the top of the list: the new iPhone 4. This has been granted the “highest rated” smartphone and Consumer Reports gave it a ranking of 76 out of 100. The next highest ranking is the iPhone 3GS and the HTC Sprint Evo 4G with 74 points.
John Paczkowski of the WSJ “Digital Daily” said that “The product evaluation agency rated the iPhone 4 “Excellent” in its display, navigation, Web browsing, multimedia and battery life categories, “Very Good” in phoning and messaging and “Good” in voice quality.”
So if you take away the reception issues and only hold the iPhone 4 on the right side you’ve got a stellar top class device.
Check it here at Consumer Reports
Source: Apple Insider & WSJ
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14 comments for “Consumer Reports “can’t recommend the iPhone 4″, but says it’s the “highest rated””
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Okay, so I figured people would come and comment about how iPhone either sucks or is too good, so I figured I’d ask for you guys’ opinion because I’m kind of stuck.
Alright, so I got a BlackBerry Bold 9700 with Best Buy last year and with their warranty I can get a new phone if mine seems to mess up (and yeah, mines being a pain so I think something’s wrong with it.)
However, I’m not too sure if I want to keep this phone because I’m not too happy with it. Compared to the iPhone, the Facebook application sucks, so I already have to use the crappy browser to check my notifications and stuff. Nothing in the App Store is free compared to Apple’s, and their paid apps are cheaper too, and iPhone has YouTube. So, I guess I’m a kind of person who really needs stuff on his phone to keep himself busy when he’s waiting or whatever.
I was considering getting an iPhone 4 maybe like a few weeks after its release because thats what my warranty allows me to do, but this antenna problem is making me doubt a lot for some reason. I never tried/considered Android because I thought Rogers (I’m with them by the way) had issues with software updates or something I don’t really know. It seems now that a lot of people really like Android so…
So, considering my needs for a phone (apps and browser, messaging should be nicely developped too), should I wait for the BlackBerry Slider to come out and get that, the iPhone, or some Android device? (Again, it has to be a Rogers phone).
Thank you
Sorry for the long post
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I’m wondering why Consumer Reports said that battery life on the 3GS was “excellent”. Clearly, they’ve got some things wrong.
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I actually subscribe to Consumer Reports so I have seen the full listings.
Yes, the Apple bloggers are trying to combat the negative press from the findings by saying iPhone 4 is the highest rated phone, sort of giving the impression it’s head and shoulders above anything else. It received excellent marks for things like its screen, multimedia and web-browsing (which I think we can all agree are well deserved). These positives skew its numbers for the phones most basic function; making a phone call.
Just for comparison, here are a few ratings from the chart:
iPhone 4 76
HTC Evo 74
Moto Droid 73
HTC Incredible 73
Nexus One 72
…and on it goes. So yes, it is true the iPhone 4 leads the pack, but the “lead” is negligible. I think I’d rather have a phone with just a couple of points lower ranking, that doesn’t drop calls if I hold it the way I naturally would.
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iPhones are boring. All of them.
4G, 3GS, 3G… all boring.
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To Chris, the battery life on the 3GS is fine compared to a lot of other SmartPhones, you should be able to get through the day without having to charge. I can’t say the same for my LG Eve device.
To Joe, Android and Rogers isn’t necessarily the issue, it’s Android period – it’s up to the Carrier AND the Manufacturer to decide when to update the OS, which may be never, especially in my case with the LG Eve, stuck on 1.5 with a 1.6 update due in Spring coming by year end if at all and then nothing.
I would suggest getting an iPhone if you want a smartphone, I have tried BB, iPhone and Android and the winner is Apple – straightforward device, best hardware, best physical UI, best software, best software support (from the community and more – it will always be available for iPhone first, cuz it’s hip)!
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JOE,
i have used the iphone for the last 2 or so years, until may this year when i moved to android…and I could not be happier, in fact my iphone 3gs is on the shelf collecting dust now…
iphone is a good device, not the best – that’s for sure…consumer reports is just one source, read many…read the reviews from engadget for instance, read their reviews on the iphone 4 and other comparable android devices
and by the way…take note that the four devices that are following the iphone are android devices! even according to consumer reports, android devices take up four out of the top five spots! (but like i said consider other reviews and sources when researching your future device)
Android is an open os means you will always have a better variety of phone, if you want a bigger screen – you can find that, no problem. want a qwerty keyboard? no problem. want better battery life? you can have that too!
android is the fastest going segment of the smartphone market, and their appstore is on its way to catch up with iphones appstore…it’ll be a while before it catches up, since the iphone is the best selling phone – more people develop more applications for it – as expected. But the android device is so customizable! you can really make it yours…it is one step or maybe even a couple of bounds ahead of the iphone…
for instance, if you are a google user, you will appreciate the seamless support for services like gmail, youtube, google maps, google calender, google earth, etc. i mean i could go on and on why i love my droid but best thing for you to do is talk to people that have used both, or better yet put your own hands on them see which one you’ll ‘connect’ with better…
but that’s my 2 cents, hope it helped
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someone gave something to the consumer report to keep it down…
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@Joe and @Max Prytyka
I agree with Max Prytyka on all his point but would add the following:
Either devices will serve you very well and most likely 100x better then the BlackBerry for everything social media/multimedia.
I think the most important part is that you are with Rogers. Except for the X10, nothing really touches the iPhone with Rogers Selection. I would probably end up with a iPhone because the X10 feels cheap…(personal opinion based on review and handling a X10 for 2 minutes)
If you don’t mind paying full price (500-600$) for a phone then you have many better options: Milestone, Nexus One, (soon Triumph, Galaxy S) even the Legend (350$). I would pick any of these over an iPhone4.
As far as ease of use, if you managed to learn RIM OS, you won’t have a hard time with Android/IOS.
I think at this point the App market from Android and iPhone are very similar in terms of quality apps.
If you like tinkering with your gadget, get Android, if you want out of the box, uniform, predictable experience get Android.
If you get Android, get a Nexus One, a Triumph or a Galaxy S so you can enjoy Android 3.0 around Christamas/Early 2010.
For updates you are right that Rogers sucked with their early devices. Samsung has a bad reputation. The Nexus One is updated right away by google themselves. Also notes that updates over 2.1 makes good phones better, they’re not a MUST.
Hopes this helps!
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@labrat if you want out of the box, uniform, predictable experience get Android.
Ooops meant get iPhone…
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Consumer Report; are they not the same people in the 80s to recommend the Dodge Reliant K?! The worst car ever designed in the 1980s. You know the car, the one you’d see on the highway on fire cause of over heating and electrical problems. HA! Consumer Report should remain quiet.
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Consumer Reports is published by Consumers Union, a non-profit, non-biased consumer organisation that tests products independently in their own labs.
They publish a magazine that accepts absolutely no advertising so that they are not a victim of corporate lobbying or give even the appearance of a conflict of interest when reviewing products.
Of all reviews, I would trust theirs above anyone else’s. Unlike many blogs and other groups who do product testing, CR has absolutely no axe to grind, one way or another.
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Thanks to all for the help
@Labrat
Lol I guess what you said about the X10 goes for the minis that are coming out soon eh? Because I was considering the mini pro :\
Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait a few more months for something better
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@Joe: definitely don’t go with Android on Rogers *right now*… The only phone ANYWHERE comparable to the iPhone is the X10, and that phone is really not even remotely in the same ballpark. There’s rumours that Rogers will be bringing out the Samsung Galaxy S soon, which definitely *is* a contender, but it really depends on how badly they screw it up – Samsung offers it in 4 different configurations, if I’m not mistaken, some with a front camera, some without, etc etc. So it just depends which one Rogers gets.
I hope Rogers waits until all the quality issues for the iPhone 4 are sorted out… The reception issue is a non-issue for me as I’d be getting a skin from BestSkinsEver (I have one for my iPhone 3G right now) but the proximity sensor problem would cause me some real consternation.
Right now my plan is to wait till August, at least, and see if there’s a Galaxy in Rogers’ future before deciding to upgrade to the iPhone 4.
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Oh, and don’t even *think* of going with Blackberry – the Blackberry web browser is ridiculously bad. There’s promise in Blackberry 6, but I’m not holding out hope on that one.
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