April 28, 2011

Vegas CountDown

July 1, 2010

The Most Thorough iPhone 4 Review

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review

Some key improvements, from the review:
Camera (5MP, but still the best)
Antenna (with a proper buffer between your hand's conductivity and the steel antennas, reception should be greatly improved and dropped calls reduced) From the review:

The Antenna is Improved

From my day of testing, I've determined that the iPhone 4 performs much better than the 3GS in situations where signal is very low, at -113 dBm (1 bar). Previously, dropping this low all but guaranteed that calls would drop, fail to be placed, and data would no longer be transacted at all. I can honestly say that I've never held onto so many calls and data simultaneously on 1 bar at -113 dBm as I have with the iPhone 4, so it's readily apparent that the new baseband hardware is much more sensitive compared to what was in the 3GS. The difference is that reception is massively better on the iPhone 4 in actual use.

With my bumper case on, I made it further into dead zones than ever before, and into marginal areas that would always drop calls without any problems at all. It's amazing really to experience the difference in sensitivity the iPhone 4 brings compared to the 3GS, and issues from holding the phone aside, reception is absolutely definitely improved. I felt like I was going places no iPhone had ever gone before. There's no doubt in my mind this iPhone gets the best cellular reception yet, even though measured signal is lower than the 3GS.

AT&T network "The network is either great or totally unusable, while its competitors are generally more consistent but never quite as fast...(however)...AT&T's network in general seems to be improving." Also outlined is the cost of ownership, with and without tethering, with AT&T competing with (and beating) its competitors' smartphone plans.