Hardware What should a bit-tech iPhone 4 review look like?

Posting from iPhone 4, It's so nice. I would love to see bit tech review smartphones. As long as it doesn't detract from the overall focus of the website. Maybe useful advice like, I have X phone and I want to upgrade. How will it benefit me. Make a staff member use a 3G (torturous I know) and then give them a 4. The 4 is so nice coming from a 3G though

 

I would love Bit-Tech to cover Smartphones more.

 

What should a bit-tech iPhone 4 review look like?

How about don't even bother review it at all.

 

The right question would be "Why on earth should Bit-tech review a phone?" There are endless phone review sites anyway, so who should you stick your hands to the steaming pile, also known as the world of mobile phones? I don't get it.

 

It should be atleast compared with a similar cost Android phone.

 

See Will IT BLEND iphone epsiode

 

Comparison for ease of use and functionality with rival smartphones, such as the latest crackberry, HTC Desire and Palm Pre Plus. Also a comparison to the 3GS, to see if an upgrade is worth handing over X amount to El Jobs.

Also maybe a segment on what it's like to use said phone for a week. I'm half inclined to say if you are going to do a review, maybe do a roundup of the common handsets to kick things off - not focus on just the iPhone.

As for the people saying not to bother - the site is called bit-TECH.net - tech implying technology, not just PCs and components. I say good on bit for wanting to test the water in new fields.

Just my two cents

 

1: Wear some tight jeans and carry it around all day. Report on comfort (subjective but it'll give us an idea)
2: Wear a blazer and carry it around in the inside pocket all day. (subjective but it'll give us an idea)
3. Test signal strength whilst using different cases (specifically changing the materials: plastic, leather, etc)

 

There's an extreme amount of hate in this thread. Can't say I'm surprised. But I would just like to register some kind of interest. I don't have the answers to have the questions in the article, but a performance focussed review of smartphones could be interesting.

Yes, there are reviews everywhere. But most don't tell you everything you want to know and it takes a lot of reading to get every angle. That said, I have never had a smartphone and would rather avoid it if I could. It does appear though, that the time is coming when I won't have a choice as everything's got a bloody touchscreen these days.

 

It should glitter brightly by being distinctly absent!

 

TBH I prefer the "unboxing" style done on youtube. For a smartphone raw numbers isn't as important as, "does it do what I want it to do" (ie features), and can I see these features working and working well before I go down to my local phone store to pretend im gonna buy a phone in the next 10mins so I can sit and play with one to make a final assesment.

 

There aren't any in the UK. 16Gb iphone in the UK is £499.
Most expensive Android in the UK is the Streak I think, ~£429.
X10 and Desire peak at £400.

 

I think the review should 404 if you hold your mouse the wrong way.

 

Interpreting the question as "how should we review smartphones" I've put my thoughts in bullet points for ease of reading:

a) I entirely support Bit-tech branching out into mobile reviews - I like to keep up on computer and mobile technology, and arguably it's getting ever closer to the same thing.

b) I'm looking to get a new smartphone in October, and in the interim I'll be reading a lot of reviews looking for proper comparison between the various offerings. Sites like Tracy and Matt's Blog, Anandtech etc give good, detailed reviews with pictures and videos, but fail to include any kind of direct performance comparison; if bit-tech can do that you'll be offering something unique.

c) You shouldn't have too many problems building an Android benchmarking suite, presumably you can script some web browsing, or some use of very widely used apps. Obviously you can't do that with iOS or the other closed platforms, but judging by the responses above (and my own virulent hatred of all things aPple) you might find that many of bit-tech readers will be quite happy with just Android benchmakrs.

d) one thing you could do with all platforms is downloading e.g. a podcast using wi-fi and 3G in different (but standard) locations. Time taken for GPS fixing is also a good idea.

e) if you really must review Iphones could it help to jailbreak them, or would that perhaps precipitate a raid of the reviewer's house followed by heavy-handed legal action?

Hope some of that is useful, keep up the good work!

 

I for one hate all of the iphone hype, but would welcome an unbiased review of the top-end smartphones compared to one another. I would prefer to see how they handle tasks rather than benchmarked applications. For example Sony use different apps on the X10 to normal android stuff for handling media etc..

An "OMG ITS SO SHINY!!!oneone" review of the iphone would be a distinct turnoff for me, and I think therein lies the problem. You're either a lover or a hater and its hard to imagine either mindset giving a truly fair and objective review.

The fact that you ask what an iphone review should look like rather than a smartphone review should look like makes me feel apprehensive.

 

Firstly I really like the article, its almost impossible to find an article on the web nowerdays that talks about Android or Apple smartphones without falling into the usual vague descriptions and compliments that you discuss here, so I applaud your thinking behind this article and hope you will begin to test smartphones using benchmarks as you say!

My suggestions on benchmarks would be:

1) Touchscreen sensitivity test
Modern smartphones are all about the User Interface and the most important thing for this is the quality of the touchscreen, theres no point in having the best software around if the screen isnt responsive so I would propose you perform this test:

http://labs.moto.com/diy-touchscreen-analysis/

2) Battery life
Real life battery is always important to know so perhaps a couple of tests should be performed, each on a full battery and with wifi on and 3g on (since that would be the worst case)
- Loop an MP3 and playback until battery fails
- Log onto wifi and stream data until the battery fails
- Loop a video and playback until the battery fails
- connect a call (not sure how) and leave till battery fails

3) Video Playback
have a couple of standard video files that you use to test playback. Obviously if the files have to be converted to a friendly format (iPhone) then that should be noted. I think its also important to test 720p and 1080p file sizes as well, yes I know that playback on a small screen like that means High Def is irrelevent but as the technology marches on I image phones will start having HDMI out as standard and it would be good to know these files can be played back. Also for people like me, a phone that can play HD video back that ive recorded on my HD camera would be very useful, saves me having to carry a laptop around.


4) Sound/Call quality
Call the phone and play a sound at a set level down the phone, check the decibel levels that are coming out the other end. Could also comment on distortion and clarity (although they would be subjective)


5) Signal strength
Using a standard phone (perhaps an iPhone 3G and use the download/upload speed checker app), to compare the signal strength that you get in a couple of different locations to get an idea of how well the phone picks up signal.

Those would cover most of the things that people look for in a smartphone IMO

 

I'd say don't bother.

Bit-Tech is a site for geeks: people obsessed with technology and how you can break modify it to do new things. They are not really interested in what devices do, or how well they do it. They are more interested in what they can make the device do beyond what it was originally conceived for.

The iPhone is an ergonomic product: it is all about how well it does the specific tasks it was designed for, not about the rather more abstract issue of technical specs. Most people here don't get that, hence they don't see what the fuss is all about. The ordinary public, who don't understand abstract specs or modding but are rather more interested in the practical day-to-day use of a product, do. That's why they are queueing up to buy them.

It's a different philosophy, and never the twain shall meet. iPhones should be reviewed by the likes of Which? Magazine, which focuses on practical use and value for money. Esoteric SLI graphic cards costing at least twice the price of an iPhone or iPad while being useful only for playing a few video games at a slightly higher resolution or frame rate should be reviewed by the likes of Custom PC and Bit-Tech net, because that is geek country.

And anyway, people have already made up their mind. We'll continue to have people hating Apple products because, ironically, that makes them feel cooler than they accuse Apple users of feeling. They are the people who, ironically, deride others for spending £430,-- on an iPad while thinking nothing of spending twice that on SLI'd graphic cards just so they can play Crysis, big whoop.

 

Send phones to us your readers, then we will make of our mind about the features of the phone and will tell you if was good or not

Ofc, we will get the chance to keep the phone

 

So, like Jailbreaking then?

Some sweeping generalisations there Nexxo. Speaking for myself, I'd love to like Apple - I love gadgets and admire good design, but I'm put off by things including but not limited to the closed nature of their platform and the tone of their marketing. Do I feel cool for not liking Apple? No.

I'm also economical and sensible about PC upgrades - which is why I use Custom PC and this site.

As I said before, bring on the mobile reviews - the more tech the better.

 

they're in london, that would skew the results far too heavily and would also depend on network

this is the problem. for example, where i am, orange is the only really viable option. is it the best for me in other aspects? god knows. but i get a signal, including a 3g signal, i doubt very much that my speeds would be comparible with someone in a city tho