I guess the iPhone was the one that started off the touch interface phone craze that has been going around. Its true that Windows Mobile has been around quite some time and also Palm is also a touch based UI(user interface) but its the iPhone that got everyone so hyped up about it. Until today, all the new touch phones are being compared to the iPhone.
In all my comments I will just highlight the features, advantages and disadvantages. All of those will be based on the common and general preference of users. Meaning, I will not comparing about techie things like how many RAM, ROM, built in memory, pixel counts and so on. It will just on what normal people would expect from the phone for the price that you are paying. Also, I will not explain much about the OS or UI because I think its very subjective among different people and you really have to try it out yourself and find the one that really suites your needs and style.
The latest iPhone is the iPhone3Gs and like all iPhones, there is only on version of it, the Apple version. Meaning, this OS is solely for iPhone and you can't find it in any other makers. Its either take it or leave it. And so far, everybody has been taking it.
Main Advantages
- Great body. Its one hell of a sexy phone. The phone design is one of the main selling points. Being a touch phone the screen is big 3.5" big. But the design and curve managed to hide all that up and made the looks like really good for a phone that size. The phone design is really popular among the ladies.
- Excellent OS. The phone is by far the most user friendly smartphone in the market. The phone is fast and performs each function with minimum or no lag at all. Its so far the most stable OS for a smartphone and also the most intuitive. The UI is icon based and it makes everything very simple and easy to use. Another plus point amongst the ladies.
- Great Capacitive screen. Here is gets a little techie but its important. Normal touch phones uses a resistive screen which detects an action when you apply pressure on the screen. Basically you can use whatever to press on the screen and it will register, most people use their nails. Capacitive screen on the other hand detects the action when you touch the screen. And it only registers the finger touch and some special stylus. Finger nails or regular stylus do not register as an action. Its good because you will unlikely to press the wrong thing. Furthermore, capacitive screens allows multiple touch function. Hence, the famous Apple "pinch" to zoom gesture. Resistive screens can only detect one action at a time.
- Excellent software options. Being a smartphone, you can upload additional software into the phone. Some for free and some you may need to buy them. But because the iPhone is so popular there's a library of different software around and which will definitely suite your usage. Furthermore, there are also lots of games made for the iPhone.
- Great web browser. If you are a Macbook user. You should know how good the safari browser is and the browser for the iPhone is the mini version of it. So basically all the the good stuffs are in it. The "pinch" zoom makes it even better to use given the size of the screen. You cannot possibly see everything like in the pc.
Main Disadvantages
- Crappy camera. Honestly I think this is the weakest part of the iPhone. The camera is totally a piece of *#*&. Sorry for the language but I'm really disappointed and feel short changed by the camera they are offering. For the price you are paying for the phone, you get a 3.2mpx camera. Personally I think 5mpx is the minimum requirement these days. Another thing about the camera is that there is no flash. I repeat, NO FLASH! Maybe 3 years ago, you can get away with that but the topic now is what type of flash you have (xenon or LED) and not whether you have flash on your phone or not. Another issue is that there is no dedicated camera button for taking pictures i.e. you need to press screen to snap a picture. However, I do think its cool that the camera has touch focus. Either way, if you are a person who like to take pictures with your phone, STAY AWAY for the iPhone. Obviously its not meant to be a camera phone.
- 3G and bluetooth is for data only. Given the crappy 3G service here, I don't think this is an issue but being a smartphone, I think it is. There is no second camera at the front for video calls. When it comes to bluetooth, I think the most common use of it would be with your bluetooth hands free. But I guess the people at Apple wants to see people hang their white cable from their pockets so the only bluetooth function in the iPhone is for data transfer. No hands free and no cool wires headphones for you to listen to music.
- Just one keyboard option. The only keyboard they have is the full QWERTY keyboard. Its not a bad thing actually. In fact, when you are used to it, it makes typing faster then the usual alphanumeric keypad. The problem is that its practically impossible to type with one hand.
- Same old design. This may not be an issue now but I think it will be in the near future. iPhone 3Gs is the third generation oh iPhone and it still carries the same design as the first. Maybe the white back is a change but it still looks the same. Its a good design but I don't think its good enough to survive until the next generation of iPhones. FYI, it looks exactly like an iPod too.
Next, I'll be talking on the phone that runs on Windows Mobile. I'll be talking about the lastest version Windows Mobile 6.5 and I'll take 3 phones to compare. Samsung Omnia2, SE Xperia2 and HTC touch2
*credit to gsmarena for the pics*
*credit to gsmarena for the pics*
No comments:
Post a Comment