iPhone 3G Review

Cell Phone Functionality

If you consider the cell phone functionality of the iPhone of greatest importance, you will not be disappointed. Just press the phone icon to get to the Phone area. As shown in Figure 9, the bottom row has the following choices: Favorites, Recents, Contacts, Keyboard, and Voicemail. All are self-explanatory and the landing page for each area is well-designed and easy-to-navigate. Some perks include the ability to listen to each voice mail in any order rather than having to listen to them all to get to the most important call.

Figure 9: Screen shot of the Phone Area.

The Keypad Screen, shown in Figure 10, has large buttons and an obvious Call button. As with all other input screens, there is a thick arrow with an X on it on the right side of the screen. You can use this arrow to erase an errant screen press that you might have made.

Figure 10: Keypad Screen.

Although the iPhone is a bit larger than many other phones, it is comfortable to hold up to your ear. The edges of this new 3G model have been slanted just slightly and that minor adjustment gives the phone a better feel in your hand.

The sound quality is excellent. As a matter of fact, it is clearer than most other cell phones we’ve tried. The speaker phone is also excellent. The Bluetooth functionality is very good and also easier to set up than with most cell phones. If you have the phone attached by Bluetooth to headphones or another device, when you pick up the phone to answer a call, you get an onscreen list allowing you to quickly choose to answer the call by the cell phone rather than by the Bluetooth device. This is a wonderful feature that is not as easily accessible on many other phones.

One of the biggest shortcomings of the iPhone is that it has no built-in voice dialing. Many cell phone users have become dependent on voice dialing and with many states outlawing hands-on calling in moving vehicles, this is a huge oversight. Perhaps an application will become available to handle this, but it really should be built-into the phone.

The iPhone is also capable of SMS texting, but it may cost extra. The $30 minimum data plan does not include texting. If you use texting without adding it to your monthly plan, you will pay on a per message basis. Adding it to your monthly plan will add an additional $5 or more.