Verizon iPhone 4 rated 4.25 out of 5 by Wireless and Mobile News' Review of Reviews
Verizon Wireless is now officially offering the iPhone 4, with a limited-supply, on a first-come, first-served basis to Verizon customers. The Verizon iPhone will go on presale February 9 to the general public and will be in stores on February 10. We've scoured the web to see what reviewers are saying about the iPhone 4 from Verizon, and we found the best top reviews for our readers. What are reviewers saying? What is the consensus about the new iPhone 4 from Verizon?
The reviewers all agree that basic style and hardware are about the same for the iPhone 4 on Verizon and AT&T. The major differences are a few features as well as the voice and data networks.
Different reviewers tested the network speeds of both iPhones and had different conclusions. All agreed that the iPhone 4 from Verizon had fewer dropped calls and longer connections.
Data tests varied from different sources and locations. In San Francisco, where there are many more iPhones using AT&T than other parts of the country, CNET found that the Verizon iPhone 4 beat the AT&T iPhone for data speed, uploading a photo and viewing webpages. Brian X Chen at Wired found Verizon to have better coverage in San Francisco but had slower data speeds. On the east coast, Walter Mossberg found the Verizon data speeds and transfer times to be slower than AT&T.
Reviewers liked the Wi-Fi hotspot feature that allows for up to five connections over USB, Wi-Fi and even Bluetooth all at the same time. Many pointed out that users cannot use any kind of data and voice at the same time. Therefore, if a call comes in while connected to the hotspot service, the hotspot stops working.
Many reviewers liked the voice quality of the Verizon iPhone 4. For the most part, they all loved the Verizon iPhone for its styling, battery life and apps, while noting that it is not the absolute top in all smartphone features but is excellent nonetheless.
Verizon's iPhone 4
features a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording,
Apple's A4 chip, a 3-axis gyro, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a high-resolution 940x640-pixel (326 pixels per square inch) retina touchscreen. Phone 4 runs iOS 4,2.6, which includes multitasking, folders, Game Center, hotspot mode, and AirPlay
and AirPrint wireless printing.
iPhone 4
on the Verizon Wireless network is priced at $199.99 for the 16GB
iPhone 4 or $299.99 for the 32GB iPhone 4 with a new two-year customer
agreement. A $29.99 unlimited data plan is required, and there are
choices of voice plans starting at $39.99 a month. You can also buy the
3G mobile hotspot plan that is $20 per month for 2GB.
- Verizon's online exclusive deals.
- Verizon Wireless new products page.
- Verizon iPhone 4 How to Get Ordering Tips.
- Details, Times and Dates of Verizon iPhone 4 Sales through Apple, Verizon and Best Buy.
Summaries of all the reviews reviewed follow with links to the original articles.
David Pogue at the New York Timess wrote, "the Verizon iPhone is nearly the same as AT&T's iPhone 4 - but it
doesn't drop calls. For several million Americans, that makes it the
holy grail." He expects an enormous stampede of new iPhone customers in his review entitled "Almost Heaven." The Verizon iPhone 4 made calls in the usually dropped zone of his house. The hardware of the Verizon iPhone 4 is almost identical to the AT&T iPhone 4 and prices are about the same. He noted that you can't use voice and data at the same time. Mobile hotspot will cut out when a voice call comes in. He didn't like that Verizon reduced its return period to 14 days and that the Early Termination fee is $350 if you cancel your contract early. He is concerned that the network will become overloaded by the iPhone stampede. He thinks that Android phones are superior in some ways, including GPS navigation, voice-to-text dictation, and bigger screens. He also pointed out that the Verizon iPhone 4 is not a global phone.
Walter Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal reported that the Verizon iPhone did a much better job of voice calling with fewer dropped calls. He pointed out, however, that if you really care about data speeds and overseas travel, and AT&T is tolerable in your area, you may want to stay with AT&T. In his tests, the AT&T network averaged 46% faster than AT&T's network. He also pointed out that it is not clear yet if Verizon will carry or update it to the features of the iPhone 5.
Joshua Topolsky at Engadget wrote "Apple and Verizon did the impossible: they made the best smartphone in America just a little bit better." The hardware is the same as the AT&T iPhone, which he calls best-in-class by a long shot. He noted that the Verizon iPhone 4 has A4 CPU, 512MB of RAM,960 x 640 IPS
Retina Display, and all of the rest of the iPhone 4's stock gear: 16GB
or 32GB of storage, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and all the
rest. Although he noticed fewer dropped calls, he did experience some broken calls and sound quality issues. With a Verizon iPhone, you can add up to two people to a call and others are sent to voicemail. Data rates on the Verizon iPhone 4 were dramatically slower than those on its AT&T counterpart. Mobile hotspot service seemed great but expensive at $20. Battery lIfe was phenomenal.
Jessica Dolcourt at CNET, along with Kent German, tested Verizon iPhone vs AT&T iPhone data speeds, signal bars, photo uploads and downloading of webpages. They tested two iPhones all over San Francisco and found that Verizon blazed through AT&T's upload and download speeds. AT&T's network faired better with Facebook and GiantBomb.
Kent German reported that overall the Verizon iPhone, in making calls and bars, performed better than the AT&T iPhone, with more successful calls and less dropped calls.
When CNET tested calls and recorded them, they found that the Verizon sample is clearer and sharper but is also a bit tinnier and
harsher. In contrast, the AT&T sample sounds a bit warmer, but my
voice sounds a little softer than it normally is. The samples do sound different. It's hard to tell which is better.
In a full review, Kent German rated the Verizon iPhone 4 a 4 out of 5. He liked the hotspot feature and better performance but didn't like that it lacked world roaming and simultaneous voice data. The hotspot connection can be made via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or a USB cable, and you can use all three methods at the same time. Photo quality was as good as the AT&T iPhone 4.
Brian X. Chen at Wired found the Verizon iPhone had better coverage and slower data in his tests. AT&T download rates are 62
percent faster than Verizon, and AT&T upload rates are 38 percent
faster than Verizon.