I've had my iPhone for about a week now and as with all new products, I've been really thrilled with some parts of it and not-so-thrilled about others. But, I’ve been having some problems with my iPhone battery since I got it. I’ve barely been getting a full day of use from the phone. I’ve taken it back three times in the 6 days or so I’ve owned it for this problem. One helpful Apple employee actually told me that 6 hours of usage and 11 hours of standby was pretty good! So I went back yesterday, since I barely got 6 hours out of the phone. And what do you know, they know they’re having problems with the battery. I was one of three people with this problem just while I was there. So my very helpful genius (he was actually very helpful!) tells me that they think it’s a software problem problem and they’re working on it and they should have a fix soon. That this was just one of the problems they discovered during “user testing.” Yep, I apparently paid $600 to participate in their user testing trials.
But, he did say he would exchange the phone for me, since the problems I was having were so well documented. He left for a little while and then came back and said that the managers were not allowing for exchanges on this problem, since thy know about it and they’re working on a fix. Of course, they don’t know when the fix will be coming and , in the meantime, so the phone only gets 6 – 8 hours on a full charge. And that’s with me only making like an hour of calls a day! I guess their suggestion is that I just need to use it less and wait while they fix the problem.
Honestly , the experience of the phone itself is a mixed bag. It’s without a doubt, one of the sexiest pieces of hardware ever made! The phone/iPod integration is outstanding! I've found that the internet experience is a little beter then on my Nokia 9500, but not always much better. In fact, the fact that flash doesn't play on the iPhone is pretty disappointing. And although I've found some games at iPhone Games (the collapsing brink game is almost become an obsession in our house), I wish it had some games that didn't require the internet to play them. Can't play them at all in the subway!
However, not all of the software works as well as it should. There seems to be missing some key pieces of software that even the folks at the Apple stores I've visited were surprised they weren't included. I mean, there’s no search and it’s really hard to read e-mail, especially since it doesn’t change from portrait to landscape. Actually, e-mail had been the biggest disappointment and I'm not alone in saying that. Take a look at iPhone review, part 2: Phone, Mail, Safari, iPod - Engadget.
There's no other way than to come out and say it: we are extremely disappointed in the iPhone's email app. So much so, in fact, that despite the keyboard and the rest of the things the iPhone lacks in the features department, its mail support may be the largest factor in killing its status as a productivity device. Don't get us wrong, the application is just fine for anyone who wants to do light email, but it lacks the power and convenience that frequent-emailers require.
But, knowing you have a pretty significant problem like the battery draining very quickly — especially when they’ve already been getting some negative reviews for the fact that the batteries can’t be replaced without sending them back to Apple — and telling people to just “suck it up” until Apple gets it fixed just seems, well, un-Apple.
I can live with waiting for software updates that would make the iPhone more productive, but I really shouldn’t have to wait for this battery update. I’ll be patient for a little while, but eventually, it’ll be too annoying to know that I won’t get a full day use out of the phone and I’ll probably return it. Let’s hope they can resolve all of these issues before too many of us early iPhone users start spreading the bad instead of the good.
For those of us still waiting for even a sneak peek, this is great feedback. Well, great for us ... frustrating for you!
But the real question is, will it blend?
Posted by: Gavin Heaton | July 12, 2007 at 07:33 AM