iPhone, the cell phone

With all the attention given to its multimedia features and innovative touch screen, it’s almost easy to forget the iPhone is, well, a phone. And some of our initial tests of Apple’s first cellphone suggest that telephony may not be its strong suit.

In voice-quality tests, the iPhone’s performance has been undistinguished at best. Quality when listening to a call was fair. Calls from the iPhone heard on another phone were good in quality. By comparison, among the AT&T-compatible smartphones in our current Ratings (available to ConsumerReports.org subscribers), only the Palm Treo 680 scored that low in voice quality. The best-sounding AT&T-compatible phones, the Samsung BlackJack and Cingular 3125, scored good and very good respectively in listening and talking modes. And all those phones cost $100 to $200, compared with the $499 and $599 price tags for the iPhone.

Other ways in which the iPhone could use a little more polish as a phone: It has no voice-activated dialing and offers no easy way to access frequently called numbers. On the other hand, its visual voice mail (see image) offers a unique advantage over other phones. As we demonstrate in our video First Look (Macromedia Flash required to watch our review of the Apple iPhone), its interface allows you to skip listening to every message in sequence. Instead, you view a list of calls (Click on the image for a larger view) and tap the one you want to hear or click on it to return the call. The feature even allows you to retrieve messages you’ve deleted by plucking them from a deleted directory, much as you retrieve e-mail messages from your computers’ trash.

Got your own iPhone experiences to share? We appreciate the comments you’ve been sharing in response to our blog entries. We’ve also now opened an iPhone thread on our cell phone discussion forums. (You don't need to be a ConsumerReports.org subscriber to read our free online discussion forums. But you do need to register to participate in our online discussions.) And our testing continues, with more results expected later this week.

--Mike Gikas

Comments

[Don]

I agree with the CR review that the phone features of iPhone are the least appealing.

Cell to cell calls are sometimes impossible to decipher, and I'm told by those at the other end that I sound like I'm speaking in a tunnel. Cell to land line calls are good to excellent from my end, not sure about the other end.

As for calling favorites, depending on how you leave the phone when it's in lock mode, it takes from 4 to 5 steps to turn it on and call a favorite vs. two steps (open the phone and press a key) for a clamshell. Is that big difference? Judgment call.

[Dan Montopoli]

I have the iPhone and I absolutely love it. It is the best cell phone that I have ever had and the voice quality is excellent.

How did Consumer Reports test voice quality? Wirelessinfo.com performed extensive testing of the voice quality of the iPhone and its results do NOT jibe with consumer reports.

FROM wirelessinfo.com :

"The iPhone performed exceptionally well in this test; the frequency curve of the phone was right between the limits, only coming close to them at a couple of points. This means that people talking to you over the phone will sound clear and bright, with well-balanced sound that should accurately represent what they sound like in person.

This compares extremely well to other phones. The iPhone scores higher on this test than all of the five comparison phones, and only one phone that we have tested so far (the BlackBerry Curve) scored higher. Whatever Apple is doing with the small speaker inside the iPhone, they are doing it right."

And consumer reports says that there is no easy way to access frequently used numbers? Huh, did the reviewer miss the big Favorites button on the bottom?

[Adam]

I lost faith in CR a long time ago. I just don't understand how a "reputable" publication can bring such bias to their "objective" reviews. If they were a subjective, op-ed publication that would be one thing but they are not. CR is so one sided especially with anything to do with Apple or the American car industry. CR may have had their niche in the days before the internet, but anyone who still relies on them to provide clear, concise, unbiased information on new products is a fool.

With that said I love how some little Microsoft trolls come on here and flame people because they bought a product they wanted and like it. The wife and I each bought an iPhone and we love it. I never used voice-dialing on my old phone so why should I miss it now? Most voice dialing implementations are flaky at best and just downright useless at worst. I find the EDGE network perfectly usable. I've been benching anywhere between 150-200kbps. Anyone old enough to remember surfing on a 14.4K dialup should find it's speed more than acceptable.

[C Hendrick]

Everyone please read the comments by every user that posted.

It pretty much explained the truth about the iPhone and that this post is pretty lame.

Did the reviewer even have an iPhone when he wrote this. Clearly not.

[Craig Beasley]

Great phone. I love mine. Consumer Reports continues to grind axe with Apple.
I've lost faith in CR over the years. Your reviews of products are very misleading and off base most of the time. The reports on cars to house paints have not held up to the light.

[Ron]

The best part is, most of the reviewer's objections could be taken care of with a software update when you sync your music. Ever tried to update firmware on a regular smartphone? It's not pretty. Apple has this function built in - and since the iPhone is based on OS X - many problems can be quickly and easily addressed and features can be added over time in a flash (pun intended).

[clark]

I had a Cingular 8125 smartphone and the volume on the IPhone is LOADS better than it. There are multiple smart volumes on the IPhone and you have to crank each up accordingly.

If you are doing speakerphone vs earbud calling for instance.

After learning this I havent had any issues with volume at all...

[Mitch]

I have been very, very happy with my iPhone.

The sound quality is at least as good as my previous phones (Treo 650, SLVR, Sanyo 8200, Nokia 8260).

As with every phone I've ever owned, I wish the phone would go louder (for use in busy areas).

I do miss being able to dial a favorite by pressing and holding one button.

[iMac Pr0n]

I think the iPhone works fine as a phone, and coverage from AT&T in my rural area is at least as good as Nextel and Verizon. I especially like using the earbuds for handsfree calling.

But I DO wish it had voice calling, so that when driving I could just click the mic switch and say a name, instead of having to share my attention between the iPhone screen and the road.

[Robert]

I have had the iPhone over a week now and agree the volume could be louder in some situations. The earphones and bluetooth headsets work fine for me. Never used speed dialing on old phone, so I find the Favorites list very easy to access and use, leave it displayed when hitting the Home button and it displays first from Phone button. Voice dialing never worked good for me, either I had to repeat several times or dial normal because it would start to call the wrong number (RZR, SLVR).

[Pmatt]

Wirelessinfo ran what look to be pretty rigorous tests, and found the sound quality to be quite high... http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/Apple-iPhone-Cell-Phone-Review/Audio-Quality.htm

I can say it sounds way better than my old phone, on both ends of the call. But I had a 5 year old simple Nokia, so it is not a great comparison.

You are aware of the Favorites feature on the phone, where you can put your frequently called numbers, right?

[Kevin Ayers]

If you would like to see a review of the iPhone with science to back up its claims, check this: http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/Apple-iPhone-Cell-Phone-Review/MakingReceiving-Calls.htm

this is the site that Paul Roberts mentions above.

[C.L.]

wirelessinfo.com conducted detailed electro-acoustic tests between the iPhone and other leading smartphones. they came up with the opposite conclusion. seems a bit of a mystery. my personal experience lines up with wirelessinfo but i'm sure others would concur with consumer reports.

http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/Apple-iPhone-Cell-Phone-Review/Audio-Quality.htm

[James Sullivan]

Voice quality is comparable to my Blackberry. I wouldn't call the voice quality better than other phones that I was used over the past decade, but it certainly is no worse. Then again it wasn't purchased for the voice quality, rather for the features it offers. Odd review... but then I suppose it was difficult to find any other measurable aspect to criticize.

[Dany]

It's amazing how many gullible Apple zombies here bought it.

[Bud]

I agree that the most noticeable deficiency of the iPhone so far is the volume control. Calls are difficult to hear out on city streets when using the phone's built-in audio. (Apple does provide ear buds with a microphone, although I haven't used these yet.) With any luck, this is something that can be addressed with the first upgrade.

Fortunately, in every other way, the iPhone is a real marvel. About half of its appeal is in its amazing interface; the other half is in the range of functions it performs. Ultimately, Apple has reinvented the category and there's no way that many of these innovations won't be adopted by other phone makers.

[Cristina]

I have anxiously awaited the iPhone and it is pretty cool. Activation was a breeze, as was the uploading of all my contacts, music, photos and video straight from the computer. The only complaint I have is the sound is not very loud. I need to put the phone to my ear when I use the speaker phone function. The ringer volume is set to max and I have a hard time hearing it even inside my home.

[Paul Roberts]

My personal experience with the iPhone "phone" features has been fantastic quality wise, much better than the Treo, my wife's RAZR or my old Nokia. However, don't let my unscientific tests speak to this. There have been some very extensive mobile phone specific techincal tests run on the iPhone, and the thing scored almost highest in voice quality and other criteria (sorry can't remember the site/pub, but it was noted in a recent TWIT podcast).

That being said, the iPhone does suffer from no voice activated calling and some simpler access to calling features.

It should be noted though, that most of these issues can be resolved through software updates (including Bluetooth stereo, and almost everything else, except for the EDGE problem).

On the whole, this phone blows away everything before it. If they shore up these problems, and connectivity with an exchange and Blackberry server, they will be standard by which all others are measured (if they aren't already, and it's hard to say that they aren't at this point).

Oh, and I say this as a big doubter before the phone was released. I can't believe I doubted this thing, except that maybe I thought they were lying.

[Mike]

Voice quality is poor. Very low volume even at maximum setting and barely audible in moderate background noise situation. Also very poor at filtering out background noise to receiver at other end of the "line".

[lauren]

"Other ways in which the iPhone could use a little more polish as a phone: It has no voice-activated dialing and offers no easy way to access frequently called numbers."

Personally, I've found the voice-activated dialing on my past phones to be the least efficient way to access frequent numbers. Although there is no voice-activated dialing on the iPhone, you can create a favorites list for more frequently made calls. All you have to do is touch the number you want to dial, much simpler than memorizing speed dial numbers or awkwardly calling out a name in public to utilize voice-activated dialing.

[David Dunham]

Um, doesn't the Favorites count as an easy way to access frequently called numbers? At least, that's what I use it for.

[Lucas Carlson]

"no easy way to access frequently called numbers"

Huh? Have you even used an iPhone? The bottom left button in phone mode is exactly a place reserved for frequently called numbers.