iPhone 3G Complaints Start Early

Apple claims more than a million units got sold within three days of its launch. But this time it seems that iPhone has some serious quality issues, literally end-to-end.

Much lower battery life (roughly 3 hours less than its predecessor), mostly attributed to being 3G and its push mail feature. Some users suggest turning it off. Some sources have tried to brush aside this problem, claiming that its battery life is still better than other mobile phones. But its quite interesting to note that they compare it only with Windows Mobile phones. Ok why is that a surprise? Secondly, I don't believe its accurate to call iPhone a "smartphone". Its a mobile infotainment device, and yes has the capability of becoming a smartphone, once it has the right software available. But its not a smartphone *yet*, and would not be fair to compare its efficiency and battery life with other smartphones, even Windows Mobile phones.

Problems with its Safari browser freezing up or frequently taking back to home screen.
Even the beautiful display didn't escape quality issues. Many users have been complaining their 480 x 320 has a dead pixel or two.
Many of the expensive third party iPhone accessories cant be used with the new iPhone 3G.
Even MobileMe (iPhone equivalent of Exchange) has had its own issues.
So much so that Apple has decided to drop the word "push" from MobileMe's description.

Worse of all, even reports of iPhones being bricked! so be very careful when doing any firmware updates on it.

I am sure Apple will sort these issues out over time, and these problems would not deter most users. But then again, what sort of users are we talking about? Face it, majority of the users are not getting the iPhone because of its capabilities. Those who do get caught up in the hype and buy it for its capabilities as a "smartphone" end up selling it off pretty quickly. I've seen such examples among my friends.

One of my really cute friends, Valerie (i'll post her shots another time), once asked me "is iPhone a good phone?" I promptly replied "its a cool phone". That just about sums it up. Sure I love the beautiful sleek design, the nifty user-interface. All very nice, I love it. But when I wanna communicate or do something useful where you need an actual "smartphone", I would quickly put it aside on the desk and pick up my trusty old E61 in a heartbeat or would get the newer N71. When I need a feature rich smartphone with massive multimedia capabilities, I don't have to think twice before getting the powerhouse N96 or even N95 8GB. No comparison.


Bilal
http://elanist.com/bilal/