iPhone suitable as a phone?

[courtjester123]

OK maybe this is a silly question. But there is so much discussion out there I don't want to miss a potential problem lurking in the weeds. People talk about dropped calls, problems transitioning from EDGE to 3G and back, poor reception, and Apple/AT&T changing the display to show "more bars" with the latest firmware when signal strength levels didn't change.

So my question is, outside the awe and wonder of the device overall, does anyone have a sense of the general opinion out there of how iPhone performs as a phone? I waited all through Gen1, then waited until the shopping craze of 3G wore off, then watched as people complained about bugs with the 3G, now I've waited for several 3G firmware updates. And I think it would really SUCK if I finally bought an iPhone, paid an arm and a leg for the service for the next 2yrs, and then had to deal with a simple functionality problem like dropped calls.

This day and age, I would think people would be screaming bloody murder about dropped calls, even in the range of 5%. But then again perhaps they are willing to overlook something like that because it's such a great device overall?

(BTW, I'm in the Chicago area.) Thanks for any advice.

 

[Xellos2099]

I got a gen 1 iphone unlocked to t-mobile network and I am pretty happy with it. It really depend on what you need, if you are like me, who wanted a good mp3 player, a decent phone and some internet access, then this is the phone for you.

 

[courtjester123]

Thanks for the reply. I guess my focus would be on an iPhone 3G with AT&T service, not unlocked. I am definitely looking to take advantage of all the functions, just want to make sure it's still a solid reliable phone too.

 

[aphex]

My iPhone 3G has been fine in regards to dropped calls and reception here in SW FL.

 

[pm]

So, I can't talk much about the 3G version, but there's some problems with the 1st gen one.

I'm not too impressed with the quality of either the microphone or the ear speaker on the 1st gen iPhone. People don't seem to be able to hear me very well and I can't hear them all that well either. Admittedly, I'm a bit deaf (I exercised poor judgement as a child regarding explosive material), but I've seen at least one other post in this GG&P forum about one person saying the speaker is too quiet. And definitely I've heard myself, people that I call and my co-workers that have iPhones complain that the quality of the microphone isn't that great either. It's not horrible, but it's not as good as the best phones that I've used (Nokia 6022, Motorola RZR).

Similarly in terms of signal strength, both the WiFi and the cellular signal seem weaker than comparable devices. With the cellular signal, I often seem to have 1 fewer bars than my wife's Nokia (same carrier, same location) and I will get "no service" when she still has service. And with WiFi, my laptop clobbers my iPhone in terms of being able to see WiFi base stations that are farther away. The WiFi thing is to be expected because laptops have both larger batteries and larger antennas, but it's still sometimes frustrating to have no WiFi signal in a place that should have it.

I've never had a dropped call - ever - with my iPhone that didn't seem to be the fault of the fact that I was in a place with horrible reception, or the caller that I was talking to was in a place with bad reception. If I'm calling a landline, and I have good signal strength then the iPhone has never dropped me.

I'm not too sure about the 3G iPhone except that I've also heard of co-workers with them complaining about it flipping back and forth between 3G and EDGE when they are in range of a 3G tower. But co-workers have also said that the sound quality is better (so my problems with the microphone and speaker seem much improved). And, we really have no 3G where we are anyway (medium-sized town in Colorado), so the whole 3G issue isn't one here because there's no 3G until you head south towards Denver. From what I've heard from chatting with people with 3G iPhones, the issues have gotten better.

 

[Muadib]

The 3G phone still has problems. 2.1 made the change between edge & 3G better, but it still has issues.
AT&T has been messing with my tower at work, so I can now get 3G at my desk.
I play Pandora for most of the day. My phone will cycle between 3G & edge all day long. Every now & then it will
drop to no service, then back to 3G. At no time do I have less than 4 bars.

I rarely use my cell when Im at work for calls, but today I was on it for about 20 minutes. I was on 3G when I first got
the call, 5 bars strong. 10 minutes in, the call dropped. I looked, and I had no service. Before I got called again, I was on edge again, 5 bars. When I got done with the call, I put the phone on my desk to go back to Pandora. I was back to 3G.

Over the weekend, I took the turnpike to visit my mom. It is mostly 3G now, but there is a 3G dead zone. When I last made the trip, I was stuck at 1 bar 3G for about 15 minutes. This time, I made a call about 2 minutes before I hit the zone. About 10 minutes in, the call dropped. When I turned the screen on, I was on edge 5 bars. I never went down to 1 bar, I had 5 the whole time.

Before I went to 2.1, I left 3G off. I never had a dropped call then. I plan on returning my phone for #3, because so many say it has helped them.

 

[GregGreen]

Haven't had issues with my iPhone, but I am in an EDGE only area. From what I can tell it performs fine in the 3G area I go two once every two weeks or so (Buffalo) -- of course, I am usually driving when in this area, but haven't had a problem yet when eating lunch and browsing the web in Buffalo.

 

[ajemm]

Like the OP, I waited for the iPhone to mature before I pulled the trigger. I was a Sprint customer for 11 years. I've had the iPhone for 3 weeks now.

The service has been pretty good so far. I live and work between 2 major cities so I'm on at&t's 3G network pretty much at all times. To date, I've had 2 dropped calls but I'm not a big talker. I really like listening to out of town radio stations during my commute via AOL Radio. During a 1/2 hour, 25 mile, one way drive, I may lose the signal a couple of times on a bad day. Most people I talk to on my phone agree that I sounded better with my RAZR on Sprint's network but they don't think the call quality of the iPhone is poor. I know several people that have the original iPhone and I feel that the call quality is not as good. One thing I like is with Sprint I had no service in the building where I work. I would have to go outside to have a phone conversation. Now I can sit at my desk and have a full 5 bar 3G signal.

 

[Cobalt]

I've got a 3G iPhone on AT&T in Chicago and have no problems.

 

[Jeffwo]

I have an iPhone with AT&T and I love it. Great as a phone/ipod/chat/time-killing machine.

I used to hate seeing all those iPhone-lover threads but I now understand what all the comotion was about.

Reception is as good as any phone I have had, especially with AT&T.

 

[stealengine]

love my 3G. kicks ass. prison broke it.