UPDATE: Our iPhone 4 Q&A is over now but you can see everything right here at your own leisure. Check it out!
An Electricpig iPhone 4 review just wouldn’t be an electricpig iPhone 4 review without some serious audience interaction. Just as promised, we’re opening up the floor to you right now in our Q&A. Jump in, ask us what you want to know and get your reply pronto – now with added video!
Read the rest of our iPhone 4 review
iPhone 4 review
iPhone 4 review: New design
iPhone 4 review: Retina Display
iPhone 4 review: HD video and iMovie
iPhone 4 review: Worth the upgrade?
iPhone 4 review: Electricpig staff opinions
iPhone 4 review: Sample photos
Our full iPhone 4 review is coming ASAP, but we’re here to quench your gadget thirst right now. Just check out the video and liveblog below: ask us your questions and we’ll reply, and demo anything and everything you need. Enjoy!
Streaming live video by Ustream
- 10:02 AM: electricpig Hi folks, just setting up. We’ll be kicking off in a few minutes.
- 10:07 AM: electricpig Hey people, thanks for tuning in.
- 10:07 AM: electricpig We have our iPhone 4 in hand – it’s jawdropping.
- 10:09 AM: electricpig Is this coming through OK? Let’s begin.
- 10:10 AM: electricpig You probably know the deal by now – drop your comments and questions in and we’ll respond to them as quick as we can. Head honcho James is acting as hand model, and a very nice one he makes too.
- 10:10 AM: electricpig Apologies to anyone who’s a bit seasick.
- 10:11 AM: electricpig James promises to keep things steady, solid as a rock. Or an iPhone 4!
- 10:11 AM: Tech Repair Shop Does it feal better than the 3G
- 10:11 AM: electricpig Emphatically. It feels slim, and the metal edges make it feel even thinner. The iPhone 3G feels fat by comparison.
- 10:11 AM: electricpig We’ll put it side by side with the 3G for you.
- 10:12 AM: electricpig You see the slight ridge where the metal band is? That’s all you feel when you hold it.
- 10:13 AM: Dogmann I have no sound
- 10:13 AM: electricpig No sound folks, but you can always check out our Spotify playlist!
- 10:13 AM: clarkey can you get yours to drop the signal out by holding it by the bezel?
- 10:13 AM: electricpig We’ve not managed to do this.
- 10:13 AM: electricpig We know there are lots of reports and clearly it’s an issue for some models.
- 10:14 AM: electricpig But our black 16GB black is behaving just fine.
- 10:14 AM: electricpig If it is a concern though, the rubber bumper case should solve matters.
- 10:14 AM: electricpig We’re going to try and drop signal now for you.
- 10:15 AM: Dogmann talking of holding it can you show waht ahppens to the signal when you do that?
- 10:15 AM: electricpig Just trying for you now.
- 10:15 AM: electricpig Nothing.
- 10:15 AM: electricpig Oh no.
- 10:15 AM: electricpig We’ve dropped the signal.
- 10:15 AM: electricpig It’s down to 2 bars. We stand corrected!
- 10:15 AM: electricpig 1 bar
- 10:15 AM: electricpig We’ve not killed it completely though.
- 10:16 AM: electricpig It’s come back up now though.
- 10:16 AM: electricpig Most peculiar! But we’ve replicated the issue now.
- 10:16 AM: electricpig That said, we did have to hold it in a very awkward way to pull that off.
- 10:16 AM: Dogmann What you but a beutiful aluminium and glass phone an dthen have to surround it in runbber for it to work you are joking aren’t you?
- 10:17 AM: electricpig Fair point Dogmann!
- 10:17 AM: electricpig Just to be clear, this is clearly a design fault. But to pull it off we had to hold the iPhone 4 in a very uncomfortable position for a good long while.
- 10:17 AM: Lee Kennedy What about the ‘heft’ of it? Does it feel more solid?
- 10:18 AM: electricpig Not more solid – the glass still feels fragile. The sharp edges also seem like they could get stuffed easily.
- 10:18 AM: electricpig But it is beautiful.
- 10:18 AM: electricpig You can balance it on end!
- 10:18 AM: Tech Repair Shop WOW, it looks cool. Thanks. I am the first Commenter
- 10:19 AM: electricpig No probs! Keep’em coming.
- 10:19 AM: Tech Repair Shop are the speakers any louder
- 10:19 AM: electricpig Let’s find out for you!
- 10:20 AM: electricpig We’ll need to put some audio on it.
- 10:20 AM: electricpig We’re going to download a podcast now and come back to the question.
- 10:20 AM: electricpig Here comes some Tiesto.
- 10:20 AM: electricpig Two ticks.
- 10:20 AM: fishboy How does the screen compare to some of the new Android handsets?
- 10:21 AM: electricpig Well. It’s not as big as the Galaxy S or the Streak, and that’s a feature in itself for some to consider.
- 10:21 AM: electricpig But it is incredible.
- 10:21 AM: electricpig You genuinely can’t see the pixels.
- 10:21 AM: electricpig We’ve got a comparison post with the Galaxy S going live in a few minutes, and you can see for yourself.
- 10:22 AM: electricpig The Super AMOLED screen on the Galaxy S is still jawdropping, don’t get me wrong.
- 10:22 AM: electricpig But if you look closely, you can see the edges of icons.
- 10:22 AM: electricpig It genuinely looks like the iPhone 4′s screen is painted on.
- 10:23 AM: electricpig Of course, what’s exciting is that Android phones will probably match it soon.
- 10:23 AM: Dogmann is this being streamed from another iPhone4?
- 10:23 AM: electricpig Nope! It’s a Microsoft webcam.
- 10:23 AM: electricpig We’re playing some Dizzee
- 10:23 AM: electricpig Speaker quality is about the same as previous models, to be honest.
- 10:23 AM: Tech Repair Shop Does it use the micri sim. or normal sim
- 10:23 AM: electricpig Micro SIM
- 10:24 AM: nohassel What network are you on?
- 10:24 AM: electricpig Vodafone. But the reception issue is happening across networks – it’s the handset.
- 10:25 AM: electricpig Going back to the speakers – James reckons it’s ever so slightly clearer actually.
- 10:25 AM: Graham452 I’m due an upgrade in a few months time, I’ve been looking at various android phones, and the iphone 4. Does it live up to the hype? How does it compare with similar phones. Is it a must have?
- 10:25 AM: electricpig James must have it.
- 10:25 AM: electricpig So there’s your answer! Yes it does.
- 10:26 AM: electricpig But the iPhone 4 and Android divide has never been greater – clearly they suit different people. Our Samsung Galaxy S review is just around the corner as well so watch out for that – it’s epic in its own way too.
- 10:26 AM: Dogmann what device is filming this?
- 10:26 AM: electricpig A Microsoft Lifecam.
- 10:27 AM: Teaboy Does it put the kettle on mid afternoon and bring you a cup of tea?
- 10:27 AM: electricpig No, but I’ve been told by James that this is what I’m here for.
- 10:27 AM: electricpig I’ll er, make you an app for that.
- 10:27 AM: Dogmann not with this quality we won’t be able to the white balance is seriously out
- 10:28 AM: electricpig Apologies, we’re trying to figure it out on our end- no drivers for this cam on Macs sadly.
- 10:28 AM: Tech Repair Shop Does it Play HD Youtube videos that cannot be played on to normal iphone. www.youtube.com
- 10:29 AM: electricpig Great question!
- 10:29 AM: electricpig We’re going to try for you.
- 10:29 AM: electricpig A couple of Android phones we’ve tested recently (The Streak and the Galaxy S) offer high quality mode.
- 10:29 AM: electricpig We’ve just loaded a vid up, and by default, it’s rather low res.
- 10:30 AM: electricpig We’re looking now, but it looks like this may be one feature the iPhone 4 lacks.
- 10:31 AM: electricpig We really can’t see a High Quality option.
- 10:31 AM: Dogmann can you try this tiny screen next to the Streaks beautiful and bright and clear screen also
- 10:31 AM: electricpig It’s a tiny screen, but it’s also beautiful, bright and clear.
- 10:32 AM: electricpig Unfortunately, we’ve not got a Streak to hand.
- 10:32 AM: electricpig James is watching the lamest YouTube virals from 2006.
- 10:32 AM: electricpig But back to the Streak.
- 10:32 AM: electricpig I’ve tested it thoroughly, and while the Streak’s screen is excellent, and genuinely resiliant.
- 10:33 AM: electricpig The iPhone 4′s is still sharper. Still, different strokes – the Streak is for tinkerers where Apple wants to give people a great experience that “just works” out of the box.
- 10:34 AM: electricpig We’ve found the orientation lock on the iPhone 4 to e a bit peculiar, incidentally.
- 10:34 AM: electricpig The multitasking dock ends up in the wrong place, like you can see on the video now.
- 10:34 AM: electricpig Bit of a UI flaw that slipped through there!
- 10:34 AM: Antony is the downloading for web same as old model or noticable quicker
- 10:35 AM: electricpig It seems a shade quicker.
- 10:35 AM: electricpig We’re loading a page now.
- 10:35 AM: electricpig This is on 3G by the by, not Wi-Fi.
- 10:35 AM: electricpig Sod’s law! We’ll try another page.
- 10:35 AM: Antony is that a model error?
- 10:36 AM: electricpig The radio reception? Appears so, although it’s difficult to replicate unintentionally.
- 10:36 AM: Tech Repair Shop Is this the UK or US one. Is the Uk one Micro Sim As well
- 10:36 AM: electricpig It’s a UK model, and yup, it uses a micro SIM.
- 10:36 AM: Antony about the handset iossues
- 10:37 AM: electricpig A widespread one, it would appear, Anthony.
- 10:37 AM: electricpig We’re getting a few more iPhone 4 models later so we’ll test it across all of them.
- 10:37 AM: Chris How long does it take for the SIM to activate since changeover? 3 hours and still no signal..
- 10:37 AM: electricpig You’ll have to talk to your network – are you switching and porting number over?
- 10:37 AM: Tech Repair Shop How does the calls go, with the other microphone cancelling the outer noise
- 10:38 AM: electricpig We’re testing now.
- 10:39 AM: electricpig Indoors, things are A-OK.
- 10:39 AM: electricpig We’ll check it in the windy outdoors in our full review.
- 10:40 AM: electricpig Hang on!
- 10:40 AM: electricpig We’re going to try a call next to a Dyson crazy fan, turned on to the
max! - 10:40 AM: electricpig It’s loud.
- 10:41 AM: electricpig James just tried a very unscientific procedure, and answered a call with his head inside a Dyson Air Multiplier.
- 10:41 AM: electricpig It seemed to do a pretty good job!
- 10:42 AM: electricpig We’ll try outdoors for you later.
- 10:42 AM: TomLondon Galaxy S and Iphone 4 alongside by any chance? sorry if I missed that already
- 10:42 AM: electricpig Here you go Tom www.electricpig.co.uk
- 10:42 AM: electricpig You can see how they stack up at that link.
- 10:43 AM: Dogmann Sorry but what’s the point of HQ on a 3.5″ screen like it’s resolution upgrade it’s wasted IMO on such a small screen another .5″ and it would of been so much better Apple missed a great chance to deliver the best IMHO opportunity IMHO
- 10:43 AM: electricpig Clearly YouTube needs to sort its app.
- 10:43 AM: electricpig But we can’t stress enough how good the screen is otherwise.
- 10:44 AM: electricpig It’s absolutely astonishing.
- 10:44 AM: electricpig
- 10:44 AM: electricpig Here’s an example next to the Galaxy S (more pics here www.electricpig.co.uk)
- 10:44 AM: electricpig It looks like it’s been painted on.
- 10:44 AM: Dogmann Actually the lady in the Apple store liked my Streak a lot and was impressed by all it did and it’s performance but said and i quote ” It’s more of a computer than the iPhone”
- 10:45 AM: electricpig Yeah I would say that’s true.
- 10:45 AM: electricpig One Electricpig staffer at least is considering buying the Streak as soon as a 2.2 update hits.
- 10:45 AM: electricpig We’re just playing with iBooks on the video stream at the moment. Anything you want to know about it?
- 10:45 AM: Tech Repair Shop can you put it next the old model and compare sizes. and speeds
- 10:46 AM: electricpig We’ve got a 3G and iPod touch 3G to hand.
- 10:46 AM: electricpig It’s not quite as thin as the touch but it’s very close.
- 10:47 AM: Antony 2.2 update hits??
- 10:47 AM: electricpig Yup Dell and O2 are supposedly looking to put Froyo on the Streak this year. But that’s for another day.
- 10:47 AM: electricpig As you can see, the touch and the iPhone 4 are very close in thickness. Or lack thereof.
- 10:48 AM: Antony How can you resolve the model issue then? It put me off from buying one.
- 10:48 AM: electricpig It’s only been a known issue for 2 hours so if it’s a problem for you wait and see.
- 10:48 AM: electricpig But we just made a few calls and didn’t trigger it at all.
- 10:49 AM: electricpig The first time James tried to do it as well he couldn’t get a flicker of change.
- 10:49 AM: Chris ok rang O2, Carphone warehouse didnt inform me I had to ring network and get new sim swapped..
- 10:49 AM: electricpig Sounds about right! I’ve been bounced between them before.
- 10:49 AM: Graham452 Have you noticed any discoloration in Retina Display?
- 10:49 AM: electricpig We’ve looked for the yellow bar or spot
- 10:49 AM: electricpig Which is well documented, don’t get us wrong.
- 10:49 AM: electricpig But we can’t see it in ours.
- 10:50 AM: Rai Are the earphones the standard Apple jobbies? How does it sound with a superior pair of earphones such as, ooooh, I dunno, Klipsch X10is?
) - 10:50 AM: electricpig Disclosure: Rai is a PR for Klipsch.
- 10:51 AM: electricpig Yes. They are standard Apple earphones as you can see.
- 10:51 AM: electricpig So make of that what you will.
- 10:51 AM: Jens Can we see a test of the S-AMOLED and iphone 4 displays in the sun?
- 10:52 AM: electricpig It’s a bit cloudy at the moment and the webcam doesn’t have a great white balance. But we’ll try the iPhone 4 in the sun for you in our review.
- 10:52 AM: Antony But with reception issues what the point of buying it
- 10:52 AM: electricpig Well, if that’s an issue for you Anthony, it might mean you didn’t want one anyway. We really did have to strive to trigger it.
- 10:52 AM: electricpig As James says
- 10:53 AM: electricpig “it’s a fault, but not one that actually seems to be stopping the phone working”
- 10:53 AM: electricpig No dropped calls.
- 10:53 AM: Tech Repair Shop can you show us opening the sim slot. and how big tje micro sim is compared to a normal sim
- 10:53 AM: electricpig Sure thing.
- 10:53 AM: electricpig With Apple’s traditional hairpin.
- 10:54 AM: electricpig There’s the micro SIM slot
- 10:54 AM: electricpig Here it is next to a standard SIM.
- 10:54 AM: electricpig That hollow thing is the case you put the micro SIM in to put in the iPhone.
- 10:55 AM: Antony i look forward to the next gen itouch.. should be heaps better than current itouch
- 10:55 AM: electricpig Yeah definitely! Will be interesting to see whether it gets a camera, and this new design.
- 10:55 AM: electricpig If the new iPhone 4 is this thin…how thin can the touch get?
- 10:55 AM: Tech Repair Shop can you test it with an Ipad keyboard dock if you have one to hand. or a Bluetooth keyboard. and see if they are usefull
- 10:56 AM: electricpig We have a Bluetooth keyboard to hand
- 10:56 AM: electricpig So we’re going to try for you.
- 10:56 AM: electricpig Bear with us.
- 10:56 AM: electricpig Thanks for all these questions by the way guys. We’re going to wrap in about 10 minutes.
- 10:56 AM: electricpig BUt keep’em coming.
- 10:57 AM: electricpig Trying to pair now.
- 10:57 AM: Antony what the typing like on keyboard?
- 10:57 AM: electricpig Although the screen is sharper, it’s pretty much identical – no bad thing.
- 10:57 AM: electricpig We’re now typing on the iPhone 4 with a Bluetooth Apple keyboard.
- 10:57 AM: electricpig Quick and easy to set up.
- 10:58 AM: electricpig One pass code and we were away.
- 10:58 AM: electricpig Now. What could we use that for?
- 10:58 AM: robh What’s your take on the bumpers – do you think you’ll need one?
- 10:58 AM: electricpig James has ordered the orange one.
- 10:58 AM: electricpig Make of that what you will.
- 10:58 AM: electricpig But they’re by no means necessary.
- 10:58 AM: electricpig James’ iPhone 3G is two years old, but without a case, it’s still going strong.
- 10:59 AM: StudentL Could you test the speed of the browser opening a website like bbc.co.uk
- 10:59 AM: electricpig Will do!
- 10:59 AM: Dogmann By the way I’m not saying the iPhone4 is bad far from it is true and for many it may well be the best device for them. Same way as i would never suggest the Streak is best for everyone either but it is for me and what’s best for each of us is all that matters
- 10:59 AM: electricpig Absolutely Dogmann. I just need Android 2.x for multiple Google accounts and I’m with you!
- 11:00 AM: electricpig Here’s an interesting one.
- 11:00 AM: electricpig When the Bluetooth keyboard is paired, you can’t bring up the on screen one.
- 11:00 AM: electricpig BBC.co.uk loaded in about 3 or 4 seconds.
- 11:00 AM: Dogmann Same as the Streak then which I’m now using my Nokia SU-8W Bluetooth Keyboard with when i want or need to
- 11:00 AM: electricpig Yup.
- 11:00 AM: electricpig Any more questions folks?
- 11:01 AM: electricpig Nice! The keyboard shortcut buttons on the Apple keyboard work on the iPhone 4!
- 11:01 AM: electricpig You can adjust screen brightness.
- 11:01 AM: electricpig Play and pause, volume control.
- 11:01 AM: electricpig Ah, the eject button on the keyboard brings up the on screen one.
- 11:01 AM: Dogmann Can you see if you can blend it? LOL
- 11:02 AM: electricpig If you buy us one we will.
- 11:02 AM: electricpig Cut and paste works too!
- 11:02 AM: electricpig this is pretty impressive integration. If you’re going to hook up a keyboard, Apple’s made damn sure it’s the Apple one you’ll use.
- 11:02 AM: Antony You have been brilliant, mega thanks. One comment, why the resolution for this video is not wonderful?
# - 11:02 AM: electricpig Make of it what you will, we’re using a Microsoft webcam.
- 11:03 AM: electricpig We’ll fix for next time.
- 11:03 AM: Martyn How does it compare from a total cost perspective against the HTC Desire / Samsung Galaxy S? Is it worth the extra outlay?
- 11:03 AM: robh Second that, I really like these live sessions you do.
- 11:03 AM: electricpig Tahnks!
- 11:03 AM: Dogmann thanks guys nice hands on looking forwrad to future ones
- 11:03 AM: electricpig It’s a tough one.
- 11:04 AM: electricpig The Galaxy S is insanely powerful. But feels cheap as chips. Like a broad iPhone
3G. - 11:04 AM: electricpig Honestly versus Android 2.1, price shouldn’t be the deciding factor anymore. For value for money, the HTC Legend is the best there is right now.
- 11:05 AM: electricpig For a seamless experience, the iPhone 4 is stunning.
- 11:05 AM: electricpig And for those who like a good rummage and customisation option, the HTC Desire and Galaxy S are best in show right now.
- 11:05 AM: Antony This is a brilliant concept to watch live and I am Deaf so the live text is accessible for me, thumbs up.
- 11:05 AM: electricpig Thanks Anthony!
- 11:06 AM: electricpig We’re wrapping things up now.
- 11:06 AM: electricpig Thanks for tuning in.
- 11:06 AM: electricpig We’ll have our iPhone 4 review in ASAP for you.
- 11:07 AM: Antony Now going to look at HTC Legend you mentioned, thanks.
