iPhone 4 review (draft)

iPhone 4 review
BY Callum Povey
POSTED JUN 23rd 2010 07:01PM

With the iPhone 4 officially released tomorrow, it's time to give our hands on review. Yep, we got ours today, so read on to see if it's been worth the wait.

Design:
Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying the iPhone 4 is reminiscent of a "beautiful, old Leica camera," and it really isn't far off. Instead of the plastically curved design of the 3GS, the iPhone 4 is made up of three basic parts: two pieces of smooth, strengthened glass, and a stainless steel band which wraps around the sides, top, and bottom of the phone. The only details within the band, are the profile switch and the new design volume buttons (on the 3GS it was a rocker, now it's two buttons labeled + and -) on the left. The right houses the smart compartment where the Micro-Sim card goes.
On the top you'll find the 3.5mm Audio Jack, a new noise cancelation microphone and the lock/power button, whilst on the bottom is the 30-pin dock connector, speaker and microphone.

You'll notice that the band has various notches that serve for better radio reception (more on this later).

It's slimmer than the 3GS at .37 inches compared to .48 inches, but it weighs the same 4.8 ounces, which makes it feel like the premium peice of tech that it is. The front is made of that gorgeous black glass, which Jony Ive says is "comparable in strength to sapphire crystal, but about 30 times harder than plastic". Above the 3.5- inch HD Retina screen (more details in specs), sits a small slit for the earpiece and the front-facing camera, with the familiar home button underneath.

Turning the phone over, we see the backside of the phone is made from the same kind of ultra-strong glass as the front, with the only interruptions coming from the new five megapixel camera, its LED flash companion and the Apple logo.

Overall, the design of the iPhone 4 is something beautiful. It makes the 3GS look and feel cheap, and even has the same effect on pretty much all and any high end smartphone. It really is a fantastically beautiful device.