Apple iPhone 4 hands on!

By on Jun 22, 2010 at 6:27 PM
Exclusive June 22, 2010

iPhone-4-1

You didn’t think we were going to standby while everyone else had all the fun did you? The iPhone 4 Fairy arrived a few days early to BGR headquarters, so we thought we should let you know what our first impressions are after fondling the phone for the first time. Buckle up and hit the jump to see what all the fuss is about.

  • The first thing you notice when you remove Quattro from its box is how thin it is. The size and weight just feel right. The screen may not be the ideal size for everyone (with the Galaxy S at 4″ and the DROID X/EVO at 4.3″) but for the average consumer we think 3.5″ is probably the right number. It feels great. You don’t hold the iPhone and think gee I wish this screen was bigger or man, how am I going to fix this into my pocket.
  • Speaking of the screen… it’s stunning. We know, we know, it may or may not be a true Retina display, but forget all that. The display is crisp, bright, and from what we’ve seen so far, plain awesome. The increased pixel density really makes images pop and text sharp. As billed, it is probably the most desirable hardware feature on the phone.
  • The industrial design is really solid, you feel like you are holding a luxury item. There are no loose fitting parts on the phone; the volume, sleep/wake, and home keys provide a distinctive click when pressed, and the mute toggle switch is firm without being stiff. It’s what you’ve come to expect from Apple as far as industrial design goes.
  • The headphone jack is just that, there isn’t much else to say about it. It is flush mounted on the iPhone 4 as it was on the 3G and 3GS and does what it is supposed to do.
  • Speed. Oh it’s fast. We didn’t really have too many speed qualms with our 3GS, but after seeing the iPhone 4 perform there is no turning back. Apps open instantly with little lag. Fast switching between applications has a smoother, quicker animation, and flicking between home screens seems even smoother.
  • Cameras… The 5 megapixel rear facing camera really does prove that megapixels aren’t everything. All of the photos we took with the main camera came out very well, with good color balance and sharpess. The sole LED flash did a decent job, but it’s clear Apple kept the number of diodes to one for aesthetic reasons. Videos taken on the 4 were really nice. On many devices that shoot in 720p you’ll get a lot of lag and a huge loss of quality unless you’re standing perfectly still, but that isn’t the case with this phone. The front facing 1.3 megapixel VGA camera is suprisingly good, especially when you consider that it has to show up on a display with such a high resolution.

So, what are you waiting for? Hit the gallery for our high resolution photos, sample photos (we just went to Whole Foods), and some screenshots from the iPhone 4!

Click on over to our iPhone 4 hands on gallery!

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233 Comments

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  • big tev dude

    Um, no buddy. We all hated the industrial look and feel of the DROID for a different reason. Mostly, because HP and Samsung make netbooks that were smaller, lighter and more portable. Nobody knocked the design of the DROID, they just hated the weight, the thickness, and the cwaste of time that was the slide out keyboard. The new iPhone is oh so thin. I got mine today. It feels just right, like the article said, very solid in your hand, but not heavy. It just looks and feels perfect in size and shape.

    BROID does….deez n**s

  • chris

    @Zach,

    Dude, please don’t wear out my girls vagina with your EVO. I want to stick my iPad in there later and it would be great if it didn’t fall in.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • Attila434AD

    Just got my iphone 4 32GB black ordered June 15 4.41PDT received June 23rd 10AM EDT
    Fedex tracking is way out of real time

    • Zach

      Why would anyone care.

  • DUB

    The Front facing camara is VGA not 1.3 mp.. Just for the record.. lol.. Pumping up the stats I see.

  • RT

    nice hardware, would be awesome with android on it.

  • Jason K

    The phone looks pretty nice, but I have to say size does count too. If Apple would create a 4″ screen version, it would be even better for those who want a tad bigger screen.

    Other then that, Awesome phone but wish it was not on AT&T.

  • Kevin

    Admittedly it is a beautiful piece of hardware and is a nice phone. Kudos to apple for this. But I just prefer Android and my htc EVO which I just picked up a week ago.

    Can’t wait to see what it can do when Flash gets ported onto it and what changes come to it with Froyo later this year. :) Even if Froyo didn’t come, I’d still be happy with Android damn I love this OS.

  • Scott

    How can the Apple haters reject every single review of the phone as if the opinion of the reviewer was invalid. When those same reviewers said the Android phones were awesome you listened to them then and you still listen to the negative things they say about the new iPhone.

    Grow up people.

  • Idiots On Here!!

    PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE!!! U can say all you want about the screen this the screen to small. Apple should of this apple should of that. Folks just look at the freakin numbers obviously nothing is wrong with the damn phones they create. hmm….can sum1 say 600,00 pre orders LMAO!! All the people that come on here and wanna rag on apple ur just wasting ur time cuz all ur comments dont mean squat. SO u all can stick with w.e phone u carry in ur f’n (purses) cuz u all sounds like b****es to me. Have a great day!

    • Apple’s End Soon Comes

      there are jewel cases and purses for the iphone…other more manly phones have adult cases. I think your confused. iphones have purses not the other way around. oooh 600,000 pre orders and still 3rd behind nokia and rim and losing ground to Android…whoohooo! by this time next yr Apple’s iphone will be 4th best and depending on how meego works they might be 5th best. enjoy the 600,000.

      • Saif Naqvi

        You are truly an idiot, the only reason its behind Nokia and RIM is because its only been around for 3 years! introduced in 07. Nokia has been HUGE since the 90′s, and blackberry earlier this decade, give the iphone 7 more years, all the other phones are screwed

      • Zach

        Hes saying they are losing ground. Android is already selling better, there is an article about it on this very site.

      • V for Ve

        I agree with you about Nokia, they will go down pretty fast if they keep the Symbian OS, but iPhone, as good as it is, cannot beat back Android. Apple’s mistake was to sign an exclusivity deal with at&t, that left almost 200M other US subscribers open to Android take over. If iPhone would have come to Verizon a couple of years ago, Android would not have been able to create a foothold. Too late now. I waited for Verizon iPhone for 3 years, but now am very happy with my HTC Incredible. I am so used to its flexibility that I consider iPhone OS too restrictive and would not switch even if it does come to Verizon. And no, I am not an Apple hater. My wife has an iPod touch and I have a 27-inch iMac.
        Between iPhone and Android, the percentage of defectors is dropping and people want to stay with what they are comfortable with. Beside they have a lot of money invested in Apps and music that they would not walk away from. You must have seen the other story in BGR; Pipar Jaffray survey says that 77% of iPhone 4 buyers are upgrading from 3G or 3GS. Anyway, my 2 cents.

  • Red
    • Apple’s End Soon Comes

      and the iphone has been hacked within seconds by a text message or safari exploit every year its existed. You really shouldn’t talk about security, a text message can screw the iphone up. A. TEXT. MESSAGE.

  • Snowman

    let’s see how long the battery lasts when you start using the video conference…

    • Sean Brown

      battery life is awesome when i use facetime

  • Idiots On Here!!

    Great stuff RED^^^ Article sums it up for all that didnt know. And all the droid fans that needed to kno. And thats why I’ll stick with my iphone. It does everything I need it to do and I know when I download something from the app store I wont be giving out private info to HACKERS!

  • Idiots On Here!!

    Apple Ends Soon Comes u really are an idiot! u didnt get my message obviously u didnt get the whole purse thing. Basically i was callin u all females!!! Thats why i said that. And here u go talkin bout iphones have purse cases lol??? WOw kid my statement went wayyyyyyyyyyy over ur head i see. BG u really need to do a age verification for people to post.lol :-D

  • Mattm

    Droid equals gay and waist of money. IPhone 4 equals best phone in the world period.

    • JR

      And how do you qualify that last statement?

    • Zach

      Usually I dont care about spelling and stuff, but how do you misspell waste. Okay mattm here we go, W-A-S-T-E, AWESOME YOU DID IT. Youre getting better little 5 year old idiot. Next we will learn about how evo is better…….

  • JR

    It’s a great democratic world that we live in? Mine is better than yours, no you suck, NO you suck. My screen is waaay better than yours. Well, mine is faster, hey mine is bigger! LMAO.

    What is the age group here? 5-10?

    • Josh

      My Dad can beat up your dad!

      It’s so funny seeing everyone cry on here. Then they compare an operating system that is on multiple phones…..to ONE PHONE. lol. I just dont understand the stupidity of some people. No wonder why the rest of the world hates us…….our morons are allowed to talk all they want….and they take advantage of that.

  • Sal

    Doh! The iphone4 issues are already cropping up even before official launch day.

    Piss stains!
    http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/23/some-iphone-4s-experiencing-display-discoloration/

    Scratch-proof glass (only if phone remains sealed in box)
    http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/23/scratches-appear-on-early-iphone-4-review-unit/

  • Apple’s End Soon Comes

    so the world’s best phone huh? piss colored screens…dropped calls by just holding the phone….and its not even launch day…this post declared the iphone God too soon….

    DROID!

  • Jane

    eher, now the newest iPhone goes on sale in just a few hours, wind up!

    Now just waiting for this few hours! AS the iPhone 4 high-definition video clips, watch video on IPhone 4 must be cool and amazing! I’ve been looking for a good program to Convert videos or rip DVD movies for the iPhone 4 and i think iFunia iPhone 4 Video Converter is the one which worth trying . My special iphone4 is gonna love it :)

  • non bias

    i use imac computers but dislike the iphone, why ? i don’t know, just not my thing. there is no set rule that if you own an apple product you have to be loyal to the apple name IMO. the quality of the apple product is in decline but the purchase price for the consumer also had declined so….
    it’s no secret apple is using cheaper parts. labor, etc…..also not to mention more demand for their products, you can’t have everything, something has to give, so the quality suffers. don’t just stick to one product or company, get what you want and need and don’t worry about what other ppl say or the image the product gives off. if you know your stuff, you will wait, review, test, lots of reading ( BGR ) and buy what you need. you don’t have to take sides, this is not a war. no one company is the best or perfect.

  • brujogarza

    the iphone 4 is available again right now on att!

  • iPhoneHT1234

    Everyone whining that they have nothing bad to say should simply shut up and visit another site. Why are you visiting an iPhone 4 review site if you hate iPhone and only want a android or evo? I only wanted an iPhone not an HTC or a droid and guess what I haven’t read a single review for either. So they like the iPhone 4, so what? So do I, we are all entitled to our opinions and if you don’t like theirs then shut the hel* up and don’t come back

  • Keymaker

    Don’t be mad. Haters got to hate.

  • Shumdit

    Steve Jobs sold me this to destroy Apple haters with. He said it would revolutionize Droid FanBoy Annihilation:

    http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/01/missile_silo_apple_logo2_01.jpg

  • Joe

    LAME!

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