Consumer Reports still gives Apple's iPhone 4 the big thumbs down

By on Jul 17, 2010 at 9:01 PM
General July 17, 2010

steve-jobs-iphone4

In response to Apple’s antenna-oriented press event, Consumer Reports responded by refusing to give the Apple iPhone 4 its golden seal of approval. The consumer product ratings company commended Apple for taking a first step in solving the antenna problem but denounced Apple’s case giveaway as a limited and temporary fix. Consumer Reports states:

Consumer Reports believes Apple’s offer of free cases is a good first step. However, Apple has indicated that this is not a long-term solution, it has guaranteed the offer only through September 30th, and has not extended it unequivocally to customers who bought cases from third-party vendors. We look forward to a long-term fix from Apple. As things currently stand, the iPhone 4 is still not one of our Recommended models.

Consumer Reports joins a growing list of companies, including Nokia and RIM, that are responding in a less than favorable way to Apple’s proposed solution.

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  • Chase Schultz

    Enough Said.

  • Rob

    A kiss of death for the Windows Mobile 7 Fanbois…

    http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/windows-phone-7-dont-bother-disaster-211?page=0,0

    What’s worse?

  • Michael Spencer

    I’ve also tested the iphone 4 out along with many reviewers and did not have this reception issue. Actually I lost no bars but then again I was in a strong signal area. I expect it to lose bars if hold or touch the antenna a certain way. It’s just physics. If you’re telling me that if you’re in a low reception area and you grip your hand or fingers around the antenna on the phone and you don’t lose reception then you sir/mam are a liar. I am looking forward to getting an iphone 4 and I am an android fanboy to boot. Apple has impressed me again and I used to hate Apple.

    • Yo

      Of course you’re going to lose reception. So this begs the question: Why the hell did they design the phone with the antenna in the same spot you hold the phone?

      • tedkord

        It’s not. The antenna wraps around the bottom ot the phone. Your hand blocking is not the issue – your hand jumpering the phone antenna to the wifi antenna is the issue. It causes a 20-24dbm drop in signal, way more than a regular phone in which you cannot physically contact the antenna, which loses a few dbm.

        Now, combine that with Apples decision (yes, conscious decision) to put misleading signal bars on their device, in order to make it look like the phone has much better signal reception than it does, and you begin to see why people are up in arms.

      • TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC

        So it must be that all other manufacturers have bad signal strength disp[l
        ay software too. The user experience is all that matters. The consumer, not the best blogger, will decide. it won’t kill Apple.

      • Uncle Steve

        I already told you Yo why we designed it in that spot, your holding the phone wrong.

  • lauren hom

    im sick of this topic i dont even care about it anymore

  • wanderer

    @Dr. Howard, way off line comment. We can trash each other when it comes to phones , they just phones after all, but comments like that are uncalled for. I happen to work clinically in Healthcare and trust me Jobs went through hell with having a liver transplant and you wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Sometimes you haters go to far for just arguing over a phone. You wouldn’t want to hear or see comments like that if it was directed at someone with an ailing family
    member. Remember, it’s just a phone…. life goes on.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

    • Cryme Ariver

      He’d go through even more hell without that transplant. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to buy a liver. Current health care provides everyone in line, rich or poor, an opportunity to get a transplant, just not the funds to jump to the front of the line. Karma’s a bitch.

      • MrSmartyPants

        Show us the proof that shows Jobs got to jump to the head of the line? Go ahead. Show us. I dare you.

      • TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC

        Yours is a very unrelated and inhuman post Cryme Ariver

  • http://www.technologyslice.com.au Tech

    It’s ridiculous a company like apple is offering such an inferior product, then telling users to put up with it.

    • daveydix

      They actually didn’t tell users to put up with it. They said if you’re not happy then return it for a full refund. They have waved the restocking fee. They are sending free cases to users that wish to keep their phone.

      While I agree their initial response was not good, they have made a good step. It will be interesting to see what their next move is.

      • tedkord

        They did make a good step, and from a fix standpoint, the only one they could.

        Where they dropped the ball, was in the press conference where they denied the design flaw, claiming that the issue was the same issue ALL phones face – your hand partially blocking the signal.

        If this were actually what was going on, and not the design flaw that exposes the two antennas with a 1mm gap between them that can be jumpered by the user’s conductive skin, the the free bumpers would NOT solve it. You hand would still be in the same place, blocking the same signal.

        So, essentially, Steve said, “The issue doesn’t exist, here’s how you fix it (if you wanted more of a fix than my ‘hold it differently’ fix)”

    • TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC

      Tech: Obviously you are uninformed or have trouble with the spoken and written English word

  • wanderer

    @Cryme really hate to go off topic here. Let’s just go back to slamming each others phone. I was merely pointing out comments that go too far. How much hate does one really have over a phone. Does it really warrant wishing someone ill health and ill will.

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • Alex

    I am an iphone4 user. For what it’s worth. This is my 3rd iphone, and it is the best iphone I’ve ever purchased. I believe what Steve said about iphone4 users being happy with their iphone4 despite all the attacks that it has been getting from the media. I never had a dropped call.

    There are obviously more people who hate the iphone than actual iphone users. I’m just amazed at the intensity of non-iphone users’ hate towards the iphone. They comment as if they are affected by this issue when they’re not.

    Despite all these negativity. I believe that the iphone4 will continue to be a big success as it already is.

  • smh

    @Tech,

    you have a flip phone don’t u?

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • smh

    @Cryme Ariver,

    that’s a gay comment to make

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

    • Gaydar Jones

      Does that mean it gave you a chubby when you read it, smh?

  • http://ipadcasesblog.com Pat

    I’m still waiting for the iPhone 4 here even though it is getting mixed reviews, we still do plan to get it and see it for myself.

  • Jim

    I don’t get it. I own the iPhone 4 and love it. A big improvement over my previous 3G, which I loved.

  • The Dread Sock Puppet Brian

    Question for the BGR staff and management:

    How difficult was it to pick a pic of Jobs in profile with his glasses propped on his head resembling horns looking like Lucifer?

  • RealG

    Get this…received my new i4 last tuesday, had a defective proximity sensor, so I contacted Apple, and since I had purchased AppleCare plan they overnighted a replacement to me. The replacement still has the proximity sensor problem, and now today the screen isn’t even coming on. Tried the 2-button reset, but no response. Thinking about returning it and joining the Droid or WebOS crowd lol

  • sal

    HTC, SAMSUNG, NOKIA, and RIM fired back at apple. Apple do not want to recall the product and wants to blame other compaines for its failures. Instead of blaming and pointing fingers, they should fix there $600 toy or there revolutionary iphone. If you think about it, why would some people have a problem with the phone but not others. Is the phone designed differently for those people who are having the antenna issue? I do not think so! Personally, If I were to have a problem with any phone, I would simply return it because I value my hard work and money. Paying $2200 avg for att and apple is not acceptable.

    • TheOneAndOnly BiGMaC

      Business is business………. for everyone you mentioned. The use of other phones was an eye-opener for most consumers.

  • Big jay

    Just don’t hold like that or else kick rocks,,,LOL

  • Nitpicky

    This is stupid. You have people defending and attacking the iphone like this is something special. Its not. Its a cell phone (in theory). I dont have or want and iphone but I find this interesting simply because of the way Apple is handling it. A simple there is a design flaw, we apoligize, please take this free bumper and it might have been done. The problem is Steve Jobs ego wont allow him to admit fault, and that is why this issue wont go away.

    Im glad there are people who dont have issues with their phones, but obviously there are issues and following Jobs lead and putting your head in the sand isnt going to change anything. This is akin to Toyota users saying there is nothing wrong with Toyota because they dont have problems.

    In the end, the Apple people are correct. If you dont like your phone, return it. In the end thats the only thing that will make Apple take notice, the bottom line. Ive never seen whats so special about the phone in the first place and you couldnt pay me to go to AT&T’s network, but thats me.

    • MrSmartyPants

      AT&T allows one to surf, check new email, take photos and send them (via SMS or email) all while making a phone call. Verizon doesn’t allow you to do any of these while on the phone. Verizon’s good, but it can’t do that. I love this about AT&T’s network. I use this dual capability all the time. I also have had very few dropped calls, and I live in NYC.

      • Nitpicky

        Which are all secondary if you cant make a call. Again, it doesnt matter if everything is great for you, the fact is that there is some type of problem. Pretending its an industry standard or that its somehow Apples fault like Jobs did doesnt solve anything.

  • B13Cartel

    Look, if you’re an apple fanboy and you could care less about your poorly designed phone and want to look cool in front of your fifteen year old friends that’s great! A few things bother me about this situation… The lack of acknowledging an issue, identifying the issue, failing to adequately respond to the issue. I love reading all these comments by Apple fanboys saying “oh wow they are actually doing something for me” Open your eyes fool they aren’t doing anything! Now I own and love various apple products so I’m not out there to specifically hate on Apple but the one thing that bothers me the most and will ensure that I NEVER buy another Apple product (as if the first few weren’t enough) was the fact that they are stating that all phones have the exact same issue… Now I work in RF engineering for a provider and I can assure you that simply holding your phone incorrectly isn’t going to drop you from full bars down to two (in a low service area as apple states) Since the press conference, I have tested all these phones in great coverage and in poor coverage and cannot replicate the BS that Apple is trying to claim.

    As I love Apple products I have stayed clear of the iPhone because I’m aware that comparing to other models ie Bold 9700 you simply don’t get as good reception (no I don’t work or run on at&t) So fanboys… enjoy letting Mr.Jobs take you from behind. You’ll be certain to be the coolest cat on the block with your 600$ iPod touch.

    • MrSmartyPants

      You sound like you are lyivng when you say you have other Apple products. Someone who has owned other Apple products wouldn’t sound so hateful and eager to totally blast Apple with such vitriolic hate speech as you have in your troll rant.

      You just got owned.

      • Nitpicky

        There are plenty of people who have Apple devices but hate the iphone. Ive had different ipods but would never buy an iphone. Its nothing personal, they just dont do it for me.

  • http://(null) caediackid3302

    First let’s get this out of the way, I have an iPhone 3GS and I love the damn thing, with that said I had sort of a revelation last night. I met a couple friends at the Outback for some steak and beer, one had the EVO and the other had an Arias on AT

  • B13Cartel

    I just got owned? Because you assume that I’m lying about Apple products I own? Please fool come up with someething better. How about the Imac I use in conjunction with my ProTools setup, how about the 80gb iPod I use on a daily basis, how about the old 4GB iPod mini I use when I go to the gym, how about the Airport Express I use for my home network, or how about my girlfriends Macbook Pro. Please clown don’t tell me I don’t use Apple products when you don’t have a damn clue! I’m just not some Apple fan boy that will eat up Steve Jobs BS and buy Apple products no matter what. I don’t bash all apple products I absolutely love the products I own from them that suit my needs. I DO have a problem with how the company has dealt with it’s current iPhone 4 situation and have my opinion towards the company has drstically changed after this debacle. I don’t own an iPhone and made my decision based on facts I know regarding the device. Dealing with a wireless network is what I do for a living and I chose a Bold 9700 because of what I know of the device, how it performs, and what I not you or your friends need out of a phone. I am bashing Apple because of the way it has gone about its business dealing with this mess.

    MrSmartyPants… please, get a clue.

  • http://www.freeapplezone.com Will

    Wow heated, I still love my iphone4

  • Aimee

    I got my iP4 a month and some days, and the issue regarding the signal being blocked hasn’t effected me. I have held it in the way which is supposed to drop the signal several times and only notice the signal drop once, the reception problem not so seriously just bcz someone specially enlarged to do laundry out information.
    I love my iP4 and very enjoyable with it, maybe you can call me fanboi, yup, that is, thanks apple give such a fantastic Phone. Now With the iP4 and iPhone 4 Video Converter from iFunia, Im sucking in movies and videos watching, of course happy with the Facetime with my girfriend!

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