Choosing the best smartphone iPhone explained
The iPhone is arguably the most popular and recognised brand of smartphone on the market and is designed by consumer electronics company Apple Inc.
The iPhone pretty much set the standard of what a smartphone should be when it was released back in 2007. iPhones can perform a number of functions. As well as the basic tasks you would expect of a mobile phone, such as texts and voice calls, they are also capable of taking pictures, playing music, surfing the internet and running a large number of different applications, or 'apps' from Apple's App Store.
The original iPhone was announced back in 2007.
iPhone models to date
Apple has released five different iPhone models to date. Each iPhone iteration made some improvements over its predecessor.
The iPhone 3G enabled users to connect to 3G mobile internet networks, moderately improved the iPhone's battery life, and added GPS support.
The iPhone 3GS improved the processor speed, battery life and camera quality.
The iPhone 4, improved the iPhone's display, processor and added an extra camera to the front of the handset for video calls.
The latest model to hit the shops is the iPhone 4S. This looks the same as the iPhone 4 but has an updated camera and a dual-core processor.
The iPhone and iPhone 3G are both discontinued, and it's likely that the iPhone 3GS will see the same fate soon in order to make way for newer models.
Read our latest iPhone reviews and find out how Apple was rated for reliability and customer satisfaction in our survey.
iPhone features explained
One of the most useful functions of any iPhone is its ability to access the internet. As long as you have access to a mobile or wi-fi network, you can connect to the internet and browse web pages.
This connectivity also allows you to check and reply to emails, as well as downloading many different applications, from bus timetables to videogames.
All iPhone models feature a large capacitive touchscreen, which makes browsing web-pages a much more comfortable experience than on a regular phone.
Though when it comes to more basic tasks such as texting, and accessing menus, opinions are often divided regarding the benefits of a touchscreen over a regular keypad.
The latest iPhone, the iPhone 4, features video calling, or FaceTime as Apple calls it. This allows you to see the person you're calling, and vice versa, while you speak to them.
All iPhone models also let you take pictures and play music.
Criticisms of the iPhone
The iPhone brand is now synonymous with smartphones and many smartphone manufacturers have tried to replicate Apple's success, building similar-looking devices, with similar features.
However, the iPhone has faced some criticisms:
- Camera quality on early versions was relatively poor compared to other smartphones.
- Flash software is not supported by the iPhone's web browser, meaning some web pages do not display correctly.
- Older models do not support multi-tasking (running numerous applications at the same time).
- The iPhone 4's voice call signal strength suffers if you grip the phone in a certain way - which was enough to deny the smartphone a Which? Mobile Best Buy award.
- There are now many other smartphones (mostly running Google's Android operating system) that have very similar features to the iPhone and cost a great deal less.
Despite these criticisms, the iPhone is a hard product not to recommend if you're in the market for a smartphone and the mobile phone industry continues to look toward Apple to set the smartphone standard with upcoming models.
