iPhone 4 – Full Review

Posted on 24/06/2010 by Craig

As discussed in my earlier post, I have been playing with Apple’s newest toy today – the iPhone 4. After playing with the device for the best part of the day.

I won’t be doing a step-by-step teardown, because if you’re reading this, you’ll already have a good idea of the capabilities of the device, but I’ll pick out my favourite features and give an overall idea of how it fares.

Design

The iPhone 4

As has been widely publicised, the design of the iPhone 4 is the biggest overhaul since the original was released back in 2007.

It takes many hints from the latest lines released by Apple, including the all-aluminium MacBooks, iMacs and the iPad.

In terms of feel, this makes the iPhone feel a touch hefty but this translates into “quality” rather than “heavy” – you actually feel like you’re holding £450 of handset, which you should, because you are!

The lines are clean, minimal and uncluttered, and it really does bring the iPhone into line with Apple’s current trend, while also being a statement itself. It doesn’t matter whether you are a massive Apple fan or a style-concious newbie, the phone will fit.

Retina Display

The other much-discussed feature of the iPhone 4 is it’s Retina Display – so-called because Apple claim that the human eye cannot distinguish between individual pixels on its screen.

I have to say that the display is one of the device’s finest points. It’s sharp, bright and vivid, and definitely something that should be admired.

Software and Apps

One of the drawbacks that has stopped me short of having an iPhone before now was the dependence on iTunes to sync with the device. This limitation still stands, however my own stance towards iTunes has softened slightly since buying a MacBook in October 2008, so it isn’t much of a drawback for me personally.

As you would expect from Apple, the software does work seamlessly, and there’s no negatives that really stand out – as yet anyway.

Overall

Overall, I really have to say that the iPhone 4 is in a class of it’s own. Apple’s many detractors can point to any number of handsets that claim to rival it – the HTC Desire and BlackBerry are two – but for me, it really is an achievement of engineering and design – disciplines that Apple excel in, even though as a Free Software advocate I would like to see a bit more software and development openness.

Of course it remains to be seen how it will fare in the long term, there have already been reports of yellowing/discoloured screens and loss of signal, however I have (thankfully, touch wood) not run into these problems so far.

[ Full Flickr Photostream ]

iPhone4 – First Impressions

Posted on 24/06/2010 by Craig

My iPhone 4

So, I am the proud owner of a shiny new iPhone 4! I’ll give my first impressions here.

First off, the device feels very hefty and very solid in-hand, and it’s got a nice feeling of quality about it.

Not having used an iPhone properly before, the iOS4 software feels responsive, and the much-discussed Retina display looks amazing, it re-defines what a mobile device should be capable of.

I will be writing an in-depth review later, once I’ve had a chance to play with the iPhone properly, but it’s looking like a very promising purchase!

Photos are on my Flickr photostream.

Senneiser CX-550 Headphone Review

Posted on 23/03/2010 by Craig

Cross-posted from various forum threads, but thought I might as well post this here in my blog

Background

So, my venerable Sennheiser CX-300s bit the dust a week ago (it’s actually just the 3.5mm jack, I’ll probably get it repaired at some point) and I was looking for some replacements.

After asking around for alternatives on some message forums (WCUK and AnythingButiPod), I decided to try the CX-550s, as I had seen them on PlayTrade on Play.com for around £24 – which seemed to be a bargain, seeing as they retail for around double that.

Purchase

I wouldn’t normally discuss the purchasing in a review, however when I had ordered from Play.com I discovered why I had paid £24. The CX-550s I received were fakes. After emailing backwards and forwards with the supplier, he reeled off a sob-story about a second supplier and offered to replace the fakes with genuine Sennheisers.

I accepted the offer, as I did actually want my headphones. I’ve just (as in 30 minutes ago – I’m using them right now) got the replacements, and they are genuine Sennheiser ‘phones. Result – albeit with more hassle than necessary.

The Headphones

Right, no onto the meat of the review. I’ve not written one of these before, so bear with me. I mainly bought the 550s as a replacement (and upgrade) for my 300s, and they are just that. I only have the 300s as a comparison point, so I can really only reference those.

After first listening with the standard silicone ear-pieces, I switched over to the double-flanged ear-pieces supplied with the 550s – and they make so much difference in the high- and mid-ranges.

The first thing I did when plugging the 550s into my Zen was turn off the bass boost I had enabled for the 300s, as they seemed to lack “punch” on the bass – no such lack here. The bass is definitely present, but with that lovely, crisp “punch” rather than a flabby “boom”.

My Zen ran out of juice at this point, so I switched over to my desktop PC sound rig.

The other thing is the relative clarity in comparison to the 300s. There is a lot more of the high-end; crash cymbals sound crisper and guitars have a lot more “mid” and “squeal”, but at the same time sound more concentrated.

In terms of EQ, I’m using about +2dB of 80Hz and +1dB of 2.5KHz on my Benhringer Xenyx 802 mini-mixer, and no software EQ. Sound source is 320kbps mp3 played through AmaroK on Fedora 12 Linux, with an ASUS Xonar Essence STX sound card.

Conclusion

It seems like the 550s have been discontinued by Sennheiser, which is a real shame. The best alternative I can see on their website are the CX-870/880 range, which are a good deal more expensive than the 550s, even at retail.

If you decide to buy them from a non-mainstream re-seller, be prepared for the worst. I found this forum post extremely useful, and there was also a comparison image (I can’t find the URL now ) detailing how to tell the difference between fakes and genuines. The differences as far as I can remember are:

Cone-shaped driver mesh (genuines should have straight)
1mm gap between driver head and main IEM body
No cable-clip in packaging
Relatively unprofessional packaging (cables just stuffed into the bottom pouch rather than being cable-tied)
No flanged ear-pieces

My advice – if you can get them, these are fantastic headphones and a worthy upgrade to CX-300s for a reasonable price.