For the last 26 months I have endured the Samsung SCH-F480 ‘Tocco‘. The simple act of looking up a contact or sending a text message often resulted a mist of rage descending and suicide seeming like a viable option. Thankfully, the daddy of all upgrades has arrived. The iPhone 4 32GB.

it looks harmless enough.... but don't do it.

The dreaded Samusung would not break or get lost despite how badly it was treated.  After two years it barely has a scratch. It reminds me of the trampoline that Homer Simpson couldn’t get rid of. This phone should be a lesson that signing up for a two year contract is a risky strategy unless you are absolutely confident the handset is a good one.

Thankfully the Samsung nightmare is over. The timing was serendipitous because as my current contract ended the iPhone 4 32GB became available on my network (Orange). I upgraded to an 18 month contract at £35 per month that includes 600 minutes, 500 texts and unlimited data. The 32GB iPhone was £319 on top of the monthly line rental. Alternatively it is possible to sign up for a 24 month contract and get the handset for £219 and get unlimited texts.

The iPhone 4 (picture taken with my old phone's camera to show how rubbish it was!)

So is the iPhone 4 really that different to the 3Gs? I have been using my girlfriend’s 16GB 3Gs for a while and the iPhone 4 certainly seems much better. Firstly it is thinner, which is obviously nice. But the most striking difference is the screen resolution. The menu and images / videos look stunning. The screen uses a ‘Retina‘ display (which is much sharper than the 3Gs screen). The 960 x 640 resolution is virtually twice as good as the 3Gs. You get a facing camera (for video calling), an improved 5MP main camera with autofocus, HD video recording and, perhaps most importantly, the unit just generally works better and faster than the previous model.

Having not had my own iPhone before, the thing that has most impressed me is the ability to seamlessly sync with Google. I use Gmail, Google Calendars and Google Contacts, and the iPhone instantly syncs the info over after you set it up. Any new additions to the phone or your computer and they sync over to both platforms.

Now for the bad points. The obvious one is the well publicised signal issue. The signal does drop out when the iPhone 4 is held in your left hand. A case or ‘bumper’ apparently solves this issue and the good news is that anyone who has bought an iPhone 4 can now get one for free from the Apple ‘iPhone 4 Case Program‘.

Another issue is that due to security concerns Apple will not allow background process support to the firmware. As a result, software such as Google Latitude cannot operate in the background and send location information. Given the increasingly bad relationship between Apple and Google it does not seem likely that this will be resolved in the near future.

Currently the 32GB is the largest memory available. Having used an iPod Touch 64GB for the last year, it is rather annoying that it is now necessary to ‘un-check’ a hell of a lot of my iTunes music to fit it all on the iPhone 4. However, it seems likely that the 64GB will appear in the next couple of years. (Which is the reason I opted to pay a little more for an 18 month contract rather than getting the 24 month one).

All in all the verdict is an overwhelming thumbs up. The phone looks superb, works well (despite some teething problems) and is still streets ahead of anything else on the market. When Apple properly sort out the signal issue, call a truce with Google over the background process support and bring out a 64GB model they may just have made the perfect phone.