My Biggest Complaint About the iPhone

29 July 2007

After a month of iPhone ownership, I can honestly say I’m pleased with the device. While it’s true the iPhone is flawed in several ways, it is simply the best cell phone (and iPod) I’ve owned.

If I were to lodge a single complaint against the iPhone, it would not be about the lack of a native IM application. It would not be about how EDGE is painfully slow. Or how the camera lacks zoom and brightness controls. Or the lack of voice dialing. Or Bluetooth limitations. Or the various UI inconsistencies. Or poor voicemail sound quality. Or MobileMail’s automatic resizing of photos. Or the error-prone keyboard. Or the lack (so far) of an official native SDK.

In fact, nearly all of the above limitations I can happily live with. They are mostly software-bound and can (and hopefully will) likely be remedied by a future update. Yes, EDGE is slow but it’s decent in a pinch.

If I were to change one thing about the iPhone, it would be the headset. The one size fits all construction means that they do not fit my ears and the size cannot be easily changed. They easily fall out, and since the tiny speaker sits so far away from my ear canal when not falling out, they produce a very hollow, tinny sound and let too much outside noise into my ear. For a device where two of three major features lean on the headset, the included set is unacceptable.

What’s more, the jack won’t accept most off the shelf headsets without a separate adapter. Even if it did, those sets wouldn’t have the built-in and oh-so-handy microphone and button anyway. Only the V-MODA Vibe Duo comes close to being the perfect iPhone headset. It’s too bad they aren’t $50 to $70 cheaper and have an iPhone-compatible button. It’s also too bad I’m not the hacking type.

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