My first iPhone was the 4 and I got a solid 2 years out of it using it as my Swiss Army knife. Basically, not designed for but can do everything pretty damn well. I used a case mate ultra thin case that was just barely bigger than the phone which I loved but only offered minimal protection. I never used a screen protector. I used it nearly everyday with headphones at work, I put it in my pocket mountain biking and sweating with the strava app, it actually shut down a couple times from overheating. Which I thought was actually pretty cool that it considers self preservation. And I took it on every Moto trip and even used it as my camera exclusively one 4 day two septembers ago to Colorado. These are rough camp-off-your-dirtbike trips that are not easy on you or your phone. Lots and lots of dust. I used it as a level when building things, an angle finder when calculating angles on dirtbikes and the front axles of 4WDs, and my source of music every day in my car and shop at any spare moment. The spotify app changed how I find and listen to music. I calculate how well I slept that night with it with the sleep ap. Heavy heavy use, every single day. Anyway by the end of the 2 years, the only issues were that headphone jack was worn out. It had a slight intermittent issue where the mic functionality stopped working, so you had to speak through the phone with a headset on. But worked well otherwise. And the rear glass was shattered. But other than that, it was great and I can probably even get $100 for it as it still functions great. My wife's iphone, purchased at the same time, remains flawless. I have never had a phone last as well as an iPhone. Period. I was due for an upgrade, so I finally chose to do it. I started reading the reviews as a few of my friends have jumped ship from iPhone and ill admit they are mostly happy for now. I also have large hands and the droid phones have larger screens. That is single handedly my largest complaint about the iPhone. I wish it was slightly wider, so I could type more accurately without having to rely on autocorrect as much. Other that that, I love the 5. I didn't think there would be much difference because I was already on ios6. But there is. 1. The 5 is a rocket, just a complete rocket. It does these features and functionalities program loads, loading emails, all of these other tasks the 4 would take some time with in split seconds. Little did I know it was the processor, I always assumed it was Internet speed only. 2. It also browses the Internet much much faster too. Turns out this is the processor etc too. So far 3G LTE isn't bothering me at all. 3. Then generally the ergonomics and size and feel of if are awesome. Really right and fancy sort of like being in a tight luxury car. The screen is crisper looking, larger, and the back is metal now so no more cracked rear glass. Overall, super impressed... 4/5 or possibly 5/5? Ps not an apple fanboy at all, I actually prefer PCs for my computers and just turned down a new Mac in favor of a new PC, and this is my only mac device other than my old school ipod. If it helps! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk, hence any typos...
I have a two year old iPhone4, and it's still going strong. I've not used it as hard as the OP did his, and have kept it in heavy-duty cases for the entirety of its life, am on the third case, they wear out much faster than the phone does, but I guess that's the general idea. So it is mostly perfect still, although I am starting to notice a bit of die-off in the battery life, seems to need charging more often than it did even just a few months ago. How long do batteries last? And can they be replaced relatively easily? I assume it has to go back to Apple for that? My son and daughter (both adults) went from 4s to 5s a couple of months back, and are real happy with them. I am entitled to an upgrade, so could get one for not too bad a price, but for now am pretty content to stick with the 4 and see how much longer it lasts me.
you can replace the battery yourself if you choose. plenty of tutorials on youtube. i try to run mine down pretty low about once a month, then plug it in and do a reset (power button & home button simultaneously until you see the apple). one of my coworkers has an iphone 3 that occasionally has poor (horrible) battery life, so i kill all the open apps, plug it in and perform a reset. has always worked (so far). it seems like some app just starts killing his battery every now and then.
Headphone jack worn out, broken microphone, shattered glass...after only 2 years and you're here saying "I have never had a phone last as well as an iPhone". Not happy enough, you ponctuate it with a "Period"? Wow, you don't have the same expectations than me. Is it what we call consumerism? If M. Jobs only did one good thing, it's this.
Of all the phones I've had, the iphone is the only one that had the screen break. I dropped it edge first on a floor jack from about waist height.
Correct, I've never had a phone as durable as this. The shattered glass is from dropping it one of the many many many times its seen. I agree that a phone shouldn't have that happen. The new iphone 5 go rid of glass on the back side, so they designed it out. And yes after 2 years of inserting tons of different brands into the headphone jack, the microphone portal started acting intermittently, standard wear and tear I consider it. I could get it replaced from a local shop for $30, or leave it as is as I have... I've destroyed many a phone. Almost all of them I'm counting down to the seconds when an upgrade is due, in many cases I've had to replcase it or scrounge for something temporary before being able to replacing it when the new contract was due. In the case of the ihpone4, the due date came and went and I remembered to myself that I was due for the upgrade after the fact... So yes, super durable to me...
Most reliable phone ever had. 2.5 years Iphone4 no break downs. Work in construction. - Extreme dust conditions. Before average life span of a cell phone was 3 to 6 months. Talking with fellow coworkers blackberries or any smart phones with a gazzilion buttons last three to four weeks. On third water proof case. Have to dissasemble every month or so to clean dust of inside of protective screen. Wtf is up with that? Best damm phone i have owned. Next one will have the largest storage gig possable. Mine has 16 gigs of storage and is almost full of data from different gps apps.
Howdy All, I am completely NEW to cell phones, have really liked my Mac-book pro so when I fianlly decided to enter the 21st century and get a cell phone I went with an iPhone5. Well its less then 6 weeks old and the phucking speaker doesn't work, so now I am waiting for a replacement under the warranty. Other then that I really liked the phone and found it easy to figure out even for someone who has never before had a cell phone.
Thanks for the info. I finally got past my "Why do those fuckers at apple always have to change the power accessories." I thought they'd changed their ways as 3 gen of iPhone and 4 gens of MacBooks all used the same power transorfers/cables. I ordered mine on Saturday. Should be here tomorrow if I can get them to send it to my current address instead of my billing address! (My fault. ) Same here, only I just have a 16GB 4S. I ordered the 64MB 5. Old phone will become my new iPod Touch for the Smart car. I'll take everything off of it but iTunes, 14 MB of music, and google maps. (Which is fantastic now that they've updated it with turn by turn voice direction. Take that you Apple FFs! )
Mr. Cob, the secret to buying Apple products is always buy refurbished. When you buy new, you get one that came off the line in China where probably 1 in 100 are QA'ed. With refurbished, you save a few bucks and get one that GUARANTEED has had someone in Cupertino lay their hot little hands on it.
I use Speck cases and I've dropped my phones at least a thousand times between them. Both my 3 and 4S look brand new out of the cases. I'm glad to see they brought back the rubber Pixel Skin for the five. I have one on my 3 and its much easier to take off when you need to put your phone in a cradle or Ram Mount, although, aside from the issue of the little piece of plastic by the charging socket always breaking off, the Candy Shells seem every bit as durable and protective. The Pixel Skins just don't slide off the dashboard when you set them up there. http://www.speckproducts.com/iphone-case.html
I've been banished from the android phone thread because I'm now an apple convert. I've had 2 LG phones and never got too excited about them. By default I ended up with an iphone4 that I bought off Craigslist and started using it last month. It seems way faster, and easier to figure out what I want. In regards to settings changes. My android phone constantly opened programs all by itself and the battery life sucked. I had purchased some extra batteries for it, and after dropping it into a glass with less than an inch of iced tea tea it died. I replaced it with a similar LG model and the battery was the same shape and size, except they moved the contact pins so the batteries were now junk. I like that the iPhone's battery lasts much longer, and can be charged with just a USB. My LGs needed to have softwear loaded in order to charge. It feels like a higher quality piece too. I went for the rice-boy case
I waited until the "5" was out for a few months before jumping in, and had a "4", and all the previous versions. Before I bought it, I though the lighter weight of the 5 made it feel cheap, but it's great! The slimmer body and much lighter weight make it much more comfortable to carry. The internet speed over the network is fast enough that I never really need to turn on the wi-fi. The bigger screen is almost negligible, but I don't see the appeal of the huge screens on the some of the Android phones. They fixed my #1 grip with the 4, which was de-activating the screen sensor while holding the phone to my ear with my shoulder, and dropping, muting, or activating facetime while talking. I think the lighter weight will make it more durable as well; much less mass to damage the phone if you drop it. The 4 was a stunner of a product, but even a minor drop without a case could break the screen due to all that weight. Regarding cases, I bought something called the Tech21 case, which is made out of a plastic/rubber that is also used in a lot of motorcycle armour, and has a soft feel but is supposed to get hard when it impacts something. It's slim and doesn't weigh much, and you guys with 5's might want to check them out.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!! Got my 5 yesterday and just finished updating/restoring it. Took EIGHTEEN HOURS. With two restores and finally uploading my apps 5 at a time. (I did the two restores because I couldn't believe how long it was taking) It's is almost as pathetic as the endless SP updates when you load an older version of Windows. But it's working now.
Apple makes a damn sexy product. It just plain works (almost always) with no fussing around. I glad to hear that you beat the tar out of yours and it still works. My iPod has been to hell and back, and I'm shocked that it hasn't died. Apple even replaced it, well out of warranty, for a known manufacturing defect. THAT is good customer service. I just can't justify an iPhone for me. Too expensive. Too fragile. I've known too many people that have broken their screens. I hate that you have to stuff a nice iPhone or Ipod in a case just to keep your expensive toy safe, which makes it ugly. My iPod case is great, but I would rather see the slim iPod. I'm not trying to pick a fight or be mean about your happiness with your iPhone's durability, but go Casio if you want you want tough phones. Mil-spec tough, water-resistant, etc. The only reason I replaced my first Casio phone was that I got a new one free with a new contract. I have almost three years on my current Casio phone with nothing more than a little rash on the edges. It's been dropped, kicked, immersed, used in the rain. I've been holding out for the next gen Commando, but I might just go for the current Commando as my next phone. No offense, but your phone sounds like it's on the verge of being usable after two years. That may be good vs. your other phones, but that's not a good product. That's designed obsolescence.
I dropped my iPad on its corner a few weeks ago, and broke the screen. I ordered a replacement on eBay for $30 and replaced it myself.
