∞ Hands On: iPhone 4

I got some hands on time with the iPhone 4 right after Steve Jobs introduced the device at his WWDC keynote on Monday. Obviously, there wasn’t a lot of time to test everything out, but here are a few quick observations. Despite the fact it looks square, especially compared to the older models, the iPhone 4 is surprisingly sleek and easy to hold. It fits nicely in your hand and the controls are all easily accessible using one hand.

iPhone 4 also seems quite a bit smaller than the iPhone 3GS, but I think that is more of an optical illusion than anything else. When I stacked the two devices they seemed to be about the same size.

I’d even say the squareness was a bit of an illusion too. It’s like Apple took the metal bevel off the new phone so it’s mostly black all the way around. It’s actually a nice look for the iPhone.

Having an almost solid black front gives you the feeling of having more screen real estate too. It feels less closed in, if that makes sense.

The iPhone 4 is very snappy when using apps. For instance, switching between the front-facing and rear cameras is instantaneous. I dare say if you tried that with the 3GS you would see some delay.

It’s not just the camera, everything feels snappier on the iPhone 4G. The addition of the A4 chip in the new iPhone is certainly going to make a huge difference in running apps and the things developers will be able to give us for the device.

Overall, I can’t see how anyone would be dissatisfied with iPhone 4, especially when you add in the new iOS 4 that will go along with it.