With so many controversies surrounding the iPhone 4 we wonder just how well the end users welcomed it. ChangeWave’s July survey finds the answer to the above speculation and many others. It has conducted a survey which takes an in-depth perspective of the opinion and reactions of 213 iPhone 4 users.
The study states that around 72 percent are ‘very satisfied’ and 21 percent seem ‘somewhat satisfied’. With such a result, it appears that the initial satisfaction ratings from this handset have been extremely high. When this handset’s acceptance was compared to that of the iPhone3GS’, the iPhone 4 fared quite low. According to the August 2009 survey, 82 percent were ‘very satisfied’ with the iPhone 3GS and 17 percent were ‘somewhat satisfied’ while the iPhone 4’s statistics appeared to be lower.
One in three said that it exceeds their expectations whereas 50 percent found it just as they had hoped. The survey further analyzes what users liked and disliked the most. The top three features that they admire were namely the screen resolution accounting to 49 percent, the 5MP camera with LED flash garnering up 31 percent, and the touchscreen interface placed number three with 30 percent. Interestingly faster web browsing and Face Time video conferencing amassed 18 and 15 percent, respectively.
The major three functionalities that users disliked in the device are firstly requirement to use AT& T’s network accounting to 27 percent, ‘coverage, speed, quality of AT& T’s 3G network’ coming up to 24 percent and the Antenna issue aggregating to 24 percent. The iPhone 3GS’ chief dislike was the short battery life with 41 percent owners unhappy with it, whereas only 15 percent now face this problem in the latest Apple offering.
Another dislike that has been quite maligned in news is the dropped call issue which has amounted to 23 percent votes. Pertaining to the iPhone 4 reception and dropped calls issue, almost two-thirds said that they did not face any problem while 14 percent did not find it much of a hassle. One-in-five handset owners which amounted to 14 percent stated that it was ‘somewhat of a problem’ and 7 percent feeling that it was a major problem.
73 percent reported that they were ‘very or somewhat satisfied’ with the free cases offered by the company to solve this issue. However, one among five were still very or somewhat unsatisfied accounting to almost 18 percent. The survey has also compared the issue of dropped calls between AT&T and Verizon. Astonishingly only 5.2 percent iPhone 4 owners had experienced this, whereas 6.3 percent users faced it with the iPhone 3GS in June 2010. Thus, it seems like iPhone 4 users on an average reported slightly fewer dropped calls as compared to iPhone 3GS owners.
Hence the survey puts forward that not many iPhone 4 users are facing a problem with the antenna. However it says that the owner ratings are not exactly as high as they were during the launch of the 3GS.