For
millions of iPhone owners, or would-be iPhone owners, who dislike AT&T's
wireless service or prefer Verizon Wireless service, liberation is at hand.
Starting Feb. 10, Apple's iconic smart phone finally will be available in the U.S. on a
second carrier, Verizon, instead of just on AT&T, which has been the
exclusive iPhone network since the device launched in 2007. Current Verizon
customers can pre-order the iPhone Thursday.
Walt
Mossberg compares the new Verizon iPhone 4 to an AT&T iPhone 4, and finds
that they aren't interchangeable. The Verizon has much better voice calls, he
says, but there's a trade off in data speed.
Complaints
about dropped voice calls, or calls that can't be initiated, on AT&T's
service, especially on iPhones, have been legion. Meanwhile, Verizon has
enjoyed a general reputation for reliable voice service. So, many frustrated
AT&T iPhone users and those scared off by reports of dropped calls, or
simply loyal to Verizon, have been eagerly anticipating this move. To these
people, I'm here to say: Yes, there are some major benefits to having your
iPhone on Verizon, but, as with all good things, there are also trade-offs.
I've
been testing a Verizon iPhone 4 and comparing it to an AT&T iPhone 4, which
has been out since last summer. The phones themselves are essentially
identical, except for the fact that they have different radios inside to
accommodate the two carriers' differing network technologies. They aren't
interchangeable.
On the
big question, I can say that, at least in the areas where I was using it, the
Verizon model did much, much better with voice calls. In numerous tries over
nine days, I had only three dropped calls on the Verizon unit, and those were
all to one person who was using an AT&T iPhone in an especially bad area
for AT&T: San Francisco. With the nearly identical AT&T model, I often
get that many dropped calls in one day.
Calls
on the Verizon unit were mostly crisp and clear, including speakerphone calls
and those made over my car's Bluetooth connection. On my first full day of
testing, I did have several Verizon calls that dropped out for a few seconds,
before recovering. Apple attributed this to a very minor glitch I'd encountered
in my initial setup of the phone and urged me to reboot it. I did and suffered
no more momentary dropouts.
The
Verizon model also introduces a feature that some iPhone power users have been
craving but that AT&T hasn't allowed in the past: the ability to use the
phone, for an extra monthly fee, as a Wi-Fi hot spot for Internet connectivity
to multiple laptops or other devices. In my tests, this worked fine with
Windows and Macintosh laptops, and an iPad. Wednesday afternoon, AT&T
countered by announcing a similar Wi-Fi hot spot plan for the iPhone at an
unspecified future date.
For
an extra fee, Verizon iPhone users can use the phone as a Wi-Fi hot spot.
AT&T has rushed to counter this feature with one of its own.
Also,
Verizon is, for an unspecified but limited time, offering an unlimited $30 a
month data plan for the iPhone. That is something AT&T once offered new
customers, but has since replaced with capped plans offering fixed amounts of
data at $15 or $25 a month. (Existing AT&T customers have been allowed to
keep their $30 unlimited plans.)
What
about the trade-offs? Chief among them is data speed. I performed scores of
speed tests on the two phones, which I used primarily in Washington, and its
Maryland and Virginia suburbs, and for part of one day at Chicago's O'Hare
Airport. In these many tests, despite a few Verizon victories here and there,
AT&T's network averaged 46% faster at download speeds and 24% faster at
upload speeds. This speed difference was noticeable while doing tasks like
downloading large numbers of emails, or waiting for complicated Web pages to
load. AT&T's speeds varied more while Verizon's were more consistent, but
overall, AT&T was more satisfying at cellular data.
Also,
because Verizon's iPhone—like most other Verizon phones—doesn't work on the
world-wide GSM mobile-phone standard, you can't use it in most countries
outside the U.S. AT&T's iPhone does work on this standard, and can be used
widely abroad, albeit at very high roaming rates. In the midst of my testing, I
had to travel to Hong Kong, one of the few countries where the Verizon iPhone
functions. But even there, it only worked for voice, not data, at least in the
areas where I was working. The AT&T model handled both voice and data
everywhere I tried it there.
Finally,
the Verizon model can't fetch Internet data at the same time it is making a
voice call, something the AT&T model can do. In fact, if you try to, say,
call up a Web page while on a voice call with the Verizon model, you get an
error message warning the two things can't be done simultaneously. While this
distinction is a weapon in the war of words between the carriers, I doubt it's
a big deal for most average users. My guess is that the most common things
you'd want to check while talking would be your calendar, contacts and notes.
And, in my tests, it was possible to check all those things on the Verizon
model during calls, even though I have them set up to sync via the Internet.
I did
have some issues with the Verizon model. In the D.C. area, long a coverage
stronghold for Verizon, it kept switching briefly from 3G mode to slower 2G
mode. This didn't affect voice quality, and didn't last long, but it slowed
data downloads drastically for short periods. Also, on my first day of
testing—after the setup glitch but before I rebooted—the Verizon phone showed
poor battery life, and had trouble connecting to my car's Bluetooth setup.
After that, these problems disappeared. Bluetooth worked fine and I was able to
make it through a day with the battery on both phones.
Apple
lists the specs on the two models as identical. They both start at $199, both
have the same battery-life rating, both run the same operating software. In my
tests, I was easily able to transfer all my apps, music, photos, settings,
music and videos from the AT&T iPhone to the Verizon model, using iTunes,
and I didn't run into any apps or media that failed to work as expected.
Prices
for voice and data plans are a bit different. The least you can pay monthly for
an iPhone on Verizon is $75, which includes 450 voice minutes, 250 text
messages and unlimited data. On AT&T, you can pay just $65, but your data
is limited to a paltry 200 megabytes, though you get 1,000 text messages in
this scenario.
The
Verizon wireless hot-spot plan costs $20 a month for 2 gigabytes of data, but
gets expensive if you run over: $20 for each extra gigabyte.
One big
question about the Verizon iPhone that neither company is answering is whether
it will be updated to a new iPhone 5 model when the AT&T model is updated.
Such updates typically have occurred in June or July, which could make people
who buy a Verizon iPhone now resentful that their new phone was bested so soon.
Of course, Verizon customers who wait might be resentful if their version of
the iPhone isn't upgraded at the same time as AT&T's.
Officials
at both Apple and Verizon will only say they don't intend to make Verizon
customers unhappy, but that could mean anything.
Bottom
line: In my tests, the new Verizon version of the iPhone did much better at
voice calling than the AT&T version, and offers some attractive benefits,
like unlimited data and a wireless hot-spot capability. But if you really care
about data speed, or travel overseas, and AT&T service is tolerable in your
area, you may want to stick with AT&T.
—See
a video of Walt Mossberg discussing the Verizon iPhone at WSJ.com/PersonalTech.
Find all his columns and videos at the All Things Digital website,
walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.
This
article was especially interesting to me because I am the owner of an AT&T iPhone
that I have been very impressed with. However several of my friends are on the
Verizon network and have been awaiting the new Verizon iPhone release. Since
AT&T has had a monopoly on the iPhone for at least 3 years, it will be
interesting to see how Verizon and AT&T’s customers increase and decrease,
respectively. I also have been following how each company has been dealing with
the new release and from an outsider’s perspective, it is almost comical. Each
companies CEO has engaged in a mudslinging against each other’s product via
press releases. Which product is better is unclear, however I think it is safe
to say that AT&T has some new competition that is sure to be followed by
other companies in the coming years.
