iPhone the world's worst phone?

The handheld computing part is awesome, critic says. It's just the phone part that flounders.

 

I can see the point. Me doesn't take issue with the phone's Web surfing or media-playing abilities. And the apps are pretty great. In fact, the iPhone is the best handheld computer out there.

It's the phone part that blows,

Call quality is pathetic, mostly because the tiny speaker has to be perfectly aligned with your ear canal to work.

Here's the rest of the case:

Headphones. The earbud headphones that come with the iPhone are "tinny and weak as a kitten,"

Microphone. The microphone picks up all kinds of background noise. At least the 3.0 version of the iPhone supports Bluetooth, so you can use headsets.

Dropped calls. I've heard from plenty of Top Stocks readers on this subject. The iPhone drops calls, can't connect or doesn't even ring at all sometimes, And the opposite of dropped calls isn't much better: Some people say their phone calls random people by itself.

Ignoring calls. Graham says that the worst iPhone problem is its tendency to ignore incoming calls and send callers directly into voice mail.

Battery life. "A couple of hours of Google Maps over 3G and you'll be lost in the woods without even the possibility of phoning for help,"
The iPhone isn't the worst phone in the world. The phone may be getting blamed for some problems that lie with the carriers (AT&T in the U.S.).
The iPhone is also a victim of its own hype: Its price tag is so high and expectations are so great that any flaws are going to be magnified.