The iPhone on AT&T: Just Terrific

We are so good at complaining about AT&T and the iPhone, but I have to say, after two months using the iPhone 4 on AT&T's network: it's great.  It's not just great: it's better than just about every other combination out there.

I'm a mobile phone whore.  I've had em all.  On every carrier.  In the last five years, I've had Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.  I've two iPhones and at least five Blackberries not to mention a couple of Nokia phones.  Everything but an Android phone.  And the best of them all: iPhone on AT&T.

There are a few things that make the combination the best of the best.  The iPhone itself is great as a stand-alone device, but the newest iteration excels when you add multi-tasking and a strong network.  I put the iPhone on AT&T to the test and in functions where Blackberries and other networks fail:

• Continuous Music Streaming: On AT&T, Pandora runs smoothly over long trips - not missing a beat.  By contrast, neither Verizon & T-Mobile were able to accomplish the same feat on longer trips.  T-Mobile has the best value of all the networks - but it signal frequently drops down from 3G to edge, making it hard to keep up a music stream.

• Music Streaming & Navigation: The iPhone on AT&T seems to handle multiple processor-intensive applications smoothly.  The combination of CPU-intensive and bandwidth intensive often sent my Blackberry on Verizon into a reboot but the iPhone seems to handle it smoothly.

• GPS Fix: the iPhone latches onto a GPS signal with amazing speed - faster than any Blackberry ever.

I've seen the new Blackberry Torch.  It's a nice looking phone and the best Blackberry ever.  It won't be enough to turn the tide.  RIM's going to have to up their game again.

iPhone Photo from Flickr, CC