What the hell is going on with Consumer Reports? In a blog post dated July 2, Mike Gikas said:
The debate over the iPhone 4’s supposed reception problems continues, including a new class-action suit. Underplayed in the discussion is the fact that all phones are subject to interference from the human who is using them. And even if the alleged signal loss is real, there’s an absence of hard evidence that iPhone 4 reception is problematic compared to past iPhones; indeed, there’s evidence of just the opposite.
(emphasis added.)
Then, according to AppleInsider, on July 12, Mike Gikas reports Consumer Reports’s about-face:
Consumer Reports’ engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception.
Wait. They just finished testing? Was the July 2 report premature? How is Gikas citing “evidence of” no problem if Consumer Reports is still in the process of testing? Or had Consumer Reports even started testing by July 2? Paul Reynolds notes in the update to this post:
Some commentary suggests we’ve retracted an earlier recommendation of the iPhone 4. In fact, our first blog on the iPhone 4’s performance … were based on preliminary testing, as we stated. Those earlier tests did not address antenna performance. We recommend products only after all tests are complete, and as part of our full smart phone Ratings.
Then why make the earlier blog post at all? If complete testing was a mere 10 days away, why not sit on the preliminary finds? Why stir confusion?
And speaking of confusing, even after their seemingly abrupt about-face, Consumer Reports has given the iPhone 4 the highest rated score as the best smartphone currently available in its official paid research reports.
So, to summarize:
- Consumer Reports does not recommend buying the iPhone 4.
- Consumer Reports ranks the iPhone 4 as the best available.
Okay …
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