Consumer Reports aren’t the only respected testing service who have called out the iPhone 4 for faulty antennae design; Europe’s oldest non-profit consumer protection association, l’Union Fédérale des Consommateurs and their publication, Que Choisir, are unable to recommend the iPhone 4 due to Death Grip issues. This judgement is in spite the fact that it only affects people in low coverage areas, and Apple’s giving away free bumpers if you happen to be in the affected minority. Still, Que Choisir offers praise where it’s due, but that does little to assuage the final failing mark.
I would consider the whole situation tragic for Apple if it wasn’t for the way they’ve handled things. The free cases is a fine band-aid solution, but the fact that they refuse to admit that they screwed up the design at a fundamental level by pointing out how much money they had spent on testing facilities and shifting attention to competitors with remotely similar problems isn’t really the classy way to take ownership of the issue.
In any case, the Que Choisir report failed to mention anything of what the iPhone 4’s father smelled.
[Que Choisir via Unwired View]