Consumer Reports says “we can’t recommend the iPhone 4”

With Apple selling over 1.7 million iPhone 4 devices – there has been much talk about the reception issues and screen discolourations. Many people have done video reviews, drop tests and some people have even gone to the length of taking a .50 caliber sniper rifle to it.

Consumer Reports has just released their review of the new iPhone 4 and they state that their engineers “have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception. When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side – an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4.”

Ouch… Consumer Reports does say they found an easy and affordable solution for the issue. Cover the antenna gap with a piece of duct tape or another thick, non-conductive material. It may not be pretty, but it works”. On a plus side they did give the new iPhone high marks for improved battery life, front facing camera, sharp display and the “best video camera we’ve seen on any phone”.

The kicker comes at the end when they write that “If you want an iPhone that works well without a masking-tape fix, we continue to recommend an older model, the 3G S”. The good news is that the older models have all be lowered in price.

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Check out the full review here at Consumer Reports