New iPhone 14 TV ad - misleading?!

[Profile closed]

I just saw the new EE advert for the iPhone 14 Pro, and I hate to say it, it is very misleading indeed.

The iPhone 14 series is NOT the best iPhone, it has no headphone jack, and (since the iPhone X) doesn't even have a fingerprint scanner. Even budget Androids manage to fit a fingerprint scanner on the device, either on the back, or on the power button, though a lot of devices are now getting in screen fingerprint scanners. Really not hard to do.

And whilst the headphone jack is dying out, some devices that are fairly modern (such as Galaxy A52S 5G) still have it.

The iPhone 14 Series also actively rejects 3rd party repair: say you break your display and fit a new one (even if it is a genuine Apple display off another phone). It will tell you that your screen isn't genuine, and will block even basic functions such as automatic screen brightness. That's worse than the Samsung Galaxy S4 from 2013!

Lastly, EE's advertising is, in some areas, basically false. You claim the UK's best network for 4G. Well, I beg the director of the advert and the head of EE, please come down to sleepy Higham Ferrers (in Northamptonshire) and see the shocking state of your network. For the past 14 months, it simply hasn't worked, and I had to switch networks because of poor performance on EE "4G"!

If you're going to make bold claims like this, at least have the means to prove what you're claiming.

Sources:

https://youtu.be/K2WhU77ihw8

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Mobile-Network-discussions/EE-s-network-has-gone-backwards-by-10-years...

[Chris_B]

@Profile closed   It doesn’t need a headphone jack the port on the bottom can take a lightning head phone adapter.    Why does it need Touch ID when Face ID is more secure.    What has repairs got to do with EE Apple make the device and you can purchase parts from Apple did you know that !!    Seems not. 

are you really don’t know why EE  can make the claim the best network,  it’s not something they gave themselves. It was something that was bestowed upon them.   

your so called argument is flawed though out. 

[Schockwave]

@Profile closed , did you ever do a status check and report it to EE about the poor performance where you are? They could then take a look, although it is not a simple as you might think if something needs updating or sorting out on the mast, EE may have problems getting access to the site, they may need to get parts for it, but it could also depend on buildings, trees, etc that can cause such problems, that is also why new phones now have wifi calling.

There will always be blind spots where the network may not work so well either, but EE is still the best network in comparison to others. It is up to individuals to choose which network works best in their area.

[Profile closed]

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@Chris_B wrote:

@Profile closed   It doesn’t need a headphone jack the port on the bottom can take a lightning head phone adapter.    Why does it need Touch ID when Face ID is more secure.    What has repairs got to do with EE Apple make the device and you can purchase parts from Apple did you know that !!    Seems not. 

are you really don’t know why EE  can make the claim the best network,  it’s not something they gave themselves. It was something that was bestowed upon them.   

your so called argument is flawed though out. 

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1.  Having a headphone port on the phone is pro-consumer: it gives the consumer a choice to make without feeling pressured to buy expensive wireless earbuds that have very small batteries, and themselves are not repairable. (Yes, I'm talking about you, Airpods and Airpods Pro!)

Of course you can use other wireless headphones - mine cost only £50 for over ear headphones and will blow away any Airpods style headphones in both functionality and audio quality (as well as battery life and recycling at end of life). 

However, having a headphone port on the phone gives consumers choice without having to get an expensive 2-to-1 adapter. The standard "USB C/Lightning to 3.5mm" that manufacturers provide are not the answer because it means that you can't charge your device at the same time (especially if your device doesn't support wireless charging, or because you don't bother with wireless charging because you know it is horribly inefficient compared to wired charging).

2. Pretty much all other smartphones - even low to mid range ones - had or have a fingerprint scanner at least somewhere on the device. Even the Galaxy A51 (4G), a competent Samsung MID-RANGE device that cost less than £300 new, has an IN-DISPLAY fingerprint scanner, so it really isn't hard to do. So the iPhones after the iPhone 8 are all worse than an A51? Good job, Apple - all you seem to do is take features away from your devices, whilst charging more. Even the Galaxy S5 had a fingerprint scanner of some sort!

Though, to be more objective: almost all other brands of smartphone have a fingerprint scanner, so if moving from (say) a Samsung or a Google Pixel to "the best iPhone", you're going to wonder where your fingerprint scanner is, especially if you've got used to it on your previous device. The same goes if upgrading from an iPhone SE (any gen), or from an 8 (or earlier) to any current iPhone, you're going to be confused when you find your fingerprint scanner is missing. And this isn't a cheap device. It's a £1000+ device - and, let me say it again, even mid range devices are being able to fit their fingerprint readers in under the display. So there really is no excuse not to include both Touch ID and Face ID (to give the consumer the option). Given the current feature set, I'd be better off going back to my Galaxy S7 Edge than upgrading to the iPhone 14 series (or anything after, and including, the X).

3. Of course I'm fully aware that you can purchase replacement parts directly from Apple. However, Apple's Self-Repair program has only been a recent thing, and even then, you still have to pay Apple's expensive pricing. Apple don't even have the iPhone 14 series in their "self service repair store" just yet - and the costs for older models are eye watering: $71 for a battery kit (and batteries ARE consumables) or over $300 for a display bundle (these prices are for the iPhone 13 Pro Max). And even with the Self-Repair Program, you still need to connect to a virtual agent in order to go through the serialization of parts, a process that needlessly hampers 3rd party repair. Older iPhones (certainly prior to the introduction of True Tone on the displays) only had a single paired component: the home button (for Touch ID), and that was easy enough to move over from the old display to the new one. Newer iPhones are just worse for 3rd party repair, and the iPhone 14 series is no exception to this.

4. If EE really want to be "the UK's best network" then they really need to get a move on and prove that they can be worthy of that title - rather than just showing they can deliver hundreds of Mbps to a congested city. EE needs to show that they can cover the areas they need to, and I'll give you plenty of examples where EE are absolutely useless (and the reason): Higham Ferrers NN10 (output is so low power it seems like the amps aren't even turned on); Eye/Eye Green PE6 (no nearby mast at all, Band 20 from out of area masts don't have the strength or capacity to do anything at all); Hillington PE31 (anyone with any knowledge of RF should know that sticking a mast deep into a bank of trees will give no usable coverage at all - and this is the case; EE haven't been given a hacksaw to remove the trees); Hunstanton PE36 (you should know that, to be able to cover an area, you need panels pointing at the area that needs covering - this isn't the case at all with EE/3); Great Staughton PE19 (masts are too far away, not high enough, over reliance on Band 20 and no UMTS/HSPA at all, so no non-VoLTE calls); Leicester LE3 0 (outside signal is far too weak, and trying to enter the newsagents, an eBay click & collect point, you get virtually no 4G and very little 3G, which is useless when trying to load up an eBay collection code); Leicester LE1 (around Highcross and up past KFC - the signal is too weak, especially indoors, and there aren't enough masts for infill/masts not pointing directly at the city center); etc etc.

These are just a few examples on areas that still require improvement. I'm sure there are many more. There used to be plenty of other areas as well (e.g. Sheringham NR26) that have since been fixed, but there's still a long way to go before EE really is "the UK's best network".

[Profile closed]

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@Schockwave wrote:

@Profile closed , did you ever do a status check and report it to EE about the poor performance where you are? They could then take a look, although it is not a simple as you might think if something needs updating or sorting out on the mast, EE may have problems getting access to the site, they may need to get parts for it, but it could also depend on buildings, trees, etc that can cause such problems, that is also why new phones now have wifi calling.

There will always be blind spots where the network may not work so well either, but EE is still the best network in comparison to others. It is up to individuals to choose which network works best in their area.

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Hi,
Yes, I did report the matter to EE, I think I phoned them up about it and I know I reported it on the status checker, only for it to come back as no known problems.

But wait, you used to give us a 4 bar 4G band 3 signal that gave up to 70Mbps download, yet now you give us a 1-2 bar 4G band 3 signal that barely breaks 20Mbps download and whose upload is so weak, it is worse than HSPA 3G? And now, through all of the village/town, you shunt us to Band 20, which gets so overloaded so quickly that it barely works when anything happens....

I mentioned all of my problems in this area (where I live) over a running period here: https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Mobile-Network-discussions/EE-s-network-has-gone-backwards-by-10-years/td-p/1100257 (yes, EE has gone backwards by 10 years because, at least in 3G HSDPA, I could routinely get full strength 3G with up to 20Mbps download and 2Mbps upload, which is more usable than what we have now).

There isn't any issue with the mast location, Three give excellent speeds and signal strength from the mast, in fact they even upgraded to 3500MHz 5G as well as a plethora of 4G bands including 1400MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz. It's a site share with EE and Three, so if Three's side is performing excellently, why is EE's so weak in coverage?

Right now it's Three who's the best network for 4G (and 5G), with O2 and Vodafone duking it out for 2nd place. EE is absolutely nowhere.

[Schockwave]

@Profile closed , this will also depend where you live, but EE is still best in most places,. It will also depend where you are seeing this. I would not touch the others with a barge pole personally, but you know each to their own, this is why there are different networks, its called competition, just like with everything.