So fanboy here has one. I upgraded from the 3G. In general, reception is MUCH better. In the middle of Silicon Valley on the 4th floor near the window facing Moffet Field, I barely get 1 bar on 3G coverage on an iPhone 3G. (I won't mention that a Blackberry Curve blows this away...) I can't even take calls. W/ the iPhone 4, I can take calls now. I'm right-handed and don't use the death grip, so I'm not prone to the antenna issue. But the issue does exist w/ my phone. I tried the bumper (which I sold the other day after 20 inquiries on CL...), and it does solve the problem. But it's hard to use a dock w/ it. I ended up buying a skin from Gelaskin that also has side skins.
I work in wireless and yes, it's a bit stupid to have the antenna designed this way. I can't say why they made this choice but bear in mind that industrial design trumps EVERYTHING in Cupertino.
Is this a deal killer for me? No because every phone has some problem and this one doesn't affect me that much. It's MUCH faster than my iPhone 3G and there's tons of iPhone-only apps that I use on a daily basis that have become part of my workflow. The screen is beautiful and if you are committed to the Apple ecosystem, stuff just works. The options like the Droid X and Evo are VERY good and could possibly trump the iPhone 4 in many areas (including antenna coverage). But it's hard to ignore the breadth of the app store which is where the iPhone reigns supreme.
