The phone may be the weakest link in iPhone's offerings — but it's superb. Audio quality is excellent, the best of any GSM handset we've ever used. Both the sound coming out of it, as well as the quality of audio transmitted to recipients on landlines, are outstanding. The speakerphone is clear but very quiet (which is odd, because when playing music or video through the same speaker, the volume goes quite high).

Demonstrations of phone functionality are on Apple's web site and accurately depict the experience. Large, easily readable and frankly friendly-looking buttons provide easy access to in-call tools. Setting up a conference call is trivial; gone are the days of "call me back if I lose you!" And, you can switch to speakerphone then use iPhone's Internet features while on a call (that is, if you have WiFi service; voice calls and EDGE data use the same data stream and don't share).

"Visual Voicemail" works as well as advertised; it even has a "Deleted" folder in case you change your mind. We could scrub back and forth in messages easily, perfect for making a note of an address, phone number or other information — no need to start from the beginning over and over.

It's all indescribably easy and well thought out. The experience is notably superior to smartphones including the Palm Treo and the Motorola Q. And traditional phones, such as the hugely popular Motorola RAZR, can't even begin to compete. The glove has been thrown down.