Finally, some of the lucky few who pre-ordered the iPhone 4 got a chance to retrieve their handset yesterday (cue fountains of champagne and red carpets). All is not rosy on the primrose path though, as most of the early adopters are reporting numerous issues with the newly minted design.

iPhone 4 issues

First, CrunchGear reported that the iPhone 4′s back clearly isn’t scratch proof, despite being made of super-strong glass (the kind that goes on high-speed trains, Steve Jobs claimed). Another user found that the rear glass panel shattered “like a mofo” when the device was dropped. Yikes.

Okay, so just baby your new iPhone and everything will be fine, right? Not quite. According to Gizmodo, multiple users have reported yellow spots and bands on their iPhone 4 retina displays. And finally, for the pièce de résistance: many users are complaining that the iPhone 4 loses reception… when you hold it.

The Gizmodo post includes a handful of YouTube videos showcasing the reception problem, but this one by user awiginton seems most telling, showing SpeedTest results with the iPhone 4 both resting on a table and held in one hand. Apparently, grabbing the iPhone 4 is enough to make SpeedTest stall entirely, while squeezing the device when the test is running causes speeds to plummet. Other users claim they can still make calls when the device is showing zero bars, though.