iPhone 3G Review

Pros

Fantastic user experience which makes using this phone fun to use.

Class leading mobile browsing experience with intuitive navigation provided by the responsive touchscreen.

Cons

You can't forward SMS text messages.

Lack of cut, copy and paste so you can't just copy data from one app to another, e.g. copy a friend's postcode from your address book and look it up on Google Maps.

Camera not as good as those on other phones - it's only 2 megapixels, has no zoom and is poor in low light conditions having no flash.

Cannot record video, so it won't be popular with those that like to upload to YouTube.

Summary

With the iPhone 3G, Apple has set a standard for touchscreen smartphones in terms of ease of use and the fun factor of using the device. Apple has greatly improved core phone functionality over the original iPhone, making the speaker louder so that ringtones are loud enough and speakerphone usage is easier. However, the lack of text message forwarding is something that still needs to be addressed.

Whilst the iPhone 3G may get beaten by other phones on particular functionality, e.g. the camera, or perhaps being beaten on e-mail functionality by the Blackberry Storm, these few minor points are unlikely to detract from the overall excellence in user experience that Apple has achieved, which makes the iPhone 3G a pleasure to use and makes it the smartphone to beat.

Hardware

The iPhone 3G is slightly thicker than the original iPhone, but the back is rounded off with curved edges so that it sits comfortably in the hand. The case is now made from plastic which makes the phone lighter, feel warmer and improves radio reception.

There is a 16GB version available in black or white, and an 8GB version which is only available in black. The plastic is sturdy but in black does smudge with fingermarks easily. The curved edges mean if you put it on a flat surface to type it will rock slightly.

Radio communication standards available on the iPhone 3G include HSDPA, EDGE, Wi-Fi, GSM, Bluetooth and GPS.

The 480 x 320 pixel 3.5in on the diagonal touchscreen display is very impressive, allowing intuitive navigation via scrolling, zooming and pinching.

Switches are now chrome metal and on the left side include a volume rocker and a sliding switch to put the phone into silent mode.

The phone contains an accelerometer so the display can automatically change from portrait to landscape mode when the phone is rotated.

Software and Interface

Firmware version 2.0 for the iPhone 3G is much improved over the original iPhone. Those with the original iPhone can update to firmware 2.0 and improve their phone dramatically.

As expected from Apple, the phone interface is very strong on usability.

You can open Microsoft Office Docs including Powerpoint but you can't edit them.

E-mail

Microsoft Exchange Server is now supported so you can get your e-mail pushed straight to your iPhone as on the Blackberry, i.e. e-mails will arrive on your phone as soon as they arrive in your mailbox.

Apple's MobileMe service enables easy syncing of contacts and calendar events with your home computer over the air.

The e-mail experience is reasonable but still not on a par with the class leading functionality from the Blackberry. If you have multiple e-mail accounts you'll have to check them all separately.

Camera

The camera is not as good as those available on other phones. It's only 2 megapixels, there's no zoom, autofocus or flash, and the camera is poor in low light conditions. To take a picture, you have to touch the screen, which shakes the camera.

The camera can't capture video.

The camera can use the inbuilt GPS to tag photos with the exact latitude and longitude of the location, which is known as geotagging.

Sound and Headphones

The iPhone 3G has very good sound quality compared to other phones.

The headphone jack is now flush instead of recessed, so you can now use any headphones unlike the original iPhone. However, some have reported that normal headphones don't seem to work properly, with music playback repeatedly pausing. This isn't a problem using the iPhone headphones that come with it, which have four connectors on the jack rather than three.

There's no stereo Bluetooth for listening to music wirelessly.

The phone works as an iPod in exactly the same way as an iPod Touch, but does not have anything like the storage capacity of an iPod.

The iPhone 3G can't record audio.

Web Browsing

The iPhone 3G provides a class leading web browsing experience, using a mobile version of the Safari web browser it ahs intuitive touchscreen navigation and a big bright display. The iPhone 3G is great for browsing sites such as YouTube.

The iPhone has HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), also known has 3.5G, which is an enhancement to the 3G standard and theoretically capable of delivering download speeds of 14.4Mbps, but that's still some way off.

If you want to buy the iPhone 3G on contract rather than Pay As You Go, then you will be locked to the O2 network. The O2 3G network is perhaps behind those of Vodafone and T-Mobile. O2 coverage can be an issue for some, so check mobile broadband coverage in your area first.

On an O2 contract, the iPhone 3G is not allowed to be used as a modem for your laptop. However, a jailbroken iPhone (one that has been reconfigured to allow 3rd party apps) can be made to work as a modem using 3rd party apps when connected to your laptop with the USB cable (although not with Bluetooth, as the iPhone Bluetooth implementation is too basic).

Wi-Fi

Unlike its rival the Blackberry Storm, the iPhone 3G is Wi-Fi enabled. There's an an Airplane Mode that turns off 3G but switches on Wi-Fi for inflight internet. The Wi-Fi is less demanding on the battery and faster than 3G.

Bluetooth

The iPhone 3G's Bluetooth implementation is a little on the basic side. Whilst you can pair a headset, it doesn't support stereo Bluetooth headphones, and whilst you can pair to a Mac or PC there aren't any services available, e.g. exchanging photos. You can pair to most in-car Bluetooth systems, but you can't Bluetooth a picture to your friend.

Phone and Texting Functionality

With the iPhone 3G, Apple has greatly improved the audio quality for calls. Calls are much clearer compared to the old iPhone, which underperformed for call quality. The volume of the earpiece has been improved and the speakerphone is now much louder so that ringtones can be heard properly and speakerphone use is much better. The phone is generally good at finding signal, i.e. signal reception is good and it makes the most of whatever signal exists.

Although generally it's a much improved phone experience, there are a few shortcomings. Out of the box, the iPhone 3G can't forward SMS text messages, although this can be solved using 3rd party apps. The process for sending a text to multiple recipients is cumbersome and sometimes the texting app can be a bit slow. There's no MMS for sending pictures and videos but most people will be able to live with that.

Voice dialling support is missing and as you can't swap the battery easily you have to be careful to conserve it for phone usage.

GPS Functionality

The iPhone 3G has built-in GPS that is accurate to metres. The phone will lock on quickly to the GPS signal, which can be attributed to the Assisted GPS, which means that as well as the GPS signals from orbitting satellites, the phone can use the location data from nearby phone masts to improve fix speed.

The phone can't give you turn by turn driving directions as yet so can't be used as a car sat nav. However, expect some progress in this area and TomTom is rumoured to have an app ready to go.

Youcan turn off the location services in case you don't want to be found.

Battery Life

The iPhone 3G battery is rated for up to 5 hours use on a 3G network. In practice the battery lasts for about a day with moderate use. Under heavy use you'll be lucky to get a day's use without charging. The iPhone's battery life is behind that of some of its rivals such as the HTC TyTN.

There are products that can be used to extend the battery life of your iPhone, e.g. the Mophie Juice Pack.

App Store

The App Store makes thousands of apps available and is simple to use.

Popular iPhone apps include the Facebook App (upload photos directly to Facebook) and Shazam, which allows you to identify tunes using your mobile.

Possible Alternatives

Possible alternatives to the iPhone 3G include the Nokia N82, Blackberry Storm and HTC TyTN.

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