So after much hassle with Carphone Warehouse whom I have a contract with, I finally got my hands on an Apple iPhone 3G. Its an 8GB model rather than the 16GB version though. I can live with that! I’ll continue to use my 16GB iPod Touch alongside the phone as I’ll be primarily using the phone for camera/gps/app use mostly. The iPod Touch will eventually be jailbroken giving me access to superb apps that Apple deem unsuitable for their store. Irony mentions below…
I could write a review but I just can’t be bothered echoing the numerous positive reviews that exist out there already. AnandTech and TrustedReviews have the best reviews I have read if you’re after a lengthy read. Apparently PR will also be doing one at the end of the year when the next version of the iPhone arrives.
I’ll just do a quick rundown.
Firstly the device, just like the v1 oozes om nom nomness and build quality is top notch. The rear covering of the device has mixed reviews, some owners like it and some don’t. Personally I prefer the v1’s brushed alu finish as the 3G’s plastic backing can get slippery on a hot day should your hands become sweaty. Plastic was needed though or the GPS signal would be next to useless.
Call quality is top dogs. I can’t stress how much of an improvement it is over the v1 phone. The speakers are even a lot louder too. The screen remains the same, featuring a high dpi haptic based panel. It is the same panel used on the iPod Touch and both devices are still remarkably identical with a few additions on the iPhone…
- 3G - Fetching data at around 1MB/Sec means that data transfers are very quick - if you’re in a 3G enabled area. Thanks to O2’s unlimited data tariffs you’re always online so all your emails, calendars, contacts etc are always up to date. If you land in a non-3G area then the phone drops to the inferior EDGE networks, which are approximately 100KB/Sec.
- GPS - Nothing new here. The 3G uses A-GPS (Assisted GPS) which not only utilises satellites, but it also locks on to nearby mobile phone masts and Wi-Fi hotspots to triangulate your position. It results in less CPU utilisation and quicker location of the user. It works very well, but cannot be used as a proper GPS. One thing that should be noted is GPS uses some serious CPU power. Google Maps feels rather slow in use when GPS is on, sluggish more like.
- Speakers - Yes great, they sound nice and that is all. I am not sure if you can use them for music playback as I won’t be using this device for music playback.
- 2MP Camera - Well it is a hundred times better then the 2MP camera on my old Sony Ericsson w880i. Firing up the Exposure application fills the screen with a live camera preview. Sadly the camera is extremely under-par for a device of this quality. Infact it is the weakest feature of the device. All photos taken with the camera are location geotagged, although this feature is rather flaky at present.
So that is essentially the list of features that separate the iPhone 3G from the iPod Touch. Hardware wise (minus the above list) both devices are identical and will easily be able to run the high end applications and games that will no doubt hit the Apple App Store over the next few months.
The phone isn’t without issues though. Firmware 2.0 is generally awful with high battery usage, application crashes, sluggish contact list scrolling and typing lag. So much for the apparently ‘buggy, battery draining apps’ on installer.app eh PR?! Jailbreak third party apps had none of this! Apple’s pointers on conserving battery power are so ludicrous that they might as well just state “Get a Nokia N95!”.
Another odd issue is widespread reports of poor signal/reception. I have yet to see more than 2 signal bars on my 3G, and I live in London for crying out loud!
Background processes drain the battery faster!
Problem with installer.app is that the Lyrics app I really liked will never appear on the proper App Store cos Apple don’t allow access to the music system.
Hopefully Apple will get burried in App submissions and updates they have to ‘check’ and they will modify their policy.
They don’t drain the battery faster, not a chance in hell. I had loads constantly running in the background like Intelliscreen, Customise and BatteryMonitor and I never once had to resort to taking the USB cable to work like I did on Tuesday morning thanks to 2.0 bloat!
Now I have to charge the 3G at least once a day or I’ll be left with about 20% battery power by the end of the day. Apple are already struggling the mess they have themselves to blame.
1. Huge tons of app submissions to cope with, let alone updates to check and roll out. The backlog must be massive.
2. MobileMe’s troubles.
3. Possible parts shortage for more iPhones thanks to their overhyped balls up of 22 simultaneous releases in various countries.
gg!
Hi can you tel me how GPS works? I dont understand the difference betweeen gps and a-gps…?
Hmm okies. This is how things work from my understanding and observation of my iPhone plod.
Normal, proper GPS like TomTom road navigation systems contain a specialised chip that triangulates your position by pulsing radio signals off satallites.
The iPhone 3G Bloat uses A-GPS, which we strangely use at work and here I am not knowing much about it. Anyway A-GPS (Assisted GPS)uses a combination of Cell tower & WiFi detection, the latter of which the iPhone v1 and the iPod Touch use to get a ‘rough’ fix on your initial location whilst the GPS receiver module is performing the lengthy communication with satellites. Once communication has succeeded, the phone will then lock onto your exact position from then on you will be accurately tracked.
The good thing about this system is that whilst GPS can’t work indoors, the Cell Tower/WiFi system does work. So if you were in a house and the Cell/Wifi system has already worked out your rough position, the moment you move outside all you need to worry about is the initial GPS to Satellite communication.
Fingers crossed that Apple sort out the buggy software with 2.1 release - what could be a truly amazing device is severely limited by what I think is very poorly tested software.