Mobile Phones Reviews

Posts Tagged ‘3g s’

The latest iPhone – the iPhone 3G S – launched in the UK on June 19 on O2, and on Orange on November 10. The iPhone 3GS adds features like a video camera, voice control and a digital compass. The camera has been upgraded to 3 megapixels with autofocus. Battery life has been improved and applications run faster. And, set your eyebrows to “shocked” because you can now copy and paste text, and forward messages. It looks like Apple have now managed to fill in the missing pieces of the jigsaw and produce a phone that can really deliver on its promise.

Hardware

As we said in the intro, there is nothing visually different about the iPhone 3GS versus the iPhone 3G, save for the lettering on the back, which is now mirrored like the Apple logo. While we had seen leaked images of a matte finish, bezel-free version of the device, when push came to shove, what we got was essentially a carbon copy of the iPhone 3G. In terms of the general elements of the phone — the plastic casing, mute switch, home and power buttons, etc. — there is no change at all. In fact, if you were to lay this phone and its predecessor next to one another face up, the new model would be indistinguishable. Of course, the 3GS is not just a clone of the previous device, and Apple has made most of its significant changes inside the phone.

Design and interface

The iPhone 3GS looks exactly like the previous model. It shares the shape and the same external controls, but the iPhone 3GS is unique in a handful of ways. You can get both memory sizes in white or black, and the iPhone 3GS display sports a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating that is supposed to attract fewer fingerprints and smudges. The new model shares the same dimensions as its predecessor, but it’s slightly heavier (4.76 ounces versus 4.7 ounces), a virtually unnoticeable difference.
The iPhone 3GS has the same external design as the iPhone 3G.
The menu interface is also the same, but in the past year, as we’ve added apps to the Home screen, something new has begun to bother us. As intuitive and simple as the interface is, it becomes unwieldy after you get above four menu pages. Swiping through multiple pages is tedious; and it’s rather painful to drag applications from page to page if you’re an organizational freak. We hate that there’s no way to categorize related apps into folders, such as one for news, another for social networking, and so on. Not only would this cut down on menu pages, but you’d also be able to find your app faster. And while we’re at it, how about letting us delete some of the native apps we never use?

Features

Since the iPhone 3GS inherits many of the features from the previous model, we’ll concentrate on what’s different on this device. If you need a refresher on such elements as the clock, YouTube, weather, iPod player, calculator, and e-mail, please see our iPhone 3G review. We’ll start off with the new features that only the iPhone 3GS will offer.

Features of the Apple iPhone 3GS include:

• OS X Operating System
• Assisted GPS with digital compass
• 3 megapixel camera with autofocus
• Video camera (VGA, 30 frames per second)
• Display: 480 x 320 pixels (3.5 inch) touchscreen
• Music player (AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV formats)
• Voice control, voice memos
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
• Memory: 16GB or 32GB flash drive
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), 3.5mm headphone jack
• WAP, EDGE, HSDPA
• Size: 116 x 62 x 12.3 mm
• Weight: 135g
• Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) plus UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• Talktime: 5 – 12 hours
• Battery standby: 300 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 30 hours
• Camera

Until now, the iPhone’s camera has been good, but far from great, with decent photo quality, but no editing features. Apple didn’t include options such as white balance, a digital zoom, or a self-timer that come standard on many basic VGA camera phones. The minimalist shooter bothered us so much that we began to worry if Apple was leading a new trend of “dumbing down” cell phone cameras.
The iPhone 3GS’ camera still lacks a flash.
The iPhone 3GS puts some of those fears to rest. Apple boosted the camera’s resolution to 3 megapixels and added a new “Tap to Focus” feature. As you point the lens toward your subject, a small box appears on the center of the display. Tapping that square focuses the camera automatically on that point and adjusts the white balance, color, contrast, and exposure accordingly. If you’d rather focus on the edge of your shot, just tap the display at your chosen point and the square moves with you. If you don’t tap anywhere, the camera will focus the entire frame.

Phone settings

I keep all my contacts online, on an Exchange Server, so for me, setting up the iPhone mainly consisted of entering a WIFI password, then setting up an exchange account and a Gmail account. In general, the exchange setup is not too hard if you have all the information handy. Gmail is very easy to setup, so all in all, you should get started in no-time.

All the menus are fairly easy to find, because the user interface is logical, certainly more so than the Nokia N97, or Windows Mobile phones. Android is pretty good on that front.

Virtual keyboard

Let’s go to the heart of what could make or break your iPhone experience: the iPhone relies only on virtual controls because it is currently the only way to get a thin phone with a large and comfortable display. The only (but important!) drawback is that you will lose some serious typing speed.
When you have physical keys, most people basically use two senses to type: touch and vision. On the iPhone, half or more of that is gone. Now, you can only rely on your eyes to type properly. For most people that translates into a much slower typing pace. In my case, I type much faster with a physical keyboard.
Now, you will probably hear that it gets better with time: it’s false for most people that I know and for myself. It might get *marginally* better, but not by much. Secondly, an iPhone “fan” will tell you that he/she or someone they know can type as fast as a Blackberry-user. Well, that might be true, but that’s beside the point. The real question is: can you do it? and usually, the answer is no.
If you don’t type a whole lot, then you won’t mind. If you come from a numeric pad phone, the virtual keyboard will be a big improvement for typing. If you come from a Blackberry, go try an iPhone and imagine yourself typing one of those long work emails or IM conversation. Everyone’s tolerance to the virtual keyboard is different, that’s why I recommend you to try it in a store or with a friend’s phone. Type something long. For those who would not like the iPhone, this is ground zero.
If you wonder how the iPhone compares to the competition, I would say that it’s better than the myTouch 3G and better than any of the touch Windows Mobile phones that I have tried like the Samsung Omnia and the HTC Touch Pro. That said, I prefer the suggestion feature of Android to be better than Apple’s because it suggests more words, faster.

iPhone OS 3.0

The iPhone 3GS will support the new iPhone OS 3.0 update from day one. The OS 3.0 is a significant update that promises 100 new features, including such long-awaited gems as multimedia messaging, stereo Bluetooth, a voice recorder, and cut, copy, and paste. Apple has yet to release a fully detailed list–and we’ve barely scratched the surface in our testing–but we’ll continue to report improvements as we find them. First announced in March 2009, it was released June 17, 2009, for the iPhone Classic and the iPhone 3G.

Multimedia messaging

We’ve ranted endlessly about why it took so long for Apple to achieve multimedia messaging (MMS), so we’re glad that it’s finally on its way. Besides photos, you’ll also be able to send videos, audio files, and map locations. At long last, the iPhone can do something that almost every other cell phone can do, and has done for ages.
This is what MMS looked like in the beta version of iPhone OS 3.0.
But, and this is a big “but,” AT&T doesn’t have things ready on its end. We don’t know the real reason for the annoying delay, nor do we have a timetable for deployment; we just know that AT&T will support MMS “later this summer.” (Also, because it wasn’t integrated with the proper radio, the iPhone Classic will not support MMS.)
When we first tested the beta version of iPhone OS 3.0, we were able to compose, but not send, a multimedia message in a few quick steps on our iPhone 3G. In subsequent OS 3.0 updates, Apple removed the process for doing this; presumably you’ll get it back when MMS goes live.
On the upside, the messaging process was intuitive. When using the text-messaging app, a small camera icon appeared next to the writing area. After tapping it, we had the choice to take a new photo or send an existing shot. If we decided to shoot a new photo, we had the option of retaking it if we wished. Alternatively, we could initiate a picture message from the photo gallery. In either case, the photo appears in the typing area of the message application, and you can delete it if you change your mind.
The Spotlight feature lets you search a variety of files on your iPhone 3GS.

Tethering

In March, we heard that tethering would be possible with the OS 3.0, but that it would be completely carrier-dependent. Here again, AT&T isn’t on the ball. While other iPhone carriers around the world will be ready when the iPhone goes live, AT&T is saying that the carrier will support tethering later this summer. Unfortunately, we don’t know the exact reason for the delay, when tethering will actually arrive, or whether AT&T will charge extra for it.

Text messaging

Deleting and forwarding individual messages in a texting thread works just like the e-mail app. When you select the edit button, small dots appear next to each message. Hit the dots for your desired messages before pressing the delete or forward options. Thanks, Apple, but this should have been on the first iPhone.

Stereo Bluetooth

We were very glad to see a stereo Bluetooth profile arrive with iPhone OS 3.0. We tested it with the LG HBS-250 stereo Bluetooth headset. The pairing process was easy and incident-free. In the music player, a small Bluetooth icon appears next to the player controls. Press it to route audio to the headset; you then can toggle back and forth between the speaker and the headset. Speaking of Bluetooth, the update also adds Bluetooth peer-to-peer networking for gaming. Yet, neither Bluetooth feature is available on the iPhone Classic, even with the OS 3.0 update installed. Apple has a chart with more information.

Turn-by-turn directions

iPhone OS 3.0 brings support for turn-by-turn directions, making the iPhone a fully functional GPS device. The bad news is that, along with MMS, we’ll have to wait until later this summer for complete functionality. Directional services won’t come from Apple, but will instead come from third-party apps. TomTom will be one of the first companies to offer an app; a TomTom executive demonstrated it at WWDC 2009. AT&T has built an app for its AT&T Navigator service and we expect that other companies will offer their own apps.
From what we could tell from the brief demo, TomTom’s service looks promising. The interface was attractive and the audible directions were clear. TomTom will also offer a car kit that will secure your iPhone to your windshield or dashboard while charging it at the same time. That’s good news for a device that sucks up juice quickly.
We’re concerned with how much the app will cost. TomTom will offer a “range” of U.S. and international maps, but that’s as much as we know. GPS maps are not cheap, so we’ll be interested to see how TomTom will package and price the content to make it affordable for consumers and profitable for TomTom.
What’s more, we’re curious how much memory the maps will consume and how the app will integrate with the iPhone’s other features. From what we understand, we’ll be able to make hands-free calls and play music on our car’s radio while getting directions. Unlike the Palm Pre, however, the iPhone doesn’t multitask (we have more to say on that below). If the GPS feature has to suspend because you get a call–just as the iPod player suspends when you take a call–then things could get tricky. We suspect, though, that Apple and TomTom have this covered.

iTunes Store

With the software update, your iPhone’s iTunes Store experience will change a bit. Now you’ll be able to rent and purchase movies, download TV shows and audiobooks, and access iTunes U. You’ll also be able to redeem iTunes gift cards on the phone in the iTunes App store. Previously, you could only redeem in the iTunes music store.
Also new is the capability to make purchases while inside apps. For example, you can renew a magazine subscription or buy additional levels of a game. This is a small win, at least for us. Sure, it’s nice that you won’t have to close the application and return to the iTunes Store, but this is almost one of those “problems I didn’t know I had.” Just remember to keep a limit on your impulse buying.
Apple promises that free apps will always be free, to avoid a bait-and-switch scenario. While that’s great for consumers in that you’ll never have to shell out money for an update, even now we see two versions of many apps cluttering the App store. The free app get you hooked, much like a demo version of a game, while the paid app offers the whole experience. As we see it, that’s not much better than offering an app for free, but then charging later for an update.
What I like about virtual controls is that they change depending on the context. In the web browser, there’s a “.com” button, which saves four taps. It is also very easy to switch to a foreign layout like AZERTY. These are some of the huge advantages in having virtual controls: developers can do a lot of cool things.

Overall performance

The Interface of the iPhone 3GS is very fast and responsive. I have only 26 apps on my home screen, but after a few weeks, I’ve never experienced any slowdown or sluggishness. To run a quick comparison, the Blackberry Storm would need a brain transplant to be like this – especially once it is bloated with emails. The Blackberry 8900 is regularly sluggish while waking up from locking state, I suspect that the content protection makes is slowing things down (don’t keep a bunch of encrypted files on the device). The iPhone 3GS is also more responsive than the Nokia N97 (by far). Only the HTC Hero (MyTouch 3G) comes close, but even then, scrolling in the Map application reveals that the iPhone 3GS can move graphics about twice as fast (I’m eyeballing the framerate). At the moment, the Toshiba TG01 or a Tegra-powered device *should* deliver similar or better results.

App loading speed

One of the major improvement on the iPhone 3GS is the loading time for applications. In my own experience and in independent tests, applications have loaded faster on the iPhone 3GS when compared to older models. The additional memory that was added to the 3GS and the extra CPU clock speed make a big difference.

Battery Life

The battery life can vary greatly depending on what you do, but with my particular usage pattern, I got about 39h in between charges. Battery life can vary greatly, but you’ve seen my usage pattern at the beginning of this review. I have heard a lot of horror stories about the iPhone battery (the original and the 3G). Honestly, it’s hard to tell what’s going on unless I can investigate and try for myself. Sometimes, even the local conditions (signal reflectivity, distance to the tower) can affect battery life in non-negligible ways.

Misc

Boot time: the iPhone 3GS boots in 20 seconds, which is not so far from what a Netbook would do with an instant-boot OS. The N97 is comparable, but the Blackberry is just horrible during a reboot. It can take *minutes*.

Multi-tasking: The iPhone OS is getting some bashing for not being “really” multi-tasking. This is somewhat religious debate at this point. To most users, the phone is seemingly multitask. Messages do arrive in the background, phone calls arrive when you are doing something else. However, an application cannot run in the background. For example, I would like to leave Skype on in the background so that I get messages, even if I’m doing something else, like reading my emails. But right now, Skype will log-off as soon as I switch to another application. It’s conceptually annoying, but so far it is not a roadblock at all, for me.

Search box: I can clear text in any search box with the cross on the right. Both Android and Windows mobile don’t offer this functionality. It’s one of the little things that make life easier many times a day…

OpenGL ES 2.0

Apple didn’t make a whole lot of noise about the 3D performance of the iPhone 3GS, but it is substantial. I’ve said in a previous post that applications have the potential of looking much better than they used to, if developers dare using features that are not in previous iPhones, that said. I already know a couple of developers who are going to make a 3GS-only version of their game.

If you want to learn more details about this, head to our “iPhone 3GS: Prepare For a 3D Graphics Shock” post. In a few months, other devices will come out and will probably challenge the iPhone’s graphics capabilities, but right now, no other phone can claim the portfolio of 3D applications that the iPhone has.

Software Features Highlights (3.0)

Copy/paste: It was ridiculous that it took so long before Copy/Paste was added to the iPhone OS, but now it’s in and it works fairly well… mostly. Weirdly enough, it’s not possible to paste a phone number into the phone dialing app. The issue is well documented.

For a touch screen, the copy paste is well implemented, but the Blackberry 8900 and its trackball do a better job in my opinion. Fingers just aren’t as good as a thin cursor for text selection.

Find my phone: If you subscribe to the Mobileme service, you can trace your iPhone remotely. First, you will need to setup a mobileme email account on the iPhone. I suspect that upon a location query, MobileMe sends a notification to the phone, which replies back with its location. If the thief removes the SIM, or disables your MobileMe account, you won’t be able to trace the phone anymore. May be that’s why it is important to put a password in the phone to start with.

Remote wipe: If you iPhone has been stolen/lost you might want to wipe your iPhone but you should know that once you do that, you won’t be able to locate it (the mobileme account gets nuked as well). The remote wipe will only prevent the other party from looking at your data (emails, contact…) and that’s already a lot. Again, you need to have setup a MobileMe account and the iPhone needs to be in a state where it can receive the wipe notification and act on it.

Search: The search on the iPhone is really handy. I use it to not only search for notes or emails, but it is often faster to search for contacts there as well. I have several hundreds of contacts, and using the search makes things faster than going into the phone app, then the contacts… The results are popping in near real-time. I haven’t tried to scientifically measure the search quality, but at the moment, nothing has been bugging me on this front. It works.

Voice control: Apple has added voice control to let users place calls or play a song without interacting with the touch interface. It might come in handy if you *really* can’t use your hands (while driving?). It works well, if you pronounce something that’s easy to recognize, like “call Randy”. Now, I have a bunch of friends with foreign names and the system has a much harder time with those and ends up wasting my time. I would try using it to save my life, but otherwise, I’m not a fan of this implementation, even if I like the idea a lot. Also, pushing the home button for 3 seconds feels a little long. Having a walkie-talkie style button would be great, but yeah… it adds a button. It’s not clear why Voice Control didn’t make it into older phones, as it seems to be a software-only feature. May be Apple deemed the iPhone 3G to be too slow.

Nike+: Nike+ was previously available on iPod Touch, and now works the same way on the 3GS. I don’t run, but most people run with their phone with them, so if you were previously carrying an iPod Touch + your phone, you just got a little lighter.

Applications

I noticed that the iPhone had the best implementation for most popular applications (Yelp…), but the ones that I use the most are Maps and Skype:

Mapping: Mapping is a pretty cool application, when it’s implemented properly. Fortunately for iPhone users, Google Maps on iPhone is the best implementation that I’ve seen to date – it’s even better than the Android version (ironic)… First of all, it is fast. When compared to the myTouch 3G, the iPhone 3GS scrolling speed is about 2X or 3X faster (20fps or less versus about 60fps) – I’m just eye balling here. Secondly, there is a search box right at the top that saves a few seconds when searching. Results are displayed directly in the map, while on other platforms, results are shown as a list. Finally, there’s a little “my position” at the bottom-right on the map. Again that saves a second or two each time you have to use it. Also, simple things like dropping a pin can’t be done in the MyTouch 3G. It doesn’t sound like much, but all together, this makes a big difference in terms of user interface. That’s the difference between finding something quickly and be happy and being frustrated and lost (my Blackberry 8900’s mapping sucks). in the 3GS, Apple has integrated a compass. In the mapping application, the rotate to you show where you are headed. The compass is accurate, and unlike the Nokia N97, walking with the compass on doesn’t lead to a pendulum effect in the mapping application. As a pedestrian, I can certainly do without it. In a car, the iPhone 3GS still has a lag that I consider important when compared to a personal navigation device. It’s handy, but not my first choice for a GPS if I’m driving.

A final note about the iPhone 3GS and mapping: it seems to me that the GPS is invoked and shut down when not in use. It might sound like a “duh”, but on my Blackberry 8900, if you leave the GPS on it just sucks power forever. Apps don’t seem to do a good job at turning it on and off as needed (the downside of multitasking, I guess…).

Map scrolling speed: iPhone 3GS and MyTouch 3G (HD on YouTube)

Web page scrolling speed: 3GS versus MyTouch 3G (HD on YouTube)

Skype: Either for IM or for voice calls (over WIFI) Skype for iPhone works well. In my tests, calls were clear just like they are on a computer. I really wish that Apple would let us call over 3G, but I suspect that this is not going to happen anytime soon. It is clearly not in the interest of wireless carriers that Voice over IP (VOIP) apps start to proliferate on a popular platform.

On the IM side, you must know that it works well, as long as you stay in the Skype application. If you switch to a different task, Skype will effectively log you out (!!). That goes back to our multi-tasking discussion from earlier. This didn’t bother me so much, but I can imagine that some users would be furious over the lack of background IM availability in apps like Skype.

Things that could be better

Data plan pricing: There not a lot of stuff to hate in the iPhone 3GS (hardware and software). The obvious thing that I would like is a lower price for the data plan, but business is business and if people are willing to enroll with current prices, I don’t see any incentive for AT&T to lower the price.

Productivity: I’m entering in dangerous ground just by suggesting it, but the typing speed of the iPhone is a productivity issue and I don’t think that any touch display technology will solve it in the short-term. There are promising alternatives out there, but what about making a second iPhone design with a keyboard, or do something (anything) to achieve typing speed parity with a Blackberry? Touch screen purists, fire at will!

Screen quality + resolution: It’s not that the iPhone display is bad, but current technology would allow for something better. A higher resolution and more importantly, an OLED display would be on the top of my wish list.

Locked phone: Welcome to the world of carrier subsidies. I’m not sure that AT&T would unlock the phone after two years if you ask them nicely, but they should. If they don’t T-Mobile does it on a regular basis. If you don’t want an unlocked phone, buy an unlocked one. Welcome into a market economy.

Closed eco-system: There’s an app for everything… well, almost. In recent weeks, Apple has been more and more in the headline for refusing to distribute potentially popular applications like Google Voice. The system would gain to be more transparent.

Good: The iPhone 3GS finally adds common cell phone features like multimedia messaging, video recording, and voice dialing. It runs faster; its promised battery life is longer; and the multimedia quality continues to shine.

Bad: The iPhone 3GS’ call quality shows no improvements and the 3G signal reception remains uneven. We still don’t get Flash Lite, USB transfer and storage, or multitasking.

Conclusion

Today, the iPhone 3GS is the king of touch phones, not only because it has good hardware, but because it also has the best applications. I suspect that it will continue to become increasingly popular with the self-employed and small businesses as well. If you’re thinking of getting an iPhone 3GS, the first thing that you should consider is the total cost of ownership.

If you don’t own an iPhone yet but want to get one, get the 3GS. If you don’t yet know if you should get an iPhone, then ask yourself why. If you can’t afford one, don’t go for it (duh!): there are more important things in life. If you fear that the virtual keyboard will impair your productivity, you are probably right. The iPhone is not great for heavy texters. Go back to the “virtual keyboard” section of this review and read it again. You think that other phones might be better for you? May be! Read the following reviews: Palm Pre, Nokia N97, Samsung OMNIA…

Compare prices of Apple iPhone 3GS 32gb on Priceandoffer.co.uk

Click here to check all offers for Apple iPhone 3GS 32gb

Click here to check price of other Apple iPhone

Click here to check the price of all mobile phones