iPhone 3GS

A couple of weeks ago, at Apple’s WWDC event in San Francisco, Apple announced the new iPhone 3GS. Doubtless if you’re reading this, you know what that is, and all the info about it, so I’ll spare you the details.

On Friday last week, it was released. Up until then, I only had one of the original 2G (EDGE) iPhones, and having skipped the upgrade to the iPhone 3G, I decided to upgrade now to the 3GS. So, I sold my old iPhone to Matt Mecham (one of the lead developers of IP.Board ), and used the money from that sale to go towards the new 3GS. However, after visiting the O2 store in Stafford, they said they were out of stock. So, I went and asked Carphone Warehouse if they had any, and they too were out of stock! O2 said they were getting some more units in the next day (which was yesterday – Tuesday), however after I phoned them up yesterday to check, they said no, it would most likely be next week. So, I thought screw it, went to the Birmingham Apple Store, and 20 minutes later, I had an iPhone 3GS (16GB, black) in my hand.

Again, I won’t go into detail about the OS, because there are a billion other sites you can visit about that, however, I will mention the speed and the 3GS-specific features, and one other thing which applies to the 3G as well: compared to the iPhone 2G, the 3G and 3GS is a lot nicer to hold. It feels less slippery, and you can get a good grip on it. However, it attracts fingerprints in the same way as Korea’s nuclear tests attract trouble.

First off, the speed. Apple say that applications like the Messages app open so much faster then before. But, really? In a way, yes. The Messages app does open faster, and you will notice it. But it’s not all that much different from the older ones. It’s basically half a second faster. You’re not really going to need it much on other apps, like Facebook, TV Forecast, 1Password, etc. What you will notice is that games (and other 3D apps), for instance, are a lot smoother. On my iPhone 2G, I often noticed a less-then-perfect framerate on one of the games I play, however on the 3GS, it’s dead smooth. I’ve not had a single framerate issue at all so far in any game, which is fantastic. Overall, in terms of speed, I would rate the 3GS as 10/10. Also, fun fact: the CPU in the 3GS is an 833MHz model, underclocked to 600MHz. My dad’s old laptop, which he still owns, is also 800MHz.

Onto the camera. The camera in the 2G (and the 3G) was a very “meh” thing. It could take okay photos during the day, but any kind of darkness, closeups, or anything other then a daytime landscape made you want to pull out a digital camera, even for casual snaps. Not so with the 3GS. The camera is great. Autofocus works pretty well (aside from it taking a second or two to focus), the picture quality, for a phone, is pretty awesome during the day (and fairly good in a dark room too, but not great). Now, the video is where the 3GS really excels. Again, it’s not the best quality in a darker location, but if you’re outside during the day…wow. The video really is pretty amazing, for a phone. Here’s a sample clip that I took last night out of my bedroom window, at about 9:30pm: iPhone 3GS Video Test (Quicktime movie, 7.7MB). The video is completely unedited too, so that’s what you’ll get yourself if you record a video.

Finally, the compass. At first, I thought this was a pretty big gimmick. And it is. The standalone Compass app on the phone has absolutely no use to me. I reckon the only time I’ll ever use it is for showing off. However, I will say one thing. The way it’s used within the Maps application is genius. If you click the “Find me” button in Maps, it’ll find your location using both the cell towers, and GPS. However, it’ll still have North at the top of the phone. If you tap the Find me button again, it’ll rotate the map to the direction you’re heading, which is a pretty useful feature if you’re walking around a city like London and are somewhat lost. For that alone, I think the compass is worth it.

So, the iPhone 3GS. If you have an iPhone 2G, the upgrade is very much worth it, as you’ll gain a whole host of new features. If you have an iPhone 3G, the upgrade really isn’t that much, but if you’re very much into gaming, it could be a good upgrade. Finally, if you’re using another phone, check out the 3GS. It really is a delight to use.