The Ultra Quick iPhone 3G Review for Current iPhone Owners

August 15, 2008 by admin

So there are already volumes of reviews out there that provide all of the in depth coverage you could ever hope to have on the new iPhone.

But what if you already own a first generation device? After all you plunked down a couple hundred bucks not too long ago and you’re wondering if it’s worth ditching the old for the new.

So in an effort to justify my purchase of a 3G and the hour long wait I had to endure to get it, I will provide for you my list of what’s good and bad about the new device as compared to the first gen iPhone. The list is surprisingly short.

The Good

They finally fixed the iPhone speakerphone!
I used to be so frustrated that the iPhone had a speakerphone you couldn’t actually hear while driving. Thankfully they have made a major improvement to the speaker in the 3G, meaning that most of the time you can actually hear what somebody is saying to you. Audio quality is also improved through the earpiece.

3G Speed is Fast (when available)
If you’re in an AT&T 3G area you will see a sizable increase in data speeds. I was out earlier today pulling down a decent sized PDF off of a website and found that it was actually a tolerable experience! Not as good as WIFI but a sizable improvement over EDGE.

GPS is Creepy Accurate
To be sitting on my porch and have the blinking blue dot overlayed on the satellite image exactly where I was seated is a bit creepy. But there will be some really cool applications taking advantage of this in the very near future. I’m especially looking forward to a Geocaching application this guy is working on.

Headphone Jack Doesn’t Require an Adapter
This is one of those little things that really makes me happy. On the original iPhone you had to walk around with these little doohickeys that had to sit in between your favorite headphones and the iPhone. This was because the headphone jack on the original was ‘recessed’ supposedly for aesthetic purposes. Thankfully the new 3G iPhone does not require an adapter to plug in speakers or your favorite pair of headphones. And it doesn’t even look that bad.

The Not So Good

Battery Life Takes a Dive
When you have all of the stuff on (bluetooth, wifi, 3G, cellular, GPS, etc) you can just about watch the battery meter drain. I suppose the only consolation is that the iPhone does it more gracefully than competing handsets. You can disable different services to save battery life (i.e. I turn off Bluetooth, Wifi, and 3G when I don’t need them) but the process for doing so is cumbersome. See my rant about that in my prior blog post.

Slightly Larger than the First iPhone
Although it looks sleeker, the 3G is actually slightly larger than the first iPhone. It’s wider and thicker. Apple’s design geniuses tapered the edges to make it feel thinner, but the measurements speak for themselves.

No Turn by Turn Directions
One would think that with all of this fancy GPS stuff built in you could actually do something with it. But unfortunately there is no turn-by-turn application just yet. Apple says it’s coming ‘soon.’

So there you have it. Some nice improvements but it’s definitely evolutionary and not revolutionary. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth the $199 and an additional two years of your life devoted to AT&T. If you don’t need GPS and a better speakerphone you might just be content sticking it out with the 1G with the 2.0 update and wait for Steve Jobs’ next masterpiece.

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