Review on iPhone 3GS
There are countless reviews of the iPhone 3GS but there's little chance you'd find a better way to describe the strategy that Apple has just put into play with its latest Smartphone. In many ways, the 3GS is a reflect image of the iPhone 3G; outwardly there's no difference. It's inside where all the changes have happened, with Apple issuing a beefed-up CPU, new inside compass, larger capacities for storage, and improved optics for its camera. More to the point, the release of the 3GS coincides with the launch of iPhone OS 3.0, a most important jump from preceding versions of the system software featuring highly required after features like cut, copy, and paste, stereo Bluetooth, MMS, tethering, video recording, landscape keyboard options for more applications, and an iPhone version of limelight. At a glance, what Apple seems to be doing is less a reinvention of the wheel and more like retreading the wheel it's already? So, do the iPhone 3GS and OS 3.0 tweak the details in just the right places, or has Apple gone and gotten lazy on us? Read on to find out.
Hardware
There is nothing visually different about the iPhone 3GS versus the iPhone 3G, save for the writing on the back, which is now mirrored like the Apple logo. While we had seen leaked images of a dull 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 covering, silent 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 impossible to differentiate. Of course, the 3GS is not just a clone of the previous device, and Apple has made most of its major changes inside the phone.
Internals
the company has supercharged the CPU of the 3GS (the S is for speed), jacking up the processor numbers from 412MHz to a rumored 600MHz. Additionally, the RAM is said to have doubled from 128MB to 256MB, the phone is offered with 16GB or 32GB of storage, and Apple has swapped out the previous graphics chip for a new version -- dubbed the PowerVR SGX -- which adds hold up for more robust visuals via OpenGL ES 2.0. All this should mean that end users will see a clear difference in app speeds and loading times.
Display
We mentioned that Apple didn't really make any aesthetic changes to the phone, but that's not completely precise. While the 480 x 320 display on the iPhone 3GS is technically identical to its predecessor's screen, it adds one small feature which should make some users extremely happy. The company has changed the treatment on the surface of the touch screen, utilizing an oleophobic coating -- essentially a protectant that's highly resistant to fingerprint smudging. For those of you constantly wiping burger grease, WD40, and various other toxic materials from your iPhone, this will come as a wonderful little advantage.
Camera
A camera tweak is a big deal for iPhone fans after all; they've had to suffer through not one, but two iterations of a phone with a worthless 2 megapixel camera, no auto focus, and no flash. Apple has tweaked two out of three here, and as Meat Loaf tells us, that isn’t bad. The 3GS upgrades the built-in camera to a 3 megapixel version -- not insanely great, but at least competitive and has added an autofocus function with a nifty software tie-in. Instead of having to use a gross physical button to snap your shots, the iPhone continues to rely on its onscreen trigger, but cranks up the use of that big display by allowing you to focus in on subjects based on where you tap. In our experience, the parlor trick actually turned
out to be quite useful, accurately zeroing in on what we wanted most of the time. Struggles to focus were minor at best, though you won't be able to do any heavy macro work here, and during video recording you're stuck with a constantly focusing lens no tapping allowed.
Software
The 3GS launch isn't just about the hardware in fact; you could argue that it's hardly about the hardware. The biggest changes with this device really come in the form of software tweaks, and to a point, the software tweaks provided by iPhone OS 3.0. Apple really piled on the fixes and additions in its latest OS iteration and there's plenty to plow through that up until now has only been the domain of those lucky / hard working few.
Cut, copy, and paste features
Of all the features added to the new 3.0 cocktail, copy / paste is easily the most talked about. Perhaps because it was such an obvious feature to leave out to begin with or perhaps because Apple made it through multiple updates with no change (till now). Regardless, the iPhone line now has the ability to perform one of the most basic tasks known to computing. So how does it fare? Well, it's actually a pretty smart implementation of the process on a mobile device -- one of the best we've seen. To grab a chunk of text, you simply tap on the section you want to grab and the phone tries to figure out just how much you meant to select. Usually it's pretty smart about what you want (sort of the copy / paste version of Apple's predictive text input), but it also gives you anchors to grab on the top, bottom, left, and right of the selection box, allowing you to pull your copy area out as needed. A contextual menu appears above or below your selection, and changes based on what stage of the process you're in. To paste you just tap on an empty spot in a document, and the menu presents itself again. For undoing actions, you shake the phone (cute, but a little annoying -- we would have preferred a menu item).
Video recording / editing
Video recording on the iPhone 3G S is really quite impressive, and there are two reasons why. For starters, the phone handles pretty fantastic looking VGA video at
30 FPS, which makes for not just passable mobile video, but usable mobile video. The size, clarity, and smoothness of the sequences we shot looked tremendous to our eyes -- certainly on par if not outclassing many of the contenders in this space. In our opinion, the 3GS video quality is high enough that we'd consider this a viable stand-in for lower end camcorders or flip cams -- if you want to capture your kids at the park but don't want to come packing a ton of gear, this produces totally reasonable results.
Compass / Google Maps
It may seem like an odd choice, but Apple decided to stick a proper compass inside the 3G S. At first we were a little perplexed by the addition, since we've gotten in this weird habit of expecting bolder moves from the company. Still, in practice the inclusion of a hardware compass is actually really helpful when it comes to doing things like navigating a new city. As far as the hardware is concerned, the compass seems to do what's promised with pretty impressive accuracy.
Battery life
Apple claimed that the battery life on the 3GS is somehow better than what we've previously seen on the 3G, but in our tests, we could barely tell the difference between the two handsets. First off, in terms of talk-time and data over a 3G network, the count is exactly the same (five hours) -- though the battery gains two hours (up from 10 to 12) using 2G. Where the differences really show according to Apple are during strictly WiFi, video, or audio use.
There are countless reviews of the iPhone 3GS but there's little chance you'd find a better way to describe the strategy that Apple has just put into play with its latest Smartphone. In many ways, the 3GS is a reflect image of the iPhone 3G; outwardly there's no difference. It's inside where all the changes have happened, with Apple issuing a beefed-up CPU, new inside compass, larger capacities for storage, and improved optics for its camera. More to the point, the release of the 3GS coincides with the launch of iPhone OS 3.0, a most important jump from preceding versions of the system software featuring highly required after features like cut, copy, and paste, stereo Bluetooth, MMS, tethering, video recording, landscape keyboard options for more applications, and an iPhone version of limelight. At a glance, what Apple seems to be doing is less a reinvention of the wheel and more like retreading the wheel it's already? So, do the iPhone 3GS and OS 3.0 tweak the details in just the right places, or has Apple gone and gotten lazy on us? Read on to find out.
Hardware
There is nothing visually different about the iPhone 3GS versus the iPhone 3G, save for the writing on the back, which is now mirrored like the Apple logo. While we had seen leaked images of a dull 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 covering, silent 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 impossible to differentiate. Of course, the 3GS is not just a clone of the previous device, and Apple has made most of its major changes inside the phone.
Internals
the company has supercharged the CPU of the 3GS (the S is for speed), jacking up the processor numbers from 412MHz to a rumored 600MHz. Additionally, the RAM is said to have doubled from 128MB to 256MB, the phone is offered with 16GB or 32GB of storage, and Apple has swapped out the previous graphics chip for a new version -- dubbed the PowerVR SGX -- which adds hold up for more robust visuals via OpenGL ES 2.0. All this should mean that end users will see a clear difference in app speeds and loading times.
Display
We mentioned that Apple didn't really make any aesthetic changes to the phone, but that's not completely precise. While the 480 x 320 display on the iPhone 3GS is technically identical to its predecessor's screen, it adds one small feature which should make some users extremely happy. The company has changed the treatment on the surface of the touch screen, utilizing an oleophobic coating -- essentially a protectant that's highly resistant to fingerprint smudging. For those of you constantly wiping burger grease, WD40, and various other toxic materials from your iPhone, this will come as a wonderful little advantage.
Camera
A camera tweak is a big deal for iPhone fans after all; they've had to suffer through not one, but two iterations of a phone with a worthless 2 megapixel camera, no auto focus, and no flash. Apple has tweaked two out of three here, and as Meat Loaf tells us, that isn’t bad. The 3GS upgrades the built-in camera to a 3 megapixel version -- not insanely great, but at least competitive and has added an autofocus function with a nifty software tie-in. Instead of having to use a gross physical button to snap your shots, the iPhone continues to rely on its onscreen trigger, but cranks up the use of that big display by allowing you to focus in on subjects based on where you tap. In our experience, the parlor trick actually turned
out to be quite useful, accurately zeroing in on what we wanted most of the time. Struggles to focus were minor at best, though you won't be able to do any heavy macro work here, and during video recording you're stuck with a constantly focusing lens no tapping allowed.
Software
The 3GS launch isn't just about the hardware in fact; you could argue that it's hardly about the hardware. The biggest changes with this device really come in the form of software tweaks, and to a point, the software tweaks provided by iPhone OS 3.0. Apple really piled on the fixes and additions in its latest OS iteration and there's plenty to plow through that up until now has only been the domain of those lucky / hard working few.
Cut, copy, and paste features
Of all the features added to the new 3.0 cocktail, copy / paste is easily the most talked about. Perhaps because it was such an obvious feature to leave out to begin with or perhaps because Apple made it through multiple updates with no change (till now). Regardless, the iPhone line now has the ability to perform one of the most basic tasks known to computing. So how does it fare? Well, it's actually a pretty smart implementation of the process on a mobile device -- one of the best we've seen. To grab a chunk of text, you simply tap on the section you want to grab and the phone tries to figure out just how much you meant to select. Usually it's pretty smart about what you want (sort of the copy / paste version of Apple's predictive text input), but it also gives you anchors to grab on the top, bottom, left, and right of the selection box, allowing you to pull your copy area out as needed. A contextual menu appears above or below your selection, and changes based on what stage of the process you're in. To paste you just tap on an empty spot in a document, and the menu presents itself again. For undoing actions, you shake the phone (cute, but a little annoying -- we would have preferred a menu item).
Video recording / editing
Video recording on the iPhone 3G S is really quite impressive, and there are two reasons why. For starters, the phone handles pretty fantastic looking VGA video at
30 FPS, which makes for not just passable mobile video, but usable mobile video. The size, clarity, and smoothness of the sequences we shot looked tremendous to our eyes -- certainly on par if not outclassing many of the contenders in this space. In our opinion, the 3GS video quality is high enough that we'd consider this a viable stand-in for lower end camcorders or flip cams -- if you want to capture your kids at the park but don't want to come packing a ton of gear, this produces totally reasonable results.
Compass / Google Maps
It may seem like an odd choice, but Apple decided to stick a proper compass inside the 3G S. At first we were a little perplexed by the addition, since we've gotten in this weird habit of expecting bolder moves from the company. Still, in practice the inclusion of a hardware compass is actually really helpful when it comes to doing things like navigating a new city. As far as the hardware is concerned, the compass seems to do what's promised with pretty impressive accuracy.
Battery life
Apple claimed that the battery life on the 3GS is somehow better than what we've previously seen on the 3G, but in our tests, we could barely tell the difference between the two handsets. First off, in terms of talk-time and data over a 3G network, the count is exactly the same (five hours) -- though the battery gains two hours (up from 10 to 12) using 2G. Where the differences really show according to Apple are during strictly WiFi, video, or audio use.
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