Let’s just preface this by saying that this was written with the average, everyday cell phone user in mind, who has been contemplating the upgrade to a smartphone. There are many iPhone comparisons with tons of technical information, but many lack the actual user feedback. So following is an opinion from a first-time owner of both the iPhone 3g and iPhone 3gs…
Well, I finally did it. I finally got so fed up with Verizon’s inferior touch screen phones – namely the Samsung Glide and the LG Voyager – that paying the contract cancellation fee (x2) would be well worth it for a
touch screen phone that actually worked consistently. Was it the right decision?
The choice now was between the iPhone 3G and the 3Gs – well it wasn’t a major choice for me, since I had been waiting for the 3GS for months – it was my better half that was trying to make the decision. What does the “S” stand for? Speed, of course. Seriously, it stands for “speed.” So, out of curiosity, we got one of each, one 32G, 3GS and one 8G, 3G.
Out of the box, they look identical – what is the difference besides the price ($299 vs. $99)?
The major differences - The 3GS has a faster processor, more capacity for storage, a better camera with video capabilities and an internal compass.
Speed, along with the improved camera was one of the primary reasons for the decision to pick the 3GS. If you take a lot of pictures with your phone, or do any amount of picture messaging (which, as of this writing
is not yet available on the iphone, but should be updated soon) you will appreciate the improvement. The ability to edit video on the phone and upload to YouTube is nice too.
Techie specs – Processor numbers have improved from 412mhz to supposedly 600mhz. The RAM is also said to have gone from 128MB to 256MD and the storage is available in either 16GB or 32GB. As for battery life, we won’t even go there because I believe it varies greatly depending on the user. The 3GS is supposed to have a longer battery life, but that has not been the case with our 3GS vs. 3G. Even adjusting the mail and Wi-Fi settings has not helped. I imagine that it would be worse if you use a lot of gaming apps. The 3GS battery is so far the only disappointment.
With the iPhone OS 3.0 update, available on both versions with features like cut, copy, and paste, stereo Bluetooth, MMS, tethering, video recording, landscape keyboard options for more applications, and an
iPhone version of Spotlight, there is hardly a difference visually between the two.
One pleasant surprise was the Voice Control feature on the 3GS. You wouldn’t think that it is a big deal, until you start to use it. All you have to do to activate it is to hold down the home button for a few seconds, then you just speak your command like, “call home” or play whatever tune. It handles basic commands very well – yes, there will be the occasional slip-up if what you say sounds similar to something else you may have on your phone, however no voice control program has managed to be absolutely perfect.
One thing we have encountered with both versions - not an iPhone issue, an AT&T issue - it is the first time we have had to deal with dropped calls!
For the budget minded customer who has been dying to get their hands on an iPhone, I think that there absolutely nothing wrong with the iPhone 3G. If pictures are not that important to you, then you might want to save a few bucks and opt for the 8G, 3G, same goes for the improved speed…. if you can wait a few seconds longer for apps to load or screens to pop up….time is money….quite literally.