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iPhone 3G S full review: Mostly, it delivers
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)
If you can't bear the thought of waiting another two days for Apple's iPhone 3G S, CNET can offer a look ahead in our full iPhone 3G S review. The iPhone 3G S promises faster processing and network speeds, extended battery life, more memory, the OS 3.0 update (available today), and additional features.
In many ways, the iPhone 3G S delivers on its promises. It did run faster, the video recording is a treat, and the battery lasted longer. Yet we still have concerns about call reception and we're still waiting for a few features. The iPhone 3G S offers enough to get our attention, but not enough to get us completely excited. And our recommendation depends greatly on your purchase price.
To get the whole story, please see our iPhone 3G S full review. And check out our iPhone 3G S slideshow for a gallery of beauty shots.
Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent.
Look, it's a good phone but it has its flaws.
Okay, I don't run that app, but others do.
even though they might do fine for AIM apps and other IM apps
I wonder how skype will work ?
and certain things do require true multi-tasking I'm afraid !
like for example loading a Youtube video in the background while doing something else like email etc
and a killer for me loading web pages in the background etc.
but I guess with Multi-tasking battery life will become a big concern ,
especially since the iPhone has so many third party apps
like intensive games etc
Imagine running say a game like Wolfenstein and a bunch of twitter skype and other IM apps
I wouldn't expect the battery to last very long with that kind of strain
plus App performance will decrease and there's more chances of Bugs too !
So in a way Apple is partly right about multi-tasking
and I guess even with the flaws the iPhone is so far ahead of everything else
thx to the unlimited app store and the refined UI , So they can afford that luxury too !
... can't wait for the next generation Android phones!
flash is only availble on the Skyfire browser now
and it is supposedly laggy and slow and videos are choppy and stuff
Plus some of us like that flash the hog of CPU resources isnt in there !
it was never meant for phones !
Stop trolling please. It's boring.
How exactly was wat I said trolling ?
Flash sux ! even Adobe knows it !
@Mark
How exactly was wat I said trolling ?
Flash sux ! even Adobe knows it !"
I am with seven7dust on this. I consider not having Flash on the iPhone to be a nice safety feature. Well it isn't so much Flash that is the problem as it is the designers that think they have to use for navigation. A little dash of Flash here and there on a website is like a sprig of parsley on a dinner a plate, but you sure as hell don't want to make a meal of it.
Background applications should be enabled but only for applications that really need it. I don't agree that applications like IM need this function because notifications will serve the purposes that they need (although I prefer Palm's elegant implementation of notifications much more than Apple's "in your face" approach). However, I do agree that applications like VoIP applications need this ability to receive calls properly and operate on a level playing field with the iPhone's phone application.
Flash can go to hell. I fully agree with people that there are many web sites that depend on Flash but Adobe's current implementation of the Flash player for the Mac OS is absolutely dire. On a Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz laptop the Adobe Flash player will easily consume 120% processor time and set the fans running when playing a YouTube video. You do not want to bring something like this anywhere near the iPhone. When Adobe finally produces an efficient Flash Player for the Mac OS, then I can see Apple allowing it onto the iPhone because they know this is a "big deal" for people. However, I rather hope that HTML 5 kills off Flash.
But I do agree with you about CNET needing a user reviews improvement scheme.
It's estimated that Amazon boosted sales by 10% by activating a "Was this review helpful" interactivity on its reviews. This allows the best to float above the worst reviews while still giving the users the power. All good.
Did it ever occur to you that call quality and reception may be a function of the network, not the phone.
After you've tested the phone on a reasonable random sample of networks and locations you might be able to comment on call quality and reception.
ed
The general consensus from those owning an iphone is the reception and call quality are bad. Face it.
I have an iPhone on AT&T and I would not say that it is bad. Is it outstanding? No, but it is not bad and seems to work just fine here and in every metro area that I have visited. Rural areas are probably a different story, but I spend most of my time where most of the people spend their time.
i live 7 miles outside of Rochester, NY, in a fairly populated suburb and every iphone user i know complains about the call quality and coverage.
Verizon on the other hand, is outstanding
Is that your "general consensus"?... a few people just outside of Rochester?
To be fair maybe there is an AT&T problem in his area.
search the video on cnet of molly wood talking about how much the iphone's service sucks,and then the video from tom merritt giving tips on how to make the iphones connectivity a little better, then tell me its not general consensus.
Are you sure? There's a fair international readership, which is one reason why US-centric stuff rather annoys.
No multitasking, obtrusive notifications, bad call quality...
It'd be nice if CNET wasn't so biased with the iphone.
http://toast-jam.com/taste/?p=606
how is that at all justified?
i understand they were reviewed by different people and bonnie cha gives notoriously (and unneccesarily) harsh ratings but really cnet? a little bit of logic and consistency in your rating system would really be nice, If you can't agree on rules for your rating system at least give a rating agreed on by all the editors instead of just one
notice: i'm not accusing you of being biased other than the fact that you are more comfortable with the iphone having used it before and probably gave it a better rating because it was not new to you, I am, however, saying that bonnie cha is not a great reviewer, because i almost never agree with her and i just generally think her reviews aren't very good, it doesn't help that she often gets specs wrong (i think she has wrote that the samsung instinct's screen is 4.25" diagonally more often than she has gotten it right)
what i'm trying to say (at least to cnet's phone review division) is, if you're gonna be such a popular site for people to get reviews and expert opinions, please get your act together
similar to Windows or Mac OSX
it has full plethora of Apps, Accessories, itunes ,Cases,battery packs ,
Docks and watever else
So when Comparing the Iphone Eco-system to others it's far ahead in many areas
Also the Pre still doenst have many of the basic features people bashed the Iphone for like Full Copy and paste ,no video recording , exchange support is shoddy
Cant forward Messages , Web browser is missing compatibility features plus many more
the Pre is a great phone but it has problems of it's own
and it still doesn't have very many apps , so Multi-tasking and bugs/defects haven't been fully tested out yet
Since the Pre is a gen 1 device all this is expected , but unfortunately thats not how a consumer will view it so Cnet is spot on with the ratings !
i personally think the whole ecosystem argument is shiot but that's mostly cause i don't wanna use itunes, haha, of course, the pre does sync with it
also as far as the features, palm will probably have fixed almost all those issues by the end of the year but it won't get an updated rating because of it
the point is though, i'm not saying that the iphone shouldn't get a better score, i think it deserves an 8.3 and the pre probly deserves an 8 or 7.8 or so, but a full point difference is totally unjustified
I tell you, having bought 4 iPhones now from AT&T, with their crappy network which has has no service near my home (in a DC suburb) for years, I'm going to wait until Verizon carries it.
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by mercyrains
June 23, 2009 5:45 AM PDT
- So, I have finally decided to get an iphone. I'm not a business user... just casual e-mail - web surfing. My question is, should I spend the extra $100.00 for the 3G-S or get the 3G - 8MB (with the 3.0 upgrade)?
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