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Coming from 3GS

J

JemiS

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 20, 2015
34
22
I have a 3GS that I'm (mostly) happy with.

But my wife's phone is dying fast, and she'd like the 3GS. Which leaves me to upgrade.

As evidenced by the old phone, I generally keep my devices for quite some time.

I'm torn between going for the 6s (best stats, will last longest) and worrying about the battery life.

Would I be better to go with a 5s/6? Or bite the bullet and get a 6s 64?
 
If you keep your devices as long as possible I would go with the 6s 64gb for sure. Yeah the 5s and 6 are fine devices and I'm still on my 6 plus but you want the latest hardware so it will be better longer.

If you upgraded every 2-3 years I would suggest the 6 if you wanted to save a few bucks
 
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Closingracer said:
If you keep your devices as long as possible I would go with the 6s 64gb for sure. Yeah the 5s and 6 are fine devices and I'm still on my 6 plus but you want the latest hardware so it will be better longer.

If you upgraded every 2-3 years I would suggest the 6 if you wanted to save a few bucks
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^^^Second this.

The newer models will have newer batteries compared to the previous gen. The batteries in the 6 series are also larger than those in the 5 series.
 
What phone does your wife have now? I can't imagine it's a smartphone older than the 3GS that still works..
 
Seems like most battery stat discussions are showing 6s as having better battery usage compared to previous/older models (and the Plus version is naturally that much better as it has an even larger battery).
 
JemiS said:
Not a smart phone, but she'd like to move in that direction.
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If she wants to get an iPhone, giving her your extremely outdated 3GS won't be a great one to give her, seeing as how outdated it is. It doesn't even support 4G, let alone LTE, and most apps won't work with it.
 
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geoff5093 said:
If she wants to get an iPhone, giving her your extremely outdated 3GS won't be a great one to give her, seeing as how outdated it is. It doesn't even support 4G, let alone LTE, and most apps won't work with it.
Click to expand...

This. I used an old iPhone 4 for a couple weeks as I transitioned from an Android phone to my iPhone 6s, and it was incredibly painful. Not at all representative of what the iOS experience is supposed to be.

And if you want to hold on to your phone for as long as possible, the extra $100 spent on a 6s over a 6 would be well spent, IMHO. The memory upgrade in particular will help with the longevity (2GB of RAM instead of 1).

C
 
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geoff5093 said:
If she wants to get an iPhone, giving her your extremely outdated 3GS won't be a great one to give her, seeing as how outdated it is. It doesn't even support 4G, let alone LTE, and most apps won't work with it.
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It's what she wants, and I've learned not to try to convince her otherwise. She's played around with all the models, and likes the size and simplicity of the 3GS.

She mainly wants something easier to text on, that she can get email on. Her phone is from 2001 at the moment, so the 3GS is a nice upgrade for that. It's also nearly identical to her current iPod Touch, which is one of the main selling points (same OS and everything).

All the apps I use work fine with it, much less the smaller selection she wants to use with it.
 
JemiS said:
It's what she wants, and I've learned not to try to convince her otherwise. She's played around with all the models, and likes the size and simplicity of the 3GS.

She mainly wants something easier to text on, that she can get email on. Her phone is from 2001 at the moment, so the 3GS is a nice upgrade for that. It's also nearly identical to her current iPod Touch, which is one of the main selling points (same OS and everything).

All the apps I use work fine with it, much less the smaller selection she wants to use with it.
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hold the phone! (No pun intended) her phone is from 2001?!?! Is it by any chance a Nokia 3310?
[doublepost=1453351286][/doublepost]This has got to be a joke
 
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Nope. She likes the fact that she can go a week between charges, and she just calls and texts, primarily.

I was a bit off on age- her current phone is 2004 (Nokia 6010), but I do have the 3310 functioning as a backup for her.

This is all quite a bit off-topic from the initial post, though. Responses have been quite helpful.
[doublepost=1453398641][/doublepost]
Applejuiced said:
He's passing down a 6 year old device claiming it's fine and everything that's needed.
Mind as well get a moto razr.
Click to expand...

Do you know how hard it is to find a functioning Razr?! I've looked. They're more expensive than a used iPhone.

And the 3GS is fine and everything needed. I've got current gen iPad's and iPod Touches- the 3GS is slow, but on iOS 5 most productivity apps still work quite well, and it does email/messages/calls quite well.
 
It's gonna be frustrating for her to use the iPhone 3GS. Then she'll be coming to you and telling you how all her girlfriends have a Samsung galaxy and now she wants one.
 
Even if she doesn't think she'll use the features of a newer iPhone, you need to be aware that the carriers have already started to shut down and move spectrum away from legacy 2G/3G/4G services, over to LTE. If she is paying $xx per month for a smartphone, you should get her one that will actually work well on the network for data. Plus, if she's used to a battery lasting all week, getting her a 6 year old phone with an old battery won't go over well.
 
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I feel like this thread has shifted from the question (which phone would work best for me) to which phone would work best for my wife.

She's tried new iPhones, she's tried the 3GS. She wants the 3GS. After 10 years of marriage, I know better than to try to convince her to get some piece of technology that's "more" than what she wants- it never ends well for either of us.

It's kinda beside the point anyway- if she decides she loves having a smartphone and wants to upgrade, she'll upgrade to a newer model. Probably have a 4" 6 out by that point for her to look at, as well. She's very turned off by the size of the 6s. Even the 3GS is twice the size of her current phone.
 
Get the 6s. If you want it to last the extra ram will help with future iOS updates.
 
Listen I respect that your wife and yourself are content with older tech and saving money but I tried as hard as I can to hold onto iOS6 on my iPhone 5 and I eventually had to give it up because lots of stuff simply didn't work on my outdated software. I assume your 3GS is running iOS 3/4/5? I can't imagine any current apps/email/security features working on a device and software that old.

There's simply no point in owning and paying for an iPhone if you can't use it how it's intended to be used..
 
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geoff5093 said:
Even if she doesn't think she'll use the features of a newer iPhone, you need to be aware that the carriers have already started to shut down and move spectrum away from legacy 2G/3G/4G services, over to LTE. If she is paying $xx per month for a smartphone, you should get her one that will actually work well on the network for data. Plus, if she's used to a battery lasting all week, getting her a 6 year old phone with an old battery won't go over well.
Click to expand...
2nd this. OP really should get at oldest an iPhone 5 at this time.
 
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12vElectronics said:
Yep. Even a 5C would be worlds better than a 3GS and allow her to utilize almost everything.
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I was looking on craigslist and cracked screen 5S seem to run 75-100 bucks. I was thinking about buying one and installing a new screen for 50. 150 for a functional 5S seems to be a really good deal.
 
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