iPhone 3G First Impressions and Reviews

[aft]

Since it looks lik this is the best in stock thread....my wife was kind enough to check the AT&T and store in the Toledo, OH area for me while I'm out of town and all three are sold out and have been since just after opening. The one closest to me got a total of 20 phones (she didn't know the 8gb to 16gb distribution).

Also, the guy at the AT&T store said that it was RUMORED that the Ann Arbor, MI Apple store sold out quickly too! I figured the AT&T stores would have limited stock but thought for sure they would heavily stock the Apple stores. She got us on some "direct fullfilment" thing at our AT&T store, the guy said that last year most people that used this got there phones slightly quicker than people that searched around (I'll believe it when I see it) he saidthat most got it in 3-5 business days and the longest wait he saw was 10 business days. I don't plan on dying soon so I can wait, I'll have 2.0 on my iPod touch to keep me busy until then.

 

[Bindi]

WHOOOO HOOOOO!!! I just got home, I got the last IPhone that the AT&T store, I went to had...it was a white 16gig, so I didn't even have to decide which one to get...but I was leaning toward the white, so that made it easy for me. I waited nearly 3 hours from getting in line to getting it purchased. They sent me home and told me to activate myself, as Itunes is bogged down and no one is getting thru right now! I'm a happy camper!

 

[BornAgain Apple]

2nd iPhone - initial startup and impressions

Having been with Apple for 30+ years, so it was no surprise to my family and friends that I was #5 inline for the 1st iPhone last June - despite having 7 verizon phone #'s and none expiring soon. SO this time I was # 9 at the same Atlantic City store but the first one out the door at 8:15 with an activated phone. WHY? 1) My biggest complaint with the first iPhone was poor cell reception in areas where other AT&T phones worked fine - specifically inside my house! My wife HATED my first phone. 2) When the first one was accessing email and/or the internet, the calls got dumped into voice mail. If both of those complaints are resolved, I will be VERY happy. My son said that he could tell right away that the phone sounded better. RE: activation @ the store: The salespeople seemed a little green and I had to help them through the prompts of activating it as I bought it with their handheld checkout tools. Switching my existing iPhone number to the 3G went without a hitch. I then had to go to a MacBOOK and sync it thru iTunes and register it. Again, using my existing apple account, that process only took minutes. I was offered a 3rd station to customize the phone which I declined. I figured that if I had customized my old one for 12 months, the new one could not be that much worse. I was out of the store in less than 15 minutes. When they opened, there were about 100 people in line and they were letting people in 10 at a time or after 10 went in; 1 in for everyone that left. Once I got to my office, I first updated my old phone to 2.0 and did have the server issues mentioned. But on a 2nd try, was able to connect and update the old phone to 2.0 and it works like an iPod touch now - just no edge or cell phone. Finally, I synched my 3G with iTunes and have most of what was on the old one on the new one. IT's only 6 hours old, but so far I am happy with it. I am having major problems getting onto .mac or mobil me. So I can't comment on how that has affected my .mac account. Any questions? feel free to ask......

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

why anyone would upgrade their phone just for 3g, a service that should have been provided originally, instead of EDGE, a lousy connection.


the bottom line is there is MINIMAL functional upgrades.

If you think 3G is a minimal upgrade, you must have not used a 3G phone. Here's the deal: Everyone who bought the first iPhone knew that a 3G one would come out in six months to a year. Now it's here, and we want to upgrade to it, because it's a big technological leap.

 

[Ryanhdd]

typing this on my new phone. I love it so far waited in line a little over 4 hrs. Got the 16g black.

 

[macmadandproud]

Thoughts and opinions of an "obsolete" iPhone owner...

Ok, well I went by the Apple store near me, and the line was huge; I was able to get in without waiting to just *see* an iPhone, and I had to beg for permission to do that!!

So, all of the complaints about the yellowish tint on the screen are, I hate to say it, correct. I tested my iPhone against 4 or 5 of the 3G ones in the store, and when I view a primarily white screen (I tested the ipod screens) all of the new ones are most certainly yellow-ish and to be honest, look terrible!

To be honest, I really wanted to like the new one, so that I would have an excuse to give mine to my wife and hey, I even have a $200 Apple credit!

So, the things that would have make me upgrade were:

1. Battery life increase
2. Better reception- mine is lousy
3. better hardware (camera...)
4. Profoundly faster web experience
5. Overall better "look and feel"

So, here is what I found:

1. Battery life has been lowered significantly
2. I sat mine next to the new one, and on edge I had 5 bars, on 3G, the new phone had 2 bars.
3 & 4. No important hardware upgrades of note. I turned off wifi on both, and ran google maps on 3g vs Edge, and saw **almost** no perceptible difference in rendering times. Sure, the 3G was a fraction faster (perhaps 3 seconds!) but I figure that if those 3 seconds were that crucial to me, I probably shouldn't have gotten lost in the first place!

Note: there was one test in which mine stomped the new iPhone... when using the "locate me" feature in maps, the 2G iPhone was 3-4 times faster. I think it is because, it went straight away and pulled from a cell tower, whereas the 3G phone was trying to find and connect with a satellite first to get the GPS data. While of course GPS is way cooler, the reality was that in a real-world scenario, it caused more hassle than it averted.

5. The feel of the new iPhone is much better, but is still nowhere near the feel of an iPod Touch, which blows them both away. The glossy finish I despise, I mean, I could live with it, but I just hate glossy things. I would far rather the whole back was made of the same plastic that the bottom of mine is made of.

Overall, all of my feedback is just that, mine. Don't jump on me, they are just the personal observations of an individual. If you have a 3GiPhone and love it, that is super groovy, enjoy it without feeling the need to dampen criticism of it by others.

All I can say is that I left having never felt so good about my phone, and better still that I didn't use up my once every 2 years subsidy for a phone that I think will see a much more significant overhaul far sooner than that.

As ever, your mileage may well vary!

Peace.

 

[ajpprc]

Way in depth iPhone 3G Review

Wirelessinfo has posted their review of the iPhone, here's the conclusion:

The iPhone 3G is the next iteration of Apple's immensely popular and iconic cell phone. In one short year it's managed to have a serious impact on the industry and with the iPhone 3G going global that's only going to get bigger. There are two big questions that we asked ourselves when writing this review, how good is the iPhone 3G all by itself, and how big an upgrade is it over the original iPhone? Let's start with the first question, the answer is that the iPhone 3G is a very good cell phone. It's an excellent media player, brings powerful business productivity featues to the table, especially with the Exchange integration, is one of the best music/video phones on the market and is just beautiful and a joy to use. Very few people will fail to be impressed by this device, and if you decide to spend your money on it you will likely be very happy with it. The one caveat we have is that battery life may be iffy, especially with the battery hungry 3G network. We'll be testing battery life shortly and will update this conclusion when we have those results.

To answer the second question we don't think the iPhone 3G is a huge upgrade over the previous iPhone. In particular we found it disappointing to see many features that we've been asking for like MMS, a better camera and copy & paste were not included. 3G is a mixed bag, yes it's faster but it also kills your battery much faster. One of things we liked about the original iPhone so much was it's very good battery life and it's a shame to lose that in exchange for 3G (potentially). In our mind the iPhone 3G is more of a 1.5 rather than a 2.0. We'd recommend to current iPhone owners that unless there's some compelling reason to upgrade just keep on holding on, there will be better things coming.

Read the full review here.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

1. Battery life has been lowered significantly

No, it hasn't been. New features have been added that cause the battery to drain more...using those new features (such as 3G). In the same usage with the same hardware (EDGE and WiFi, and music) the new iPhone is better all around battery wise.

2. I sat mine next to the new one, and on edge I had 5 bars, on 3G, the new phone had 2 bars.

Unless you made a call on both, this isn't a very valid comparison. Many 3G phones, with one or two bars, sound great.

3 & 4. No important hardware upgrades of note. I turned off wifi on both, and ran google maps on 3g vs Edge, and saw **almost** no perceptible difference in rendering times. Sure, the 3G was a fraction faster (perhaps 3 seconds!) but I figure that if those 3 seconds were that crucial to me, I probably shouldn't have gotten lost in the first place!

3G is 3-5 times as fast. What you saw was an exception or a result of the load that the 3G network was currently under.

Note: there was one test in which mine stomped the new iPhone... when using the "locate me" feature in maps, the 2G iPhone was 3-4 times faster. I think it is because, it went straight away and pulled from a cell tower, whereas the 3G phone was trying to find and connect with a satellite first to get the GPS data. While of course GPS is way cooler, the reality was that in a real-world scenario, it caused more hassle than it averted.

Where I am located, the locateme feature on my old iPhone gives me a radius of...a mile. I'll trade some speed for the ability to tell me whether I'm in downtown LA or south LA.

5. The feel of the new iPhone is much better, but is still nowhere near the feel of an iPod Touch, which blows them both away.

This is obviously personal preference, but I can't stand the iPod Touch. It feels like you're holding a credit card.

 

[spinstorm]

I love the GPS on the iPhone 3G.

It takes SECONDS to lock on to your location.

My old N95 took 10 minutes of standing still before it got a GPS signal!

This quickly locks on.

Yes it does seem to "shuffle" when tracking live but I feel that is down to google maps and a proper software GPS solution from TomTom or anyone else would solve that.

This phone locks on to satelites faster than actual GPS on its own!

 

[sport9103]

3g iphone buyers

did it come sealed out of the store ? or they opened it ?

 

[meagain]

did it come sealed out of the store ? or they opened it ?

Sealed - Oak Brook, IL (but it wasn't supposed to happen that way)

 

[forcomson]

I got mine, 16G white, this morning around 8:20. (6th in line). The purchase and activation were very smooth. The store manager was pretty nice also, he gave everyone a bottle water and kept checking back and forth to see if anyone has any question.

My impression:

Screen is noticeably better than the 2G one (But it does seem to be a bit yellowish compare to the old one)
The phone is a lot lighter
The old iphone can use the new dock, but the 3G can't use the old dock
The 3G internet speed doesn't seem like as fast as I expected, I guess it has something to do with their severs today.
It is weird the 3G automatically switched to the Edge several times. (No idea what causes that)
Application loading speed seems about the same as the old one. (I updated my old one to 2.0 also)
It takes a while to get used to the accelerometer-controlled game.
"Bah bah bah" would like to use your current location gets really annoying after a while.
GPS feature was pretty awesome, it locates my location as precise as the one in my car. (I haven't tried driving around with it tho)
The white color on the SIM card slot doesn't really match the white color on the case
The multi-language support is great especially the Chinese hand writing recognition input. I am going to get one for my dad.
The apps download from the App store can be installed on both of my devices. (includes the paid one)

What I wish it has:

A video recording software. (Maybe someone will come up with one later)

 

[brvheart]

I'm with you on this one. I'm really looking forward to actual reviews of the 3G version from a hardware point of view vs. 2G. Most of these reviews are about the experience of waiting in line and purchasing/activating the phone. I'd love to hear some thoughts on battery usage, volume, speakerphone, call clarity comparitively to the 2G. Anyone?

to sum it up without writing a book - I believe that everything is better overall except the battery. I charged it fully at 9 and by 1ish it was half full to where I wanted to charge it again. other than that I am well pleased with this device. Feels better in the hand, the plastic is not cheap looking, screen is fine, speaker quality much much improved (external) I think the speaker volume on the headset still lacks a little volume.

is that what you were looking for?

 

[macmadandproud]

Badandy: I respect your positions.

1. Well, whether we choose to call it the result of "more features" or not, the net result is still the same. With daily usage, my current phone will simply last longer. Most reviewers agree on that.

2. As for the bars, you are correct. Typically, comparing number of bars between cell phone brands is futile, however it was simply a passing observation, that hopes that I may have had of getting 3g signal in the 3/4 of my apt that gets barely any 2g, will ***likely*** be dashed.

3. Now the 3G was "snappier" in Safari, not to the extent that would knock my socks off, but it was. Specifically, in Google maps, it just didn't seem very much so. You may well be right, that this was likely just some freak occurrence, but then, I only had one to go by, and Apple does have repeaters in all of their stores, so if anything, it should have been best possible circumstance.

4. I will wager that you are right, and that GPS will indeed give me a far more accurate fix on my position, however I couldn't test that, as it was unable to give me any fix at all on my position.

I didn't think I would like the touch, but I really dig the tactile feel of it. This is, of course, highly subjective... but interesting nonetheless that we perceive it so differently!

So, do you own a new one? If so, are you happy with it?

Peace,

R

 

[drpellypo]

Interesting observation, that I have had mine for around 9 hours, and I have no fingerprints on the back at all. And I've been playing with it all day. I guess all the reviewers were just mucky pups!

 

[btcutter]

If you think 3G is a minimal upgrade, you must have not used a 3G phone. Here's the deal: Everyone who bought the first iPhone knew that a 3G one would come out in six months to a year. Now it's here, and we want to upgrade to it, because it's a big technological leap.

yea....it like broadband and dialup. would anyone go back to dialup???

 

[cecemf]

it is kind of funny. i bought a magazine that included a detail iphone 3g review 2 days ago in Hong Kong. It was a iphone v.s iphone 3g review. They claim it is U.S verison. I guess they got it from AT&T somehow.

Anyway, here are things that amazed me.

iphone 3g Wifi is few sec faster
screen is MUCH better (display and touch)
speaker is MUCH better (but the bottom looks ugly)

another interesting thing is iphone 3g boot up time is slower than iphone

Agree, but the screen I found it much yellow even palying with the settings,

the sound is definetely better quality in speaker and hear mode but the bottom of the phone is SOOOO UGLY !!!! their is 2 screw and you can see the grey metal of the speakers inside the case so make it look very platis cheap !!!!

Come on apple you could have done better and cover the screw with a caoutchouc or something.

That's my only desipointement of the phone.

 

[mmaguire]

Great Phone....

I have been an ATT/Cingular customer for 3 years now and finally got the phone I was wanting back then. I have had a great experience so far and have everything up and running thus far. It has sync'd up everything as promised and connected to the bluetooth in my car. Here in Washington state it's illegal to talk on the pone while driving without a handsfree device so that was a blessing that it worked.

1. Arrived at the ATT store in Tacoma, Wa at 5:55am - number 27 in line
2. At 0715 the store employees started walking the line to get you info - new to ATT upgrade etc
3. 0800 store opened
4. 0815 I walked out with my 16GB white phone. (looks much better than the ubiquitous black
I deactivated my old sim chip so at 0845 it started working as a phone.
5. 0850 phone had conected to Mobile Me and sync'd all my contacts, calendars, and email
6. 1200 the phone connected to the Apple servers for activation and I synced all my music/photos from itunes and uploaded the apps i had downloaded.

For those people angry over activation issues. I agree it would have been best for Apple to release V2.0 about 5 days prior to the 3G release to prevent the iTouch and 2.5G users from hitting the site at the same time. But lets think about this for a minute. Apple is rolling out millions of these things in the world's largest market over a 3hr time frame. At 8am on the east coast the storm hits and thousands of folks are trying to activate. Then the folks on central time 1 hr later and then mountain time 1 hr after that and finally the west coast. By 11am on the east coast, those of us on the west coast didn't have a prayer of getting instant activation. To the ATT store's credit, they handed me my iphone and told me of the issues and that I could do activate it through itunes at home. Ok fine. I went to the golf course for a while and then home. It was a good day.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

So, do you own a new one? If so, are you happy with it?

Peace,

R

I get off of work in an hour and a half and will be racing over to the Apple store (Canoga Park, CA) and hopefully grab a black 16 GB. I have NO idea if they'll have them, but I'm going to try. Does anyone know?

 

[kovalchuk71]

WOOOO! Got mine at 8:15 this morning. I love it! the keyboard seems snappier than the old iphone and the app store is great! What a great phone

 

[dulpins]

White 16GB here.

My impressions so far:

-The white back makes smudges unnoticeable. It looks better than I thought. I'm glad I didn't go for black.
-Feels much nicer in your hand.
-Clearer, slightly louder speaker
-GPS seems accurate, but navigating with Google Maps is somewhat difficult unless you have someone in the passenger's seat to look at the screen for you.
-3G speeds are zippy, only marginally slower than wi-fi (Indianapolis, IN)

I think the best part of this launch is the AppStore which is, of course, not specific to the 3G iPhone. I love the Pandora App and Super Monkey Ball!

 

[pscoble]

I just got my white iPhone 3G and it is awesome. The plastic doesn't feel cheap at all, the tapered back feels a lot better in your hand, the screen is a little nicer, and the white is just purely amazing. I feel sorry for anyone who got the black because the white is far better. I also got Mobileme so I'm kinda on Apple overload right now. Hehe.

 

[xploit]

Ok, well I went by the Apple store near me, and the line was huge; I was able to get in without waiting to just *see* an iPhone, and I had to beg for permission to do that!!

So, all of the complaints about the yellowish tint on the screen are, I hate to say it, correct. I tested my iPhone against 4 or 5 of the 3G ones in the store, and when I view a primarily white screen (I tested the ipod screens) all of the new ones are most certainly yellow-ish and to be honest, look terrible!

To be honest, I really wanted to like the new one, so that I would have an excuse to give mine to my wife and hey, I even have a $200 Apple credit!

So, the things that would have make me upgrade were:

1. Battery life increase
2. Better reception- mine is lousy
3. better hardware (camera...)
4. Profoundly faster web experience
5. Overall better "look and feel"

So, here is what I found:

1. Battery life has been lowered significantly
2. I sat mine next to the new one, and on edge I had 5 bars, on 3G, the new phone had 2 bars.
3 & 4. No important hardware upgrades of note. I turned off wifi on both, and ran google maps on 3g vs Edge, and saw **almost** no perceptible difference in rendering times. Sure, the 3G was a fraction faster (perhaps 3 seconds!) but I figure that if those 3 seconds were that crucial to me, I probably shouldn't have gotten lost in the first place!

Note: there was one test in which mine stomped the new iPhone... when using the "locate me" feature in maps, the 2G iPhone was 3-4 times faster. I think it is because, it went straight away and pulled from a cell tower, whereas the 3G phone was trying to find and connect with a satellite first to get the GPS data. While of course GPS is way cooler, the reality was that in a real-world scenario, it caused more hassle than it averted.

5. The feel of the new iPhone is much better, but is still nowhere near the feel of an iPod Touch, which blows them both away. The glossy finish I despise, I mean, I could live with it, but I just hate glossy things. I would far rather the whole back was made of the same plastic that the bottom of mine is made of.

Overall, all of my feedback is just that, mine. Don't jump on me, they are just the personal observations of an individual. If you have a 3GiPhone and love it, that is super groovy, enjoy it without feeling the need to dampen criticism of it by others.

All I can say is that I left having never felt so good about my phone, and better still that I didn't use up my once every 2 years subsidy for a phone that I think will see a much more significant overhaul far sooner than that.

As ever, your mileage may well vary!

Peace.

I have been saying this from the get and I get dumped on and attacked. Been called a troll by I don't know how many users. And for what? Because I love Apple stuff and want then to keep with quality and design. The bottom line is that this new iphone is BUDGET in too many ways to overlook. I am definitely with you in thinking that a proper upgrade is on the way!

X-

 

[riversky]

Go with White!!!

The white one is so unique in it's look and appeal. Black is everywhere but take a look at the white one and you will drool!

 

[jturn00]

1) My biggest complaint with the first iPhone was poor cell reception in areas where other AT&T phones worked fine - specifically inside my house! My wife HATED my first phone. 2) When the first one was accessing email and/or the internet, the calls got dumped into voice mail.

were those complaints resolved or better? do you have better cell reception and how are calls handled when you are using the internet/email/an application.

Jeff