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iPhone 3G First Impressions and Reviews

Display - Brighter, more accurate than 2g with it's blue push - greens/reds proper. I contend the old phone had inaccurate color but most don't understand this. Sharper, more detailed. Better all around.

Sound - MUCH louder bottom speaker, crystal ear speaker. WAY better all around. Zero dropped calls so far.

Case - feels like metal to me in my hand. Quality plastic. Good fit/finish.

Camera - No comparison to our old phones here. Way brighter, sharper. Major improvement especially in low-light. A big deal.

Home Button - Quiet, easier to push, more responsive.

3g - Blazingly fast. Faster than purported. Exceeds all expectations. Like Wifi.

GPS - Locates/tracks flawlessly so far.

Weight - Feels lighter to both of us.

Battery - better than my 2g so far.
 
I got my new iPhone at 9:30 pacific time, with only 20 people ahead of me. but after waiting for 12 hours, those last minutes I had to wait because of server failure were quickly forgotten when I finally touched the iPhone 3G.

The screen does seem to have an ever so slight yellow tint, but only when compared to the old iPhone.

Not sure if it happens just for me, but it also seems a bit slower to return to home screen, open some apps, etc.

3G is great, when you are within the coverage areas.

The phone does feel much better to hold, it is slightly more wide and noticable only when compared to the old iPhone.

**with respect to the new plastic backing, it looks amazing. I think it even feels better to hold than the old metal, but there are some issues. With only one day of use, there are already some small scratches and scuffs. These are not too noticable, but if they appear that fast, surely the back will eventually look bad. I recomend a case, and am out to buy one now
 
posting from my iphone! This is so awesome and easy to use. I don't know how I lived without it.
 
Ok,

Apps do quit on me every so often so I think that is a bug.

Battery life seems to be draining quickly. Maybe because I have GPS on, but I thought it only uses it when I open apps that ask for it?

3G coverage seems to be patchy and I'm in London!!

So I hope they will release a software patch soon enough.

Does feel sturdy though and mobileme seems to work fine for me!

Screen looks better to me. I know people say yellow tint, but I believe this is only compared to old Iphone and I believe colours look better and sharper on the new phone.

Speaker is 100% louder. I had both ringtones going at the same time and it is so much louder and clearer!

Very promising.
 
Waterpolo820 said:
I'm stil debating on the Black or White and I have 8 hours to decide... Hopefully we can preview them before we have to buy them..
Click to expand...

nope i was hoping that to i was hoping to look at the 2 in person before i bought but they didnt let me (maybe because i was 3rd in line when there was 120 people waiting lol) but i ended up getting black but they both look great!
 
Pluses:
-3G faster surfing
-standard headphone jack
-no interference in my Sony dock radio dock (ICF-C1iP). Original iPhone had to be placed in airplane mode.
-I like the white back
-Improved wifi range

Cons:
-3G battery hog. Worse life than original iphone
--No 3G on/off shortcut key. Or better yet hard key.
-Car charger will not work. Need to get iPhone 3G compatible charger.
-Bluetooth car mode sounds worse than first iPhone. Only had 1 call, however I could hear my echo and other end said I was breaking up. Perhaps disabling 3G would help. Original iPhone was flawless. on old phone Recipients could not tell I was on a speakerphone in car. This is huge for me as I sometimes hold conference calls while on the road. I'll keep testing.
-software lags

Overall, now that I played with it a bit, I may try to return it and activate my old phone. I will definitely return it if bluetooth quality is not corrected. I thought BT was improved!!

I'm not that impressed.
 
First impression of battery life is not so good. I got the low battery warning yesterday afternoon after playing with it all day. However there were times it was plugged in to sync so the battery was charging during that time. Today I took it with me when I went to the Apple store to look at accessories and now I'm really worried about battery life. I was gone maybe 3 hours. While driving around I was using the GPS with the maps. By the time I got home the battery level looked really low, to where I'm expecting the 20% warning to come up at any time. :(
 
After 4 hours in line ...

I FINALLY GOT IT! Went with the black 16G. The white is beautiful and the fingerprints will get annoying, but when they revealed the 3G last month, I had already decided on the black. I may wish for the white now and then, but I'm very happy.

The new plastic and curved back is awesome; makes handling the phone MUCH easier. I'm still at the store syncing my music, etc., so I haven't been able to test the speed yet. I'll blog about my iPhone 3G day later and post a link here.

Congrats to everyone else that got it, good luck to everyone that's still in line, get your butt over to the store to everyone that's still waiting to go!!!!

Cheers,
iMhappy
 
iPhone feels warm?

Hi all,

Hope everyone is enjoying their new iPhones as much as I am. I've noticed that after using the iPhone for about 10-15 minutes it gets kind of warm especially in the back near the apple logo. Have any of you also noticed this? Let me know. Thanks!
 
I just went to go play with the new iphone.

I was thinking...

In order to implement a flash for the camera, couldn't they make the logo into a flash? That way the back would look pretty much the same but the apple logo will flash for pictures.

Thoughts?
 
Ive always planned on buying the iPhone 3G but to be honest I never really thought it was going to impress me as much as the first one.
Well, I was wrong.
The new iPhone is actually much more improved over the original. I find I have much better signal that before and the GPS is quite nice and fast.
Now they we have the Apps store, the potential of this phone is endless. I cant wait to see what more developers come up with.
I hope everyone who has one is enjoying their iPhones! :D
 
LADodgerBlueFan said:
I've noticed that after using the iPhone for about 10-15 minutes it gets kind of warm especially in the back near the apple logo. Have any of you also noticed this? Let me know. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes, but I've been running Super Monkey Ball, etc. IDK if this means anything but yes, It's gotten pretty warm and would like to know who else is experiencing that.
 
ok so I got my iPhone on the 11th at my AT&T store they only had 20! 10 8gs and 10 16gs...but luckily I was fifth in line and was lucky enough to get a black 16gb. The black is gorgeous it feels/looks so slick and the plastic back doesn't feel cheap at all I personally like it better than the aluminum back. The screen feels and looks much better than the original iPhone. The speakers sound much better, alot more clearer. The GPS is not bad it is a little jumpy when you use it in the car but I am pretty sure that tomtom is coming out with a turn by turn navigation app. For you that are debating on which color to get the white looks very nice but I still think it looks more feminine than the black.

(Typed on an iPhone 3G)
 
I was walking on the promenade this afternoon when I passed outside the newly opened (less than a week) O2 store where I live (small town in the north west of England) so I decided to go in and play with the new iphone. When i walked in they were about to close, and I could not see an iphone on the display dock (where it should be). I was approached by a very nice sales person and told me they got 40 phones, 2 of those were 16GB whites and another 10 16GB black. They sold out in an hour, he said.

He apologised for not having one to show me, so we went on talking about the new features. All of a sudden he 'remembered' they had one in the back of the store ;) so went and got it for me.

WOW! Now I am convinced I want one!

The phone was very nice. I mean, REALLY nice. Sleek, chick, very very cool.

the speakerphone (I got to listen to some songs) sounds very clear, this particular phone did not have a yellow tint, the GPS got an IMMEDIATE lock, all was good.The plastic on the back looks very neat indeed.

Something that worries me is that, when I tried to send over a 'business card' from my N95 to the iphone via bluetooth, there were 5 failed attempts before the salesperson and I gave up trying. I mean, is this a general problem due to the 'crippling' of the bluetooth in the iphone or it was just my bad luck?

What impressed me was that he told me apple is going to release another iphone (next generation) in less than eight months and that O2 are going to upgrade ALL iphone owners free of charge (apparently he said they did the same this time round with first generation iphone owners to upgrade them to the 3G one). Was that just a sales technique or does it stand?
 
Ok, after 3.5 hours in line today, I finally was able to pick up a 3g iPhone @ the Apple store in Sacramento, CA.

First, a few comments on the purchase process:

1) The line was moving pretty quickly for the first hour or so after the store opened at 9. Around 10am or so, people who'd been in line last night that had vouchers began showing up, and they were given priority, so that really stalled the progress of the 'today' line. It took over 30min for me to get from being #5 to getting in the store b/c of that. (Not a complaint - the folks w/vouchers waited in line 7 hours or more yesterday, they deserve to go first.)

2) The Apple Store staff were polite, friendly, and very patient. As the mall became more active, tons of people were stopping to gawk at the line, ask questions and crowding the entrance of the Apple store, but the employees did a great job of keeping things under control.

3) Activation was a snap, totally flawless. I think it took longer for the guy who helped me to get an iPhone out of the back than it did to get the activation done. The whole purchase process was probably 15-20 minutes, max. I don't know if it's decreased volume of purchases today or what, but everything's working much better.

4) MobileMe had synced my old contacts/calendar info to my new iPhone before I was out of the store. Very cool.

Now, onto the phone itself:

1) I went with the white, for a few reasons - it looks really crisp to my eyes, it definitely will show stuff less than the black, and it seemed more 'Apple-like' to me. I see what folks are saying about the white phone being something you need to see in person.

2) I agree with everyone who's said the phone fits nicer in the hand. One complaint I had with the original was that it was a bit awkward to hold. It *looked* great, but didn't feel so great in the hand. The new one feels very nice when I hold it. You'd never know it was any bigger unless you put it next to a 1st gen iPhone. When you do, the difference in width is definitely noticeable.

3) The screen seems significantly 'crisper' than my old iPhone, which I had never thought of as at all fuzzy/blurry - but looking at it now, it seems a bit dull & blurry compared to the new one. The color balance on the 3g is a bit more towards the yellow, but it's not at all bothersome to my eyes, and again is something I only recognize when I put it next to my 1st gen phone (which looks a little 'blue' for my liking when I compare them directly).

4) I liked the aluminum of the old phone, but the plastic on the new one looks and feels sturdy enough - certainly more than most any other cellphone I've owned. (Note: why don't more companies use a soft-touch finish like the one on the T-Mobile Dash? I really loved that part of the Dash - didn't show scratches, was super-easy to hold.)

5) GPS seems pretty smooth to me (though I don't have any experience w/other GPS devices to compare). In driving around town this afternoon, it was generally quite accurate, although for a while it had me about 20-30 feet to one side or the other of where I actually was.

6) Battery life is definitely shorter - I'll be keeping it on the charger in the car, at home, and at the office.

7) Web browsing is faster, though not blazing. Edge had been running *really* slowly in my area of late, barely usable. 3G isn't going to match my broadband at home, but definitely much more usable.

8) Haven't done much calling yet, but initial impression is that the sound is louder & clearer. The mic definitely is louder.

Overall, I'm pleased so far. I put an ad on Craigslist for my old 1st gen and had it sold and handed off to the buyer within about an hour and a half of getting home from the Apple Store.

Off to puruse the App Store ...
 
First Impressions say a lot

The line to start was ridiculous. Waited 5 hours before I was able to go home yeah 5 hours even without the drive time added in. The white one looks poorly designed. White chrome and 2 different shades of black i.e. screen and faceplate nothing matches or even complements the other. The plastic back DOES feel cheap to me, Apple is know for it's amazing industrial style of design and they just threw it out the window on this phone, it feels like any other cheap plastic handset now. The slim ends make the thing way harder to hold when typing in portrait due to the lack of flat surface areas on the back. The screen has a cooler 7200k color to it now with all the red and or yellow in the glass which I'm not fond of but thats just a personal opinion not a big deal. However the operation and use of the phone is a big deal, it dropped the very first call I got and then went into a finiky state with no signal at all. It gets lousy reception at my house and takes forever to switch from 3g to edge and has repeatedly dropped calls made and calls received. It's like being on t-mobile all over again. Everyone seems to think the speaker phone operation is better but it sounds the same to me. The GUI is super slow, try typing in a password for say your email you can sit and watch he specified text as it gets turned into the dots used to protect what your typing. Typing in general is less responsive as well its bad when you have to wait for the thing to catch up with you. Scrolling and tapping are sluggish compared to the old one and the resolution of the screen seems worse. And of course all the people raving about the price are either ill informed or stupid, it's the same as the original the price of your service jumped 10 dollars a month to compensate for it remember. $240 over two years with taxes put on top of that we are now paying more than before! To top all this off I use .mac/mobile me as a preview source for clients approving our companies work and it was down for two days and the clients are pissed haha. With that said I LIKE the speed of the web, the app store kicks ass, and we can get music from the itunes store while out and about which is cool o me. So thats the vent haha take for what you want. I personally have been an Apple only guy for life, had em in grade school, jr high, high school, collage, used em personally and now run a business with them and this may be the first time i have been disappointed.
 
Psyxologos said:
What impressed me was that he told me apple is going to release another iphone (next generation) in less than eight months and that O2 are going to upgrade ALL iphone owners free of charge (apparently he said they did the same this time round with first generation iphone owners to upgrade them to the 3G one). Was that just a sales technique or does it stand?
Click to expand...

There is no next generation iPhone anytime that soon. I have no idea what the sales person was thinking.

Any upgrade would be an O2 issue. In the US there would NOT be a free upgrade.
 
dmelgar said:
There is no next generation iPhone anytime that soon. I have no idea what the sales person was thinking.

Any upgrade would be an O2 issue. In the US there would NOT be a free upgrade.
Click to expand...

He might have been refering to a newer phone where they will have larger capacity and/or increased functionality of bluetooth?
 
iPhone Message on Sync to Computer

When I began syncing my iPhone this time, this message popped up upon insert. It looks like the iPhone is monitoring itself and how it successfully (or miserably) it runs apps and the like.

Picture 1.png​

I can only imagine what Apple will do with this info. but I think it shows promise in terms of how well applications can run on the new software. Maybe Apple will use the info. to help 3rd party developers better write their apps for the iPhone and not cause it to randomly restart (like I've experienced a few times) or error out like the Express app (stuck trying to create an account). At least everything is working better today but after yesterday, that's not saying much.
 
okay, virgin post here it goes :)

i went to the boylston (largest) Apple Store in Boston today, i have mixed reviews.

*tested 10 different iphones today in store for 3 hours*

BACK - i was very skeptical of plastic back before today. they have a special scratch resistant thick ass polymer on these things - you cant scratch the back -- trust me, i tried at the store with various objects :) black attracts fingerprints - thats it- feels SOLID and nice.

SIDE - now that everyone will have an iphone things to notice -- they are pumping these out like hotcakes. metal buttons on side DIFFER greatly amongst models. some are smooth feeling, some just stick out -- poor craftsmanship.

SPEAKERS - very very loud earpiece phone calls, very very loud speakerphone --- horribly weird: 2X softer speakers when playing ipod with speaker on - CANT EVEN HEAR THE SONG. wasnt due to crowd either, went out back, compared it with original iphone --horrible for ringtones, sounds almost 2x softer for songs and ringtones :(

SCREEN - brighter, more hue. responsiveness?? catastrophic!! some iphones keys got STUCK (like typing A the A key gets bigger - stayed big, had to crash it) did this on 5 out of the 10 iphones i tried. problem... may be 2.0 Software, maybe not. has to get fixed. also have to press REALLY HARD to even select stuff on the screen, zoom, etc. again, big problem --- night and day between original iphones and 3G. responsiveness was horrible.

3G - big whoop. funny thing? wife was next to me, her phone was in 2G EDGE, would not go into 3G no matter what and the one i was using next to it was in 3G. toggled system prefs, couldnt get it to change. workers, said some people are stuck in 2G, when others are in 3G right next to them...problem again, mass production, pumped out.

HEADPHONES/SOUND - awesome compared to the old iphone. cant go "as loud" as old iphone headset or sounds... but very very clear. weird.

Applications - crashed and were okay, only had two in the store to use. not working properly yet.

--so my conclusion?-- im going to wait for 3G to get more prevalent, then apple will release an iphone with video chat. the screen responsiveness was HORRIBLE. if this is a software problem they can fix, great. if its because they pumped these out like hotcakes -- horrible, they just felt too mass produced for me. the things i was worried about (scratching the back) were not an issue. many things that i NEVER thought would be an issue were. i'll wait 3 months and see if the 16gb / 32gb and price drop comes, and if they can remedy the screen/speaker/3G problems , i just might get one. if you have an old iphone - BE GLAD :)
 
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