What kind of iphone in question is slow?
My guess would be an iphone 3G correct?
Usually a restore and setup as new will fix most lag but if you're on a 3G and higher than 3.1.3 it will drag either way.
I would suggest to update to a 3GS or iphone 4. You wont be able to make it go any faster cause the hardware is not there to handle the latest iOS well.