What is the 3GS like on 5.0+?

[pyromaniaque]

My mum will be giving me her 3gs and she doesn't have iOs 5.

I know the 3gs is a pretty quick and snappy phone in its original OS version, BUT on the latest OS, does it still run smoothly?

 

[Beeplance]

I have my iPhone 3GS on the latest firmware iOS 5.1.1, & I can safely tell u that the performance is very good. Notifications works very well, seldom lack in the interface & safari loads very quickly. Overall, the experience is a very decent one. However, I've heard some 3GS owners complaining about everything being very leggy & such.

From my point of view, I strongly encourage u to update to iOS 5. Many new features that enhances the user experience!

 

[Xenomorph]

The iPhone 3GS running iOS 5.x is similar in performance to the iPhone 3GS running iOS 4.3.x.

 

[Agent-P]

When I had my 3GS, it was running 5.1.1 and I found it to run rather well. No major issues on my end. I think you should be fine upgrading. The notification centre alone makes it worth it.

 

[na1577]

Coming from a 3GS, it can be slow at times but overall it's not that bad. Performance in iOS 6 is a bit slower but still usable.

 

[bandofbrothers]

General feelings are to set it up as a new phone to allow a clean install.

 

[riveting]

it should be fine, mine works fine at 5.0, i expect 6.0 would be similar, too bad the phone still sells for $375 unlocked from Apple, more expensive than Galaxy Nexus And used once can easily have all kinds of cracking problem and battery problem consider how old it is.

 

[Identity Fraud]

General feelings are to set it up as a new phone to allow a clean install.

My first 3GS that I got a few months after launch was updated to every OS up to 5. It was very sluggish and I wanted to do a clean instal but never got around to it. Well, I broke my phone by dropping it and borrowed an 8Gig 3GS from a buddy who wasn't using his so I did a clean restore/instal on his. Marked improvement was noticed, still had some slow downs but not as often as I did before.