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What were the best iPhones at the time they came out?

tymaster50

tymaster50

Suspended
Original poster
Oct 3, 2012
2,833
58
Oregon
For me I would say the iPhone 4 if you weren't affected by antennagate, it was so... game changing. Retina display, a4 processor, square glass design, front facing camera, facetime, hd video recording,gyroscope etc..
Then the iPhone 3g pre iOS 4. Good stable phone and the first iPhone to have 3g tech.
Then the iPhone 5. Taller screen, 4g, dual band wifi, 3 microphones, lightning charger, two tone design, relocated headphone port, a6 processor. It is one of the most changed iPhones.
 
AFDoc said:
the best one is the one that I have. It's a phone not a new heart. If you're asking which I liked best, I guess I'd have to say tie between 4/5 design.
Click to expand...

im basically saying to rank them and overall satisfaction.
 
iPhone 5

I wasn't initially too impressed, but when I picked it up for the first time it blew my mind.

The thinness and weight of it really shocked me.

Along with the fact it's loads faster, better cameras, bigger screen and my battery has been even better.
 
THE iPhone

iphone-2g.png


""An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator. An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator.... these are NOT three separate devices!""

No other phones in the history of phones have come close imo.
Even the iPhone 5, I was on the fence, I wouldnt have bought one if the Lumia 920 came out earlier..
 
The original iPhone because, well, it was the first iPhone.
iPhone 3G because of the App Store, 3G, GPS and for the first time widely available in other countries.

This is my list. "1)" is most special, "6)" is least special.

1) Apple iPhone (first generation)
2) iPhone 4
3) iPhone 5
4) iPhone 3G
5) iPhone 3GS
6) iPhone 4S

1) Apple iPhone, because it was the first iPhone. It revolutionized the market. It was a gamechanger.

2) iPhone 4, because it was a really big upgrade from the iPhone 3GS. Of course the best thing was, in my opinion, the retina display. It was the first real iPhone that had basically all features that were necessary.

3) iPhone 5, because it finally makes the iPhone really mature. Not only is it much lighter and more durable (thanks to the aluminium back that won't easily break (unlike glass)), but because it's actually an heavily improved iPhone 4. It's also more future proof thanks to the bigger display, the new dock connector that will be used throughout this decade and the new A6 chip which is a real powerhouse. It's able to beat 1.5 GHz quad-core CPUs, and it's triple-core GPU even beats the quad-core GPU found in iPad 3.

4) iPhone 3G. It was not a huge upgrade compared to the original iPhone, but it did bring a new design, GPS. It was the iPhone the first generation iPhone needed to be. Like the iPad 2 needed to be the original iPad.

5) iPhone 3GS. It brought Voice Control in a wide variety of languages (unlike Siri), finally an acceptable camera, video recording, better battery life and more. It improved the iPhone 3G in every aspect. It also became much faster - which was really necessary.

6) iPhone 4S. This was, by far, the most boring upgrade. Siri is only available in some languages and that's supposed to be the unique selling point. The better camera was great, but it wasn't necessary (unlike the 3G > 3GS camera upgrade). It also didn't need to be faster, unlike the iPhone 3GS. The iPhone 4S was a decent upgrade, but nothing special and nothing necessary.
 
Last edited:
they were all the best iphone at time of release! :D

ok, i would rank them
iphone 2g
iphone 5
iphone 4
iphone 4s
iphone 3gs
iphone 3g
 
iPhone 5.
I have another thread about why iOS was behind android before this. But now it's caught up in features in a more stable, better supported, higher quality platform.

Hardware is secondary, but even then I'd say the original iphone, then iPhone 5. LTE, thin, light, amazingly powerful w decent battery life. Amazing display.

Next I'd say iPhone 3G because it added 3G. Models in between seem incremental.
 
1. iPhone the 1st original - nothing like it at the time def game changer
2. iPhone 5 - is THE fastest smartphone with best screen
3. iPhone 4 - Retina was best screen ever in a mobile device
4. iPhone 3G - many improvements over original - GPS
5. iPhone 4S - Siri
6. iPhone 3GS - many phone manufacters had specs well above the 3GS at its release including some with "4G" web and this added video which almost all phones had at the time
 
Original (reinvented / game changer) and iP5 (refined to almost absolute perfection; most beautiful, fastest, lightest, thinnest, most durable and the best of them all) ... The Dr. J & Michael Jordan of smartphones - they reinvented & perfected the game.
 
Last edited:
iPhone 4.

I went from the original to 4 and the difference was so overwhelming. Better design, speed, everything.
 
ThatsMeRight said:
The original iPhone because, well, it was the first iPhone.
iPhone 3G because of the App Store, 3G, GPS and for the first time widely available in other countries.

This is my list. "1)" is most special, "6)" is least special.

1) Apple iPhone (first generation)
2) iPhone 4
3) iPhone 5
4) iPhone 3G
5) iPhone 3GS
6) iPhone 4S

1) Apple iPhone, because it was the first iPhone. It revolutionized the market. It was a gamechanger.

2) iPhone 4, because it was a really big upgrade from the iPhone 3GS. Of course the best thing was, in my opinion, the retina display. It was the first real iPhone that had basically all features that were necessary.

3) iPhone 5, because it finally makes the iPhone really mature. Not only is it much lighter and more durable (thanks to the aluminium back that won't easily break (unlike glass)), but because it's actually an heavily improved iPhone 4. It's also more future proof thanks to the bigger display, the new dock connector that will be used throughout this decade and the new A6 chip which is a real powerhouse. It's able to beat 1.5 GHz quad-core CPUs, and it's triple-core GPU even beats the quad-core GPU found in iPad 3.

4) iPhone 3G. It was not a huge upgrade compared to the original iPhone, but it did bring a new design, GPS. It was the iPhone the first generation iPhone needed to be. Like the iPad 2 needed to be the original iPad.

5) iPhone 3GS. It brought Voice Control in a wide variety of languages (unlike Siri), finally an acceptable camera, video recording, better battery life and more. It improved the iPhone 3G in every aspect. It also became much faster - which was really necessary.

6) iPhone 4S. This was, by far, the most boring upgrade. Siri is only available in some languages and that's supposed to be the unique selling point. The better camera was great, but it wasn't necessary (unlike the 3G > 3GS camera upgrade). It also didn't need to be faster, unlike the iPhone 3GS. The iPhone 4S was a decent upgrade, but nothing special and nothing necessary.
Click to expand...

siri doesn't even work most of the time
 
children said:
THE iPhone

Image

""An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator. An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator.... these are NOT three separate devices!""

No other phones in the history of phones have come close imo.
Even the iPhone 5, I was on the fence, I wouldnt have bought one if the Lumia 920 came out earlier..
Click to expand...

Yes seriously! I used three treo smartphones, one windows mobile, one blackberry. None if them did Internet and music (which are two of the most important use case) well at all!
 
There's a qualifier within this question of "when it first came out". I interpret that to mean at launch of the product. Based on that I would eliminate the original iPhone from being at or near the top of the list. When it was introduced there were a number of restrictions in place including the ability to even buy a song while out on the road. App Store? Nope. MMS? Nope. Copy paste? Nope (egads, remember those discussions?)

Therefore, I would say that the iPhone 3G was the best "when it first came out" in that the App Store was there, it had GPS, Bluetooth stereo, and features that allowed it to essentially be a robust platform they day it launched. In the grand scheme of things you could look at the original iPhone as a working mockup that got everyone thinking and set the stage for the 3G.
 
1st gen
4
5
3GS
4S
3G.

Subject to change.

1st gen was great but not for $600. I snagged one when the $400 price drop came and jailbroke it asap. But it's what got this whole thing started (buying nothing but iPhones, with exception to trying a Galaxy Nexus this year after swapping phone manufacturers/models all the time in the past)

4 was just "take my money."

5 was "take my money" too but we knew what was coming and it took design hints from 4/4S. Same with the 4 with the leak, but we didn't know what we were in for with Retina. In the same way we didn't know what was coming with 5 lightness in person. And that A6 power!

3GS was a tremendous leap after two gens of same hardware minus the 3G radio and a plastic curved back body. The fact it can run iOS 6.0 and was released in 2009 is quite something. I also used this as my backup phone between selling my 4S (craigslist acquired) in the summer and Nexus at the end, and waiting for the 5 with an upgrade.

4S was quite the leap too after 4 for 18 months with new cam and A5 but it was a letdown after all the crazy rumors.

3G was great because 3G was needed desperately. But terribly unimaginative. I was excited for a body design change.
 
thadoggfather said:
1st gen
4
5
3GS
4S
3G.

Subject to change.

1st gen was great but not for $600. I snagged one when the $400 price drop came and jailbroke it asap. But it's what got this whole thing started (buying nothing but iPhones, with exception to trying a Galaxy Nexus this year after swapping phone manufacturers/models all the time in the past)

4 was just "take my money."

5 was "take my money" too but we knew what was coming and it took design hints from 4/4S. Same with the 4 with the leak, but we didn't know what we were in for with Retina. In the same way we didn't know what was coming with 5 lightness in person. And that A6 power!

3GS was a tremendous leap after two gens of same hardware minus the 3G radio and a plastic curved back body. The fact it can run iOS 6.0 and was released in 2009 is quite something. I also used this as my backup phone between selling my 4S (craigslist acquired) in the summer and Nexus at the end, and waiting for the 5 with an upgrade.

4S was quite the leap too after 4 for 18 months with new cam and A5 but it was a letdown after all the crazy rumors.

3G was great because 3G was needed desperately. But terribly unimaginative. I was excited for a body design change.
Click to expand...

I remember when I used to be excited for 3G and felt like it was the fastest thing ever.
Now I'm on Verizon and I can't turn it off so its whatever now.
 
iPhone 4 without a doubt. It was way ahead of the rest of the field. The iPhone 5 is really only an iteration of that design.
 
My only personal experiences with the iPhone have been the original iPhone and now, the iPhone 5.

Having noted that, when the iPhone arrived in the summer of 2007, it was truly an exceptional change for me. It was definitely a glimpse of things to come for mobile phones in general.
 
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