While parts of the iPhone 3G are superb, there are still some big features missing from this device. If you add up the extras the iPhone doesn't seem like a phone that everyone can afford.
How do you review a phone with this much hype swirling around it? If the iPhone was on trial for murder, no one who had followed the iPhone's progress would be allowed to join the jury for fear of their pre-conceptions influencing the verdict. In Australia we have the advantage of not having seen an official iPhone release last year, but there's been plenty of first-gen iPhones to play with before now.
Design
Simplicity is the key, and typical of Apple's product range. Physically and in regards to the interface, simplicity is what drives its design, and for the most part it works well. Apple is so confident of the design that it doesn't include a manual in the box. We're not ashamed to admit we've needed Google several times to show us how to perform certain tasks.
The iPhone 3G feels as good as it looks. Its slick glossy exterior fits perfectly in your hand, and feels comfortable against your face. The 3.5-inch display is bright and clear, and never leaves you wishing it were bigger or easier to read.
The much-lauded interface is a pleasure to use with finger-friendly buttons and charmingly designed icons. Screen real estate in most applications are dedicated to what is most important, without menus or settings to distract you. Physical input is well thought out and is reasonably intuitive. Gesture controls using the multi-touch screen are great and easy to pick up.
Far less intuitive is the integration of some of the key applications. For example, images can't be attached to an email while typing the message, the only way to do this is by selecting the option in the photo gallery. If you decide to attach an image after punching in the message, it's tough luck — without copy and paste you'll be left re-typing the entire message again. Similarly, most settings for the individual applications are only located in the General Settings pane, meaning you have to exit an application to change one of its settings, then re-enter the app to continue your work.
A point of contention for the original iPhone was the on-screen keyboard. Apple has worked hard to include a slew of business-focused functionality in the iPhone, but we predict a lot of business people will shy away from a smartphone that's without a full, physical QWERTY keyboard. After using the iPhone for several days we have got much better at bashing text into messages and search fields; however, it's still considerably more cumbersome than using a BlackBerry, or similar.
3G, Wi-Fi, connectivity
3G is such an important selling point for Apple in this second release that it becomes part of the iPhone's product title. Yet it's hard to congratulate Apple for including a feature we see every other day of the week in the phones that cross our desks. No 3G in the first generation was an astounding omission, its inclusion in this release is simply a correction to this oversight and allows the iPhone to compete with the growing range of excellent smartphones in the market.
We've been lucky to have been able to test the iPhone 3G on Telstra's Next G network, making our review unit one of the world's fastest iPhones. However, we're yet to see data speeds faster than those that are being reportedly delivered by Optus and Vodafone. On average we've experienced data throughput of about 1Mbps, which isn't mind-blowing.
As with the first generation, Wi-Fi is the saviour. Setting up a connection to a Wi-Fi network is as easy and painless as it can possibly be, and the results far outshine the 3G throughput, equating to about three times faster downlink speeds.
And what about all the terrible things you've heard about limited Bluetooth profiles and no MMS messaging? It's all true. Out of the box you can only use Bluetooth to connect to a hands-free headset, so no A2DP stereo Bluetooth, file transfers or internet sharing. Pictures you take can be emailed to friends, but not sent directly to another mobile device. Though, with the dismal quality of the camera this is not such a great loss — but more on that later.
Web browsing
Believe the hype: the Safari browser is fantastic. Web pages render quickly, and most importantly, clearly. Pinching, spreading and panning finger gestures are some of the most intuitive controls imaginable and as much fun to use as they are efficient. The browser also incorporates one of the best tabbed browsing solutions we've seen on a mobile device. Though it's not without its hiccups. The popular Sydney Morning Herald website struggled to render correctly and inexplicably crashed the browser twice in the space of five minutes, sending us back to the Home screen.
Worse still, on our first day of testing, the iPhone crashed twice and needed to be hard reset. Once was during Web browsing while we tried to view a large image on a Web page. The second crash occurred when using a program we had downloaded from the App Store called SnapMyLife — a geotagging photo blogging application.
GPS and location-based services
After the official iPhone 3G announcement, experts agreed that GPS would be the most important improvement for the iPhone. In fact, analysts have been speculating whether a GPS enabled iPhone would be the death knell for stand-alone navigation devices. However, to strike this nail in the coffin of personal navigation devices the iPhone needs navigation software, and we were disappointed to discover this type of software is not pre-installed.
What is installed is an iPhone optimised version of Google Maps, which we love. Updating your current position is a one-click operation, and searching for local businesses is a breeze. Best of all is how Google Maps is integrated with other iPhone functions, like being able to call a business directly from its Google Maps entry. That said, Google Maps is more a Yellow Pages substitute than a true navigation solution and doesn't offer any sort of voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, making it nearly useless for travelling with in your car. The software can plot a course, but checking your progress while driving would be extremely dangerous.
Also absent is any form of GPS statistics including signal strength or the amount of data used by the phone to triangulate your position using Assisted GPS (A-GPS). The latter is troublesome considering what a sticky issue mobile data allowances are in Australia at this time, and is compounded by there being no option to turn A-GPS on and off.
It's quite a shame as the GPS hardware is superb. Within moments of opening Google Maps outdoors, the iPhone pinpointed our position and was tracking our movements with outstanding accuracy. Hopefully the rumoured TomTom mobile navigation software for the iPhone is nearly complete — though expect to have your credit cards ready for that one.
Calling, messaging & email
We weren't surprised to discover that the iPhone does all the basics well. The calls we made were loud and clear, and we enjoyed good, strong reception. SMS messaging includes threaded messaging — where consecutive messages to a single contact are listed like an instant messaging conversation — and is a feature also available in BlackBerrys and the soon-to-be-released Windows Mobile 6.1.
Email can be automatically configured if you use one of the listed compatible email services; MS Exchange, Apple's MobileMe, Gmail, Yahoo or AOL. Otherwise you have to go through the arduous process of entering your mail server settings manually. We were disappointed to find that Windows Live Hotmail accounts aren't apart of the list of known email servers, considering the popularity of this service in Australia (although Hotmail is accessible through the Safari browser).
The iPhone 3G supports push email for MS Exchange and MobileMe. All other services are updated manually when you open the email pane. Reading your email is exactly as it should be; the messages render clearly and the iPhone is capable of viewing numerous attachments such as images, some MS Office documents, and PDF files.
6%
2%
Doesn't rock my world like the Touch Pro or Xperia X1 but for a circa $300 price tag on contract with voda or optus I think this might be a go
The good: 3G finally Windows Exchange compatible
The bad: No memory card slot 2mp Camera no flash