iPod and media playback
The good news is that the iPod is almost identical to the application found in the original iPhone and iPod Touch. Syncing with iTunes on your Mac or PC is simple, and media playback is excellent; the menus are fast, especially cover flow, and the sound quality is great.
Interestingly there is no music player options or settings in the iPod application. When we started listening to music using the bundled earphones our first thought was that we'd love to pump the bass up a few notches, however, this is only possible by exiting the iPod app and going into the general phone settings. Even phones that play music at half the price of the iPhone include equaliser settings in a context menu; the Motorola ROKR E8 includes a dozen preset options and seven levels of "bass boost".
Luckily, the poor sounding bass is due to the crummy bundled earphones and not the iPhone's audio hardware. The iPhone's 3.5mm headphone port means this is easily overcome by using your favourite headphones, or by plugging the iPhone into a compatible sound system.
Video playback is fantastic when playing iPod optimised MPEG-4 files. This is true of all media you have access to with the iPhone. The iPhone will play MP3, AAC, Audible, Apple Lossless, WAV, and AIFF audio files, as well as MPEG-4 or H.264 video files.
Camera
There's not much to report here. The iPhone's 2-megapixel camera is one of the worst we have encountered, especially at this price point. The picture quality is average but it's the bare-bones camera software that has disappointed us most. No flash, no auto-focus, no digital zoom, no photo correction application, no adjustments in size or quality, no white balance, no colour filters. Basically, you have to be standing in a well-lit environment with your subjects close to you for your pictures to turn out well.
App Store
This is easily our favourite iPhone feature. There is simply no better, "one-stop shop" style download service available for smartphones. Even at launch, the App Store is populated with dozens of excellent new applications for the iPhone. The best of these will cost money, and rightly so, but you can also search the App Store for free applications only.
Paying for new software is identical to paying for new music through iTunes, in fact, you can use the same account. Selecting an application to download is a two-step process and couldn't be easier. In no time you'll be tinkering with new, fun and productive applications for the iPhone.
Battery Life
The first generation iPhone enjoyed long battery life, mainly due to the lower power consumption of its EDGE network capability. The iPhone 3G faces the same battery draining concerns that Nokia has been struggling with since it released the N95. Our first full battery charge lasted only eight hours. We did use the phone heavily, including two hours of calling, 90 minutes of video playback, two hours of music and about an hour online, but for most people this isn't unreasonable usage over the course of a day. Also notice this list doesn't include any GPS usage, push email or Wi-Fi networking.
Subsequent battery cycles have been better, but not significantly — the best we've seen so far is just over 12 hours. Expect to charge the iPhone 3G at the end of each day and don't forget that when this performance decreases over time you won't be able to replace the battery easily.
Overall
The blasphemy must end: this is not the Jesus phone. The iPhone 3G is a jack of all trades, master of none. Its design and usability were revolutionary this time last year, and remain so. The iPod and the internal storage are outstanding, but we can't overlook the absence of numerous important features commonly found in the competition, let alone handsets available for a third of the price. The 3G speeds are average and the excellent GPS chipset is overkill without a decent navigation solution.
The App Store is the best service of its kind, but only further emphasises the functionality the handset is missing out of the box. It's true that most of the iPhone's missing software capabilities — no video capture, no MMS, no internet sharing, no accessible file structure — may be corrected by third-party applications in time, but this will only occur when someone other than Apple dedicates the time to developing these applications. Unfortunately, this may end up setting you back more money to cover what is otherwise commonplace smartphone functionality.
But our biggest concern is value for money. Forget everything Steve Jobs said about "the iPhone being affordable to just about everyone". Australia's three iPhone carriers are (unsurprisingly) intent on making as much money as possible out of iPhone customers, and the iPhone plans we've encountered range from eye-rollingly to mouth-gapingly expensive. For example, if you were previously on a AU$49 capped calling plan you can expect to pay an extra AU$20 a month for a similar iPhone plan, mostly to pay for the included data allowance, but without an increase in included calls and messaging. Then you need to add the additional expense of the iPhone itself.
If local iPhone pricing emulates what we saw in the US last year, we expect a price drop in two or three months. Until then, check your budget carefully before signing your life away, and make sure you have enough money left over to buy some decent headphones.
16%
7%
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