iPhone 3G Review and Comparison: iPhone vs iPhone 3g

by  • 

Testing and Comparison

Now the biggest selling points for the iPhone 3G, are the 3G speeds and the built in GPS. The biggest complaint about the first iteration of the iPhone was why it operated on the EDGE network instead of the faster 3G network.

The Apple company line was that the 3G network would chew through battery life, so what’s changed? That’s hard to tell; But as someone who has used both the EDGE and 3G versions, I have to say that the 3G’s battery life is much shorter than the older iPhone. Where I would get almost two days of use with the original iPhone on a charge, I barely finish the day with more than 20% battery on the iPhone 3G.

This is probably attributed to the default settings of using Push/Fetch and Location Settings (GPS) of being active. Battery life does improve if these features are shut down.

Compared to other 3G phones, the iPhone seems to do well as seen on tests from various online sources. However, compared to the iPhone, the iPhone 3G is severely lacking in terms of battery life.

The iPhone 3G features the 2.0 version of the phone’s software. The interface is the same on both versions, as Apple has released the 2.0 Software Update for the original model as a downloadable update through iTunes version 7.7.

The main selling features of 2.0 Software Updates include: the ability to install Applications via the AppStore in iTunes or directly on the phone and the ability to use the iPhone in Enterprise settings using Microsoft Exchange.


The other major upgrade is the built in GPS, unfortunately, Apple has crippled the GPS at this current time. Instead of giving the user the ability to use it as a turn by turn voice guided GPS, Apple incorporates it into Google Maps, allowing one to follow their course on the on screen map. The Google Maps application does offer (non-real-time) turn-by-turn directions at the top of the screen; However, it does involve pushing the right arrow and advancing the directions to the next waypoint.

Apple uses the GPS primarily for GeoTagging, for instance, any photos taken with the camera, can be GeoTagged with one’s current location. Some of the native Apps and ones from the App Store do incorporate this information in novel ways, but it is still frustrating to have the ability for GPS and have it crippled. Although, there are rumor that some of the big GPS manufacturers are working on a fully functional GPS app, from my search on the internet, it seems that TeleNav and TomTom are working on iPhone GPS apps, hopefully we will see them soon.

Finally, I want to mention a pet peeve of mine: The iPhone should include a small indicator, like a small light for instance to notify the user when there is a message on the phone, currently to see if you missed a call, received a voice mail or missed a text message, involves turning the iPhone 3G on.