3G S First Impressions...
Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 7:05AM I've had the iPhone 3G S for less than 24 hours, but I thought I'd post some of my first impressions, mainly those that I've not seen commented on elsewhere:
Performance: Pretty snappy but not as earth shatteringly faster as I'd expected when using the standard interface and menus. Where it does shine, is in application loading times - much,much quicker. This does enhance the overall experience and does make "switching" applications much less troublesome. Oh, and search is blindingly fast on the 3G S, they just need to expose some of the configuration settings in search, that would be a great bonus.
Camera: Much improved. Auto focus and auto everything else seems pretty spectacular. It makes you realise just how bad the camera in the 3G is!
Video: Game changer. No more to be said.
Screen: The 3G has a oleophobic coating. This is wonderful and even after using the phone for a couple of hours, there is hardly a smudge on it. I can really see this technology as an enabler for much larger handheld devices (Ahem!). It also feels much slicker to use. A great addition.
Voice control: Works seamlessly, without having to train your iPhone with your voice. It takes a little too long to invoke the feature from the menu button for my liking as you have to hold it down for a few seconds. However, you can control it from the supplied headset, which seems more transparent. I can see myself using this feature a lot whilst driving, especially controlling the iPod playback. I would imagine this feature will be updated significantly over time, with updates at each firmware revision allowing for more control over more features. It's also something I could see third party hardware manufacturers exploiting, especially now they have the ability to interface devices to the iPhone. Apple just need to release the voice control API.
Compass: Works suprisingly well, although the feature is a little bit hidden on the Maps. You need to go into the compass application and access the maps through there, then hit the map button a couple of times. Took me a little while to find it and it may be lost for some people if they don't know it's there. Update: You can access the compass through Google maps, just tap on the location button twice. Every time I've tried to use Google Maps on the 3G, especially when walking in a city, it has been frustrating, as you don't know which way you're facing. The compass has fixed this and made it a killer feature.
Mains Adapter: Wow! They've built the charger into a standard plug. Amazing! Update: See the @DavidBCohen picture and @sydov picture for a comparison
I'm sure that there are more features that will impress me as I use the device from day to day, but the 3G S is certainly a big step up from the 3G and gets two thumbs up from me.
Reader Comments (17)
Nice. What about the battery life? I know that's too early to talk about that, but please update us about that later.
I guess the charger on the previous model was different then? As an iPhone virgin I suppose I don't "appreciate" these things in the same way. It is really neat though, and other manufacturers could learn a thing or two from Apple in terms of packaging!
"They’ve built the charger into a standard plug."
Eh? don't get that! What do you mean??! :)
See @DavidBCohen http://twitpic.com/7vub1" rel="nofollow">picture
The charger that came with my iPhone 3GS (in the U.S.) didn't have a charger like that one. Mine is the type they re-issued with the little green dot on it.
I just activated my new phone about 90 minutes ago (waited for the mad rush of activations to die down), and there are already a few things I like.
It is speedier, I can tell by opening apps and also in reading emails. I like the landscape mode in mail and see that it is also in contacts. It may be elsewhere but I haven't checked. The search function is great, and the Voice Control worked great for me. Found the person immediately and gave me the multiple matches in phone numbers. I didn't call anyone since it was 2:00am at the time. I also like the battery percentage.
Haven't tried the compass and to be honest, don't get the excitement (yet). I can tell which way I am going by the movement of the little blue dot in GPS, but I may be missing something.
Finally, 32GB will allow much more content as I had already filled up my 16GB 3G.
Jim
LOL, just found the compass mode on the map, thanks to Don! There is no way I would have found that otherwise... I doubt most people will ever find it LOL
Cool! I'm suprised just how hidden away that is. I would have thought it would be accessible via the usual google maps option. Glad to be of assistance.
Whoops, just double checked and you can get to the compass from Maps. Just tap on the location icon twice. I thought it was a bit strange
Nice one Don. Slightly off topic but have you got any recommended "killer apps" for an iPhone virgin?
"search in 3.0 is blindingly fast on the 3G S, they just need to expose some of the settings in search, that would be a great bonus."
This might clarify things:
Settings:
Go into Settings>>General>>Home>>Search Results. Choose which categories you want included by the Spotlight search.
Two excellent pieces on new features:
http://www.ismashphone.com/2009/06/how_to_use_best_40_features_of_iphone_3.html
and
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/06/17/iphone-30-software-walkthrough/
I think you misunderstood what I meant. I actually meant the settings within the settings configuration menus. So you could go straight to Data Roaming for instance.
Wasn't sure but the URL's I mentioned led me to discover a lot of features that I wasn't aware of.
Oleophobic? Sounds like a fear of margarine! :-) I hadn't heard about that feature before.
Thanks for all the great info. I just ordered a 32GB 3G S this past Monday, from Apple's web site, so I don't expect to receive it for another week. It'll replace the 8GB original iPhone I've had for two years.
Just a follow up on my compass comment. I got the chance to use it today as I was driving on highway 101 to a little league baseball game.
It is nice to see which way I am facing, however, the google map with the compass on kept flipping around all over the place, as if I was doing 360 degree circles (while driving). Not sure what was going on. Also, as I got close to my destination, I got a message that there was interference and that I should re-calibrate the compass. Didn't want to try this while driving, so not sure what I would do if I was truly depending on it.
One thing I did really like about the compass was that it kept me (via the blue dot) centered on the map at all times. This is really helpful on long trips where previously, the blue dot would leave the screen and I would have to scroll to find myself again. That alone makes it worthwhile to me.
Jim
Hi Don,
I just had a thought - I have no idea how it's going to work when I get an iPhone for transferring my apps from my iTouch to the new phone. I'm also not too sure about Jailbreaking, what it entails, what the pros and cons are etc. so I was wondering if you had plans to do a ScreenCast on this kind of topic?
I can't wait to get one - I've read your blog entries and tweets with envy! I have to wait until Friday for it to come onto my operator though and, as bad luck would have it, I'm in England! I have to wait even longer!
Keep up the good work, still watch each SCO show religiously each week.
Bonne continuation, comme on dit en France!
Daley.
@Daley
The apps I purchased on my original iPhone all transferred over to my 3G when I got it. I'd imagine it would be no different with an iPod touch (although it did just restore the backup of my old phone to the 3G, so I may be wrong here).
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