Hype, hype, hype. Now that the iPhone 3G launch has blown over and I’ve been able to integrate the phone into my daily routine, I think we’re ready for an official CrunchGear review. Our advice? Wait. With 60% certainty I predict a minor hardware or, more likely, software update in the next month or to improve the 3G’s thus far abysmal battery life.
The iPhone 3G is incrementally better than the 1st generation iPhone, which means that only die-hards and non iPhone users should upgrade. Everything good about the iPhone is still here – the UI, the size and shape, the music player. To paraphrase Churchill: It has been said that iPhone is the worst mobile phone except for all the others that have been tried.
3G is nominally faster in the right areas – my Brooklyn haunt is not one of them – so if you were expecting improvements over EDGE think again. While most folks in urban areas will see a bump, the iPhone 3G has yet to show marked improvements over the standard EDGE/Wi-Fi combo that worked so well in the first model. I think 3G is a red herring, something Apple threw in at AT&T’s request to showcase their network. 3G burns up battery life and does not automatically shut off when out of range.
I think GPS on the iPhone was aimed at the international market where the tendency to buy all-in-one devices rather than a small group of specialized devices is more prevalent. Europe and Asia don’t want to spend $500 on an in-car GPS device when their phone can do it for them. Adding GPS to the iPhone is a nod to their desires, not our own. Without turn-by-turn the iPhone’s GPS is useless in the car unless you have a navigator. A Garmin or Tom Tom device is more cost-effective in this case.
Then there is “push” email and Exchange support. IT shops have gotten away with saying “We don’t support the iPhone” for over a year now and now they have no choice but to support it. This is an enterprise play by Apple who sees that Windows Mobile is offensive to the soul and RIM’s BlackBerry is an email machine and little else. Could they have added something simple like cut and paste rather than Exchange support in this iteration? Sure, but cut and paste doesn’t bring IT shops around. Exchange support does.
In this new firmware we also find MobileMe support, Apple’s answer to a personal Exchange server. As someone who uses all of the applications that MobileMe supports – Mail, iCal, Address Book in OS X – I’m happy with the functionality. If I were coming from the Windows world I’d probably be hard-pressed to pay $99 a year for something that seems redundant. All of the sharing systems built into MobileMe already exist in some form elsewhere and everything else can be recreated simply by plugging the iPhone in and syncing to desktop applications like Outlook. So far the push calendar and contacts have been great but they are not particularly noticeable nor was I desperate for their addition.
Then we have the App Store. This is where the 2.0 firmware shines and, in a way, stinks. A jailbroken first generation iPhone was a utopia. Nerds helped nerds break the Apple shackles and programmers made amazing programs for the iPhone without Apple’s tacit approval. Some of the apps were stupid and some were great. It was like a little Linux box in your hand. That’s all gone now. The App Store is a collection of applications you have to pay for and many well-known programming shops have brought out some amazing stuff. Roll through the app store and you’ll find the silly and the sublime. While most of the games showcase the iPhone’s amazing graphical capabilities, others look like they were written by a kid with a programming book and a dream. But the 3G doesn’t have a monopoly on apps, because the 2.0 firmware works on the first generation and the Touch. The App Store is a must have, but everyone can have it.
Finally, there’s the battery life. I know multiple sites have waved their hands over the numbers and found that the 3G is in fact quite long-lasting. In my experience I’ve found that I can get a full 18 hours of normal usage given I don’t do much browsing. I also know that my use case is fairly uncommon – I have 12,246 unread messages right now and I get about ten or twenty every half-hour. However, I don’t think it’s that uncommon. I’ve set the auto-fetch to every hour and I’ve seen some improvement in speed but the battery will be a major issue soon enough – these things get worse, not better, over time and as I recall another device with a similar problem, the Sidekick, eventually petered out to eight hours on a good day and four hours on a horrible one.
I worry that once the push notifier system described at WWDC – the thing that will enable background processes – launches in September the battery life will fall even more. Push is expensive in terms of battery life
I won’t deny the 3G is a compelling piece of hardware. You know I love it and want to marry it, but the battery issue must be dealt with and the only thing I can imagine Apple will do is release a new bit of firmware. My biggest fear, however, is that this is a design flaw that will require a full recall. If that happens, watch out. If you thought lines at the Apple store were long for the launch wait until the Geniuses have to deal with a million irate customers.
So, should you buy it? If you’re looking to upgrade your phone and are out of contract, wait until next month. By the ides of August the hype should have died down, the back orders should have shipped (there’s apparently a 21-day wait time now) and most of the bugs should be addressed. It’s a great phone — there’s no doubting that — and the 3G is a better phone than the first generation, at least in terms of the network improvements.
Currently own an iPhone? Hang onto it for a while. There is some part of me that wishes I hadn’t given mine away last month. It’s a good phone and we can only hope that the next update will be less incremental and more revolutionary.
Bottom line: It’s great, but wait.
WTF? I have no idea how you’ve come to that conclusion that the battery issue “must be dealt with”. How is that a “design flaw”? Apple will do no recall unless the things explode. Have you used any other 3G phone (per your article I can only conclude – no)? Battery issue is “short” on all of them. The question is it “good enough” for a phone? If your opinion is “no” – great mention that – but to state its a “design flaw” is stretching it.
(Plus – guess what!?!? you can turn 3G off! but of course mentioning that would of distracted you from your irrational conclusion)
He wasn’t writing a comparison to other devices, it was a review of the iPhone 3G. I see what you’re saying, but I get the feeling that most people interested in the iPhone aren’t going to even consider other 3G devices out there.
BATTERY ISSUE FIXED
Simply FORCE a RESTORE in iTunes. The wrong firmware is in the orginal 3G phones. iTunes does not tell you that the firmware is incorrect at this time so do not bother the CHECK for UPDATES.
A FORCED RESTORE downloads the correct firmware from Apple and updates the 3G iPhone to the exact same version 2.0 (5A347)that is in the last batch to be sold this week.
In most cases it isn’t worth trying to pull in a backup of your iPhone as most of these are corrupted. Just set it up as a new iPhone all over again and re sync to iTunes. You should notice that the battery issue is fixed immediately after a full charge an a useage cycle. After that try to keep the batttery charged as much as possible as it will last longer. Use the iPhone when connected to AC or on a car charger if at all possible to avoid using a portion of a discharge cycle. The iPhone battery has a life that is good for about 400 full discharge cycles.
The wrong firmware is iPhone firmware 2.0 (5A345)
The correct firmware is 2.0 (5A347)
Victor: trying it now.
BATTERY ISSUE FIXED
Simply FORCE a RESTORE in iTunes. The wrong firmware is in the orginal 3G phones. iTunes does not tell you that the firmware is incorrect at this time so do not bother the CHECK for UPDATES.
A FORCED RESTORE downloads the correct firmware from Apple and updates the 3G iPhone to the exact same version 2.0 (5A347)that is in the last batch to be sold this week.
In most cases it isn’t worth trying to pull in a backup of your iPhone as most of these are corrupted. Just set it up as a new iPhone all over again and re sync to iTunes. You should notice that the battery issue is fixed immediately after a full charge an a useage cycle. After that try to keep the batttery charged as much as possible as it will last longer. Use the iPhone when connected to AC or on a car charger if at all possible to avoid using a portion of a discharge cycle. The iPhone battery has a life that is good for about 400 full discharge cycles.
The wrong firmware is iPhone firmware 2.0 (5A345)
The correct firmware is 2.0 (5A347)
This was a poorly written review that gave little insight into what to expect from the new iPhone.
A hardware recall? Come on, Crunchgear. You are the sister of Techcrunch, get your shit together and post better, and more believable reviews. This one was quite bad.
I hope that the Push Notification API doesn’t hurt battery life much. That was the point of Apple federating all pushes through them so individual apps don’t need to maintain open connections for pushes.
I’m pretty sure that the push notifications will be based on specially formatted text messages, similar to how visual voicemail works. If true, it’ll probably affect your battery life only as much as the additional text messages would, and perhaps less so if you could tweak the notification settings for each app (i.e. don’t turn on the backlight, etc).
When it can,
1. Cut and paste
2. Take full motion video
3. Have better battery life
4. Use A2DP over bluetooth for wireless headsets
5. Have a real keyboard
6. Be more open to “other” music services
7. Not require ATT service
8. When you can switch away from apps without losing them
9. etc.
My current phone is all of the above and more.
You love it and want to marry it? Isn’t this the same sort of insanity that drives perfectly nice women to marry convicts on death row?
When all those things are implemented you’ll have more reasons why you wont. I hate people like you. You’ve never tried it, you think you know they are important, but you have no idea what you are talking about. I’ve been using an iphone since they first came out and I’ve never needed copy and past. That is such a red herring and gives MS fanbois something to whine about.
I’ll buy an iphone when it:
1. Solves world hunger
2. Has sex with me when I want
3. Can double as a hat
4. etc
You’re current phone is a POS.
Now go away.
Silly me for defining what I need, I should just let Apple tell me what I need, which of coarse is whatever poser pile they happen to be hawking. Keep drinking the Kool-Aid dude, the world needs more Lemmings.
Ah an apple fan boy. Hand your head in shame man. How does one live with themselves. :(
Uhhh.. have you tried the VNC app that’s available for free at the app store? You can basically cut, paste, use excel, word, and photoshop to make your iphone a valentine. check it out. http://www.ismashphone.com/2008/07/vnc-mocha.html
check it out.
And you’d buy anything apple and not even consider that other people may have more of a need than just an ipod with a phone. You’re a douche – now YOU go away
What a moronic response! You assume that we don’t know what we are talking about but guess what asshole! We do. I use my phone 80% of the time to listen to podcasts or music through Bluetooth stereo headsets. The fact that the iPhone is incapable of doing A2DP is a deal breaker for me – period – end of story. Would you buy a device that what you primarily use it for doesn’t work or is not supported? No. Why then do you have your head so far up your ass?
And that non-iPhone wonderphone is????
Not a wonder phone, and could be better, but it does meet my criteria until something better comes along. Ic urrently do the following with it
1. Sync with my companies Outlook exchange.
2. Take full motion videos or still shots when nothing better is available.
3. Keep and access Excel files for daily buisness reasons
4. A2DP Bluetooth music to my office speakers and homw stereo
5. Bluetooth voice/phone in the car.
6. WiFI when at hotels and away from home.
7. Bluetooth contect to my GPS receiver, when driving.
8. Secure digital cards for music / movies / buisness data and alternate setups.
9. Spare battery pack when I am away from the charger for awhile
10. Slide out keyboard.
11. Bluetooth to external keyboard when needed.
12. Take photo’s with my Canon XSI, pull the SD card from the XSI, put it into the phone and email great images.
13. Verizon, better coverage, at least where I live.
Is it the slickest package ever, No. Does it do what I want, yes. Would I look at am iPhone if it had the same or better functionality, of coarse.
VX6800
That non-iPhone wonderphone… Just a guess here, but I’d say anything built by HTC in the past 3 years or thereabouts. Most of tehm have all teh capabilities of the iPhone, plus more. A bunch of them also have proper keyboards that you can use for typing instead of the finicky on-screen one..
A list of smartphones (HTC and otherwise) that are as good or better than the iPhone:
HTC TyTN II
Nokia E90
Nokia N95 (8GB)
HTC TyTN (no GPS, can use bluetooth receiver)
HTC Advantage
Sony Ericsson P1
Sony Ericsson P990
Sony Ericsson xPeria
HTC Touch Diamond/Pro
Plus many, many others that I can’t remember right now.
I love how the iPhone needs a recall and its better than any phone you have ever tested… Flawed thinking buddy.
I’m with blake. Really poor review, barely worth posting. Full of conjecture (esp about Europe and Asia), would love to know when and where the author has travelled…
Can’t comment on whether the iphone is good or not. But I can comment on this sucky review. It sucks. Can we wait for the hype to die down and perhaps get someone to have a second go?
Seriously, you don’t see any speed improvements? Are you sure you’re using it correctly? Are you an intern or something?
Of course, you forgot to mention that a majority of the Apps are free…
i agree.
Yeah, as many have noted, battery life is not stellar with 3G and GPS on (but then, it wasn’t stellar on my AT&T Tilt either, and I recall a lot of Tilt owners looking for modifications to turn off 3G altogether to extend battery life). But with 3G and GPS off, I’m finding the battery life to be significantly better than my original iPhone. The trick does seem to be to turn on 3G when you need it, and turn it off otherwise, which works well for me since I can turn it on when I’m doing some browsing or other intensive use, and leave it off otherwise. But I’m becoming more convinced 3G is worth it; in the worst case scenario where I don’t get good 3G coverage and it falls back to EDGE, it isn’t any worse than my iPhone was, and in fact seems to get a stronger EDGE signal (my old iPhone would get 1 bar of EDGE in my home…. my new one gets 4 bars of EDGE or 1 bar of 3G in my home).
I’m definitely noticing improved 3G speeds. Using the dslreports iphone speed test, I’m now getting anywhere from 700-1150kbps in areas of strong coverage; even when I’m only getting 1 or 2 bars of 3G, the speeds are still solid (dslreports test in the 400-500kbps range…… every now and then it will seem to dip to the 100-200 range, but so far it’s only a few spotty areas where it does that for me). More important than the speed tests of course are just real-world usage, and I am definitely noticing significantly increased load times. This is definitely improving over my first couple of days with it, where even in 5 bar 3G coverage I was not getting very fast 3G performance. Not sure what to attribute that to.
Great review — it cuts to the chase without tedious fanaticism that I’ve seen on other sites — just got my 3G on Tuesday and agree with everything here.
3G in Connecticut is surprisingly good but really a marginal improvement over EDGE for most people.
Biggest bug I’ve seen is that the screen lags big time – especially if you try to go into contacts and make selections. It lags in other areas too but only sporadically.
Today’s the first day I used mine without tethering most of the day to a battery. I’m out of juice at 12:43. My generation one iPhone would have been out around 4pm-ish (or I would have nervously been looking for a charging source)
LOL, turn off 3G. All 3G phones drains like crazy, and those guys have huge thick batteries to compensate, making the device thick like a brick. How Apple got theirs to beat most of them is genius in hardware and OS design.
You likely bought the new iPhone to take advantage of the faster access speeds, so turning it off hardly seems like a good solution.
Maybe the phone should have a sort of auto-sense and turn 3G on and off as and when its needed. Sounds like fairly simple power management to me. To answer my own question, its not so simple. 3G handshaking would add latency to the initial connections.
Of coarse most phones let you change the battery pack to a spare if you need one.
Just like the iPhone. You can get a battery pack or car charger. No need to buy a extra thick fat battery to lug around. Whats your point?
I have a Touch and love it as an iPod. I have an iPhone 3G in my sights and am wondering if I should shelve the Touch and get a 16GB phone that would also be my iPod or do I go with the 8GB and keep the Touch in play? My main concern is battery life on the phone if it’s also used as a music player. Will I constantly be charging it and also killing the battery in the process?
John, I mean this with all due respect… but your articles are usually unimpressive and poorly thought out.
A full recall?? You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about when it comes to 3G.
How about doing a little research before writing a review next time.
Like, um…. I don’t know. Maybe reading about how the Samsung Blackjack 3G has an even shorter battery life than the iPhone when it’s browsing with a 3G connection. As someone else commented….all 3G phones have battery issues. It’s not related to the iPhone…
Do some homework…
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/07/16/apples_iphone_3g_battery_good_for_about_3_5_hours_of_browsing.html
I’ve done the research. I know 3G is hard on batteries, but this is the iPhone 3G, not the iPhone That Shouldn’t Have 3G Turned On.
Christ this is exactly right. If it’s listed as a major feature, it shouldn’t be a huge hassle.
And, as such you would know that the 3G battery life would be as bad on the device with 3G enabled, since your argument is that it is bad on all 3G devices with 3G enabled.
Perhaps a better argument would have been to comapre battery life on the 3G with 3G enabled and again without it enabled. This would have been a much better comparision to battery life overall on the device.
Also, include how battery life on with 3G enabled fairs compared to other 3G devices. It gives the consumer a better sense on how the device performs as a whole, and not just to it’s own predecessor; iphone 1.0.
You might want to reconsider your EDGE/wi-fi argument. You say the combination worked well, and that 3G is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. Perhaps you are not aware that 3G networks are usually the standard in Europe and Asia, with the exception of the likes of O2 and Vodafone that still support it. Nor are you stating that 3G would be a better offering than EDGE when you are not near an avaialbe wi-fi hotspot, since wi-fi hotspots are still hard to come by in most areas of this country. No amount of war driving in most areas will allow you to bounce around from access point to access point with out losing a signal at all.
You are correct, however, in pointing out that the software should be smartiner in identifying when you are out of range of 3G, should it be enabled, and that if they are marketing GPS on the phone as an alternative to a Garmin or TomTom, it should have turn by turn GPS. Although, I suspect we most likely will see that change with a firmware update or two.
As far as features, I think you’ll note that Exchange support was higher on the list than cut and paste. For many IT shops, they simply would not go the way of opening IMAP on Exchange due to security reasons. Only if the device had “push” technology thanks to ActiveSync would they support it. Which means more customers/money for Apple, less so for RIM, and a bigger smartphone market share should they add that feature. If cut and paste is on the list, then we’ll see it in a firmware update or two, depending what else has a higher priority than that.
From what I can see, the App Store is still in beta (possibly a perpetual beta – see GMail), meaning not a complete experience as of yet. Only a limited number of developers have been able to get their apps available, when compared to the amount of developers who have downloaded the SDK. I think given enough time we’ll see more mature applications that will give the same functionality or better than those offered through the current App Store, and the Installer.app/jailbreak process. Again, give it time, and we’ll see the App Store out of beta and become a more robust part of the iTunes store experience.
“Finally, finally, finally.” This is a terribly written review I’m sorry John. I’m usually not one to call people out but… seriously? Not only is it days later than the official Engadget and Gizmodo review but it just doesn’t delve into anything in the correct manner and your speculations of a hardware recall are a bit absurd.
I’m used to the high quality of TechCrunch, this is down right lame. Now I realize why engadget and not crunchgear are in my feed reader.
Thanks for the post. I’m old. I’ve been through the bleeding edge too many times to get sucked into the first day vortex. On Monday I updated my 16gb 1st gen to the 2.0 software. The apps are killer. No question. Around Wednesday my old .mac account reappeared. (You gotta wonder what was going down at 1 Infinite loop between 7/11 and 7/16). Now, it’s me. okay. Much better. (Wish I’d owned that url). So here are the 3 things that still suck about the iPhone (1st or 2nd gen)
AT&T
battery
AT&T
I’m going to take your advice and wait a bit before i rush out for the 3g — ‘cuz the real network enhancement, where I live, is called Verizon.
In reply to Zadillo:
Absolutely! I agree 110% with your entire comment, but especially here, “But I’m becoming more convinced 3G is worth it; in the worst case scenario where I don’t get good 3G coverage and it falls back to EDGE, it isn’t any worse than my iPhone was, and in fact seems to get a stronger EDGE signal (my old iPhone would get 1 bar of EDGE in my home…. my new one gets 4 bars of EDGE or 1 bar of 3G in my home).”
I went on a trip the Saturday following the release from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Tampa Florida and mind you the majority of the trip takes you through “the sticks,” so t speak. In the center of the state where 3G coverage does not reach and EDGE is even on it’s last leg, my GPS worked wonderfully in sparsely populated areas and agricultural towns. When I got to Tampa, I was on the last bar of 3G, which somehow was very fast EDGE quality. And then when my iPhone switched to EDGE completely somehow all five bars on EDGE was faster than five bars on my 2G iPhone.
As far as battery life, I will say that over all I do wish I could go without a charge up at mid-day with 3G on. However, I am aware that what Apple presented at the WWDC keynote was a comparison to other 3G phones–in that regard the iPhone stands out. But in general, all 3G phones suck in terms of long periods of mobility + browser + push usage. The latter aside, the iPhone still shines among it’s peers.
Finally, if there were to be a recall–which I SERIOUSLY doubt–it would be amazing and bad at the same time. Great that a physical battery improvement would be available, but bad that Apple had to do a recall of millions of iPhone 3Gs.
I remember, that Steve Jobs said, that the first iPhone had no 3G because of the short battery life. He was then right and he is today right.
Mr. Biggs I like your review, but I think it’s slightly too harsh. Personally, I honestly didn’t expect perfection from Apple’s iPhone, although I think they’re close.
John – I think you hit the nail on the head with this. I couldn’t agree more with what you say. The fact is there is little to review here over the first gen phone – 3G, GPS and Exchange support. The real bonus is the App store but that is available to first gen owners anyway. I’m with you, I kind of wish I hadn’t jumped so fast.
This review was spot on. Don’t worry John. Its hard for any tech site to review an Apple product negatively because of all die hard fanboys. The thing I used to love about the iPhone is that it was unlike any other touch screen phone. There was no lag and it never crashed on me like WinMo phones do 5 times a day. However, upon installing the 2.0 firmware on my 1st gen iPhone, Ive noticed its not in the same category of other touchscreen smartphones. Theres incredible lag now and I got a soft reset about once a day when I open up an app. I didnt get the 3G because there is not 3G in my area. But I have friends in 3G areas who have it and say that the battery is abysmal. Some even say its almost dead by lunch time. Yeah, you can turn off 3G and fetch, but whats the point of having those features if you have to turn them off? This was hardly an upgrade in my eyes. The fact that it still doesnt have cut/paste, A2DP and a video camera boggles my mind. If they would have added 2 out of 3 of those features I would have been sold. Or even if they would have made it even remotely different than the 1st gen I would have been sold. Sorry, Apple, Ill keep my aluminum backed 1st gen and wait for the next gen.
Finally a real review that digs beyond the hype and focuses on the real experience. Thank you.
How is the reception?
My first-gen iPhone gets next to no reception in my apartment, and I’ve heard that the 3G iPhone has better reception due to it’s plastic case. That’s the only reason I want to upgrade (as I don’t need GPS or EDGE when I’m around wifi most of the time).
The reception is better than the first generation. I really didn’t have any issues with the hacked first gen on T-Mobile, though, so I didn’t think to mention it.
Thanks John.
I’ll have to try it out. There’s always eBay if the reception is no better at my place.
Interestingly, I only get half a bar of 3G at home – but about 2-3 bars of EDGE. The original iPhone consistently got 1-2 bars of EDGE.
So while EDGE reception on the iPhone 3G is better that the original, 3G reception seems to be poorer than both (in my area).
I’m guessing most iPhone users are first time smartphone users. For those of us that have been using 3G smartphones for a few years, we see a big lack of features that can be found on other phones.
The three biggest problems with the iPhone for experienced smartphone users are:
1. No tethering to laptop. Nope, you won’t be able to share that fast 3G connection with a laptop or other devices even though you are paying for unlimited data. Better hope you can find soem WiFi.
2. Poor implementation of Push Email. There’s no way my IT department is going to replace any of our BlackBerry’s with iPhones. Things the iPhone can’t do but other phones can do:
* Only the inbox can be set to synchronize – subfolders can be accessed but no synchronization policy can be set
* No Flagging on email
* Cannot set Out of Office message
* No Hot Keys for managing messages
* Difficult to get to Global Address List
* No support for Activesync Schedule (eg. push during work hrs – pull outside of that)
* No Smart Filtering
* No ability to change sort order of email messages
* No support for Server Search of email messages
* Trying to delete messages or move them when you don’t have connectivity generates lots of errors messages and you cannot actually delete or move when offline
* Message status is not set on the server for replying/forwarding to an email, similarly the status from the server is not provided to the iPhone
* You cannot automatically set attachments to download
* There is no control over maximum attachment size
* You can’t see the number of unread or new emails without unlocking the device
* No ability to invite attendees to a meeting
* You cannot provide a reason for declining meetings
* Attendee status is not available
* There is no click through to get access to information from the GAL for a participant
* No support for setting Out of Office message
* You cannot delete a single occurrence of a recurring meeting – you can only delete the whole series
* Cannot enforce Storage or device encryption
* Remote wipe doesn’t seem to be immediate and restore requires recradling to iTunes
* PIN unlock timeout is not enforced on the iPhone
* You have to ‘slide’ to unlock – then enter the PIN code to unlock the device
Granted, a lot of these are advanced features. However, why make a big deal about Push Email if you aren’t going to make it a better Push Email experience? After all, with Safari you can check your webmail and get a lot of those features.
3. Battery life. Smartphone users know that manufacturers have faced class-action lawsuits over battery life. Most manufacturers offer jumbo-sized batteries as a cheap alternative to get out of the lawsuit. This larger battery usually adds bulks to the form factor of the device.
1st gen iPhone users forced Apple to hand out coupons and refunds after Apple slashed the price of the iPhone shortly after release. You can bet that iPhone Nation is going to be unhappy with the iPhone 3G battery life…especially after they’ve gotten 6-8 months of charges on the device.
Those of the 3 basic reasons experienced smartphone users won’t like the 3G iPhone not to mention:
* No video recording
* No focus on the camera
* No light on the camera
* No zoom on the camera
* No recording of audio on the device
* No physical keyboard
* AT&T exclusivity
* Can you send MMS yet? (I don’t know)
However this phone does have several things that make it accessible to the mass public:
* easy to use user interface
* large 3.5″ widescreen
* solid media playback and storage
Personally, my biggest issue is with the closed source application environment. It is the exact opposite of the Open Source movement. (I see a lot of hypocrisy in being pro Open Source and pro Apple app store. I think if Microsoft did this the web would be rioting).
Only certain developers can release apps, only Apple can approve the apps for release, and if you charge any money of the apps Apple will take their share. If you are a user, you can only buy the apps that are on the iTune marketplace unlike Palm and Windows Mobile users than can get apps and updates directly from the developers’ websites.
That said, I have full faith that the price charged for iPhone apps will be reasonable and that I’ll see apps that suite my needs. Yeah, I am actually leaning toward getting an iPhone.
I really like the UI and the big screen. I think there will be some neat apps that will make the device even more enjoyable.
However, I’m disappointed that I can’t tether on vacation, zoom or focus the camera, and have to give AT&T a 2-yr commitment. I can live without great push email since I use webmail on demand. And I suspect that I’ll be able to deal with the short battery life.
Another negative aspect you forgot to mention is that the Accelerometer won’t work in outer space…you know…because of the zero gravity. I suppose you probably think that’s a major design flaw as well…
So, you can add Astronauts to your list of people that won’t like the iPhone. ;)
Damn fanboys….calm down a little. We all know that Apple can’t do wrong.
I agree with most of the comments here, reading this “Review” was a complete waste of time. It appeared to be written by a high school freshman with absolutely no concept of creating a structured essay.
Can we get a do-over?
Feel free to write your own in crunchgear.com/bff. We’ll all read it over there.
Battery life is better than my motorola razor.
Can we please stop the whining already? I swear these Apple fanboys are a bunch of frickin babies. “Oh look at this it doesn’t work so well”. If it wasn’t for companies like Apple taking a risk and moving into this market and raising the bar we would all still be struggling with half-baked crap and lousy apps.
I don’t understand how the battery life continues to be an issue. I can only conclude that it is part of the strategy and will likely lead to more money for Apple in the long run. – Jermaine Fanfair
I’m commenting from my new 3G iPhone. Up until yesterday I was a loyal verizon customer. It’s fair to say that I have been converted. This is a horrible review and gives absolutely no insight into what using the phone is actually like. Typing? Usage? Apps? Internet features? Why were none of these covered?
those we covered in our iPhone first gen review. http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/07/03/my-weekend-with-iphone-it-kicks-ass-with-room-to-kick-more-later/
You likely bought the new iPhone to take advantage of the faster access speeds, so turning it off hardly seems like a good solution. I agree its not an issue specific to iPhone but still.
Maybe the phone should have a sort of auto-sense and turn 3G on and off as and when its needed. Sounds like fairly simple power management to me. To answer my own question, its not so simple. 3G handshaking would add latency to the initial connections.
Could someone please tell me how I sent up my msn account on the original iPhone? I will not be buying a 3G anytime soon but may in the future when all the hype has died down.
BTW, I think the first three words of this article may explain why there are so many who disagree with the article’s luke warm opinion of the iPhone. I would agree the new device is marginally better but only marginally. Earth shattering it is not and it is still missing a lot of basic features. The sales figures are impressive but they have more to do with fashion as opposed to function.
Also, the AppStore is a huge step in the wrong direction. Trading one walled garden for another is not progress. Reminiscent of Microsoft, Apple continues to ravage who indsutries.
Wow! With 12,246 unread messages you need to start answering some emails – We should see your next post in about two months or so.
I’ve decided to wait on the iPhone 2 to see if the plan prices start coming down in the next 6 months or so. Its still terribly expensive to have one of these!
You suck
This may not be right on target for this post, but I’m trying to figure out why users want video on the iphone. If it is to just record what’s happening and send it to others, that’s understandable, but if they are expecting to have the ability to have video conferences with others, that’s never going to work with the speeds that 3g bring. Even compressed you need 5 to 6 mbps of up and down for that to work and it won’t be the greatest.
With regards to David and his Florida trip, the GPS receiver doesn’t need AT&T, so as long as you aren’t in a hole, you should see a dot for where you are. Where you will be hurting is if you don’t have access to AT&T for google maps, unless of course you have maps on your device.
Video conferencing works on 3G implementations elsewhere. NTT DoCoMo has had 2-way real-time video-conferencing in Japan on their FOMA (similar to UMTS)network for the past 5+ years. It’s not cheap, and most batteries don’t give you more than about 45 minutes per charge. Vodafone Japan had it on their UMTS network, and the new owners left it there when they took over. Various European providers offer it on their UMTS/HSDPA networks as well, as does Rogers Wireless here in Canada, though the prices are through the roof.
As to 3G speeds being barely faster than EDGE… UMTS with the HSDPA overlay is capable of speeds up to 7.2 Mbps (currently). That’s more than significantly faster than EDGE. Several providers around the world have their networks tuned for this speed. There’s no reason AT&T can’t do it. It’d kick the snot out of the out-dated EV-DO networks here in North America.
Video conferencing works on 3G implementations elsewhere. NTT DoCoMo has had 2-way real-time video-conferencing in Japan on their FOMA (similar to UMTS)network for the past 5+ years. It’s not cheap, and most batteries don’t give you more than about 45 minutes per charge. Vodafone Japan had it on their UMTS network, and the new owners left it there when they took over. Various European providers offer it on their UMTS/HSDPA networks as well, as does Rogers Wireless here in Canada, though the prices are through the roof.
As to 3G speeds being barely faster than EDGE… UMTS with the HSDPA overlay is capable of speeds up to 7.2 Mbps (currently). That’s more than significantly faster than EDGE. Several providers around the world have their networks tuned for this speed. There’s no reason AT&T can’t do it. It’d kick the snot out of the out-dated EV-DO networks here in North America.
You have three ‘finally’s’ in a row. I’m confused which is supposed to be the final finally.
Good catch on the finallys. We don’t really have a copy editor.
LOL. Skimmed through and didn’t even noticed it.
That’s funny.
Wow
I was going to start posting all the things wrong with the iphone’s email push software but it seems like “Eric Atkins” above got them all and more !!!
For all the functions that the iphone missed,
I’m still waiting for the Samsung i900 or HTC touch pro to come to the USA market!!!
This is a fair and honest review…No sap.
This is the worst written review I’ve ever read….
3G phones all use up batteries quickly not just the iPhone. Carry the power adapter with you in a purse or backpack or briefcase. Plug it in when there’s an outlet at work or wherever. The 3G iPhone is suppose to web browse 3-5 hours. Turn off 3G when you’re not web browsing so the iPhone will be on EDGE when not web browsing.
Check out this blog: http://www.sports–today.blogspot.com
I think it’s hillarious that all the fanboys constantly try to defend the same old issues with the same lame comebacks… “All 3G phones have problems with their batteries” Well I’m here to tell you, that is a lie. I have a Sprint Blackberry Curve 8330 and its a 3G device and it also has REAL TURN BY TURN GPS and I use the browser , mp3 player, push email (6 accounts), video camera and all the other great features of the phone and I can go 2 full days before I have to charge it. So before you decide to buy into the propaganda, do a little research and make an informed comment next time.
I think it’s hillarious that all the fanboys constantly try to defend the same old issues with the same lame comebacks… “All 3G phones have problems with their batteries” Well I’m here to tell you, that is a lie. I have a Sprint Blackberry Curve 8330 and its a 3G device and it also has REAL TURN BY TURN GPS and I use the browser , mp3 player, push email (6 accounts), video camera and all the other great features of the phone and I can go 2 full days before I have to charge it. So before you decide to buy into the propaganda, do a little research and make an informed comment next time.
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?
See what dream features or even SIMPLE features that are missing for the Iphone 3G below.
http://www.techxiety.com/techxiety/2008/07/meme—product—the-iphone-3g—the-greatest-hyped-product-in-2008.html
Once they nail at least half of the list, then the majority of the Asian population will consider stepping into an Apple store.
If you whining dickheads think your review would be better, then go write one.
I can’t argue with the issue of battery life that is clearly a problem but I think it will take a while before 3G battery life is great, better battery life, better networks, better chipsets. Until then its better that iPhones have the option even if it has some tough tradeoffs.
I like the appstore. I think the policies should be made better for developers but the basic thrust of a protected marketplace for apps is amazing and I think it will enable a lot more developers to engage in the platform when there is a real and vital revenue stream for them. Its really the holy grail for any platform – in that its great for Apple (rev) and developers (rev, exposure, piracy blocking) and consumers (selection, ease, competition, low cost) – even if it has some silly restrictions. Its amazing if Apple can pull it off.
Also, of course Exchange and MobileMe are great solutions and priorities. You can’t break into the enterprise without Exchange. MobileMe is like a personal IT department for $100/y.
GPS is also incredible to have on a device even with a dashboard GPS.
I think we should thank the Marketing Department at Apple and ATT for taking an average smartphone at best and hyping it into a phone that someone would knock there grandmother over to get in a long line to get it. I’ve have several difference smartphones over the years, prefer the Blackberry’s as a overall good phone for personal and business use. I have to text a lot during the day and using the Iphones keyboard is a pain in the behind. Marketing is a wonderful thing in business, you can sell anything to any body.
Oh ye of little faith and even less patience.
The solution to 3G battery drain is embarrassingly simple. An option will soon exist to set the radio to 2G for calls. Then a simple button to turn 3g on when in Safari or an app without the multiple keypresses involved to get to “settings”. When a call comes in it drops to 2G and stays there until you go back to Safari or an app that would benefit with 3G. Not rocket science exactly. What phone is easier to upgrade the OS on and it will be and often.
I, for one, appreciate that Apple is filtering what apps are available. Some of these apps are silly, but I have some faith that Apple review them for malware. Can you say that about some download from a russian porno site you put on your winmobile phone? The developers are getting unprecedented exposure with Apple covering the marketing. You are nuts if you think this is not worth 30% to the developer. Besides what financial arrangement are you comparing this too? You are not. Do you actually think any other phone even approached 10 million downloads over the weekend?
One not so minor point you fail to observe is that iPhone owners actually use the hell out of the phone to such an extent they leave their laptops at home. This, by itself, makes the comparison rather silly. Look at the internet stats about percentage of mobile web access from the iPhone. It represents 50% of mobile web access!
I will be buying an external battery/case for $100 to make it last all day easily because I actually can now leave my laptop at home. I could not entertain that possibility with any other phone, crackberry included.
Most of news and blog sites, including this one, need to learn how to turn off the comment option.
Oh My God, I see below an option for video comments.
I bought a 3G iPhone the day it came out and I’ve never waited in line for anything before. I had a Motorola Q and it had to go. Getting my iPhone and comparing it to MSFT’s Smartphone platform was no comarison. The MSFT UI looked 10 years old. I’ve had it a week now and will say I think it is the most revelutionary hardware device since the laptop. It is so much more than a cell phone. I find I use it all the time for stuff I never did before. Example, my old iPod Nano has been sitting idle for 9 months b/c I never remembered to bring it with me. Now, I listen to music in my iPhone all the time in the car. How about Pandora? That allows me to stream artists I like over 3G inside my vehicle while I’m driving, is there anything cooler? The UI is fresh, intuitive and simple. I find the typing on the keyboard adequate and frankly easier than using the tiny keys on my smartphone. E-mail reading is a synch and nothing kills time like browsing the YouTube videos.
What can I say? I’m an Apple convert and I’m loving every minute of it!
I think this guy would find fault with the Hope Diamond. An obvious self-engourged with testosterone, psudo intellectual ego trip to impress us with his 12000+ unread email messages. Personally, I think this version of the iPhone is incredible.