Apple iPhone 3G v 3GSi - a real world user comparison

Our Managing Director has used an iPhone 3G for over a year now, and he's been very impressed with it. Whilst he has never been a fan of Apple products in general, always quoting his favour for functionality over form, a brief encounter with an iPhone was enough to convince him that the 3G was the phone for him.

Since then he has remained a true fan and his phone is packed with Applications that he takes great delight in showing people - and then usually forgets he has got them installed and rarely uses more than a handful. But it has kept him happy.

The 3G - in a nutshell

For mail, FTP access, organising, remote desktop access to our offices and, by far his biggest plaudit for the iPhone, its wonderous abilities for browsing - he considers it by far the best mobile phone available.

What brought about the 3GS arrival

The 3G now has competition. See, he has two mobile phones. In addition to the iPhone he has used a Nokia E90 Communicator for 18 months. A large and cumbersome (slow doesn't even begin to describe its processor) device, the E90 had the advantage of a full proper keyboard and it certainly allowed for swifter typing of e-mails.

Nonetheless, when the Nokia was due for replacement he decided it was time to change. This decision coincided with the recent release of the all new Apple iPhone 3GS(i). So, you can see what is coming now.

He promptly ordered the 3GS(i) in 16gb guise, in black (his 3G is black too so you can imagine the fun this causes at times) and O2 duly delivered it the following day. He then set off to fill with all the same applications that his 3G already had, plus a few more that he discovered whilst pursuing the obligatory random browse of the App Store during the set-up process.

Well we're now 2 weeks further on and his 3G and 3GS(i) have been firmly by his side (or one in each pocket) for the duration and we felt it was apt to ask his opinion on them both. One thing you're assured of when you ask our MD a question is a very direct answer (often much to our regret and retrospective consideration of the fact it was a very dumb question to ask and we really shouldn't have). He'll also not hesitate to tell you if he doesn't rate something even if it means him admitting he made a mistake in buying it. Much to our amusement.

However, his verdict on his new 3GS(i) came as a surprise to us.

What should the differences be?

Firstly, let's look at the basics of what Apple tell you are the improvements on the new model. We're not going to list them all here - just the ones that our MD considers were important purchasing factors.

Battery life, particularly for WiFi access, is claimed to be 50% better on the 3GS.

Processor speed is said to be twice as fast in general operation.

2G conversations are claimed to benefit from an additional 2 hours talk time.

Video playback capacity (hours) is increased by over 40% according to Apple.

It is ever so slightly heavier. Marginally. We'll put this one to bed straight away - he says he had no idea and can't tell the difference.

We could also mention Audio hours being by 25% but we'd be wasting our time because our MD does not use his iPhone in iPod mode. Not once. Never. Not at all. Don't ask us why, he just doesn't do music.

He also completely ignores the improved camera on the 3GS - because he maintains that if you use the camera on the iPhone you must be blind or stupid. He thinks it is appalling and almost impossible to use without picture blur or an urge to throw the device a long distance once you see how poor the picture is. On balance it is fair to say he doesn't bother with the camera.

His real world assessment of the 3G v 3GS(i)

Battery

When asked about the battery life being extended on the 3GS(i) he said:

"There is no doubt there is a difference, but I've yet to notice it to any great extent in voice use. The WiFi life is noticeably better, significantly in fact. I don't get frustrated with rapidly declining browsing life now and Apple certainly haven't exaggerated this one. Whether it is worth the difference depends entirely on how much you'll be using WiFi connectivity (which he said he'd expect most iPhone users to use extensively). If you don't use it on WiFi you're not really on the right planet anyway."

Processor speed

Next, processor speed - this is what he had to say:

"Interestingly, I can't say I particularly noticed a difference until I started looking for it. Things on the 3GS just happen, quickly - but it is only on the high overhead applications that you'll really see any gain in time."

He gave us the following examples on speed:

When opening up Messaging (SMS) he reckons the 3GS is about 2-3 times as fast but this depends on the length of the messaging trail you are opening up (the longer it is, the faster the 3GS is over the 3G).

When opening up Settings, he says the 3GS is twice as fast every time. He also said the 3G is fast enough to open Settings to begin with though and he never considered it until he sat the two phones side by side.

He then said that the general increase, across the board, on all applications seemed to be between 50% to 100% faster, so it would appear Apples claim isn't too wide of the mark. We did find it interesting that he'd not really noticed until he took the time to monitor it though; something perhaps indicative of the fact that the 3G is a perfectly quick enough phone to begin with. He certainly holds to that sentiment.

Talk time

When it comes to the increased 2G talk time he commented that there was little doubt in his mind that he wasn't having to charge the new 3GS quite as much as he seemed to have to charge the 3G. Then he said something we found very interesting:

"The thing is, when you've had a 3G for any length of time you become a creature of habit - and you rapidly understand that you need to charge the phone when you're not using it. So, before you know it, you begin plugging it in at every opportunity just in case you get one of those long phone calls that any other phone would cope with but the iPhone doesn't because you used it for an hour earlier in the day."

When he first got the iPhone it's voice battery capacity was a major gripe of his, but his comment made us realise it is something he'd just adapted to. So he isn't particularly seeing any benefit from the enhanced life on the 3GS - because its still an iPhone and he still plugs it in at every opportunity.

Video

He does rate the increased video capacity (battery life) though. His exact words were:

"Yes, there is an obvious and noticeable improvement."

Fair enough on that one then.

Other observations

This isn't the end of the story though, because he then moved on to a couple of other things he said he'd noticed.

He is absolutely adamant that the speakers on the 3GS are worse than on the 3G. We have idea if they've changed them or if the weight or internal redesigns have any impact on them whatsoever, but he says if you run an App with sound effects (a game, for example) that the 3GS speakers are more shrill and distort much more than the 3G.

It's an interesting observation though it could be a purely personal one that is valid on his 3GS alone.

Then he said the 3GS screen wasn't as good. This puzzled us, so we asked why and his answer is one we've never heard before. He believes that the 3G screen is more sensitive than the 3GS, particularly when using the Cut, Copy, Paste, Select etc functions. He demonstrated this and it certainly appeared that the 3G reacted more easily to him wanting to position the cursor in a certain position - it was more accurate and the 3GS seemed to need 2-3 attempts to do what the 3G did first time.

We wondered, does a iPhone screen become more sensitive over time? Perhaps it does and the age of the 3G after a years hard use would explain it? Or, does the 3GS have a less sensitive screen for some reason - be it through design, improvement or unique to this particular 3GS that he has?

Summary

So all in all it would seem that he's pleased with the 3GS and considers it an improvement over the 3G? Well not quite. See, whilst he acknowledges it is a better phone, he doesn't believe it is better by the margin it should have been. He also confesses that had he upgraded a 3G to a 3GS he would be struggling to see any difference, other than WiFi capacity and video playback.

He still thinks voice battery life should have seen a much bigger improvement than Apple have managed. He also thinks that the 3G didn't have any load speed issues to begin with and that the lightweight nature of most applications means that the speed improvement simply wasn't necessary. It may well be an improvement, but was it one Apple needed to focus on?

The lesser screen sensitivity is clearly annoying him on the 3GS and the speaker quality is something that, whilst it isn't really a major factor because of his type of use for the iPhone, he thinks is downright annoying on a phone that holds a price premium over a 3G.

His final judgement

This was a major surprise. When asked, if you're buying an iPhone for the first time and need to chose between a 3G or 3GS, which should you choose?

"The 3G. It is excellent value for money at its current price and does everything you might want it do. If you've not had a 3GS, you're not going to miss anything."

Then, when asked if you had a 3G and were faced with the possibility of upgrading to a 3GS:

"I guess it depends on how you'll use the phone. I suspect your average user will be better off saving the money and staying with the 3G. I would have done if I didn't need two phones anyway."

He did finish by saying he was happy with his purchase purely on the basis he still considered the iPhone to be the best mobile device currently available that met his needs. He simply doesn't believe the 3GS represents the move up from the 3G that it could have been and that if you're going to have one phone, make it an Apple iPhone 3G.

** ARTICLE UPDATE AS AT 20 NOVEMBER 2009 **

Our MD has told us we can update this article now. It's over 3 weeks since his initial comments.

He says the 3GSi speed improvement is now becoming a factor. He said this is because he is now picking the 3GSi up before the 3G, and he has begun to realise that the extra speed it offers does indeed become something you get fond of. However, he said that the main reason is SMS messaging - whereby the 3GSi makes the process much swifter.

He also said battery life extension is becoming much more evident now that he's had more time with the iPhone 3GSi.

Finally, we asked him about the screen sensitivity issue and whether his overall view has changed - he said no, neither has changed and he'd still pick a 3G if budget was a factor and you'd not had an iPhone before.

** ARTICLE UPDATE AS AT 5 JANUARY 2010 **

Time changes things, and that is certainly the case with our MD's views on the 3GSi.

More and more he says the speed is becoming very apparent. Texting, apps, you name it - he is now loathed to use his 3G because of the speed difference.

His view now is that you need to try both phones side by side and decide for yourself if the speed difference is worth it. Over everything else he considers speed to be the biggest factor in the decision making process.

The iPhone 3G is still a fabulous phone and he had absolutely no complaints about it until he got his 3GSi - but there is no doubt it is the Usain Bolt of the current iPhone crop.