iPhone 3G S: a first look

Kent German CNET

Published: 09 Jun 2009

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iPhone fans got what they were waiting for on 8 June when the third-generation model of Apple's popular handset made its debut during the WWDC 2009 keynote. The O2-exclusive iPhone 3G S, which will be available on 19 June, promises a faster iPhone with an extended battery life, more memory and improved features. It looks exactly the same as the previous model, but both the 16GB (up to £184.98 depending on tariff) and new 32GB (up to £274.23) models will come in white and black versions. The full tariff structure is available on O2's web site.

Although the jump from the iPhone 3G to the 3G S isn't quite as big as the jump from the first-generation to second-generation models, this latest handset still adds enough new features to make it a compelling upgrade for some users. And when you add in all the new features that will come with the iPhone OS 3.0 (available 17 June), we finally get an iPhone that can run thousands of snazzy applications and do something as basic as send a multimedia message.

If you want to upgrade before your current iPhone contract expires, you'll have to pay off the remaining months before starting a new one. So if you have 6 months remaining on a £30-a-month contract, for example, you'll have to pay £180 plus the cost of a new iPhone (£184.98 or £274.23). Also, the new tethering feature — which lets you use the iPhone 3G S as a mobile broadband modem in place of a dongle — will cost an extra £14.68 per month for 3GB or £29.36 for 10GB.

Apple's iPhone 3G S will be available on O2 on 19 June.

Speed
Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, promised that iPhone 3G S (the 'S' stands for speed) will be faster in a number of ways, including a new processor that will enable it to load apps faster.

Schiller didn't provide any hard metrics on the new processor, but he said that the 3G S would open applications two times faster than the previous two iPhones. Honestly, this isn't something that we've been pining for — we would much prefer to get Palm Pre-style multitasking — but we'll welcome it just the same. We'll have to wait for a review model to see how much faster the 3G S is.

Battery life
Although battery life on the first iPhone was mostly satisfactory, the iPhone 3G sucks up juice rapidly. Indeed, you're lucky if your handset lasts longer than a day of heavy use. Luckily, the iPhone 3G S offers some hope. Schiller rattled off statistics that certainly sound promising. It should offer 9 hours of Wi-Fi battery life, 10 hours on video playback, 30 hours on audio playback, 12 hours 2G talk time and 5 hours 3G talk time. As with the processor, we'll have to wait for our review unit to see if these ratings hold up, but we like what we're hearing so far.

Camera
Up until now, the iPhone's camera has been good, but far from great. Picture quality is decent, but camera editing features on the first two iPhones are non-existent. The minimalist cameras bothered us so much that we began to worry if Apple was leading a new trend of 'dumbing down' smartphone cameras.

The iPhone 3G S, however, has helped put some of those fears to rest. Apple has boosted the camera's resolution to 3 megapixels and added an autofocus feature. In the future, you'll also get settings for white balance, exposure, low-light sensitivity and a macro mode for close-up photos. The autofocus feature appeared to work well during the keynote so we're looking forward to testing it ourselves.

Video recording
When we last asked about video recording at the OS 3.0 announcement in March, Apple wouldn't comment on whether it would come to the iPhone. So we have to admit that we weren't expecting it to happen anytime soon. But thanks to its improved camera, the iPhone 3G S will offer the ability to record VGA clips at 30 frames per second.

The new iPhone also promises a nifty editing feature that will let you trim clips to your liking. And once you're done, you can upload them to YouTube with just a couple of clicks. Again, it looked good onstage so we're keen to check it out.

Voice Control
We've long berated Apple for not including voice dialling on the iPhone. So when we heard that it would be on the iPhone 3G S, our initial reaction was a cynical 'it's about time'. However, our hearts softened a little when we saw that the new Voice Control feature will go far beyond just voice dialling and commands.

Sure, you'll be able to dial a contact using your voice; but you'll also be able to activate the iPod player by asking for a particular music track or artist. What's more, you can use Voice Control to identify a song by name and you can ask to play related tracks (as they're associated in the iTunes Genius feature). Seeing those additional features almost makes us forgive Apple for taking so long to add something as basic as voice dialling — but not quite.

Compass
We were a little sceptical when we heard that the new iPhone might offer a digital compass. Yet Schiller confirmed that the rumours were true.

Like any other compass, it will automatically point north, but it also will integrate with Google Maps to point you in the right direction. A nice touch.

What didn't we get?
Fortunately, this list is getting shorter with each incarnation of the iPhone. Although OS 3.0 adds many notable missing features, like multimedia messaging, turn-by-turn directions and stereo Bluetooth, there are a few capabilities still lacking. Flash support for the Safari browser, app folders for the home screen and USB mass storage are just a few. And though we know we'll never get it, let's throw in a user-replaceable battery too.

So should you buy it?
As mentioned earlier, the iPhone 3G S offers some notable feature improvements, but doesn't offer quite the same leap that the iPhone 3G offered over the first-generation model. If you don't own an iPhone yet, and you've been waiting to see what happens, now is the time to go for it. The same goes for iPhone Classic owners who never made the jump to the iPhone 3G.

But, if you're a current iPhone 3G owner, the answer isn't so clear. If you're coming to the end of your contract, then we suggest you upgrade. But if there are several months remaining, we recommend waiting. As much as the iPhone 3G S brings, it's not worth the extra outlay that both the 16GB and 32GB models will cost you. In the meantime, you'll get the new OS 3.0 features when they're released for the iPhone 3G on 17 June.

Additional material by Charles McLellan

 

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