The Apple iPhone 3GS in INDIA Review

I’ve been a long time cellphone connoisseur, and have used phones from all major platforms such as Blackberry OS, iPhone OS X, S60v3, S60v5, and WM6/6.1. Last week, Apple announced a new iPhone. The question that arose after the keynote was – Should you get it?

What’s in the box ?

• iPhone 3GS
• Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic
• Dock Connector to USB Cable
• USB Power Adapter
• Documentation
• SIM eject tool
• And some love from Steve Jobs .

The iPhone 3Gs – S for speed is Apple’s newest iteration of the much-sought after iPhone. Externally the two devices are identical, but internally is wherein the differences are more obvious. I’m not going into technical details of the internal hardware but for those interested – you may read all about it at here

iphone 3g on the left and 3gs on the right

Apple quotes “twice the performance” and my, does it live up to that statement. Due to the enhanced hardware, and double the RAM, the phone really does perform speedily, and performs almost ALL tasks faster than the 3G. There is a noticeable performance bump with the 3Gs and you get a sense of it right from the home screen itself. But the updates don’t stop there. One interesting feature of the iPhone 3GS is the new Oleophobic screen which will not pick up fingerprints easily.

There is a digital compass present now, a 3mp camera (up from 2mp) with continuous AF (comes in very handy!) and video recording. This phone also has now support for MMS (thanks to OS 3.0), and voice command, which is extremely accurate and let’s you control pretty much everything about the phone (native apps only). There’s also an updated 3G radio which supports speeds up to 7.2mbps. A good selection of countries don’t have this HSPA but my carrier, Rogers already supports this speed, so using iPhone 3GS over 3G is more than just pleasant – it’s extremely fast! This isn’t just attributed to the fast 3G network, but overall just a fast phone. All in all, a much needed upgrade.

Home Screen

Its pretty similar to the 3G but loads much faster and is more snappier.

Digital Compass

Voice Control

This is a great feature present only in the 3GS and is damn accurate in detecting voice commands. You can call contacts , play music by just using your voice ! how cool does that sound ?

The following languages are supported

• Chinese (Cantonese)
• Chinese (China)
• Chinese (Taiwan)
• Dutch
• English (UK)
• English (U.S.)
• Finnish
• French (Canada)
• French (France)
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Portuguese (Portugal)
• Russian
• Spanish (Mexico)
• Spanish (Spain)
• Swedish

Camera and Video

The 3.2 megapixel camera with continuous Auto-Focus and Video Recording. The last captured photo thumbnail is nicely present in the bottom-left corner. You can focus by tapping on the screen. Toggling between Video and Image mode is possible via the slider at the bottom-right corner.

Image Sample

Sharing Photos and using Email and MMS

You can easily share your photos via Email or MMS. MMS is something which has been there for ages but has just arrived to iPhone via 3.0 software update and Apple does it with style !

And that’s pretty much it. Should you get it? Well, here are the pro’s and cons

Pros

• Faster processor
• More RAM
• Better camera with AF
• Video recording with on-the-fly editing
• Voice command (which works as advertised)
• Faster 3G network (where applicable)
• Slightly better battery life

Cons

• Quite expensive to upgrade to if you are already locked into a contract
• No physical difference from the 3G model (why not?)
• Still no flash
• Video records in 4:3 only

That’s pretty much what I’ve chalked up for now. Maybe I’ll notice a few more pro’s and cons.

I decided speed and performance were justifiable, and everything else along with the updated OS 3.0 was a bonus. Everything the iPhone lacked, has been rapidly added on, but the competition has been slow to react.

To me, the pro’s outweighed the cons, and the performance increase is tremendous. After using this phone for almost a week, I can say that using a phone with ANY lag will be an automatic no-sale in my eyes.

Unfortunately, iPhone 3GS just set the standard higher.

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions regarding the 3G/3Gs. Leaving you with a few comparison shots of the iPhone 3GS and my Blackberry.