Let's get it straight from the outset: the Apple iPhone 3G is a hugely significant piece of shiny technology, bringing together masses of extremely useful features in an engagingly elegant package.
What it's not, however, is the ultimate phone – both its performance (battery life, call stability) and ergonomics could be better. Neither is it the very best GPS device or music player on the market: it’s the overall package that’s so compelling.
Its sheer tactility, from its build quality to the achingly satisfying menus, is the main sell. There's none of the horrible untidiness that you get with many touchscreen phones trying to be computers. Almost everything is immediately where you expect it to be, and there’s little to find fiddly.
The App store reeks of potential, with hundreds of utilities spanning a wide range of price points – including our favourite: free. And it should only get better over time, too, with some excellent games already being introduced.
iPhone exchange support
Those with an Exchange email account at work will soon learn to either curse or love the iPhone's support of it. It’s basic (no out of office, for example), but you can essentially get your calendar, contacts and email in real time, just as if you were at work. And that's the problem, for habitual email checkers, at least.
Web browsing is also a revelation – helped by the 3G upgrade, but even better on a decent Wi-Fi connection. The screen is bright and sharp, and the gesture-based commands for zooming and scrolling soon become second nature. The only real disappointment is the lack of Flash support – simply as many of the most interesting bits of the web are built of it.
There are niggles to be aware of: there's no video recording or MMS picture messaging, for starters. Cut-and-paste functions are still frustratingly absent too, which is a pain if you're using the phone for email. The touchscreen keyboard and predictive text allow most people to get up to a decent speed – but Blackberry users will be in for a culture shock.
Despite the ‘regression’ from a metal to a plastic back, the 3G version is a great upgrade to the most compelling phone on the market – even battery life is better. And that Exchange support may even mean that your company will buy one for you.
We're also quietly confident that future updates will bring some new features to get excited about all over again. It’s annoying that it’s still limited to a single carrier (02), but at least the cost and tariffs are more reasonable – save for the very pricey pay-as-you-go option.
How does the iPhone 3G compare with its smartphone rivals? Find out in iGIZMO's Top 5 Mobile Phones feature
Comments
Post new comment