Apple iPhone 3G S: Worth Standing in Line For?

At a Glance

Apple 16GB iPhone 3GS $373.00(When Rated)

The iPhone 3G S has better battery life, power and speed compared to the 3G, and provides hardware-based features that enhance existing apps and functions on the phone. If all that matters to you, then upgrading is worth it, but if you're more of a casual iPhone user, then you can probably afford to wait a little while before you upgrade.

That's because most of the new features come from the OS 3.0 software update. These include copy and paste, landscape keyboard for text and email, Spotlight, the new Voice Memo app and changes to the Safari browser.

(For full PC World coverage of the iPhone 3.0 S launch, check out the stories in the box to the right.)

I won't go into too much detail on the 3.0 features here, since they were covered in the Living with 3.0 [beta] review by Sean Carruthers. But I will touch on some of the others that are more prevalent with the 3G S, including tethering, multimedia messaging (MMS), iTunes accounts, stereo Bluetooth, My iPhone and push notifications, to name a few.

And on top of that are the new features exclusive to the 3G S like, the new camera, Compass and Voice Control, among others.

3G S Style and Performance

On the outside, the iPhone 3G S looks almost identical to its predecessor. Like the iPhone 3G, it comes in either black or white, has the same dimensions and is more or less the same weight. The only aesthetic differences are the chrome lettering in the back and a screen that is more resistant to fingerprints and smudges. This basically means that your favourite iPhone 3G case should fit like a glove onto your 3G S.

The key contrasts come in the phone's overall functions and performance, which start under the hood. Simply put, everything is a little faster here. Opening one app, closing it, and then opening another app takes almost half the time it does on the 3G. This is all relative, of course, because some apps load more information than others, but in the grand scheme, the improved speed will be noticeable to anyone who has owned a 3G.

Battery life also shows noticeable signs of improvement, lending credence to the assertions made at the WWDC keynote on June 8. Though the numbers Apple stated may vary slightly, the 3G S definitely outlasts the iPhone 3G in every category. I was able to surf on Wi-Fi or 3G longer and listen to music and watch YouTube videos for much longer as well.

Tethering

This feature has been in demand, arguably since the original iPhone launched in 2007, but with the 3G speed of last year's model, it seemed like the right time. It took close to a year, but iPhone 3G users will get the tethering benefits just like 3G S users, since it's part of the OS 3.0 update, and not exclusive to the 3G S.

Note: Don't get too excited, U.S. customers--these features won't be available at launch. According to AT&T, MMS won't come until late summer, and they did not give tethering availability.

Tested using Canadian carrier, Rogers: The beauty of this isn't really that it's finally arrived; it's the user-friendliness from start to finish. Under Settings on the phone, I went to Network and flipped "Tethering" on. A set of instructions for both USB and Bluetooth connections were right below, which was a nice touch. From there, I connected the phone to my MacBook Pro using the iPhone USB cable, immediately launching iTunes, which recognized that tethering was turned on. Then it was a simple matter of going to System Preferences under Network and adding the iPhone to the list.

Although I'm making it sound slightly complicated, the heavy lifting is actually done automatically, and you're directed on what to do by dialogue boxes that direct you. I was up and running in no less than two minutes. Doing this via Bluetooth takes a bit longer, but not by much. Once the phone has been paired with the Mac (or Windows PC), it becomes a simple process of making the connection and turning tethering on.

TetheringThe speed wasn't bad at all. Watching YouTube videos showed no real hiccups or slowdowns in performance, though this wasn't always the case when tethered via Bluetooth. Given that I was eating into my data plan, I would've liked if the phone could have somehow given me an indication of just how much bandwidth was being used back and forth. I tried to see if I could track it by going to the Usage tab under General, but the numbers never changed. And it took more than 15 minutes before I saw any changes in the Sent and Received amounts. Not a major issue to gripe about, but real-time data tracking would be very cool to see.

Despite all the positives, the tethering honeymoon may be short-lived, depending on what Rogers decides to do after December 31. For now, Rogers and Fido users can tether their iPhone 3Gs and 3G S's as part of their existing data plans, but there will be a fee of some sort for the feature thereafter. Whether it will be based on pay-as-you-go data usage or a monthly add-on is unknown because Rogers won't comment on it yet. If you have a data plan that's under 1GB per month, then Rogers will block tethering.

Multimedia Messaging (MMS)

The Text app from previous iPhones has now been replaced by a Messages app that encompasses text and MMS together. This means you can easily send photos or video to someone's email address or via text message directly to that person's phone. The process to do it seems pretty simple, and it covers a range of Apple's apps. For instance, if I tap on the icon in the lower left corner of the Camera app, I get the option to send the image as an MMS to anyone on my contact list via email, text or both.

Video is no different. And for MMS that you receive, you can always save the images to your own photo library or forward them to other contacts, if you like. The way it works is actually very basic, but its simplicity is part of what makes it cool. Attaching images to a message and typing in the text box bears no real difference from the previous iPhone's Text app, with the obvious exception of the media being sent.

Everything is threaded, which is a no-brainer, but it's also neat that you can erase specific messages in the thread if you choose. The "Clear" button on the top right has now changed to "Edit", wherein you can then checkmark and delete only the parts of the thread you want gone. And, of course, as part of the copy and paste features, you can easily copy a message from one thread and then paste it into another messaging thread, email or even your Notes app, among others.

MMS Rogers has indicated that users won't need a data plan to use the MMS feature, but that "value packs" are the best way to go to save money from pay-per-use costs. They did release new MMS value packs today to coincide with the OS 3.0 launch.

The New Camera

One of the core features of the 3G S that Apple touted at WWDC was the new camera. Video recording, a long overdue addition, is finally here, and it performs admirably, though not without limitations. Apple calls it "editing" but it's really more like simple trimming to cut out unwanted elements of the clip. A nice timeline shows up at the top that helps you navigate the clip, but dragging from the right end turns the border yellow and gives you the "Trim" option at the top right.

Video TrimNaturally, you can shoot in portrait or landscape mode at 30 frames per second, and send the clips to friends and family via MMS. The still camera, meanwhile, has been augmented by the 3-megapixel image sensor, which is meant to help it take better photos in more varied situations. One way of doing that is by allowing the user to literally touch the part of the photo he or she wants the lens to focus on. It works well, and looks a little snazzy with a white box that goes over the focal point, much like face detection features work on digital cameras. The sensor then adjusts the white balance and exposure to compensate for your chosen focal point. It usually works well, but you begin to understand why it's better to keep your focal point further away from the fringes of the frame, since the sensor may over or underexpose a large portion of the image just to get the focusing right.

The camera's performance is still noteworthy, except that it proves to be the case more in daylight and well-lit settings. Photos in low-light are quite good, too, but they require lighting levels that can illuminate the subject enough to make the photo at least acceptable. The lack of a flash hurts the camera's ability to handle darker settings. Still, I did a comparison by shooting the same dimly-lit subject with both the iPhone 3G (left) and 3G S (right).

The difference is fairly noticeable, especially since the 3G S's camera generally has softer tones than the 3G's. I discovered that I could mimic the effects of a soft focus filter by using a piece of thin clear plastic over the lens, but I'm sure there will be third-party apps that will offer that and more.

Despite the lack of a flash, the improved camera is definitely a step up from previous iPhones, not least of which is the long-awaited addition of video recording. Time will tell how much more can be done with the camera once third-party developers start making video-centric apps.

Next Page: Voice Control, Stereo Bluetooth, and More