The iPhone 3GS might not look different on the outside, but under that skin is a complete re-working of its predecessor, the iPhone 3G. A much improved processor and a bump up in memory means the iPhone 3GS is much quicker off the mark, whether you’re zipping between apps, tapping out messages or just listening to music. Read our full iPhone review to see how much difference the 3GS iPhone upgrade makes.
Apple hasn’t simply fitted a turbo charger to the iPhone and slapped an extra letter after its name: the iPhone 3GS adds some significant new features that, while common on rival phones, finally make Apple’s handset hard to argue with as a fully-fledged mobile computer.
Video recording, a built-in compass to aid navigation, and voice control. All are new to the iPhone 3GS, but as you’d expect from Apple they have neat tweaks to set them apart from the crowd.
Voice control extends beyond the basic call-making abilities of the iPhone 3GS, letting you bark commands at the iPod music player too. You can even ask the iPhone questions. “Who sings this song?” for instance, and it’ll answer back. Likewise, if the phone is unsure about an instruction, it’ll ask a question, rather than flatly refuse to get the job done.
It’s astoundingly accurate, and rarely gets completely confused. And then there’s the camera. Apple has squeezed a 3.2 megapixel camera into the iPhone 3GS, letting it snap pictures with autofocus and record video at DVD quality.
Editing clips is simple, thanks to the touchscreen, and the iPhone 3GS happily sends the results via MMS or e-mail and can even upload them to YouTube, after smartly compressing them for speedy transmission.
However, owners of the previous iPhone 3G needn’t despair. As lovely as the iPhone 3GS’ new features are, they’re far from deal breakers, and thanks to a free software update from Apple, the old phone can do pretty much everything the new one can (albeit at a slightly slower speed).
If you’re already carrying an iPhone 3G it’s hard to justify the upgrade. However, if you’re yet to jump on Apple’s iPhone bandwaggon this is by far the best device Cupertino has ever produced. Grab one today. We promise, you’ll never look back.
