The S in iPhone 3GS stands for speed, and as any mobile maven will know, the lag between touching your finger to the screen and a phone making its move can be the make or break point in a relationship with your new blower. So how does the iPhone 3GS stack up against its speedy rivals? Our iPhone review for speed freaks will tell you just that!
Read the rest of our iPhone review: 3GS nine months on
Apple iPhone review: 3GS 9 months on
Apple iPhone review: 3GS Design and build
Apple iPhone review: 3GS rivals
Judging the iPhone’s speediness is tricky, since no other phone runs the same software as the iPhone it’s impossible to peg it against other manufacturers in a truly fair test.
To best draw comparisons, we put the iPhone 3GS head to head with an iPhone 3G. When it first emerged, the 3GS could demonstrate its enhanced speed over its predecessor in an instant: it was dealing with apps written for the 3G model, with all its extra grunt geared towards accelerating them.
Now though, it’s churning through apps that’ve caught up with its horsepower, pushing the iPhone 3GS to its limit. We put the two iPhones head to head with a range of apps, from the Zipcar app, which includes embedded Google maps, GPS and data-intensive queries to find bookings, to 3D games such as FIFA 10, with eye-popping graphics to task the handsets’ chipsets.
Apple iPhone review: 3GS rivals
In all cases, the iPhone 3GS smashed the 3G in terms of performance, but the differences were more marginal than we’d expected. We took FIFA 10 for a spin on both phones, and while we were kept waiting by the iPhone 3G, the playability of the game wasn’t much diminished after it eventually sprang into action.
Likewise, the Zipcar app had its foot on the accelerator from the moment we tapped its icon, but both handsets performed almost identically in fetching data from the web, loading maps and pinning down our position. It’s fair to say the 3GS has proven its worth over the iPhone 3G, but with developers seemingly careful to create apps that squeeze the best from both models, speed isn’t the deal breaker Apple has made it out to be.
The iPhone 3GS does of course offer more than simply accelerated apps, and many of its features end up acting as unintentional timesavers. Voice Control is a particular favourite. Used with microphone-equipped headphones, it’s hard to fool, and genuinely speeds up the process of making calls while hurrying through town. Likewise, the compass inside the iPhone 3GS saves endless gawping when figuring out directions on the move.
Apple iPhone review: 3GS Nine months on
For that reason, the iPhone 3GS is worthy of respect. It’s taken the already efficient iPhone OS, and grafted genuine enhancements on top of it.
It’s a shame though that Voice Control is limited to calls and multimedia. Google Voice on Android phones has shown us the power of a handset that can turn our speech into searches and directions on a map, as well as fishing names from an address book.
Likewise, multiple Android re-skins have shown us the ability of widgets to grab useful information from our contacts, and slap it on the homescreen to negate the time it takes to look it up in the first place.
It’s here that the iPhone falls down. In terms of smart data handling, it’s a step behind the competition. Apple’s rivals are working on horsepower, as well as usability, while the iPhone remains strictly focussed on doing one thing at a time, and making us actively pursue the information we need.
At least until its next software update, the iPhone 3GS is content to hang back from the pack. It’s quicker than its predecessors, yes, but speed alone isn’t enough to give it the edge anymore. We’re looking for smart timesaving features in out mobiles, and while Apple’s made some headway, it’s a long way from the front of the pack.
Read the rest of our iPhone review: 3GS nine months on
Apple iPhone review: 3GS 9 months on
