Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Living with the iPhone 3GS: First Impressions


Since its launch in June 2007, I have wanted an iPhone. However, my dislike of its 'tied-in-to-a contractnessness'™, low storage capacity and the lack of Bluetooth stereo support kept me from making the jump from my Nokia E65. However, when the iPhone 3GS was announced, I finally gave in and placed my order.

- It is a beautiful piece of engineering, lovely to look at, hold and use. My only mechanical gripe is the ring/silent switch which has sharp edges and sits just a little too proud from the casing, meaning that it sometimes gets switched to silent when being slid into its case.

- Weight and bulk are bearable, but you do notice its 'pocket-presence'.

- Set-up was fast and painless, apart from the migration of my mobile no. from Vodafone to O2, not sure whose fault it was, but it took 3 days of constant phone calls before I could get reliable mobile internet access.

- The onscreen keyboard is much easier to use than I thought it would be.

- Battery life is an issue. If used fairly constantly, you're looking at a maximum of 7 hours between charges.

- Web-browsing is excellent. Pages load fast and text and images are beautifully rendered.

- The GPS and Maps 'app' work very well indeed. I use them when walking around London, and it came in very handy when returning to my car on a recent visit to Lincoln town centre.

- I don't do many phone calls, but the sound quality is natural and clear.

- The camera's image quality is similar to that of a Pentax Optio S camera I owned in 2003. OK for quick snaps, but not much more.
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