iPhone 3G review » ChannelFlip

tech: iPhone 3G review

July 11 2008 | WilHarris

OK, it’s here - the latest and greatest from the Apple chaps in Cupertino.

The iPhone 3G went on sale this morning, and we were down at our local o2 store before opening this morning to pick up ours, thanks to the nice chaps at o2 - the UK’s exclusive iPhone carrier.

Enjoy this video review, which condenses everything you want to know about the iPhone into a few short minutes - so get watching!

When you’re done with the review, do check out our 2008 ChannelFlip Reader Survey which we are currently running, which allows you to give us feedback on the site and let us know what you want!

-Wil

comments

Luke

July 11th, 2008 - 6:49pm

I see the iPhone 3g like this. They have got closer, but you are still better off getting a N95.

When they add MMS, Copy and paste, bluetooth stereo audio, and at least 5 Mp camera, then they may be able to challenge the N95. By witch time the N96 will be out.

Grant

July 11th, 2008 - 6:57pm

Cool review Wil, can’t believe I was sitting no less than 10 feet away from that being filmed.

Etherealmind

July 11th, 2008 - 7:06pm

I have had an N95 for 7 months now, and I am mostly unhappy with it. It crashes, its slow, it clunky to use and the user interface is …ay yi yi. At times it hasn’t received calls, doesn’t receive SMS and just plain stops working.

Later versions of firmware have somewhat improved things, but its still just feel “seventies stylie”. I don’t enjoy using it.

I won’t be rushing out for an iPhone, but I will buy one in the next few months when I don’t have to queue, and end my eleven year relationship with Nokia handsets.

monkeystick

July 11th, 2008 - 7:12pm

I think that about covers it, well done!

MacMonkeyPaul

July 11th, 2008 - 7:17pm

Really good, balanced review of an amazing product. Enjoyed your bits on TwitLive Wil, even though you were ‘that guy’ on the train with the new iPhone
Keep up the good work.

Mike "fev" Fethers

July 11th, 2008 - 7:41pm

Hi Wil nice piece on the phone, was going to come shake your hand at the front of the queue but the boss man was adamant I shouldn’t fraternise with those in the queue “Even if they’re famous”. So sent me to Costa instead.

I’d love to do some work with you on phone reviews and the such.

brassplayer

July 11th, 2008 - 7:42pm

I clicked Play and got to enjoy the little Apple “Spinner of Death” go around and around and around and around. Seems like an appropriate review to me!

GaryK

July 11th, 2008 - 8:03pm

After 24 hours of Live Stream w/ Leo Laporte with you as special UK Reporter I have decided to purchase and just did an iPod Touch. All the new apps make it a pretty powerful device (minus phone/3G/GPS) but from watching Leo’s 2.0 upgrade to his iPod Touch and the apps he downloaded it looked like a winning combination. Plus I am waiting for the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, C905 8Mb camera, or T610 remake codename REMI. Keep up the great work and I love your TWEETS on TWITTER

Anthony DiSante

July 11th, 2008 - 8:23pm

Nice review. But the audio could use some remixing. Wil’s voice is too quiet and the little flipping screen on the intro/outro is too loud.

Norbit

July 11th, 2008 - 9:10pm

I still prefer the N95 any day of the week. Its a finished article while this is very much a work in progress that to me is missing some pretty basic features.

Apple have got their act together a lot with their computers over the past few years but their foray into phones has really taken them back to the bad old days of being overpriced and underspecced compared to their rivals and trying to make up for it by being ubercool.

cedgray

July 11th, 2008 - 10:45pm

… and fantastically well-designed in the user interface department, which counts for a heck of a lot. Everything on it looks and interacts (i.e. works) far more slickly than the N95. In my opinion, of course - if you prefer the N95, then that’s cool: they’re both great devices.

Look, though: http://tinyurl.com/6othwm

I think people are underestimating the additional value that the App Store will bring to the iPhone: you’ll be able to have practically anything you want running on it, and all those gripes about MMS, Copy/Paste and bluetooth will disappear, and many new previously-unthought-of mobile applications will start to develop.

Opening up the system to developers in the way that they have will really make this platform, and make everything else look a bit flaky and last-decade. I mean, have you *looked* at text on a Blackberry? Eurgh.

ben kiff

July 11th, 2008 - 10:53pm

well i was at the front of the queue with will and would like to say thanks as he made queuing up a lot more fun.
just a note on what Norbit said, just because a phone is missing a feature or two does not make a phone worst i have had nokias running on symbian s60 and the software is s**t, its prone to crashing, takes ages to load (just to put it into perspective when playing music you have a few second delay in between song thats how slow it is) nokia need to sort out symbian now they own it before they go after the iphone or any other phone for that matter.

just like to say thanks again will for making queuing a laugh

funkygorilla

July 12th, 2008 - 1:10am

Interesting that the video is in flash so I can’t see it on my iPhone. Maybe an alternate format would have been good for this in particular.

Wuz

July 12th, 2008 - 4:23pm

Nice “fan boy” review but for me the drawbacks of the iPhone let me stay with my Nokia E90 that has a 800px wide display, 2 cameras with one 3.2 MP, GPS + turn by turn navigation, UMTS, WiFi, MMS, VoIP client, full keyboard (with copy & paste), runs 3 days without charging, … and is already 1,5 years old. Why does this thing gets 5 stars? Anyway.

The audio of Wil is way to low. Hard to listen with the built in speakers of my Mac Book Pro at full volume.

Beard

July 13th, 2008 - 1:36am

I was also sitting “no less than 10 feet away”. I was way farther than that.

cedgray

July 14th, 2008 - 11:08am

“Why does this thing gets 5 stars? Anyway.”

Probably because it’s excellent, as is the Nokia E90. I imagine that if the iPhone were that big it would also pack more features in, but that’s not what design is about (if it were, Microsoft Word would be great).

There’s only one way to know how good something is, and that is to actually use it for a month or two. Then you’ll ‘get it’. You can’t get that kind of knowledge through the technical specifications…

Chris

July 15th, 2008 - 9:51am

So Apple sold a million iPhones in the opening weekend, and over 10 million application downloads have already been made from the App Store, which installs them straight onto the phone.

I’m startlingly bad at Super Monkey Ball - a steal at just a few pounds. The controls are tricky because you only need to tilt the phone to control your character’s progress through the gorgeous 3D levels, and the accelerometers are ridiculously sensitive.

These guys: http://toucharcade.com are talking about iPhone gaming 24/7 and I’m pleased to see that id (makers of all things quake) are getting something made too…

cedgray

July 16th, 2008 - 10:22am

Here’s a brief interview with one of Apple’s product developers about some of the missing features on the iPhone (GPS turn-by-turn, Cut-n-Paste, Office, etc.):

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2325536,00.asp

It’s not that detailed, but confirms what many thought: that it’s just legal and priority concerns that have prevented their inclusion. That’s what happens when you rush new technology to market…

George

August 18th, 2008 - 7:12pm

You said that the battery life was about the same as the original iPhone, but with the data permanently connected using push email, does this not drain teh battery much faster?

WilHarris

August 20th, 2008 - 10:23am

No, because the battery is slightly better capacity to make up for it The real battery killer is actually GPS, I have discovered.