Sep/080
iPhone 3G Review
Let's face it; in today's world, everybody and their mother has an iPhone; at least it seems like it. The truth is, it's not that everyone has one; it's just that those who do have them are proud of it. They want to show it off, they want to evangelize the product and tell people how great it is. As an owner of an iPhone 3G, I'm here to do the same thing.
The 3G's hardware is, in a word, beautiful. I was never a fan of the look of the first generation iPhone, thinking the metal back gave it a bit of an odd look. In the 3G, the metal backing has been replaced with an all-plastic back, removing the unsightly black portion of the back on the first generation. The phone is available in two colors, black and white (both have a black front, just different back colors). Watching movies on the large 3.5 inch screen is a joy; really, doing anything is on the phone, from browsing album art to just gazing at the home screen.
The camera on the 3G is the same one present on the first generation, and it's the one part of the hardware that I have a slight problem with. The camera is a measly 2.0 megapixels; the photographs it takes look fine when you view them on a small screen, but the quality really drops when you want to make prints or show them on your big screen TV. As far as the camera's ability to take pictures, it does a great job under good lighting conditions. However, once you start to leave these optimum conditions, the quality drops quickly. It also does a below-average job of photographing moving objects. Example of iPhones Camera Quality(http://i36.tinypic.com/autr2d.jpg).
Once you start using the iPhone, the software is what really draws you in. As soon as you boot up the phone, you're greeted by a gorgeous home screen, where the primary features of the phone (Phone, Mail, Safari [Web Browser], and iPod) are shown at the bottom, and the other features of the phone are shown in a grid above it. Swipe your finger, and you're moved to the next screen, where you can store your own "apps" from the Apple App Store, while maintaining the four primary icons at the bottom. Browsing through the phone's features for the first time is just amazing; all the controls are so intuitive, and it's this blogger's opinion that you'll never need a manual to know what you're doing.
The great thing about the iPhone is that it's features can be so easily expanded using the App Store. The App Store has hundreds, if not thousands, of apps, of which many are free. I'll be covering the App Store and some of my favorite apps in a later post.
In conclusion, the iPhone is simply the best portable media device, the best phone, and the best PDA I have ever used. 8.5/10