HANDS ON REVIEW: Apple iPhone 3G S

Plenty has already been written about the new iPhone 3.0 software update, which is also available for the iPhone 2G and iPhone 3G, so perhaps it's best to focus on the new features unique to the iPhone 3G S. Apple says the 'S' is for Speed, in terms of a faster processor and faster download speeds. Unfortunately - at least on my review unit running on the Optus 3G network - the boost in processing power and the download speeds aren't striking, with the exception of rendering web pages in Safari.

Apple won't admit it, but the 3G S is mostly about Apple playing catchup with other smartphones. It's refinement rather than revolution - adding features that Nokia and Windows Mobile users have enjoyed for years. Of course the iPhone's strength is usability and the new 3G S certainly hasn't compromised on that.

The key advantages of buying an iPhone 3G S, rather than just upgrading the iPhone 3G to the latest 3.0 software, are;

- Faster processor
- Faster downloads thanks to 7.2 Mpbs HSDPA
- Improved battery life
- Improved still camera - up from 2 megapixels to 3 and now with auto-focus
- Video capture
- Digital compass
- Voice control

Sitting the iPhone 3G S alongside an iPhone 3G upgraded to 3.0, the speed difference when opening applications is noticeable but not significant. When opening the iPhone's pre-installed applications, the 3G S is never more than one second faster than the 3G, and flicking through menus or between home pages is only slightly smoother. It's a marginal improvement in terms of general usability, but not enough to make you want to ditch the 3G.

Switching to more demanding applications sees the iPhone 3G S slowly prove its worth. There is no noticeable difference in Skype call quality between the two phones, nor is there a noticeable difference playing games such as Touch Physics which rely on a real time physics engine. It not until you install a car racing game like the graphics-intensive Need For Speed Undercover that the speed boost becomes apparent. Need For Speed's animation is silky smooth on the iPhone 3G S, whereas on my iPhone 3G I can see it dropping the occasional frame and stuttering during graphics-intense moments such as when police cars spin through the air. While such results bode well for serious gamers, less demanding users are unlikely to appreciate the extra grunt under the bonnet.

It's not until you fire up Safari that the new iPhone rips open its shirt to reveal the big S on its chest. Over a wifi connection, graphics-intensive news media sites which take around 60 seconds to render on the iPhone 3G are ready to rock in under 20 seconds on the iPhone 3G. It's certainly a "wow" moment even for an iPhone 3G owner.

As for raw download speeds, the jump to 7.2 Mpbs HSDPA is pretty much wasted on sluggish mobile broadband networks such as Optus. To put it to the test, I sat my Telstra iPhone 3G (which features 3.6 Mbps HSDPA) next to the Optus iPhone 3G S (which features 7.2 Mbps HSDPA) and fired up the Speedtest.net application on both. The iPhone 3G on Telstra delivered download speeds of or 1650 to 1950 Mbps. There was much more variation on the iPhone 3G S from Optus, wavering between 845 and 2220 Mbps. A few times the Optus phone lost the network completely, even though it was 10 km from the Melbourne CBD.

These results are far from conclusive, as there are many factors at play. To be honest I'm not even sure if I'm in a 7.2 Mbps area. "Ian" from Optus tech support said I'm in a 2100 MHz area, but my nearest cell is actually a Vodafone cell and he couldn't be sure if it was offering 3.6 Mbps or 7.2 Mbps. I wouldn't want to pass judgement on the iPhone 3G S' download capabilities until I tested it on Telstra's Next G network. It is fair to say that Optus' sluggish network conditions are well documented, so I wouldn't count on seeing the benefits on 7.2 Mbps unless you're with a better network.

Apart from the S for Speed, the iPhone 3G S' other main claim to fame is the improved camera, with the addition of extra pixels, auto-focus and video capture. The auto-focus is a handy new feature, allowing you to simply tap on the area of the picture you want to focus on. The jump from 2 megapixels to 3 megapixels is a great benefit for anyone who's likely to print photos taken with their phone. The colours are also vivid but the overall quality is still far short of what you'd get from a $200-ish happy snapper such as an extry level Canon IXUS, which is what a camera phone is aiming to replace. When viewed on the iPhone's screen, photos of faces look just as sharp on the 2 megapixel iPhone 3G until you zoom right in.

The results of the iPhone 3G S' VGA 30 fps video capture look surprisingly good for a phone, with minimal stuttering during panning shots. It is certainly on par with the video capture results from my old Canon IXUS 60 still camera - although I suspect the newer models such as the IXUS 80 or 90 would outperform it. The iPhone 3G S' video is also let down by the phone's microphone when compared to even a video-enabled happy snapper.

The iPhone's greatest weakness as a camera is its lack of dynamic range when it comes to lighting conditions, what's known on a television as contrast. If you take a photo in bright sunlight, then all the details in shadows are lost. Take a photo that's mostly focused in the shadows and the bright areas of photo are washed out to almost pure white, and the same effect can be seen in captured video as well.

Disappointingly there doesn't seem to be any improvement in dynamic range between the old iPhone 3G and the new iPhone 3G S. The new auto-focus feature highlights this issue, as you can see the camera compensating as you focus on light and dark areas of a scene. In comparison, our pocket-sized Canon IXUS 60 did a much better job of capturing details in both bright areas and shadows. If you look at the photos on the left, the top one was taken with the iPhone 3G, the second one with the iPhone 3G S focused on the background and the third one with the iPhone 3G S focused one the foreground. The bottom photo is taken with a Canon IXUS 60.

When you take into account megapixels and dynanic range, no-one who takes their photography even a little bit seriously would consider ditching a good quality point n' shoot for the iPhone 3G S.

The iPhone 3G S' other notable feature is improved battery life, but I've only had the review unit for a few hours and haven't had time to run any tests. I'll add a comment here once I've had a chance to torture test the battery.

UPDATE: Okay, I've had some time to evaluate the battery and I can't say I'm overly impressed when compared to my 3G running 3.0. I switched on wifi and Bluetooth, set the screen to full brightness, disabled the screen saver and enabled location services but not FindMyiPhone. Then I cranked up the Rolling Stones and launched Google Maps using GPS to find my location. After an hour of this, the 3G had 60% battery life yet but the 3G S only had 55%. Now I switched to playing MacBreak video clips and after 45 minutes the situation had reversed, with the 3G down to 30% while the 3G S was on 35%. Another 30 minutes of MacBreak clips saw the 3G drop to 15% while the 3G S was on 25%. In the sprint to the line I decided to fire up Need For Speed: Undercover, with me at one wheel and my five year-old son at the other (the boy can really drive, if I ever need a hot car driven across town I know who to call). The 3G lasted for 25 minutes before it ran out of gas, but we only squeezed another 10 minutes out of the 3G S before it ground to a halt.  So that was 2 hours 40 minutes from the 3G and 2 hours 50 minutes from the 3G S.

Now this is an absolute torture test, but I still expected to 3G S to come out further in front. From my other testing it seems the 3G S chewed through the battery faster than the 3G when playing Need For Speed: Undercover. I suspect this is because it's pushing the 3G S' faster processor to the limit. On a low stress battery test, that didn't see the 3G S break a sweat, it's possible the 3G S might come out further ahead.

So what's the verdict? If you're still hanging on to an iPhone 2G, imported from the US, now is probably the time to cave in and upgrade to get the benefits of HSDPA and GPS. If you're standing in a phone shop choosing between the 3G and the 3G S, you'd certainly pay extra from the iPhone 3G S. Still, if like me you're already the proud owner of an iPhone 3G, I certainly wouldn't break my contract just to upgrade to the 3G S. The speed improvements compared to the 3G are noticeable but not striking, and the bulk of the new features are available to 3G owners via the 3.0 software update. If you could only run the 3.0 software on the iPhone 3G S then it would be much more tempting to break your contract.

As for the improved camera - it's a welcome update but if you're serious about documenting your life you'll still get better results from a decent point n' shoot camera - especially if you want to print some of your shots.

The iPhone 3G S is a welcome addition to the iPhone family, but it's mostly about playing catchup and making incremental improvements. If you're in the market for a new phone, it's certainly a winner, but if there's already an iPhone 3G in your pocket then don't throw it in the bin just yet.