BottleneX

So last week I went out and finally bought an iPhone 3GS.  I’ve been really hesitant about buying one but the guy at the store said I had 30 days to try it.  So that took off some of the pressure which is nice.  I didn’t just want to go and write a quick review as I wanted to test the phone and all its features before talking about it.  I’m going to break it down into catagories and talk about what I like and dislike.

Hardware
As for hardware it’s an amazing device.  It’s built solid and a slick look which feels good in the hand.  It comes with 32gb’s of storage and the processor, ram, and graphics have all been upgraded.  It’s has a gorgeous screen that is both bright and vibrant.  As for the body, it is pretty much the same as last years 3G model.  I really wish they would have made a more rubber style back but it’s ok as they have different cases that are available for it.  It has Bluetooth, Wifi, Speaker, Microphone, and a 3 Megapixel camera that also does video.

4.5 out of 5

Software
OS 3.1 had just come out a couple of days before I bought the phone so instantly I had to upgrade.  I never really tried 3.0 or even 2.0 for that matter.  Overall the OS is nice but a little to simple for a power user.  I would really like to be able to dig into the OS and be able to customize it.  About the only customization that’s possible is moving the icons around.  Coming from Nokia phones especially the N Series it’s much more limiting.  The N97 allowed me much more freedom especially when it came to customization.  It’s actually ok since Apple really layed everything out nicely. I do have a complaint though.  The iPhone can only sync to one computer.  So if you plug it into another then it prompts you if you would like to erase and sync with the new computer.  Now this is very annoying as you have to sign in and be authorized to sync files.  It’s not a huge deal but really I would like to be able to add content even if it’s on my other computer seeing that I bought it with my account.

4 out of 5

Camera
The camera is another feature that has been upgraded since last years model.  It went up from 2 to 3 megapixels and now has an autofocus.  Again coming from Nokia which is known for their camera’s, I was very scared about the quality.  I like to use the camera on my phones quite a bit since it’s convenient and it’s always in my pocket and Nokia has never failed me with that.  So I went out and took some sample pictures and they came out pretty good.  It’s not the same quality as the Carl Zeiss N Series phones but it’s still pretty good.  It has and autofocus feature that allows you to touch the screen that you want to focus on.  It also has auto macro that can turn on when close up pictures are being taken.  So the pictures I took all came out pretty good but I definitely give the nod to Nokia.  One thing it’s lacking that’s big for me is Flash.  It doesn’t have any so low lit pictures don’t come out very well.  As for the video camera, I think this is where it shines.  It records VGA quality and actually looks pretty good.  It records up to 30 frames per second which is good for faster motion recording.  I did a couple of test recordings and they both came out really nice.  Between the Nokia and it, Apple definitely looks better in terms of taking video.

4 out of 5

iPod
The iPod is pretty much the same as the last two versions of the phone.  You get a full iPod built in to it.  You can even buy music and video’s right from the phone which makes it nice when on the road.  I actually really like the iPod.  It has a clean layout and flipping through music is seamless.  The phone has a speaker which you can listen to your music or podcast but to really appreciate it, you’ll want a good pair of headphones.  As far as sorting goes you can choose to sort by Artist, Album, or Song.  A nice feature that I found was that you can stream podcasts right through the phone without downloading it.  Which is nice since you can’t download anything over 10mb’s using 3g.  It has to go through Wifi, which I don’t understand why they would limit it.  So the other answer is stream.  I really hope they fix this as pretty much most podcasts are over that size.  Overall other than that the iPod is the same as the ohter iPods.  The score would be higher if it weren’t for the download cap over 3g.

3.5 out of 5

So overall I have both my likes and dislikes for the phone.  What it does, it really does well.  But it lack in certain departments.  I would a) Like to see a flash with the camera and b) Would like to see a 5 megapixel camera on it to compete with many of the other phones out there.  I would like to be able to go beyond the surface of the phone.  It’s basically a bunch of desktops with apps on it.  I wish there was a menu system and a file structure.  Coming from using Nokia’s I really miss that.  What I really like is the way the phone works.  It runs very clean and smooth.  It comes with a good suite of apps but has tons that can be downloaded.  I personally haven’t downloaded to many as I’m still trying to decide if I want to keep the phone.  I have made a list though so if I dokeep it  then I’ll have quite a few to pickup.  There’s another phone that I’ve been looking at that looks like it might be a real competitor to the iPhone and that’s the new Nokia N900.  It’s supposed to come out very soon so we’ll have to wait on the reviews to see how it does.  For now I’m still in the trial phase of this phone but I have make a choice as I only have a short time to decide.

4 out of 5

So what do you think, should I keep the iPhone or look into another phone.  I really like Android but for now it’s only on T-Mobile.  I’m really interested in the new Nokia N900 though.  So let me know what you think in the comments.