Anand Reviews the Apple iPhone 3G
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 16, 2008 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Moar Louds
Apple made several mid-life adjustments to the original iPhone, including giving it a louder external speaker. The change was mild but noticeable; if you compare my friend’s original iPhone that has never been replaced, to my latest refurb, there’s a noticeable difference in speakerphone volume.
Even the best iPhone I ever had however could not match the volume level of the iPhone 3G. While the speaker was basically useless on the first iPhone unless you were in a very quiet environment, the iPhone 3G’s speaker works like it should - it seems loud enough to actually be useful. Indoors the speakerphone works perfectly, the problem comes in when you use it outdoors or in any other area with a lot of ambient noise. I found myself having to hold the speaker to my ear in order to hear the speakerphone while outdoors.
The old iPhone speaker grill (left) vs. the new iPhone 3G grill (right)
The microphone and speaker on the iPhone 3G are no longer covered by the phone’s exterior plastic, they are simply recessed and covered by a fine mesh grill. While the old iPhone was never quite loud enough even at full volume, there are some situations where the iPhone 3G is too loud at full volume.
The initial revision of the iPhone 3G has been giving me some troubles with sounds - randomly the phone will stop giving me SMS alerts. It’ll still vibrate and make all of the other noises, but if I get a SMS I won’t get anything, no vibration and no alert. I’ve had the SMS alerts disappear three times on me now; a reboot will fix it and the last time it happened, the problem just resolved itself. I’ve also had an issue where the phone lock and unlock sounds stopped working. I’m hoping these are firmware problems, because Apple currently doesn’t have enough stock for me to just walk in and ask for a replacement.
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sprockkets - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link
Yeah, T-Mobile has better coverage than At&t? WTH? Just look at their maps. Do they even have 3G yet?Well, I guess I can trust Anand's experience. But, at least I can take my SIM card out and use my own phone. I guess you can just call Verizon and do the same thing, but with the majority being GSM, there is less of a selection for CDMA.
And of course, Apple is predictable as ever. They advertise every night the iphone on The Daily Show.
cocoviper - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link
I think as the US and Europe reaches saturation CDMA will become much more competitive. It's what China and Brazil's network are built on, and given the next 10-15 years there will most likely be more cell phone growth and eventually more users there.brzgeek - Wednesday, July 23, 2008 - link
CDMA in Brazil??!! I'm Brazilian, and the last company that was a CDMA holdout (Vivo) gave up that particular battle and switched to GSM about a couple of years ago. Nowadays there isn't a single company selling CDMA phones in Brazil any more (though Vivo still supports CDMA due to its pre-GSM users who haven't switched phones). I suggest you check your sources, they seem to be seriously outdated.NA1NSXR - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link
You're kidding right? I just spent a year in China and it is a nearly 100% GSM country. I don't even know where you get off saying China is CDMA so matter-of-factly.tayhimself - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link
Hmm... this is a great suggestion Anand. Have a yearly charge for both and somehow integrate them too.