Carl Tyler's Blog :: 5 days of iPhone 3Gs usage

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It's been five days now since I switched from using my 2 year old Samsung Blackjack to a new iPhone 3Gs, here are my impressions.

The Good

It's a pretty device, no 90 degree angles, feels much nicer in the hand than the blackjack
Loads of apps, and easy to get to. Facebook and Tweetdeck all good, FlightControl challenging, and teenagers hate the dog whistle app ha ha.
Browsing the web is much nicer and you can reliably fill in forms online.
The GPS is very fast to lock on and accurate, looking for a nice flight planning application.
Can connect and use wifi network
Much bigger screen and more readable in outside light
Better quality speakers
The typing is much better than I expected, in fact as strange as it sounds I find it easier to type on the screen than with the samsung keyboard as it is less cramped. I wish it was consistent though, some apps support the landscape keyboard others don't and that's true within the apple apps, not just 3rd party apps.

The Bad

I'm scared of dropping the thing. It's so pretty I can't help but think it's going to break easily.
The email client on the iPhone, is lacking in usability. It allows you to add multiple email accounts, but there is no single key method to quickly open the mail, or switch between the mail accounts, on the Samsung, I could just hit the mail button and it would cycle between the last accessed folder of the different mail accounts. The same process on the iPhone, involves multiple clicks and bugs me no end.
Battery life, this thing drains quicker than my nieces paddling pool. I could get 2-3 days on the Samsung, lucky to get a day with the iPhone.
No tethering from AT&T yet.
The phone bleeps to indicate you received a new email, but you have to unlock the phone, go to the mail app, and cycle through the mail accounts to find out which one got it.
No snooze option on calendar notifcations.

The Ugly
The ugly on the iPhone is the lock screen. The lock screen basically provides the current date and time, which network you're connected to and the battery indicator. It also has the unlock slider and shows an image. This is the biggest difference between the iPhone and the Samsung that bugs me. On the Samsung my lock screen shows useful information, upcoming calendar appointments, email account unread counts etc. The iPhone has nothing useful, to quickly check email or your calendar, you have to unlock the phone and go into the respective applications. I have found a 3rd party app that looks like it does exactly what I want called IntelliScreen, but you have to "jail break" your iPhone to install it.

With apple so focused on usability I can't believe they have missed that usage scenario, and it's not like this is a version 1 oversight. I still have 25 days to decide if I want to keep the device and to be honest the jury is still out.

Comments

1 - Carl you have to get Pilot Wizz. It's awesome. Very useful for your piloting stuff. weight and balance, fuel calcs, route planning, crosswind, calculations.
All for free. ;o)

Posted by Tim Clark At 09:14:56 AM On 06/29/2009 | - Website - |

2 - You forgot that you can't get chess with friends on the samsung. But more seriously, the app store is the winner for me. Nothing else has the ecosystem.

I've dropped mine. Got a couple of nicks but the screen is tougher than it looks and is still flawless

I think the standby screen thing is a security limitation. Maybe if profiles could restrict what was visible they could allow more for people not under the control of one

Posted by Rob At 09:24:46 AM On 06/29/2009 | - Website - |

3 - Stop complaining and start developing apps for the iPhone. You're missing the boat.

Posted by Wassim At 10:48:50 AM On 06/29/2009 | - Website - |

4 - I agree that the lack of useful information on the lock-screen is for security reasons. As you move to business users - aka the Blackberry crowd - you can't have calendar, task, or email - without unlocking the device.

Posted by Glen At 11:48:24 AM On 06/29/2009 | - Website - |

5 - Carl - go Blackberry Bold - you won't want anything else after you have it all setup.

Posted by Mike Rice At 03:43:18 PM On 06/29/2009 | - Website - |

6 - Question for you mate.

Does the GPS work on a plane. I tried with my Nokia E71 this morning on a A321. At about 400 km/h (shortly after take off) it droped the GPS, and was not able to re sync during the entire flight. I was right next the window. Let me know....

Posted by Joel Demay At 06:27:16 AM On 06/30/2009 | - Website - |