Filed under: Cellphones

Well that was bound to happen. Ahead of schedule, Walt Mossberg has turned his official review of the new iPhone 3G, and we’ve got the recap. On the whole, Walt stays mostly positive about the device; he likes the anatomy factor (which he wants to stress really hasn’t changed much), says the 3G speeds are a big improvement by EDGE (no kidding?), and informs us that the audio quality and phone reception are — thankfully — improved all around. Downsides? There are plenty. Mossberg takes issue with AT&T’s new pricing policy, which he finds steep, says he barely squeezed 4 hours and 27 minutes of talk date out of the battery, and gripes that you can only sync Exchange or personal calendars and contacts — not both. If you’re like us, you’ll probably want to just read the whole thing. Too lazy? Check the video after the break.

Update: David Pogue of the New York Times has additionally turned in a kinda-sorta review of the iPhone 3G, though it reads more like an overview of its features than a honest-to-goodness critique. He additionally makes passing reference to the GPS antenna being “too small” to operate as a proper GPS, which makes roughly zero sense to us. Feel free to figure it out on your own.

Update 2: Can’t forget Ed Baig of USA Today, who says the new model is “worth the wait” (not to say we have any option at that point anyway, seeing how hard it is to find an original anywhere). He seemed to have trouble picking up 3G service in some locations, though it’s not clear whether that can be chalked up to technical issues with the handset or a lack of coverage where he was testing. Like the others, Baig discovered a noticeable improvement in audio quality and a noticeable hit in battery life when hooked up to the 3G network. Gotta pay to play, we guess.

Continue reading Walt Mossberg reviews the iPhone 3G, isn’t that impressed (now with more David Pogue and Ed Baig!)

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments