Over the weekend, my original iPhone decided to jump out of my pocket head first into the concrete. While there were no obvious signs of damage at the time, the next morning I noticed a crack had formed and the entire screen was unresponsive to my finger inputs. This was a truly sad day because not only did my original iPhone have to be retired, it meant I had to purchase a new one. And with that, I was going to have to leave T-Mobile and sign a 2 year contract with AT&T.Almost 2 years ago, I purchased an original iPhone and decided to unlock it to avoid cancellation fees and stay with T-mobile. I didn’t realize it at the time but using an iPhone with T-Mobile, in my opinion, is a much better experience than using it with AT&T. For one, the phone and data plans were cheaper than with AT&T. T-Mobile’s data plan starts at $20/month whereas AT&T’s was $30/month. And on top of that, you can use T-Mobile’s myFave plans. Text messaging plans were also cheaper on T-Mobile as well. Finally, T-Mobile consistently ranks highly in customer service (this is something I can personally attest to). Needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to switching.

The one thing I was looking forward to was getting a new iPhone 3GS. You can read about all the features but I’m going to write down my own observations coming from an original iPhone to an iPhone 3GS.

The first thing I noticed was how snappy it felt. They really mean it when the “S” in 3GS stands for speed. Opening apps or switching from app to app happens instantaneously. I would always get impatient whenever my original phone would “think” before it decided to open up an application. This is also my first experience with a 3G phone and compared to Edge, there’s no contest. There were times I felt like I was on a WiFi network. I also love the GPS and built in compass. Just having the compass orient to your current heading in the Maps app makes finding your away around a million times easier. And as much as I hate to admit it, AT&T’s has coverage in areas where T-Mobile doesn’t. I’ve heard stories where AT&T has horrible coverage and network service but in the short time I’ve had my 3GS, I haven’t had any calls drop and I now have reception in places where T-Mobile would drop out.

Overall I’m very pleased with the new hardware, somewhat cautious with the network and data performance, and totally bummed on the cost of their data plans.

Posted on September 15, 2009 in Apple, Review.