Apple iPhone 3GS 8GB on Orange Tariffs

"The iPhone 3GS is certainly a step on from the iPhone 3G. Everything is faster, the camera is significantly improved, and the video shooting is very well done..." 5/5 Stars

"It looks exactly like its predecessor, but the 3G S fixes most of the iPhone’s flaws: it’s faster, takes better pictures, captures video and now offers 32GB storage. But the great leap forward isn’t the hardware – it’s the 3.0 software, available as a free update to all existing iPhone users." 5/5 Stars

"The real makeover is not in terms of its aesthetics, but rather, what's under the phone's hood. Users who kept complaining that the iPhone doesn't have enough multimedia functions can now sigh some form of relief." 9/10

"The camera on the iPhone 3GS has been boosted to 3 megapixels, up from 2 megapixels. There is still no flash, but Apple has included a nifty feature that allows you select a focus point by tapping on the display. This "tap to focus" feature allows you to take macro photos; there is no macro setting, but simply tapping the item in the foreground will blur out the background." 4.5/5 Stars

"There are so many things that work well here making the iPhone a pleasure to use. Text entry is fast and responsive, the new MMS features bring it up to date, email, calendars and contacts are all well handled. Browsing is good and fast, the screen is sharp and bright (but not the best around). " 9/10

"Speed is the central upgrade here, and probably is the single biggest reason you would upgrade to a 3GS from a 3G. And if you're coming in as a virgin iPhone user, there's definitely no question: The 3GS is worth an extra $100."

"In our opinion, the 3GS video quality is high enough that we'd consider this a viable stand-in for lower end camcorders or flip cams -- if you want to capture your kids at the park but don't want to come packing a ton of gear, this produces totally reasonable results."

"If you don’t already own an iPhone then the iPhone 3GS might well be the model that finally wears down your resistance. The lack of a camera zoom is a glaring omission, but the iPhone’s great strength remains the sheer variety of features and software that it offers, and which make it vastly more versatile than most of its rivals." 85/100

"Finally, you can highlight text, cut or copy it, and paste it somewhere else. And the facility works just as well for plain text as it does for sections of web pages. Simply hold your finger to the screen, tap Select and drag the onscreen handles to highlight a section, then tap Cut or Copy. Quite why it took Apple so long to come up with such a system is beyond us, because it works like a dream." 5/6 Stars

"Even substantial concerns about network reception and battery life can't stop us recommending the iPhone 3GS. The combination of its fantastic browser, the full-featured iPod media player and Apple's App Store forms a compelling trio and are together unmatched by the competition..." 8.3/10

"For calling features, Apple has finally endowed the iPhone with voice dialing. The Apple iPhone 3GS gets a great looking voice dialing app with some clever tricks. It was about 90% accurate when we tried dialing contacts, or speaking phone numbers directly. The voice commands app can also control your music library, though it wasn't quite as effective there. " 83/100

"The iPhone 3GS doesn't make the same grand leap that the iPhone 3G made from the first-generation model, but the latest Apple handset is still a compelling upgrade for some users. The iPhone 3GS is faster and we appreciate the new features and extended battery life, but call quality and 3G reception still need improvement." 8.3/10

"Feature-for-feature, the iPhone 3GS now matches most other smartphones that it competes against -- and in some ways surpasses them. Each platform has its own advantages, but the iPhone has seamless syncing with iTunes, an easy-to-use interface, a killer browser, and amazing potential with the Apps Store. "

"Apple claim to have laid a special oleophobic coating on the screen glass, which simply means cleaning those smudges should be easier than before. And indeed it is. You see, the difference is nothing ground-breaking, but it's still there. Where several good scrubs with the cleaning cloth were needed on the 3G, now only a quick T-shirt rub will do for the iPhone 3GS."

"As for battery life, Apple is quoting some reasonably significant leaps in runtime for the iPhone 3GS over its predecessor.  Perhaps it’s the impact of a still-not-quite conditioned battery, but we’re yet to see any major improvements; admittedly we’ve been using the 3GS hard over the past few days, but then we’re also heavy users of the 3G before it.  "

"...the iPhone 3GS is still best in class: the simple interface, the ease of setup, all of that before you get onto the thousands of third-party apps. As a phone, it's a bit so-so. As a tiny com­puter, though, it can't be bettered."

"The phrase "the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree" certainly applies here. The iPhone 3G S is almost impossible to tell apart from the previous generation from the outside, it builds on the strengths of previous iPhone generations and it finally gets around to correcting some of their faults."