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The timing couldn’t be better. I was up for a new contract and the Pre and 3GS came out at relatively the same time. I have both now. Each has 30 days to be brought back and I will decide which one I like more.
My thoughts so far.
Navigation (not GPS nav, navigating the phone functions): The Pre is by far better at navigating through the phones features. You can go back and forth and trash windows so easily with the gesture area. On the iPhone you have to either click the middle button* which brings you back to the main screen or hit a little back button at the top left corner. With one hand, this is a pain, it is sorta hard to reach. The iPhone takes two hands in order to easily and speedily reach a lot of options.
Feel: I like the feel of the iPhone a lot more. It feels that it was built sturdier. However, the Pre fits a lot better in my hand. The Pre also slides, so it is much more compact in my pocket. The iPhone does take a lot of pocket room.
Keyboard: this really doesn’t matter for me. I will get used to either one, they are both fine.
Battery: I have the extended 1350 batter for my Pre, so my battery life is a bit better. The iPhone 3GS seems to have excellent battery life. I have been using it for about 5 straight hours and have drained about 20% of the batter. But once bigger batteirs become available, I can choose whatever range of power I want.
Camera: iPhone wins this solely because it has an auto focus. I also never use video recording, so I could care less about that feature.
Speed: They really feel the same in terms of loading websites and what not. I do notice that my Pre is a bit choppier when switching through the screen to locate apps, but I am almost positive this can be fixed through software updates. On the other hand, the iPhone does this flawlessly out of the box.
Apps: I honestly like the Pre in this category too. All the apps I have used to far on the Pre are very polished and easy to navigate. All the free apps on the iPhone have advertisements and have too much going on with them, it hinders my experience. I would like to see some apps for the Pre though, such as facebook and Bank of America; but that is really just a waiting game for that stuff.
Reception: I sound much more like myself though the Pre than the iPhone. AT&T has a better servicing range, but they still have problems maintaining 3G.
Voice dial: Ok, the iPhone rocks this out, and is a feature I love. The 3GS has push button voice activation. Hold down the middle button and say what you want and it flawlessly gets it. I even spoke very fast and inaccurately and the 3GS still picked up what I said. If this came to the Pre… I would poo a little… It really is a huge advantage to the 3GS.
Screen: I do like the 3GS screen a bit more. It is a little bigger and I like that. On the same hand it is bigger so my fingers have to be all over the place, sometimes requiring two hands to reach the entire portion of the screen. So the screen’s viewing experience is a bit better but the functionality is worse.
In all, I don’t understand the whole iPhone thing. It’s a pain to navigate and sprint has tons more options such as turn by turn navigation and nights starting at 7 rather than 9 (not to mention its $20 a month cheaper). The iPhone is a money sink IMO. Everything good costs too much, such as apps, and AT&T costs too much monthly. My initial thoughts are that the Pre is far above and beyond the 3GS. Even when the 3GS comes out with turn by turn you will have to pay for the application that allows you to access to maps.
I also feel disorganized with the iPhone. The main page for the iPhone shows me all my apps and options, but this makes me feel too cluttered, where the Pre you must request access to all your clutter.
*The damn middle button: Ok, the middle button on the iPhone royally pisses me off. On the Pre, when you dismiss an application or browser the next time you use it you begin at your home page. With the iPhone you begin where you left off. This annoys me so much because when I dismiss something, I am done with it, I don’t want to see the article I was reading hours ago. So in order to get back to the main screen you have to continually hit the back button until you find what you want.
Take this one step further. On the Pre I use the MLB application quite a bit. I am an Orioles fan so I look at their news and stats the most out of any team. However, I still look at other teams stats. When I close the application and then access it again it takes me right back to my Oriole home page. With the iPhone when I close the application and reopen it, I am right back where I left off. So if I am looking at another team’s homepage I have to keep going back and back until I am back at the team selection screen and then select the Orioles again. Damn that is annoying!
These are just some things I felt like commenting on. Please feel free to ask me any questions, I have both phones for 30 days before I return one, and I already feel like returning the iPhone the day I bought it.
**Please excuse grammatical errors. I am at work and didn't feel like reading it over. I will fix it at home.
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Yesterday I took my second and last trip to the AT&T store, returning my iPhone. Some wrap up thoughts.
The iPhone has some sweet accessories (though, IMO a very weak argument for the iPhone, but I will make it anyway), I mean you could customize the hell out of it with cases and skins; on the same hand I will hopefully be able to do this with the Pre given some time for people to develop accessories.
I never could get over how the middle button function on the iPhone. Though I hated it at first, I thought that I would get used to it and eventually even like it. No dice. I just couldn't get over being annoyed after opening applications and being dropped back to where I thought the application should have closed and reset.
Other than that, the iPhone does rock. The voice access feature is super cool, not only does it call for you but can open any feature of the phone for you hands free. I really wish the Pre had this feature (maybe pushing the middle button will one day grant this).
However, the Pre has little quirks that made the experience a considerable amount more enjoyable than the iPhone. I felt very in sync with the Pre, where everything was right in my palm (no pun intended, well maybe a little). I felt the Pre was an extension of my life, making it super easy to access everything I needed. I felt the iPhone was more of its own device and required me to obey by its rules. Also everything about the iPhone that is cool costs money, I felt that if I sunk a little into the trap that I would eventually do a complete landslide.
In the end, it was an easy decision and I am sure everyone has their own opinion about which phone they like more.
***I just want to elaborate a little more, ramble if I may. I feel the Pre is designed specifically for my hand, custom fit. Everything can be accessed with just my thumb; quickly I might add too. Though it is a "thumb" phone, it really is brilliantly designed and feels next generation. The Pre feels like a device made to access everything web based, super easily and super conveniently. The iPhone seemed more like a game where things flashed and turned everything into a cartoon. This is fun, but maybe geared towards a younger audience to get that "wow" factor based on name brand and flashiness. I felt like I was playing gameboy on the iPhone. This may seem like a plus side to some, but I want super ease of use, "I push this and get EXACTLY what I want... with ONE hand (finger), I might add".
****One thing I really didn't like about the iPhone is every time I pulled it out I felt like I was showing it off. I expected people to say "oh, an iPhone!", made me feel an aurora of cell phone superiority like I was driving a loud sport car, revving my engine at every stop light to make people look at me. With my Pre, I felt much more comfortable. I felt that I could check my stocks and emails, nothing more, not showing off what my measly $200 had bought me.
*****I didn't integrate the starred stuff in my review because it was more side thoughts, like a chat bubble rather than what I wanted to include in my "real" review.
