So I’ve had my iPhone 3G for 24 hours now, and I’ve used all the features I expect to use day in day out. How’s it gone? Some good, some bad. Read on….

The Good:

The obvious place to start is the 3G data access. In short, it’s FAST. And I’m not talking a little bit faster than EDGE/GPRS either. I’m talking better than twice as fast. I’m lucky enough to have access to a couple of v1 iPhones to test against, and the 3G blows them out of the water. It really is night and day. It’s not far off WiFi as Steve Jobs said at WWDC08. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say WiFi is a little faster too ! Before anyone asks, I have tested against a v1 on 1.1.4 and one on 2.0. Same result.

The GPS works well, though obviously only outside. I’ve not had a real chance to test that out yet, but I’m out and about on Monday so I’ve got that planned for then.

The Bad:

3G coverage. Now I know people over in the United States have been complaining about lack of 3G coverage from AT&T, but with O2 I didn’t expect a problem. After all, 3G isn’t anything new over here, we should be fine. For the most part I’ve no complaints. I’ve had a 3G signal since I turned the iPhone on last night. That’s until I left Sheffield. Where I am now, the O2 map says I should have a strong 3G signal. Well it lies ! I did have it for a moment after getting out of the car, but by the time I’d got to the house I was on EDGE. I’ll be keeping an eye on that, and I know I’m not the first to mention it over here. How is everyone in other countries getting on ?

So, overall I’m glad with my upgrade. After selling my old handset it won’t have cost much to upgrade, so all is well in that score. The battery is no worse than my old iPhone on 2.0, so I think it’s safe to say the power drain is the software and not the actual 3G. Here’s hoping 2.0.1 fixes that !