Apple iPhone 3G S 32GB Black deals & review

The iPhone 3G S does everything the previous iPhones did, as well as a whole lot more. The style is familiar, with the slick touchscreen and intuitive interface. It's a format people know and love, so why change a winning formula? The handset, of course, comes with access to Apple's expansive app store, with over 500,000 apps to choose from.

Those who liked the iPhone 3G will like the 3G S 32GB. It looks exactly the same and shares the same dimensions (4.5 inches x 2.4 inches x 0.48 inches), though is slightly heavier at 135 grams. Like the old version, the 3.5 inch wide-screen has crisp 480 x 320 pixel resolution. A notable addition is the on-screen fingerprint-resistant coating, which is intended to reduce smudging. You don't buy iPhones to be different, so it will come as no great surprise that it is available in only two colours – black and white.

One of the smartest new features is voice-activated music playback. When you press and hold the home button, the iPhone will understand over 25 phrases such as “Play songs by insert band”, “Next track”, “What song is this?” and so on. This is a real step towards making the iPhone even more invaluable to music lovers.

Another important area that has been tweaked is the digital camera. In previous versions, the resolution was a paltry 2.0 megapixels, which compared badly against competition from Nokia and Samsung. This time round, the camera has been boosted to 3.0 megapixels, still not the best spec on the market, but significantly better than before.

Apple promises that the performance of the 3G S is up to twice as fast as that of its predecessor. Exact figures are lacking, but a simple test of old and new phones demonstrates that there is a noticeable difference in speed, both in online and offline use. That said, the processor can still struggle when there are several application running. The battery life has also been extended – now you can listen to music for up to 30 hours, assuming you can stay awake that long.

The iPhone became popular not just because of its style, but because its innovative interface made everything so easy to do. Other smartphones have caught up, but the iPhone still flies the flag for intuitive controls, and the addition of voice-activated music playback shows that Apple are still keen to keep innovating.

If you want individuality and quirky colours, look elsewhere; owning an iPhone certainly won't make you stand out. If taking quality photos is your main demand, then a similarly-priced model from Samsung or Nokia would better suit your needs. However, if you want a phone that does everything well, has an intuitive interface and offers more apps than you can shake a stick at, the Apple iPhone 3G S 32GB might just be the one for you.