Filed under: iPhone
iLounge releases speed test videos of iPhone 3G S
Testing how speedy the iPhone 3G S "S for speed" really is has become de rigueur. iLounge has put together two videos comparing the facility of the 3G S to the 3G, last year's iteration of the iPhone, and to the second generation iPod touch.
The operator tests four applications: Edge, Peggle, Real Racing, and Star Defense. They are all graphically heavy games with initial load times, and likely where the difference will be most exaggerated. As is to be expected from a phone named for its swiftness, the 3G S outstrips both the 3G and the iPod touch by a fair margin, though the iPod touch counters the 3G S a bit more easily than the 3G does.
The videos don't offer any quantitative analysis, nor are they exact by any stretch of the imagination (you'll just have to trust the device operator to touch the application icons simultaneously), but it's comforting to know you that if dropped at least two bills, it was for a reason. Because the videos don't offer any guidance as to which device is where, I'll clue you in: in both videos, the 3G S is on the right.
iPhone 3G vs. iPhone 3G S
What have your experiences been with the iPhone 3G S versus the iPhone 3G or the iPod touch?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
kristofer said 1:28PM on 6-21-2009
Why only games?
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Bender Bending Rodriguez said 2:23PM on 6-21-2009
Because games tend to be large apps that require more memory and processing (including graphics) than your typical app so a slight lead in opening up the calculator is not really doing the HW comparison any justice.
For a non-game comparison I installed Google Earth on my 3G and 3GS. The results are even more impressive for the 3GS than on the videos above.
phytonix said 1:28PM on 6-21-2009
Impressed by the speed of iPod touch 2nd gen.
It is only slightly slower than 3GS.
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Kai Cherry said 2:14PM on 6-21-2009
Nope :)
-K
Lee said 1:35PM on 6-21-2009
I support Kristofer: Why only games? Why not speed tests for contacts, ical, Mail, Facebook or the google app? Things people use every day...
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dagamer43 said 1:52PM on 6-21-2009
The differences in your "every day" apps aren't as noticeable compared to games. When you're talking about 1-2 second decreases in app loading times, the scientific error of needing to tap both apps at the same time becomes a LOT greater.
Mostly, it's because games have a lot of loading with little user interaction. That makes the tests much simpler.
kai Cherry said 2:14PM on 6-21-2009
DaGamer,
This isn't...accurate :)
The best tests out there would be using the apps apple shipped with the phone; the difference is...very, very obvious.
-K
ipodrulz said 2:19PM on 6-21-2009
Because those things load really fast already so it's harder to emphasize the speed difference.
Adnium said 1:45PM on 6-21-2009
Presumably because the most marked difference in speed will be when running the most computationally intensive apps. Although I agree that a video comparison of 'everyday' apps would be useful but perhaps less obvious on film.
Personally, my 3G does just fine loading my regular repertoire of apps; Things, Mail and Safari all run fine.
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Kai Cherry said 1:54PM on 6-21-2009
There is a *bit* more to this; Look for app updates, re-released apps that specifically are optimized for the 3GS.
And yes, there is such a thing :)
The speed difference is more than marginal. The fact that old apps/stuff that you already have are showing a boost out of the box is just the tip of the iceberg, as the saying goes.
-K
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Mike said 1:53PM on 6-21-2009
I am so proud of my iPod Touch 2G
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Andrew said 2:00PM on 6-21-2009
It's pretty dramatic. Here are some comparisons between my new iPhone 3GS and my old original 2G iPhone.
Launching graphic intensive game iDracula
iPhone 3GS: 13 sec
iPhone 2G: 50.8 sec
KoiPond
iPhone 3GS: 4.2 sec
iPhone 2G: 10.4 sec
Rolando lite
iPhone 3GS: 13.4 sec
iPhone 2G: 22.5 sec
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Kai Cherry said 2:11PM on 6-21-2009
Wanna see it really fly, use Apple's apps. They are optimized for the 3GS.
-K
Chris Hanson said 2:52PM on 6-21-2009
I just upgraded from 1st gen to the 3gs and have found a huge speed improvement. Load times are much faster overall. One app I use often is epocrates (a medical drug reference) and it loads subjectively about 5 times faster! Now it's much more practical to use more often.
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Jason said 3:13PM on 6-21-2009
Why is Kai Cherry so insistent on using Apple's apps? Clearly it won't demonstrate the LARGE speed increase that the 3G S has on the other iPhone and iPod touches. Sure, a 1 or 2 second speed increase is nice for when you open Calculator or Notes or something, but it doesn't show how much of a jump you get with this new processor. Only something hardware-intensive such as a game like Peggle will reveal the difference in processing power.
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Kai Cherry said 3:33PM on 6-21-2009
Because unlike YOU, Kai Cherry isn't surmising and assuming from secondhand knowledge and correlation/causation fallacy? :)
Let me break it down for ya...
You are familiar with "fat apps"...Universal Binaries, yes?
Well, the 3GS has a different processor than the previous iPhoneOS devices and as such, to get the *maximum* speed advantages from it, software needs to be re-compiled to take advantage of these differences.
Sound...familiar?
-K
Kai Cherry said 3:07PM on 6-21-2009
Some crappy quick 'n dirty vids:
iTunes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e6f4PCycCQ
App Store
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2vYkfmT9CU
YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDvdC4qyIPg
-K
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Aaron Ardiri said 4:01PM on 6-21-2009
iPhone 3G runs a 533 MHz processor at 412 MHz,
iPhone 3G S runs a 866 MHz processor at 600 MHz.
thats a 42% speed increase just with the CPU itself - anything of computational value will benefit from this. to save space; my own games include compression of resources; which, can take time to decompress.
the 3GS also runs an improved graphics chip; meaning it can now support OpenGL ES 2.0 instead of 1.1; which should also have some other improvements for use both within the UI and games.
// Aaron Ardiri
http://www.mobile1up.com/
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Kai Cherry said 4:11PM on 6-21-2009
There are other differences as well, but unfortunately, at this time
I cannot explain them in detail, with the level of detail I would
like to, until such a time Apple says I can.
And this leads me to something else:
There is a LOT of MISINFORMATION and assumption about the 3.0 update
and the 3G S itself. Just take it as read that the 3G S, and the
improvements you'll see will become much more obvious in the coming
days/weeks/months as software that is able to take advantage is made
available.
I am the first person to rag on Apple for abuse/abusive hyperbole,
but that is not the case with this hardware. It isn't the "same
thing" with a "speed bump"...
-K
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tommyt said 4:23PM on 6-21-2009
What about for simple processes like flipping the iPhone sideways for texting or opening any native apps.
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