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SpecEagle review · Apple

iPhone 3G review: The 2008 iPhone that brought 3G — and the App Store.

SpecEagle Editorial·Jul 2008·$199
Overall
10/100
Class rank
#3 of 4
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

The iPhone that launched the App Store era.

The iPhone 3G added 3G and GPS, but its real legacy is the App Store that launched with it. A foundational device in mobile history.

01Display

26/100

26/100 is one of the weaker display results among flagship phones of 2008 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

TypeTFT LCD
Size3.5 inches
Resolution480 × 320 px (163 ppi)
ProtectionGlass

02Camera

14/100

14/100 is one of the weaker camera results among flagship phones of 2008 — 9 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Main2 MP, fixed focus
SelfieNone
VideoNot supported

03Performance

6/100

6/100 is one of the weaker performance results among flagship phones of 2008 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

ChipsetSamsung S5L8900 (90 nm)
CPUSingle-core 412 MHz
GPUPowerVR MBX Lite
RAM128 MB
Storage8 GB / 16 GB

04Battery

28/100

28/100 is one of the weaker battery results among flagship phones of 2008 — 9 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Capacity1,150 mAh
Wired~5 W (30-pin dock)
WirelessNo

05Build

44/100

44/100 is one of the weaker build results among flagship phones of 2008 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

06Value

16/100

16/100 is one of the weaker value results among flagship phones of 2008 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

What works
  • Launched alongside the App Store — the start of the app economy.
  • Added 3G data and GPS.
  • Far more affordable on-contract pricing.
  • Hugely influential.
What doesn't
  • 2 MP fixed-focus camera; no video.
  • 128 MB RAM; plastic build.
  • Stuck on iOS 4.
  • Discontinued — a vintage device.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 4-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .