iPhone 3G review: The 2008 iPhone that brought 3G — and the App Store.
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
26/10026/100 is one of the weaker display results among flagship phones of 2008 — 33 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
02Camera
14/10014/100 is one of the weaker camera results among flagship phones of 2008 — 42 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
03Performance
6/1006/100 is one of the weaker performance results among flagship phones of 2008 — 36 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
04Battery
28/10028/100 is one of the weaker battery results among flagship phones of 2008 — 31 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
05Build
44/10044/100 is one of the weaker build results among flagship phones of 2008 — 17 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
06Value
16/10016/100 is one of the weaker value results among flagship phones of 2008 — 27 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
- Launched alongside the App Store — the start of the app economy.
- Added 3G data and GPS.
- Far more affordable on-contract pricing.
- Hugely influential.
- 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 22-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .