2G is Faster Than 3G

IanFogg | June 29, 2007, 04:11 PM

To speed up performance on my current phone I often switch off the 3G radio to speed up performance.

This is, of course, silly.

The phone is a Windows Mobile device, it's an operator-branded HTC TyTN (also called 'Hermes' or by various operator-specific names).

When the 3G radio is on (WCDMA/UMTS/3GPP), and something is downloading in the background, like a large email attachment, the foreground application often slows down dramatically.

Worse, it's an unpredictable experience. One minute I'm able to launch the phone application in an instant to call someone, the next, the screen redraws overlap, it starts looking like the phone has crashed although it hasn't, and the process of making a phone call takes me literally minutes to do.

This is, of course, silly.

In 2G mode, on the same phone with the same software and on the same operator: No problem. In addition, my battery lasts anything from two to four times as long.

This is, of course, silly.

The downside of 2G/GPRS is that data and voice can't coexist. If I make a phone call, the data connection drops. If there's a live data connection running, then sometimes incoming calls are bounced direct to my voicemail. It's all very unsatisfactory and far from "always on".

With the iPhone, Apple are emphasising that calls do not get missed. They are positioning iPhone with the a message that the one experience that is paramount is the phone/voice one.

For me, the main issue with the absence of a 3G radio on iPhone is not the much vaunted 3G speeds (which are becoming impressive, especially with HSDPA as on my Windows Mobile phone). And, after all, there are plenty of Blackberries in Europe that are only 2G. Instead, the impact of leaving out 3g is the issue of how to ensure voice and data coexist.

Apple will need to implement some neat workarounds -- of which a number are possible -- to ensure that the lack of 3G does not cause the voice and data experience to conflict. They have to ensure that they deliver on their marketing message that above all else, the iPhone is a great phone as well as everything else.