I had never really bought into the apple branding until I got an ipod touch and thought it was the best thing I had ever owned; then I received an upgrade on my phone contract to the 3GS iphone and was astounded at the amount of functions it had. Even as an avid windows user I was able to pick up all the controls with ease; it is one of the most user friendly gadgets I have ever seen.

The camera is adequate, the pictures are amazing for a phone, but I'm not going to stop using my camera. The video isn't amazing, but it's great if you have to catch something there and then and don't have a real camera. The thing with the camera on the 3GS is that it doesn't have a flash - at night indoors pictures can look very yellow and blurry and outside pictures are just impossible. It also doesn't have the front camera that newer iPhones have.

There's a voice control which seems a bit pointless for normal use as it would be quicker to just select the function yourself, but if you're connected through a headset in a car this allows you to make phone calls and change the song playing safely without touching the phone. This voice control is not Siri - it is a much simpler version.

The 3GS is compatible with the IOS5 software so you're up to date with all the latest features like iMessage (a free texting service to other iphones similar to BBM) and any apps that require it.
My contract includes internet and so when I'm out and about I can use the internet on the phone without WiFi. There's excellent coverage and I've been able to use it almost everywhere apart from really rural areas. There are different levels of connectivity indicated by different symbols next to your operator in the top left corner. Safari is the browser installed on the phone; it has a google search bar, favourites, history and multiple page options.

One thing I will pass on though; 8GB isn't enough for me. What you must remember is that you do not actually have the full 8GB as the operating system takes up a fair amount of space and if you want to buy apps (which you will, because there's an app for absolutely everything and the genius in them will appeal to everyone) these can end up taking 10 - 20mb each. That doesn't leave a whole lot of space for songs if you want to use it as your mp3 player as well let alone films or tv shows (which can be played in excellent quality). If you are considering using it as your main mp3 player then get a larger one - it would definitely be worth it.

Sound quality is great for talking on the phone and for playing music out loud at low levels, but it quickly deteriorates as you get louder.

Battery life is notoriously bad. I have to charge mine pretty much every day and sometimes in the middle of the day if I've been browsing the internet a lot. It charges fairly quickly - about 3 hours to fully charge.

I've played with a few iphone 4s and although there are many small added features (and of course a new shape) I am in no hurry to upgrade - the 3GS suits me perfectly.