fury
06-24-2009, 03:50 AM
And I probably have the time to do it. But I don't have the hardware... So, I'm throwing it out there in case there's anybody here that does have the hardware.
You might remember a series of iPod touch 2g battery test videos I did, focusing specifically on gaming since that was the focus of the device - I wrote up the article here http://www.everythingicafe.com/articles/2009/1/1/the-funnest-ipod-ever...when-you-keep-it-plugged-in/
When the 3GS came out, and questions of battery life arose again, I struck this bright idea for a re-review of all of the iPhones and iPod touches up to now.
The scope of the review would boil down to basically a comparison of performance and battery life of the various features (e.g. gaming, web browsing, watching videos, using bluetooth accessories, and in the case of iPhones, phone calls)
This would require one of each of the five devices: first-gen iPhone, first-gen touch, iPhone 3G, second-gen touch, and iPhone 3GS - all with preferably new batteries for the best results
All devices would be set to 3.0 software and a set of apps, videos, and songs would be chosen to be put on all of them. For the devices with bluetooth (everything but the first-gen touch) a single kind of device would be chosen to make the battery drain consistent. (Can the first-gen iPhone do stereo A2DP?)
The phones would somehow either require a) each their own service line, or b) the ability to swap a SIM between them freely (unlocked?)
and the basic gamut of testing would probably go something like this:
------
Gaming & Video:
- All devices
Browsing:
- All devices
- One or two sites chosen to time a "reload" following clearing of cache & cookies
- For the phones, different subsets for wifi, edge, or 3G
Bluetooth:
- All capable devices
Phone calls:
- EDGE
- 3G
------
To simplify, there would probably not be any mixing of tests between battery life checks - the battery would simply be run straight down doing that one activity.
Performance checks (starting apps, browsing, returning home, booting, etc) are probably going to be best done by syncing the videos together in the same clip, linking up the initiation of the action (tapping the icon or pressing the home or power button) with the start of the timer, and using the number of video frames to compare
Modifiers of the tests would involve turning on/off various features, and probably make this take some time:
Brightness (full min/max, not bothering with auto-brightness)
Sound
Bluetooth
Location
Wifi
3G
Airplane mode
Push mail
Fetch mail
Push notifications
Then, once all of this data is compiled and put into a video for proof, we can put to rest any doubt about what improvements were made in the hardware. Of course, it'll take quite a long time to compile such a vast set of test data, but it would be the coolest and most definitive iPhone/iPod touch review of all time.
I will probably still do a small subset of these tests using my 3GS, once I've got service on it, but I would like to see this through, so if there's anyone out there with the hardware, I'd volunteer for the time, blood, sweat, and tears. We'd have the final word on the subject of whether battery life or performance improved or got worse from device to device. (I mean, we know the performance got better from iPhone 3G to 3GS, but did the battery life really improve or get worse from the 3G to the 3GS? and did the iPod touch first-gen really run slower? little questions like that...)
edit: I fully understand that the scope I laid out here is much too big for our little clique of iPhone-atics...I just couldn't help myself throwing out a little bit of brainstorming :P
You might remember a series of iPod touch 2g battery test videos I did, focusing specifically on gaming since that was the focus of the device - I wrote up the article here http://www.everythingicafe.com/articles/2009/1/1/the-funnest-ipod-ever...when-you-keep-it-plugged-in/
When the 3GS came out, and questions of battery life arose again, I struck this bright idea for a re-review of all of the iPhones and iPod touches up to now.
The scope of the review would boil down to basically a comparison of performance and battery life of the various features (e.g. gaming, web browsing, watching videos, using bluetooth accessories, and in the case of iPhones, phone calls)
This would require one of each of the five devices: first-gen iPhone, first-gen touch, iPhone 3G, second-gen touch, and iPhone 3GS - all with preferably new batteries for the best results
All devices would be set to 3.0 software and a set of apps, videos, and songs would be chosen to be put on all of them. For the devices with bluetooth (everything but the first-gen touch) a single kind of device would be chosen to make the battery drain consistent. (Can the first-gen iPhone do stereo A2DP?)
The phones would somehow either require a) each their own service line, or b) the ability to swap a SIM between them freely (unlocked?)
and the basic gamut of testing would probably go something like this:
------
Gaming & Video:
- All devices
Browsing:
- All devices
- One or two sites chosen to time a "reload" following clearing of cache & cookies
- For the phones, different subsets for wifi, edge, or 3G
Bluetooth:
- All capable devices
Phone calls:
- EDGE
- 3G
------
To simplify, there would probably not be any mixing of tests between battery life checks - the battery would simply be run straight down doing that one activity.
Performance checks (starting apps, browsing, returning home, booting, etc) are probably going to be best done by syncing the videos together in the same clip, linking up the initiation of the action (tapping the icon or pressing the home or power button) with the start of the timer, and using the number of video frames to compare
Modifiers of the tests would involve turning on/off various features, and probably make this take some time:
Brightness (full min/max, not bothering with auto-brightness)
Sound
Bluetooth
Location
Wifi
3G
Airplane mode
Push mail
Fetch mail
Push notifications
Then, once all of this data is compiled and put into a video for proof, we can put to rest any doubt about what improvements were made in the hardware. Of course, it'll take quite a long time to compile such a vast set of test data, but it would be the coolest and most definitive iPhone/iPod touch review of all time.
I will probably still do a small subset of these tests using my 3GS, once I've got service on it, but I would like to see this through, so if there's anyone out there with the hardware, I'd volunteer for the time, blood, sweat, and tears. We'd have the final word on the subject of whether battery life or performance improved or got worse from device to device. (I mean, we know the performance got better from iPhone 3G to 3GS, but did the battery life really improve or get worse from the 3G to the 3GS? and did the iPod touch first-gen really run slower? little questions like that...)
edit: I fully understand that the scope I laid out here is much too big for our little clique of iPhone-atics...I just couldn't help myself throwing out a little bit of brainstorming :P