Video speed test: 2.5G EDGE iPhone vs. mock 3G HSDPA iPhone

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
One Apple iPhone owner has posted to YouTube a video shootout that pits an iPhone running on a 2.5G EDGE network against one rigged with 3G HSDPA access in a simulated speed test.



The mock 3G iPhone was connected via WiFi to an iMac whose internet connection was supplied with a HSDPA modem and then shared, while the traditional 2.5G iPhone was run on a standard overseas EDGE wireless network.



Based on the test results, which are largely theoretical given fluctuations in mobile wireless speeds from region to region and provider to provider, the 3G iPhone loaded the same web page as the 2.5G iPhone in nearly half the time.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 268
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    One Apple iPhone owner has posted to YouTube a video shootout that pits an iPhone running on a 2.5G EDGE network against one rigged with 3G HSDPA access in a simulated speed test.



    The mock 3G iPhone was connected via WiFi to an iMac whose internet connection was supplied with a HSDPA modem and then shared, while the traditional 2.5G iPhone was run on a standard overseas EDGE wireless network.



    Based on the test results, which are largely theoretical given fluctuations in mobile wireless speeds from region to region and provider to provider, the 3G iPhone loaded the same web page as the 2.5G iPhone in nearly half the time.







    I was hoping for even faster ....
  • Reply 2 of 268
    mrochestermrochester Posts: 700member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    I was hoping for even faster ....



    I'll point and laugh at those who suggested the iPhone was fine without 3G.
  • Reply 3 of 268
    mydomydo Posts: 1,888member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrochester View Post


    I'll point and laugh at those who suggested the iPhone was fine without 3G.



    Mine's fine without G3. You do know it has Wifi right?
  • Reply 4 of 268
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    I was hoping for even faster ....



    Many things will be much faster - certainly things like youtube, email sending and receiving, song purchases over 3G and the like will benefit much more than web page loading. Plus web page loading will be better than this, because the 3G iphone will not have such a complicated "modem"
  • Reply 5 of 268
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mydo View Post


    Mine's fine without G3. You do know it has Wifi right?



    You have a G3 iPhone? I thought they made the move to Intel?
  • Reply 6 of 268
    abster2coreabster2core Posts: 2,501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrochester View Post


    I'll point and laugh at those who suggested the iPhone was fine without 3G.



    But at what cost? For example, battery life. Will it be a problem? Is the attached article still relevant?



    http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3036
  • Reply 7 of 268
    the speed difference is going to be small because the phones processor and memory also plays a role in displaying that page to you. the real noticeable difference with edge/3g will be when you tether your phone to your computer... which you can't do
  • Reply 8 of 268
    lafelafe Posts: 252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    One Apple iPhone owner has posted to YouTube a video shootout that pits an iPhone running on a 2.5G EDGE network against one rigged with 3G HSDPA access in a simulated speed test.



    The mock 3G iPhone was connected via WiFi to an iMac whose internet connection was supplied with a HSDPA modem and then shared, while the traditional 2.5G iPhone was run on a standard overseas EDGE wireless network.



    Based on the test results, which are largely theoretical given fluctuations in mobile wireless speeds from region to region and provider to provider, the 3G iPhone loaded the same web page as the 2.5G iPhone in nearly half the time.







    I'm confused about how this largely theoretical test tells us anything at all about how a real 3G iPhone would compare to today's model.
  • Reply 9 of 268
    dehgenogdehgenog Posts: 28member
    The WiFi intermediary step kills some of the latency performance gains (isn't avg initial response for EDGE ~300ms vs ~80ms for 3G ?), but the test still shows us what we kind of knew: it's much faster.
  • Reply 10 of 268
    dehgenogdehgenog Posts: 28member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chadisawesome View Post


    the speed difference is going to be small because the phones processor and memory also plays a role in displaying that page to you.







    LOL?
  • Reply 11 of 268
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chadisawesome View Post


    the speed difference is going to be small because the phones processor and memory also plays a role in displaying that page to you. the real noticeable difference with edge/3g will be when you tether your phone to your computer... which you can't do



    Yes, and in this video test, they used two iphones with the same processor and memory. The speed difference was a factor of 2.



    Amorya
  • Reply 12 of 268
    foo2foo2 Posts: 1,077member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrochester View Post


    I'll point and laugh at those who suggested the iPhone was fine without 3G.



    The iPhone is fine without 3G. Most web pages are properly rendered and are usable on the iPhone regardless of speed (EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi). Of course, faster is always better--unless you're talking something other than iPhone, like Windows Mobile, where it doesn't matter how fast the hardware is, the software is cr@p.
  • Reply 13 of 268
    k2directork2director Posts: 194member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrochester View Post


    I'll point and laugh at those who suggested the iPhone was fine without 3G.



    It was fine enough to become the hottest smartphone on the planet, and to pave the way to Apple's utter dominance in that phone category.
  • Reply 14 of 268
    solarsolar Posts: 84member
    Holy Crap!



    I had no Idea that 3G was faster than Edge. - Really when did this happen?







    Slow news day today eh?
  • Reply 15 of 268
    3goldens3goldens Posts: 34member
    I can't believe someone would even post something as silly as this!
  • Reply 16 of 268
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Solar View Post


    Holy Crap!



    I had no Idea that 3G was faster than Edge. - Really when did this happen?





    [testing out the broken Edit button workaround- pray for me - TB]





    I think "how much faster, real-world" was the question ppl were curious about. So I'm glad whomever it was did the video, and that AI posted it.



    Of course, it may not be a perfect test... as someone else noted, the WiFi intermediary step ups the latency a bit (but not too much, as WiFi is a low-latency tech usually). Real real-world (is that a new expression?), 3G is likely a bit faster than than what the test showed.



    Not that it matters... once the 3G iPhone shows up in a month or two, nearly everyone is just gonna buy that, regardless of whether its 2x, 3x, 5x, whatever, faster than EDGE, real-world.



    Unless the EDGE iPhone, assuming it's kept around, is priced insanely low. And even then, the 2.5G model would probably sell okay only in the US.





    [Whoa. Edit workaround appears to actually work. -TB]







    .
  • Reply 17 of 268
    blackwind212blackwind212 Posts: 119member
    Both pretty much suck.



    4G or bust.
  • Reply 18 of 268
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by k2director View Post


    It was fine enough to become the hottest smartphone on the planet, and to pave the way to Apple's utter dominance in that phone category.





    Dominance is a-ways ways off. Nokia shipped more than 8 times more smartphones in Q4 '07 than Apple did, RIM, about double.



    On the plus side, Apple did pass Motorola for No.3, which is very impressive (even given Moto's problems) for a newcomer.













    .
  • Reply 19 of 268
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    For me, it boils down to cost.



    If:

    3G iPhone = $499

    2.5 iPhone = Discounted to $200



    I'll take the 2.5 G iPhone.
  • Reply 20 of 268
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by blackwind212 View Post


    Both pretty much suck.



    4G or bust.





    Are you willing to wait until 2011 for widespread LTE coverage?



    Of course, there's also WiMax, but its deployment in the US may get scaled back and slowed down, what with Sprint having a near-death experience currently. Their May 12 results are going to look like Pearl Harbor.





    .
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