Apple iPhone 4 vs. Apple iPhone 3GS

VS.

Is the iPhone 4 worth the upgrade from the iPhone 3GS? To find out, let's compare.

On price, there is no comparison. The iPhone 3GS is only $99 while the iPhone 4 is $199 - $299. Factor into that, however, that the $99 iPhone 3GS has 8 gigs while the $199 iPhone 4 has 16 gigs and the $299 iPhone 4 has 32 gigs, so on price, it's all really relative.

As for the display, there is also no comparison, though this time that fares poorly for the iPhone 3GS, with its 480 x 320 resolution and 163 pixels per inch, as the iPhone 4 has a 960 x 640 hi-res display with 326 ppi. Both displays share multi-touch capabilities (two-finger gestures).

The iPhone 4 has a 5 megapixel digital camera, a 2 mp upgrade from its predecessor, with an LED flash and backside illumination, both of which are notably absent in the 3GS. The iPhone 4 also has a secondary front camera with VGA resolution for video calling through FaceTime. Both devices' digital camera share tap to focus and autofocus. Both devices also have video recording with tap to focus capabilities, although the iPhone 4 also has an LED light and HD video recording whereas the 3GS does not.

Both the 3GS and the 4 have 802.11 Wi-Fi, 7.2-Mbps HSDPA, 5.8 Mbps HSUPA, GPS, and accelerometer. The iPhone 4 also has three-axis gyro technology, Apple A4 processor, and dual-mic noise suppression.

Both devices have multitasking, a built-in iPod, the Apple App Store, maps and compass, accessibility for people with disabilities, the Safari browser, iTunes Store, voice commands, folders, mail, messages, search, and iBooks.

The iPhone 4 gets 2 extra hours of talk time over the iPhone 3GS (7 hours compared to 5 hours on 3G and 14 hours compared to 12 hours on 2G). It also gains 10 hours in audio playback, with up to 40 hours of listening pleasure from the iPhone 4 and up to 30 hours from the iPhone 3GS. The iPhone 4 battery can power internet use for up to 6 hours on 3G and 10 hours on Wi-Fi compared with the iPhone 3GS battery which can power internet use for up to 5 hours on 3G and 9 hours on Wi-Fi. Both devices have the same 300 hours of standby time, and both devices have the same 10 hours of video playback.

So is the iPhone 4 a worthy improvement over the iPhone 3GS? As you see, there's no comparison.

Incidentally, the iPhone 4 comes in white or black while the iPhone 3GS comes only in black.