Many articles have criticized the UK iPhone for not being a 3G phone. However, the issue is not simply the network bandwidth, but rather what one can do with a phone that’s balanced in its design and can exploit the 2.7G network, according to ITWire on Wednesday.

The first issue has to do with the iPhone’s unlimited data plan. It’s been overlooked that most other mobile phone companies charge their customers higher rates for mobile data. So far, AT&T and O2 charge a modest fee for unlimited data. Worse, if the iPhone were unlocked and used on another carrier’s network, it would be an expensive affair.

"However, at EDGE 2.7G speeds of 70 kbps to 130 kbps (and a burst speed of 200 kbps), where you can’t download huge amounts of data anyway, the concept of ’unlimited data’ for iPhone users makes perfect sense..." Alex Zaharov-Reutt wrote.

Of course, time will tell if that plan changes when a future iPhone works on a 3G network.

However, of greater importance is the utilization of the iPhone’s battery. The author pointed out that his Nokia N95 tries to do too much and chews through batteries, so much so that he has to carry extra batteries and a power adapter everywhere, even in the car.

"The iPhone simply has a much better battery than the N95 in size and in being able to cope with EDGE speeds, offering day long audio, and between 5 and 7 hours if you are constantly surfing the web, constantly watching video or constantly using a combination of all the iPhone’s features. That’s certainly considerably longer than the N95 which can have it battery drained much faster with heavy use," Mr. Zaharov-Reutt observed.

The balance of the battery life against the unlimited data on Wi-Fi and 2.7G networks makes for a complete experience, not like any other mobile phone. As usual, Apple has done its homework, and competitors tend to gloss over those engineering trades that affect the user experience.

A 3G iPhone is coming, and some people will wait for it, but Apple’s design decisions hardly cripple the current version in light of the problems the competition has.