The fifth iteration of the iPhone is finally here! Amidst the death of Apple’s enigmatic CEO, Apple is stronger than ever with the iPhone 4S breaking numerous sales record. It seems Apple is far from dead and the legacy of Steve Jobs carries on with Siri and the iCloud.
Not all iPhone 4 cases are compatible with the iPhone 4S. The mute switch of the iPhone 4S (bottom) is slightly lower than that of the iPhone 4 (top)
Everything we love about the iPhone 4 …
There’s a reason why the iPhone 4S looks familiar; Apple never bothered to change the physical appearance of the iPhone 4 and simply carried the design over to the iPhone 4S. The only difference is pretty minor; the mute slider on the left side of the iPhone 4S is a bit lower than that of the iPhone 4. Fine by me. I’ve always liked the appearance of the iPhone 4. The double sided glass casing and the surrounding metal bezel just looks so stylish and chic, I don’t think I’ll get tired looking at the iPhone 4S anytime soon.
Size wise, the iPhone 4S is still one of the slimmest smartphone in the market. Even the BlackBerry Bold 9900, which is known for its very slim profile, is a tad thicker than the iPhone 4S.
Smartphone sandwich! BlackBerry Bold 9900 (top) iPhone 4S (middle) HTC Sensation (bottom)
… has been improved upon …
The iPhone 4S is Apple’s first smartphone to carry the A5 dual core chip. In theory, this means that the iPhone 4S should be twice as fast as its predecessor. While it’s hard to feel the difference in normal use, the speed bump can be felt when playing graphic intensive games. On the old iPhone 4 and 4th Generation iPod Touch, Chair’s graphic intensive game Infinity Blade will at times sputter and frame rate would sometimes drop on certain parts of the game. Not on the iPhone 4S. Infinity Blade runs very, very smoothly with nary a hiccup in the system. People who plays a lot of games on their iOD device will quickly feel the difference. There’s no two ways about it. The hype of the dual core A5 processor is a reality.
Which phone has the better looking backside? BlackBerry Bold 9900 (left), Apple iPhone 4S (middle) or HTC Sensation (right)?
Another improvement of the iPhone 4S that has lived up to the hype is its highly touted 8 megapixel camera. I’m not a fan of hyperbole but damn, the iPhone 4S has really the best camera in the smartphone market. Don’t believe me? Check out the photos. I’ve resized the photos, but no other editing was made. It’s hard to see the difference of the photos when its been shrunk down to this size, but in its full actual size, the iPhone 4S’ photo blows the competition away.
Sample photo taken using the iPhone 4S
Comparison photo number 1 - from a BlackBerry Bold 9900
Comparison photo number 2 - from HTC Sensation
Comparison photo number 3 - from Apple iPhone 4
Comparison photo number 4 - from Apple iPhone 4S
… with the addition of one stunning feature.
I’ve always treated voice recognition capability as a useless gimmick, most voice recognition apps either do not work or takes a lot of “training” to make it compatible with the way one would naturally talk. Siri, Apple’s virtual concierge that’s currently only available on the iPhone 4S, takes the voice recognition and dictation concept to a whole new level.
I was surprised how easily Siri recognized my lousy accent. Whether I was telling her to look up a word for me or asking her to read unread messages in my inbox, Siri did it without a hitch. While any location based query I made to Siri got me a “sorry, I can’t do that” message, most of the basic functions worked like a charm.
Here’s a rundown of what I’ve used Siri for:
- Asking the time and weather of a specific city
- Creating a calendar appointment
- Reading and replying to emails and SMS
- Performing Google searches (photos, website, etc.)
- General query (looking for the meaning of a specific word or someone popular)
- Setting an alarm
- Making or answering a phone call
Siri giving me the weather report
While Siri is baked into the iPhone 4S, all of the queries made into it are processed and retrieved from Apple’s data center. This means a persistent data connection is required to use Siri. If you don’t have access to 3G data connection or is not constantly in a place where there’s a reliable connection, you can forget about using Siri.
BlackBerry Bold 9900 (left) iPhone 4S (middle) HTC Sensation (right) - Which one would you choose?
Bottomline
For current iPhone 4 users; the awesome camera, faster processor and a reliable virtual concierge are the three factors that will make the upgrade to the iPhone 4S very palatable. As long as you are able to buy the iPhone 4S at its real market price versus the exorbitant amount the grey market is charging for, I heartily recommend the upgrade. The iPhone 4S is the best smartphone that Apple has done so far and it can stand toe to toe with the best Android and BlackBerry has to offer. For those who are planning to jump into the iOS platform, now is the best time to do it.
Likes:
- The best camera in the smartphone market
- Apple proves that voice recognition/dictation works with Siri
- Pretty fast. iOS gamers will like the speed boost the dual core A5 processor provides
- It may sport the same design as the iPhone 4, but it looks better than most of its competitor
Dislikes:
- Expensive
- Battery life is a bit of a downer (Fortunately, Apple is working on an update that will solve the battery life problem)
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