Apple iPhone 4S Review

It's been 15 months since Apple released the iPhone 4. This has left many iPhone, and would-be iPhone customers, anxious for what the company planned to bring next. As we learned recently, the iPhone 4S it is: same body, same screen, same construction, same look as the iPhone 4. To say that some people were disappointed with the 4S announcement would be an understatement.


However, to be fair, beyond the identical exterior lies the hard work that Apple put forth on the inside. An upgraded processor, an improved antenna, and an all-new camera into the iPhone 4S. The other big story, or should we say, the bigger story with the iPhone 4S is the iOS 5 software upgrade and the voice-controlled personal assistant called Siri. iOS 5 offers over 200 new features to Apple's smartphone platform, most of which are also available to current owners of previous-gen devices.

With the rapid pace at which smartphones are developing, many have called the iterative improvements with the iPhone 4S a mistake, as it seems like every other minute a new Android device is out with better, bigger, faster everything. Despite that, the iPhone 4S gently improves on the popular iPhone 4, and it betters what was already one of the best experiences available to a smartphone buyer. Read on to find out what the iPhone 4S is all about and if it's a worthy upgrade to the vaunted iPhone 4.

How the iPhone 4S stacks up against the competition

Hardware Specifications

Operating System: iOS 5
Processor: Dual-core A5
Memory: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions available
Display: 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch retina display, 960-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi, 800:1 contrast ratio (typical)
Wireless: World phone
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz);
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)4
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
Bluetooth 4.0
Digital Camera: 8.0MP, Video recording, HD (1080p) up to 30 frames per second with audio
Battery: Rechargeable lithium-ion, Talk time: up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G, standby time: up to 200 hours
Internet use: up to 6 hours on 3G, up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi
Video playback: Up to 10 hours
Audio playback: Up to 40 hours
Size: 4.5 x 2.31 x 0.37 in (115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm)
Weight: 4.9 ounces (140 grams)
Package Contents

iPhone 4S
Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic
Dock Connector to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
Documentation


The Apple iPhone 4S remains one of the most attractive smartphones to have ever been built. Apple's choice of materials and its manufacturing prowess are unmatched, and puts a group of other wanna-be competitors to shame. The iPhone 4S is physically identical to the CDMA version of the iPhone 4 and the average person won't be able to tell the difference between the two phones from the outside. I was a big fan of the iPhone 4's design when it came out, and things haven't changed enough in the market for me to think any different today.

The iPhone 4S has the same glass and metal construction as the iPhone 4. You won't find any creaks or loose parts, and the only plastic used on the phone is for the home button below the display. The phone still measures 9.3mm thick and weighs 140g. Its smaller dimensions make it feel very dense and solid in your hand. Apple's use of glass for both the front and back of the phone may be questioned by those who tend to drop their phones often, as it has a tendency to shatter, despite it being reinforced.

The smoothness of the glass gives you the feeling that you are holding a premium device when you pick it up. Apple has covered both the front and back glass panels with an oleophobic coating that resists face grease and fingerprints better than any other smartphone I have used.

The buttons along the sides of the phone for power/sleep/unlock, volume-up and volume-down, and the switch for ring/vibrate are all made of metal and are very satisfying to use. Travel and feedback is just right, and you never miss a command because the button didn't respond to your input.

If there is one complaint that can be levied against the hardware design of the iPhone 4S, is that it still features a small (by comparison) 3.5-inch display. It's still nonetheless one of the best LCD screens on the market, with its 640 x 960 pixels of resolution and near paper-like viewing angles.

The iPhone 4S' display is noticeably different than the Super AMOLED Plus screens from Samsung, as it's not nearly as saturated and punchy. However, the colors seem more accurate, and the screen is just a joy to look at. I didn't find the smaller screen size to be a hindrance in use, even though I'm used to carrying around phones with 4.3-inch or even 4.5-inch displays.

Apple expanded the storage options with the iPhone 4S, and you can now choose a 64GB model in addition to the 16GB and 32GB versions that have been available before.

It's fair to say the iPhone 4 design has stood the test of time well, and it looks just as good now as it did nearly a year and a half ago when we first gazed upon it. The same can't be said for other phones.

Processor

Let’s start with the brains behind the iPhone. The CPU has been upgraded to an A5 dual-core chip, which is said to deliver up to two times more power and up to seven times faster graphics than the iPhone 4′s single core A5 chip. I’ve been using the 4S for the past month and so far I really can’t tell THAT much of a difference in speed between it and my 4 for every day tasks. I did some side by side testing of both phones and found that booting from power off and launching all my normal apps was only about 1-2 seconds faster on the 4S. This wasn’t something I even noticed until I did the side by side comparisons. I’ve actually never had a complaint with how fast apps launch on iOS devices, so if they are now 1 second faster, it really doesn’t make me want to jump up and down with glee.

On the graphics side of things, I purchased a couple games to do some more side by sides between the 4 and 4S. I decided on Modern Combat 3 and Infinity Blade just because they are both high end games that are very rich in graphics. It’s crazy how large mobile games have become. Modern Combat 3 requires a little over 1GB and Infinity Blade takes up almost 600MBs!

Since both phones have the same resolution displays, the games look the same at first glance. But upon closer inspection, the biggest difference that I noticed were that objects on the 4S are brighter and have more reflections. Here are a couple examples.

Antenna

The iPhone 4S has a new antenna design which is supposed to improve call quality and download speeds even though the 4S isn’t a 4G phone.

“iPhone 4S is the first phone to intelligently switch between two antennas to transmit and receive, so call quality is better. It also doubles the maximum HSDPA data speeds to 14.4 Mbps.8 Which means faster connections, faster loading and reloading, and faster downloads.”

It’s nice to know that this new design has solved the whole death grip issue. But I’m not so sure it improves call quality and / or download speeds all that much - at least not for me. I’ve not had any issues with call quality on the previous iPhone once I switched from AT&T to Verizon and am not noticing any significant changes with the 4S.

The same is true for download speeds. I really haven’t noticed any significant difference on the 4S. Even when I have full bars and a 3G connection, updating the weather, reading news via the USA today app, checking for app store updates, downloading mail, etc all seem to be just as fast or slow as before. 3G speeds via Verizon have never been all that consistent for me in the first place. I can do speed tests using the free Speedtest.net app every hour and see wildly varying results each time.

Camera

Honestly, the reason why I decided to go ahead and splurge on the iPhone 4S purchase, was the upgraded camera from 5MP up to 8MP. Resolution isn’t the only upgrade though. The whole camera has been redesigned with a custom lens that has a larger f/2.4 aperture to allow for better low light photos.

iPhone 4S picture.

Video recording has been improved from 720p up to 1080p. That’s 1280 X 720 lines of resolution vs. 1920 X 1080 progressive lines of resolution. More lines means a sharper picture. Here are some sample videos.



Battery Life

So far battery life on the iPhone 4S has been somewhat disappointing. I seem to be charging my phone more often than I did with the iPhone 4. Even after updating to iOS 5.01, which was supposed to fix battery issues, I’m not seeing much of an improvement. I’m still usually able to get through a day without charging, but my old iPhone 4 was able to last at least 2 days or longer. I am almost always close to a power source, so it’s not a big deal for me, but of course I wish it was better.
Bottom line

If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably already figured out the answer to the question in the first paragraph of this review: Am I glad that I spent way too much money for the iPhone 4S, or do I have buyer’s remorse? The answer is that I’m suffering from a moderate case of buyer’s remorse. It would have been different if I didn’t already have an iPhone 4 and/or I had been eligible for an upgrade through Verizon. But neither of these cases were true and I spent $649 on a 16GB iPhone 4S that has only a slightly better user experience than my perfectly fine iPhone 4. Oh well, that’s one of the down sides of being a gadget freak. It’s just too hard to resist the lure of a new device.

Those of you that don’t already have an iPhone 4 and are considering the 4S, go for it. It’s a great phone (and will be even better once they get the battery life issues sorted out). But if you already have the 4, my advice is to wait for the mythical iPhone 5. You’ll be glad you did. In the mean time, anyone want to buy a month old iPhone 4S that is in mint condition with no contract? Seriously…