Finally, I've gotten myself an iPhone. It's been a long wait but it's really worth it. This fifth iteration just has great design, improved camera and superb processor. This iPhone also boasts of Siri, 4S's voice recognition application that can do almost anything like call, text, search the web and check the weather by just talking to it, you can almost ask anything under the sun. I'll provide my fair share of insights about the phone. Although, it is highly regarded as the best smartphone out there, the iPhone 4S also has problems.
The Pros
I love the feel of the iPhone 4S on my hand, it's just right for my grip, I feel it's sturdy built and slim design. The glass design on the front and back is very iconic which is why I didn't thought twice of getting this even though it's very much like the iPhone 4 (I don't want to wait another year again for a rumored iPhone 5). The buttons are carefully placed so that these can be easily reached if you want to change the volume, mute the phone or turn it off. The screen's improved retina display is also great, I can't distinguish the pixels on the application icons and text, they look flawless. Coming from a 2nd generation iPod Touch, the iPhone 4S is snappy and fast, it's very responsive. The applications work seamlessly with the new iOS 5.0 and improved A5 chip which is also the same chip used in iPad 2. Of course Siri is a good voice recognition software. It was able to recognize my voice commands and do them seamlessly on the phone. It would have been great if it can work without the need for wireless or data connection. Some tasks like creating calendar events, calling, sending SMS and note taking does not require a network connection.
The Cons
As much as there as a lot of stuffs to say about the iPhone 4S, there are also a number of problems to Apple's new phone. First in the list is the battery. When the iPhone 4S was released, some of it's users experience fast draining of battery. Some of it was attributed to the wireless syncing capability of the phone. With the release of iCloud, everything on your iPhone can be saved to the cloud and synced to either your Mac, iPod Touch or iPad. To fix the issue, Apple released a software update just recently. iOS 5.0.1 was supposed to resolve the issue but another problem arise. After updating to iOS 5.0.1, some users have experienced No Network Coverage or No SIM card on their phones. Apple's support forums were plagued again by this after the battery issue. Unfortunately, you just can't restore to the original iOS of the iPhone. This is very nasty as it turned the iPhone 4S for some users to be just an expensive iPod Touch. Now I'm hesitant to update my iPhone to 5.0.1 as well as to update my phone right away for Apple's future software releases. I think of checking the reviews first before updating.
I hope that the recent problems of the iPhone 4S can be fixed with a software update. iOS 5.0.2 has been rumored to be in the works already and scheduled to be released next week. iOS 5.1 is also mentioned to be coming with major updates to Siri. Well I haven't noticed drastic drops to my iPhone's battery. Some settings that I do not use like network connection, location services and time zone detection are turned off. But I do recharge my iPhone at the end of the day. I can't compare it to my iPod Touch simply because the Touch does not detect network signals just like the iPhone. I'm sure Apple is very much aware of these issues. I hope the fix comes soon.
Conclusion
The iPhone 4S is not a necessary upgrade if you have an iPhone 4. The A4 chip in the iPhone 4 still performs well, the camera is still good in taking pictures and Siri can be replaced by other apps in the iTunes App Store like Vlingo for free. I bought the 4S simply because I needed a well deserved upgrade from a Nokia phone. Yes other phones can do but I'm just so amazed with Apple's devices. I'm still in Jobs reality distortion field (RDF). My iPhone 4S also joins my collection of Apple products from the 2nd generation iPod Touch, 13-in Macbook Pro and 6th generation iPod Nano. Check out my short post about my Apple devices here.
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