Using ingredients like Heart of Jobs and Ive of Newt, the wizards in Cupertino have crafted another smartphone. With the iPhone 4S being the last Apple product without a new cook in the kitchen, is the phone worth the upgrade?
Hardware:
The iPhone 4S looks exactly the same as its predecessor, the iPhone 4. Even though it is an old design, the aesthetics are nice, and the phone doesn’t feel bulky in your hand. I upgraded from an iPhone 3GS, and I really liked the flat back of the newest phone. When you put it on a table, it won’t rock back and forth, meaning I can check messages and type without hearing my phone shake. Like the iPhone 4, the 4S has a glass back, so if you’re a serial klutz, you should invest in a case.
The 4S screen features Apple’s famous Retina Display and boasts 326 pixels per inch. Everything looks nice on it. From reading Twitter feeds to checking my email to playing games, I have yet to see even one pixel. The viewing angles are also fantastic, as I’ve been able to comfortably share videos on its screen with three other people.
While its exterior remains the same as its predecessor, the 4S packs a wallop on the inside. The phone has the same A5 processor as its larger cousin, the iPad 2, which makes the phone extremely fast. I’ve been using the phone for a week, and I have not noticed any lag between switching and using apps. In terms of speed, it’s a slight upgrade from the iPhone 4, but if you’re switching from a lower-end phone, you’ll appreciate the boost.
The camera is another thing that should be mentioned. It is able to record video in 1080p, a jump from the iPhone 4’s 720p. The camera is also able to take still pictures in higher quality. One thing about using the camera: it’ll drain your battery. I shot a half-minute long video and the phone had lost two percent of its charge. You might not be using the camera much, but keep this in mind if your iPhone 4S is at five percent at a basketball game and you need to decide between snapping photos of Kendall Marshall’s sick passes or texting your friends.
Software:
If you haven’t done it yet, download iOS 5. It manages notifications much better than previous versions of iOS, and the Twitter integration is impressive.
Siri is the big selling point of the iPhone 4S. To activiate Siri, you can either hold down the home button or hold it up to your ear as if you were answering a call. If it weren’t for this second option, many people (including myself) would look quite strange trying to use this tool in the middle of the quad. It was very smart for Apple to make talking to Siri look like talking to someone on the phone.
I first asked Siri to tell me the weather, a simple request, using my location on campus, it told me that it was sunny and 63 degrees, which was correct. I asked it what it would be like the next day (using those exact words), and Siri told me the next day “might be chilly,” and gave me a seven-day forecast.
So is Siri impressive? Very.
I will not say that it’s revolutionary or that it’s the first phone to have a feature like this. Voice recognition has been a major part of Android, and there have been many voice recognition apps for the iPhone, including Siri nearly two years ago. What is impressive about it, however, is that it understands the context of what you’re saying. For example, I asked it to call my dad, and Siri didn’t know who that was, so it asked me for that information. From that point on, it now knows to call my dad when I say to.
Another great thing Siri can do is create reminders for you. With iOS 5, Apple introduced a new app called Reminders, which essentially combines the Calendar and Alarm apps. For example, if a professor tells us something to do for the next class, I just put my phone to my ear and tell Siri “On Thursday, remind me to bring a recorder at nine.” And it does just that. It creates the reminder and saves me time by not forcing me to write out anything.
Siri is not without its faults. For starters, it can’t open apps for you. To me, that’s a huge oversight from Apple. Siri also can’t send tweets, which is odd, considering Twitter integration was advertised as a huge part of iOS 5. It also occasionally lacks the ability to recognize names. I tried calling “Ann” and it kept saying I said “And.”
Conclusion:
The iPhone 4S is Apple’s latest and indeed greatest phone. But is it worthy of an upgrade? If you’re a disgruntled BlackBerry owner, Android user looking for a way out, or in possession of an older iPhone, then go for it. If you have an iPhone 4, I’d say wait until the iPhone 5.
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