1. The look #1: On the outside, it looks, feels and smells like an iPhone 4. That’s because it is. The inside, however, is where the S
magic happens. The faster A5 processor makes operation noticeably quicker when launching, re-launching apps and when using power-hungry apps such as iMovie.
2. The look #2: The plain fact that it looks like an iPhone 4 will be a hammer blow to those who have waited patiently for a freshly
designed, potentially cooler-loooking iPhone 5. This tweet from @crossan_phil sums it up: “glad the 5 didn’t come out. Gives me more time to use my 24mth contract with the 4!!”
3. The iPhone 4S gaming. The improved graphics are amazing. While the version we used didn’t have Infinity Blade 2 installed, we tried Real Racing 2 which, to us, looked smoother than our iPhone 4 version. The keynote demo of Infinity Blade 2 was mind-blowing considering it was running on a bloomin’ phone. It wowed the room. A room full of cynical hacks. PSP Vita, eat your heart out
4. The iPhone 4S Camera: The 8-megapixel camera shoots great photos (and macro shots). Although we were inside the Covent Garden Apple store with strip lighting a reflections-a-go-go, the resulting shots were nice and sharp, employing some of that new camera tech built into the iPhone 4S. However, the real star of the vision upgrade is…
5. …the 1080p video camera. The difference in quality is instantly noticeable. We were very impressed. Will it nail the coffin shut on
the dwindling camcorder industry? It’s a great upgrade regardless of whether you really need it. Well, cinema pirates might.
6. iOS 5: You all know what it’s like, the 200+ features it brings plus the iCloud. However, getting hands on with Notifications,
Newsstand, iMessage and Reminders demonstrated to us just how much of a step up from iOS 4 it is.
7. The iPhone 4S Price: Apple has announced entry level UK pricing of £499. We think this is for the 16Gb version, which could put the brand new 64Gb model at a whopping £699 (going by the US pricing structure). We need to confirm that though. Orange and T-Mobile have confirmed that they will be selling the iPhone 4S come October 14, presumably on a two-year contract.
8. Speech: Siri is the most interesting feature of the 4S. We asked it the weather in London, and then San Francisco. We gave it a multiplication query. We asked who the prime minister of the UK was. We asked it the meaning of life (‘to answer questions like these’ was the retort). It answered them all. Some of the replies were even funny. From a damn robot. It also got a few things wrong and we think that, in a real-world environment surrounded by lots of noise, it may struggle. Especially as it’s still in beta. We’re looking forward to testing it further (watch this space). Our long-suffering partners, however, aren’t.
9. The Antenna: It’s the big question for many thinking of upgrading – will it still fall foul of the reported drop call issue? Apple claims that switching between the dual antennas will improve call quality and reduce dropouts. We didn’t have enough time to try this out, but are looking to putting that and the 2x download speed claim to the test as soon as we possibly can.
10. The iPhone 4S alternatives: Many smartphones already sport a lot of these features already. And for those who were hoping for a brand-new iPhone 5 today might just now consider a top-drawer Android. They’ll be cheaper, too.
via iPhone 4S Review: Hands on | T3.