Apple iPhone 4S review

[fio-buddy]

I like the camera of iphone 4s, don't you think it is great with a smartphone.

 

[SaiyanZ]

This is funny:

[video=youtube;6h5JSojJN3Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h5JSojJN3Y[/video]

 

[sand_man]

The reason there isn't a single Android phone that can complete directly in Sales with one of the iPhone models, is because iPhone releases a phone once every year, so everyone who is on Apples bandwagon would buy that phone.

Have you ever considered how risky that is? 1 model a year from your single biggest net earner? If that one model flops that's it till next year. Do you have any idea how many things Apple needs to get right in that 1 model a year to make it a success??? Imagine walking into a BMW dealership and you have a 3.20d as the only available model, or the only burger available at your local Steers is a cheese burger??

However, companies that make Android phones are constantly innovating and release new phones every couple of months

That's not innovation, that's a smart phone arms race designed to pry naive people like you from their hard earned cash. Bigger screens, faster cpu's, more ram doesn't equate to innovation.

One thing that annoys me beyond belief is when people blindly follow a brand and it seems like the biggest culprits are Apple fans.

To think once upon a time brand loyalty was considered an admirable quality.

I certainly agree that the first iPhone was the top of the market and nothing even competed with it, but since then other companies have been hard at work, while Apple have been sitting on their asses They have since taken over them in most regards and this latest release has been a perfect example. After an entire year, all they could produce was this mediocre phone, that afford barely any improvements. While on the other hand Samsung and HTC have made not one but a couple of spectacular phones this year.

http://www.gsmarena.com/8mp_shootout_2011-review-673.php

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5133/galaxy-nexus-ice-cream-sandwich-initial-performance

http://www.google.com/finance?cid=22144

Not too bad for a company sitting on its assets.. (see what I did there)?......

Through extensive advertising, they have taken brand loyalty to a new level; it has almost become a religion to some.

Yip all advertising!! Has nothing to do with the product and how it performs. Do you honestly believe in this day and age of internet computing, where so much information is so readily available, marketers are able to convince millions upon millions upon millions to buy a dud product and not once, or twice but three times and more???!!!

Europe seems to be very clued up on the choices available in the smartphone world and thus Apple doesnt have much of a hold there.

As a business student surely you understand that Europe is on the brink of an economic meltdown and this is negatively impacting sales of the premium priced 4S...??

What is even more shocking is the support shown for Apple on a technology forum, seeing as the main attraction of an iPhone is that it is simple, and is designed for people who aren't technology savy (e.g the older generation who weren't brought up with phones).

Quite the contrary. It's far more challenging trying to jailbreak and unlock an iPhone 4 running on the 4.11.08 baseband than it is to root your SGS2. The closer truth would be the older generation have more important things to do than tinker with widgets, custom roms and gold cards!!!!

Oh and yes I owned an HD2 4.3" for about a month, then swapped it for a Desire 3.5". Much more manageable for my petite form..

 

[Maverick Jester]

Have you ever considered how risky that is? 1 model a year from your single biggest net earner? If that one model flops that's it till next year. Do you have any idea how many things Apple needs to get right in that 1 model a year to make it a success??? Imagine walking into a BMW dealership and you have a 3.20d as the only available model, or the only burger available at your local Steers is a cheese burger??

Yip all advertising!! Has nothing to do with the product and how it performs. Do you honestly believe in this day and age of internet computing, where so much information is so readily available, marketers are able to convince millions upon millions upon millions to buy a dud product and not once, or twice but three times and more???!!!

Quite the contrary. It's far more challenging trying to jailbreak and unlock an iPhone 4 running on the 4.11.08 baseband than it is to root your SGS2. The closer truth would be the older generation have more important things to do than tinker with widgets, custom roms and gold cards!!!!

As much as it is related to getting things right, which I think Apple does exceptionally well, a fair amount of Apple's success is down to their marketing of the phone as a premium, high quality product, and the way they have positioned those claims against the strengths of their device. There is no way the phone's would have sold as well as they did if Apple told people you need ITunes to access everything on your phone, simple activities such as file sharing are not possible wirelessly, and that ultimately the phone in your possession requires you to fit to it, not vice versa. However, focusing on its strengths- simplified OS, quality hardware, ease of use in most common situations- it's very hard to ignore, and very well promoted.

Something I think is lacking in the Android world, where it is a more "bigger is better, freedom of choice" sense of accomplishment. In many ways, Android positions itself to be the opposite of Apple, and focuses more on highlighting what Apple can't do, instead of working solely on what it can do very well. But I think the Galaxy Nexus is trying to change that approach, and emulate the Apple way of selling their product- its shortcomings vs say a Galaxy S II, but the Galaxy Nexus is projected to be a "premium" product.

 

[JStrike]

Might be the iPad 3 as well, but the dual-core CPU on the iPhone 5 overheated & that's why you didn't see one last year.

Apples latest chip is the A5. Which the 4S recieved

 

[JStrike]

Just you, I'm afraid.

Those big ass phones that you see the nerds carry look ridiculous. They are like small iPads. Who would want one of those in their pocket

 

[Maverick Jester]

Come on?? Anyone that's ever owned an iPod would know iTunes is mandatory. Hardly a secret.

I understand that, and it wasn't the best example, but there are a lot of users who do not appreciate the less than satisfactory task that using iTunes is. If Apple told you that you would have to redefine your entire way of managing your music, photos etc. does it make the iPhone more appealing? Not to me, but that it is simple to use, is of outstanding quality and is a fantastic, premium device, yes, that is something I would pay for.

I could understand if the 2G was the only successful rendition of the iPhone but people knowing what they knew still went out and bought the 3G, 3GS and 4. iSheep??? Paying a premium for a dud?? Nope. Satisfied customers buying a fantastic product!!

I never said that. I said that Apple's marketing, which aggressively focuses on the undeniable strengths of the phone, is a large part of the success of the iPhone. A lot of what people know is what the company tells them, and those can be deal breakers. To an extent, Apple does not really highlight the drawbacks that the ecosystem has, but encourages you more to adopt a lifestyle centred around it. IMO of course.

I'm sure you would agree a large majority of the iPhone-owning fraternity are more than satisfied by how simple, slick and reliable iOS is to use, for most of their requirements. These are the people that will continue to pay a premium because of the quality they know they are getting. The same that will see the benefits which Apple continuously promote, as deal breakers when purchasing the iPhone.

 

[sand_man]

There is no way the phone's would have sold as well as they did if Apple told people you need ITunes to access everything on your phone

Come on?? Anyone that's ever owned an iPod would know iTunes is mandatory. Hardly a secret.

simple activities such as file sharing are not possible wirelessly, and that ultimately the phone in your possession requires you to fit to it, not vice versa. However, focusing on its strengths- simplified OS, quality hardware, ease of use in most common situations- it's very hard to ignore, and very well promoted.

I could understand if the 2G was the only successful rendition of the iPhone but people knowing what they knew still went out and bought the 3G, 3GS and 4. iSheep??? Paying a premium for a dud?? Nope. Satisfied customers buying a fantastic product!!

A lot is said about the dependance on iTunes but is that not true of all OS? I would imagine you need Nokia pc suite to sync your Nokia's, Blackberry desktop for Blackberry's, htc mobile sync, Samsungs used to have their Samsung pc studio etc etc etc You telling me those were useful apps?? At least iTunes is a little more diverse in terms of over all functionality...

 

[JStrike]

Come on guys, this is simple. While 3.5' might be the perfect size for the average hand that doesn't mean there isn't a market for those who want a phone that fits their hand perfectly instead of just well enough. Making the phone for the average hand increases the potential market for your specific product especially if you only make one product per year.

Not to mention having 1 phone per year extends production run time and massively increases profitability. Apple don't make one phone because it's cool, they make one phone because it is the most profitable way to do it.

It is actually one of the major gripes I have with the other manufacturers. I would love it if Samsung made say 4 models per year.

A Galaxy ( a cheapish 3.5'+ - )
Galaxy S ( the flagship )
Galaxy specialist phone (eg Note)
Galaxy keyboard phone

And then support the hell out of them for 2 years.

Anyhow great review. It avoids all the fanboyism and just reviews the nuts and bolts as if the reviewer had barely heard of an iphone before.

Apple have never been interested in creating large product lines to suite all people. Just ask the whiners asking for a mid-tower for the last 10 years

 

[JStrike]

This argument is flawed purely because with Android users have choice. Simply put because of choice you can not say iPhone 4 is better than Samsung SII because iPhone 4 had more sales, purely because the Android user could like and opt for say a Motorola RAZR because he liked the Kevlar finish more. iOS does not give you that choice so they are trying to force stats to limit choice simply to try and look better.



Sorry my bad, JStrike linked it, but you are trying to defend a view that was started with a crap theory in a article.


Well that is more a general statement than actual fact as I look at the general size of all the phones and bar the N8 + iPhone and all of them is over 3.5" now if I look at market % and add Windows Phone + RIM touch screens(Not the QWERTY phones) + Android phones. It gives a basic picture that people opt for larger sizes


Try reading that line again. I did not say Apple is forcing people to buy iPhones what I did say is that they force them to buy 3.5" as there is simply no other option available in a phone running iOS.


You keep on trying to make this an OS war, all I want to show is that 3.5" is not the be all and end all and there are some of us that would love to see iOS phones with larger screen sizes.

Oh and I for one would not have bought an iPad if I could play my games properly on a 4.3" iPhone. Simply put that 3.5" screen size sucks for me when playing a game like Dungeon Keeper 3. With my 2 thumbs on the screen I can hardly see the action on it.

What on earth is an Android user???

People buy (or like) phones. Not the OS that runs the phones.
No one other then nerds have any idea what Android or iOS is

 

[sand_man]

I said that Apple's marketing, which aggressively focuses on the undeniable strengths of the phone, is a large part of the success of the iPhone.

Is that not the function of the marketing department? To focus on the products strengths? :wtf:

My point is the weaknesses (and there are quite a few) of the iPhone past and present are well documented. No marketing company in the world can restrict the flow of information over the internet so I don't endorse the theory that Apple's success is built on the back of marketing alone... I think you give too much credit to marketing. Marketers essentially BS their way to sales and joe public, these days, is too well informed to buy the BS!!

 

[Maverick Jester]

Is that not the function of the marketing department? To focus on the products strengths? :wtf:

My point is the weaknesses (and there are quite a few) of the iPhone past and present are well documented. No marketing company in the world can restrict the flow of information over the internet so I don't endorse the theory that Apple's success is built on the back of marketing alone... I think you give too much credit to marketing. Marketers essentially BS their way to sales and joe public, these days, is too well informed to buy the BS!!

I didn't say it was built on marketing alone. I simply said it is a large part of their success, and in my initial post explained how it differs to the Android way of promoting things, if you will.

General consensus on iPhones- excellent quality, simplicity, but expensive, not the most feature rich and restricted.
General consensus on Android phones- Large selection and freedom of choice, lots of options, relatively cheap to start off with but not the best quality.

As well documented as the weaknesses in iPhones are- you will get Apple and the fanboys giving you 10 strengths and that any weaknesses are more a user incompatibility issue that an actual weakness in the phone itself. iTunes being an example. You are not really led to believe that it's ok to not like iTunes- more that you should like iTunes, and it is a problem if you do not.

This is why I feel Apple's marketing succeeds where other's fail. And why the Galaxy Nexus is going this route.

 

[Nicko]

Have you ever considered how risky that is? 1 model a year from your single biggest net earner? If that one model flops that's it till next year. Do you have any idea how many things Apple needs to get right in that 1 model a year to make it a success??? Imagine walking into a BMW dealership and you have a 3.20d as the only available model, or the only burger available at your local Steers is a cheese burger??

Yes it is risky and if it was any other company they wouldn't succeed, but Apple doesn't have to worry about a phone ever flopping because they have the support. Lets use your analogy, what other companies offer is a wide range of choices from a cheese burger, to a big mac to chicken burger. So no matter what your preference is you will find a phone to suite you. Apple offers just a cheese burger, so yes there are people who like cheese burgers, but what they have managed to do is convince the people who would actually prefer chicken burgers or rave burgers that a cheese burger is what they want. God this analogy is stupid, but you started it

That's not innovation, that's a smart phone arms race designed to pry naive people like you from their hard earned cash. Bigger screens, faster cpu's, more ram doesn't equate to innovation.

How are they taking my money? I only buy a phone once every two years. All they are offering are more choices.

Okay I am over it, too lazy to keep responding about which phone is better than which as no-one ever wins so its pointless. Just a few comments on the side. It is extremely ironic that you comment about Europe's economy and how they are in a economic crisis. Where America is the one that started the Global recession and by no means is out of it yet. Also you call me naive, yet you give humans way to much credit. There is a reason millions upon millions upon millions is used on advertising, because we are easily manipulated. To such an extent that (have said this in a post before) some users (the study says Apple users) brain is stimulated the same way when they advocate their brand, as a religious person when he talks about his religion. That is the affect of advertising.

Lastly, about the iPhone. I never once said that it was a dud phone. It is a mediocre phone, and even if we agree that it is just as good as a Android equivalent, it is just not worth the price.

 

[phoneJunky]

@nicko:

I think you missed it, they convinced someone that was hungry that they want a cheeseburger. If someone wants something spesific they will buy that something most of the time. Sorry about not quoting the relevant part but it's too much of a schlep on the iPad to delete the irrelevant stuff.

 

[JStrike]

Yes it is risky and if it was any other company they wouldn't succeed, but Apple doesn't have to worry about a phone ever flopping because they have the support. Lets use your analogy, what other companies offer is a wide range of choices from a cheese burger, to a big mac to chicken burger. So no matter what your preference is you will find a phone to suite you. Apple offers just a cheese burger, so yes there are people who like cheese burgers, but what they have managed to do is convince the people who would actually prefer chicken burgers or rave burgers that a cheese burger is what they want. God this analogy is stupid, but you started it


How are they taking my money? I only buy a phone once every two years. All they are offering are more choices.

Okay I am over it, too lazy to keep responding about which phone is better than which as no-one ever wins so its pointless. Just a few comments on the side. It is extremely ironic that you comment about Europe's economy and how they are in a economic crisis. Where America is the one that started the Global recession and by no means is out of it yet. Also you call me naive, yet you give humans way to much credit. There is a reason millions upon millions upon millions is used on advertising, because we are easily manipulated. To such an extent that (have said this in a post before) some users (the study says Apple users) brain is stimulated the same way when they advocate their brand, as a religious person when he talks about his religion. That is the affect of advertising.

Lastly, about the iPhone. I never once said that it was a dud phone. It is a mediocre phone, and even if we agree that it is just as good as a Android equivalent, it is just not worth the price.

You are arguing that the iPhone is a mediocre phone and people buy is simply because of marketing.
Apple have had quite a few product flops in the last 10 years, but these pale in comparison to the scale of their successes.
People do not just buy Apple products because they are from Apple or because they are well marketed.
Apple generally try create best of breed software and hardware that works seamlessly together for a simple experience. An then they market that experience. Sometimes people don't buy into it, sometimes they do

 

[km2]

As well documented as the weaknesses in iPhones are- you will get Apple and the fanboys giving you 10 strengths and that any weaknesses are more a user incompatibility issue that an actual weakness in the phone itself. iTunes being an example. You are not really led to believe that it's ok to not like iTunes- more that you should like iTunes, and it is a problem if you do not.

This is why I feel Apple's marketing succeeds where other's fail. And why the Galaxy Nexus is going this route.

It's not like the methods of transferring music onto Android phones are phenomenal themselves. You've got USB Mass Storage, Kies if you're on a Samsung, and a hodgepodge of other wi-fi sync tools available on the Marketplace. It's much easier for Apple users to get defensive when there isn't a great system on Android that's supposed to be better. If you point out problems with Mass Storage, Android users will point you to Kies, if you point out problems with that they'll point you to WinAmp, if you point out problems with that you'll be pointed back at Mass Storage. Problem is you're only going to be using one of them, and you end up making more tradeoffs than with Apple where they're forced to make iTunes at least tolerable as it's the only method there is.

My own feelings of pros and cons between iTunes and USB Mass Storage are:

USB Mass Storage:
- Way faster to quickly load on one or two files (just drag and drop)
- Can copy new songs from friends computers easily
- Can copy songs off
- Can play songs off the device on ones computer
- Can use to just quickly copy other random stuff as a makeshift flash drive

iTunes:
- Can get to my songs quickly via rating, artist, album or playlist
- Ratings and playlists sync reliably from my phone to my computer and vice versa
- Album art works consistently
- ID3 tags with non-English characters don't break between phone and computer due to ID3 incompatibility issues
- Smart playlists let me automatically rotate the songs on my phone
- Doesn't get as unwieldy when you hit thousands of songs

If the points under USB Mass Storage are for you, then yeah, an Android phone is going to be way better for playing music. The problem is that both sides have their advantages depending on what you want from your music, and there are going to be a lot of arguments about one "not using it right". You can at least compare Kies to iTunes because they're both trying to be a music management system, but Mass Storage and iTunes are totally different beasts so it's going to come down to "change the way you work with it".

 

[Elimentals]

It's not like the methods of transferring music onto Android phones are phenomenal themselves. You've got USB Mass Storage, Kies if you're on a Samsung, and a hodgepodge of other wi-fi sync tools available on the Marketplace. It's much easier for Apple users to get defensive when there isn't a great system on Android that's supposed to be better. If you point out problems with Mass Storage, Android users will point you to Kies, if you point out problems with that they'll point you to WinAmp, if you point out problems with that you'll be pointed back at Mass Storage. Problem is you're only going to be using one of them, and you end up making more tradeoffs than with Apple where they're forced to make iTunes at least tolerable as it's the only method there is.

My own feelings of pros and cons between iTunes and USB Mass Storage are:

USB Mass Storage:
- Way faster to quickly load on one or two files (just drag and drop)
- Can copy new songs from friends computers easily
- Can copy songs off
- Can play songs off the device on ones computer
- Can use to just quickly copy other random stuff as a makeshift flash drive

iTunes:
- Can get to my songs quickly via rating, artist, album or playlist
- Ratings and playlists sync reliably from my phone to my computer and vice versa
- Album art works consistently
- ID3 tags with non-English characters don't break between phone and computer due to ID3 incompatibility issues
- Smart playlists let me automatically rotate the songs on my phone
- Doesn't get as unwieldy when you hit thousands of songs

If the points under USB Mass Storage are for you, then yeah, an Android phone is going to be way better for playing music. The problem is that both sides have their advantages depending on what you want from your music, and there are going to be a lot of arguments about one "not using it right". You can at least compare Kies to iTunes because they're both trying to be a music management system, but Mass Storage and iTunes are totally different beasts so it's going to come down to "change the way you work with it".

Sorry I did not really wanna join the OS war but I had to reply to this crap.

You know there is ways to sync Android phones using iTunes if you like it so much. Only diffrance is that Android allow for other methods as well.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[km2]

Sorry I did not really wanna join the OS war but I had to reply to this crap.

You know there is ways to sync Android phones using iTunes if you like it so much. Only diffrance is that Android allow for other methods as well.

The fun of Android = "sure there's a way" aka DoubleTwist. Then you download it and it mangles up your metadata because it doesn't work properly with parts of the album art and strange artist names. Friend got his Galaxy S2 and we went through this process, but it's nice that you took the time out to Google "Android and iTunes" and report it as a great solution. At least when Apple users get to recommend iTunes, they've actually had to use it themselves, while you can continue to use USB Mass Storage and toss out other misleading non-solutions available for Android.

 

[Elimentals]

The fun of Android = "sure there's a way" aka DoubleTwist. Then you download it and it mangles up your metadata because it doesn't work properly with parts of the album art and strange artist names. Friend got his Galaxy S2 and we went through this process, but it's nice that you took the time out to Google "Android and iTunes" and report it as a great solution. At least when Apple users get to recommend iTunes, they've actually had to use it themselves, while you can continue to use USB Mass Storage and toss out other misleading non-solutions available for Android.

WTH are you smokeing?

I use iTunes all the time, wait I am forced to use it all the time to sync my media to my iPad/iPhone well not so much anymore as from iOS 5 I am actually able to update my tablet without the need of a PC. Anyway iTunes - Android sync does none of the crap you talking about like messing up the tags and what not.

In fact I have been able to sync Android & iTunes via WiFi way before Apple could do it with there own products.

I am currently using https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mirsad.sync

Anyway this is not the place for a OS war I just thought I would enlighten other readers that you are talking absolute rubbish, sure maybe you tried other products that suck, that does not mean all of them do.

 

[km2]

WTH are you smokeing?

I use iTunes all the time, wait I am forced to use it all the time to sync my media to my iPad/iPhone well not so much anymore as from iOS 5 I am actually able to update my tablet without the need of a PC. Anyway iTunes - Android sync does none of the crap you talking about like messing up the tags and what not.

In fact I have been able to sync Android & iTunes via WiFi way before Apple could do it with there own products.

I am currently using https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mirsad.sync

Anyway this is not the place for a OS war I just thought I would enlighten other readers that you are talking absolute rubbish, sure maybe you tried other products that suck, that does not mean all of them do.

No this isn't an OS war, but it illustrates nicely the philosophical difference between Android and iOS. That app you referenced only came out three or four months ago (can see their first blog post in http://mysynccenter.net/page/2/) and only properly supported non-English characters two months ago (http://mysynccenter.net/2011/11/08/upcoming-pc-app/). You know how long I've had non-English characters working with iTunes? 6 years ago when I got my first iPod Nano.

This is exactly my point that when you have this huge number of apps to ostensibly achieve a single task (syncing music), many with an incredibly tiny user base like this My Sync Center app, then you end up with each one having lots and lots of weird, different and unfixed bugs. The big advantage of millions upon millions of people all using iTunes to sync to their single model of iPhone that comes out once a year, is that there are a lot fewer rough edges and nasty surprises than you'll likely find with the plethora of different devices/software/combinations that you can get with Android. That's the Apple advantage, and yes it's a lot more boring and homogenous, but this is software that I want to Just Work.