iPhone 4s. Is It Worth It?

For many people who hung on their iPhone 3G and skipped a generation, they probably couldn’t wait to get their hands on the 4S.  Sure, it’s not a huge technological leap over the current generation iPhone, but it’s miles ahead of the previous-gen 3G device.  But if you have a current first generation iPhone 4, is it worth the switch to the 4S? We’ve highlighted a few of the key differences (mostly hardware), that might help you decide.

Size
Both the 4 and 4S are exactly the same size and weight. They the same screen resolution and screen size.

Faster
The iPhone 4S’ biggest advantage is that it’s noticeably faster. This is thanks to the A5 chip that is shipping with this device. This is the same processor that you can find in the iPad2. Running multiple applications at the same time is quicker and less straining on the device. It seems that the common lagging that appears on the iPhone 4 has been eradicated thanks to the A5 chip.

Siri
This is the biggest software enhancement you’ll find on the 4s running iOS5. “Siri on iPhone 4S lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more. Ask Siri to do things just by talking the way you talk. Siri understands what you say, knows what you mean, and even talks back.”  – That’s the blurb from the Apple website. Upon testing it actually works pretty well and I’m sure you could find multiple uses for it, especially when driving.

Camera
The 4S is equipped with an 8 MegaPixel still camera and 1080P video, compared to the 5 MP still camera and 720P video on the 4.

Battery Life
Definitely another advantage is the improved battery life on the 4S. The old 4 was rated to  7 hours of 3G talk time. With the 4S you get an extra hour, up to 8 of 3G time.

Gaming
The faster processor has certainly opened up the doors to developers creating some potential amazing games. Many have argued that the iPhone is under-utilized when it comes to its gaming platform. My thoughts: Get an iPad 2 if you want to game and then you can do it on a bigger screen.

Other Features
Airplay: Allows the user to mirror on a big screen TV exactly what’s on the iPhone through Apple TV
Dual Antenna:  The 4S has the ability to automatically toggle between two antennas, which will both improve call quality, and download data twice as quickly. The 4S is also a world phone.

With iOS 5 being available on all previous iPhone models, the advantages to the 4S are obviously all hardware. Certainly having a device in your pocket with a great camera, amazing battery life, and awesome apps is very desirable. But let’s be honest, the iPhone 4 pretty much had all of that to start with. Personally, if I was out of my contract and looking to upgrade, I would do it. But since I’m not, I’ll stick with the 4 for now.

On a side note, here’s an interesting interpretation of how the iPhone 5 could look: