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It's easy to dismiss the iPhone 4S as just a souped up iPhone 4. It's equally easy to laud it for what upgrades is does pack in and ignore valid criticisms about the lack of change in its design. The truth lies somewhere between these extremes though. We do feel the design could do with refreshing for more than just the sake of styling and there is room for improvement on the hardware specs front - yes these things do matter. What's more, despite big improvements in its software, there are still a few holes enthusiasts would rather filled.

When it comes to the crunch, though, there's a compelling easiness to using iPhone 4S, the hardware is very well put together and the massive advantage it has on the app front makes it a tempting proposition. If you can afford it. Read full review

Overall

8/10

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By Edward Chester
Reviewed 21 October 2011
Updated 25 April 2012

Price as reviewed

£499.00

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Awards

iPhone 4S details

Camera Quality: 8/10
Design: 8/10
Features: 8/10
Performance: 8/10
Usability: 10/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: 8/10

Pros & Cons

Pros

Still the slickest smartphone experience
New camera features are great

Cons

Smaller screen than the competition
Still no Flash support!

Price as reviewed

£499.00

Manufacturer

Apple

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Randy

9:31 PM on 4 October, 2011

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A massive, massive disappointment. Yes, we are spoiled by Apple, but it's a company that aspires to be the biggest in the world! New CEO, four more months of waiting and raging speculations, and we're presented with a minor upgrade. The specs are great - make no mistake - but it's on par with the competition, and they're available for months already.

If that is underwhelming, don't even bother looking at new Nano update. I'm sorry, but it's laughable. 16 new clocks, bigger icons, and that's it? At least they made a price drop. Oh my... only Apple can get away with it i guess.

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ffrankmccaffery

9:53 PM on 4 October, 2011

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In some ways Apple has to be applauded for retaining the design of the original iPhone 4 despite it's flaws mentioned above considering the many companies who've based their various cases and accessories on it.
The new voice recognition service while impressive still seem little more than a gimmick, especially when features such as social network integration would have been more welcomed and as shown on WP7 with it's 'People Hub'.
All in all the stage seems more set than it has ever been for Nokia to make their entrance with their upcoming WP7 devices.

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Ala Miah

10:18 PM on 4 October, 2011

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If this was released in June then I think they would of gotten away with a 4S device but almost 4 months later, competition and expectations have increased. Samsung and Sony are making huge strides in terms of specs alone. 4S is not a big enough upgrade imo compared to 3GS was to 3G, 3GS was miles faster then 3G so justified the extra cost, 4S at the moment doesnt warrant another 24 month contract IMO.

So close Apple, yet so far!

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Wholesome

5:07 AM on 5 October, 2011

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4S...it IS pretty disappointing. But i think whats more disappointing is the price: $400 for the 64gig WITH a contract! Apple could've at least give us more memory for the usual prices.

And the saddest thing of all... i still want one.

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ChaosDefinesOrder

9:01 AM on 5 October, 2011

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I think Engadget shows this off best; They have a comparison table between the iPhone 4.1 and the Galaxy S II, the Droid Bionic and HTC Titan.

The Galaxy S II wipes the floor with all the others in all but a couple of points. Maybe that's why Apple is going on the offensive so much against Samsung, they knew that even their newest and latest device is STILL behind the competition and the S II was released "ages ago" by technology standards!

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JonDavid

9:57 AM on 5 October, 2011

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I think this is what happens when you sue your major supplier. It will take them a while to get ahead of the curve again.

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BobaFett

10:06 AM on 5 October, 2011

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The announcement is definitely a disappointment for all those wanting to see a new hardware design, but in some ways doing an 'S' version like they did with the 3G makes a certain amount of business sense. The iPhone is still very popular and there's no compelling reason to use up that R&D expense prematurely: they can launch the iPhone 5 next July.

With regards to criticism of disappointing CPU, I'm not sure how relevant it is. Surely it's the software that matters and how it actually performs? Let's not forget that a possibly significant proportion of Android apps are not natively coded but actually run within a virtual machine, likewise Windows Phone 7. Without a genuinely useful benchmark to compare across platforms, these CPU comparisons are somewhat meaningless. You might just as well compare a 3.6 litre 473bhp Porsche 911 Turbo to an 8.4 litre 600bhp Dodge Viper SRT-10.

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Keithe6e

10:51 AM on 5 October, 2011

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I must admit with it been such a long time, I was expecting more. Will I upgrade?, I think it depends on what reviewers say about the the Camera.

It pains me to say @frank makes a good point about keeping the design the same, especially since this is just an S version.

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HeyZuZe

11:55 AM on 5 October, 2011

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Was there not some EU law coming in that all new smart phones had to use the same charger connector.....hmmm

Just off the top of my head mind you I could be completely in a parallel universe where common sens ideas happen

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HDRE

12:20 PM on 5 October, 2011

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I think people have been spoilt by Apple and need to get a grip. I don't need a super computer in my pocket or a 32inch monitor for that matter. I just need a phone that works. I'm an Android (HTC) user, I made that decision over 12 months ago, and when my contract is over I'm hoping on over to Apple. Why? Usability. Simple as that. I like the styling of the phone always have, always will. I don't care about the technology in the screen or CPU Speed or the number of pixels in the Camera (as it takes more than that to produce a good picture). I want a phone that's enjoyable to use, not frustrating, and apple offer that experience. The hardware isn't key, it's the software and Apple have that down to the T, Android are way behind with a poor user experience. The only thing I can see as a features I'd like to see are NFC and conductive charging. Increased screen real-estate would be welcomed too, but not at the expense of overall phone size. Maybe these will be apart of the iPhone 5. Who knows. What I do know is that sometimes too much choice in the combination of hardware and software can be a bad thing. Keeping it simple like Apple do with limited products can be reassuring to the consumer and a good thing.

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