How’s your iPhone 4S release day going so far? Did you get the iPhone you wanted, were you disappointed, or did you decide to skip this release entirely? Some people had decided that the iPhone 4S just wasn’t a huge enough leap over their existing iPhones, to warrant the considerable outlay that would be needed if they were to bite the bullet and jump to an iPhone 4S.
So is the iPhone 4S actually worth upgrading to, or have we all spend out money on what is effectively the same phone we bought last year?
Obviously, there’s the improved 8 megapixel camera, which offers improved shots in both good and bad light conditions. Then there is Siri, Apple’s take on the digital virtual assistant that has us all talking to our phones as if there’s a little person inside.
But what about the less tangible changes? The iPhone 4S sports a dual-core A5 CPU, the same as the one powering Apple’s mighty iPad 2. While that may not mean much to the layman, people like their iPhones to be faster than the one they just upgraded from.
So the question there has to be – is the iPhone 4S noticeably faster than the iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS? The answer to that question comes in the form of another video from our very own Steven Chi, where he compares just those three handsets across a variety of simple, admittedly un-scientific, tests.
As is to be expected, the iPhone 4S comes out on top in Steven’s tests, with the downloading and rendering of web pages noticeably being snappy. For those wondering just how much faster than its predecessor the iPhone 4S is, this video may well help to push you toward getting the credit card out. Spoiler: it’s faster!
Another good demonstration of the iPhone 4S’ speed is the newly re-coded Camera app. Now, we don’t find ourselves stood waiting for the shutter screen to go away before we can take the next shot. It’s not quite instantaneous, but it is noticeably quicker than we are used to. It isn’t shown in Steven’s video, but accessing the camera app from the iPhone’s lockscreen – new in iOS 5 – is extremely quick. No more missing those shots because your subject has wandered off, anymore!
Give the video a watch and make your own mind up, but we think the iPhone 4S is a worthy successor to the iPhone 4, and that’s before you take Siri into the equation!
You may also like to check out our unboxing video of the white iPhone 4S here.
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