Being the Apple geek that I am, I knew instantly once the announcement was made that I was going to purchase an iPhone 4S. I was a little bit disappointed that there was no "5", in particular that there was no major redesign. I was hoping for a larger screen like the Samsung Galaxy S2 and perhaps a flatter design to differentiate itself from the iPhone 4. Anyway, the appeals of a better camera, faster processor and Siri was enough for me.
I originally ended up preordering online probably about minutes after the online store went back up on October 7th. However, after realising on the Thursday that it was highly unlikely that my phone would arrive on the Friday or weekend as it hadn't even prepared for shipment yet, that I was going to have to line up early and queue for it.
Woke up at 3am to check the forums to assess the line situation as I had originally planned to go around 6 but at 5 saw that the line was already at 50, I made the mad dash to start standing in line. I had my kindle and MBA air to keep me entertained whilst in line and even was interviewed for the news (my 2 seconds of fame were on 5:30 that night!). Finally, at 8:30 I had the phone in my hot little hands.
I didn't get a chance to play with the phone until late afternoon as I had plenty of PhD work to keep me busy. Upon inspection of opening the box, the phone looks (and to me feels) exactly the same as the iPhone 4. I initially had trouble getting Siri to work until I realised you have to turn it on in settings before it works. I quite like the idea of Siri but I am so used to manually putting calendar items in, notes etc that I haven't really used her all that much.
Took a few pictures with the camera and could see the difference in picture quality. The menu also seems zippier to surf around in. The iOS 5 operating system is great. I love the new notification system. One of the massive downsides is the battery...(again). I feel that it is shorter than the iPhone 4 and with excessive use would probably get a day out of it. Not excessively worse than the iPhone 4 but I don't think it lasts as long.
Overall I would give the phone 4.4 out of 5. I probably would have given it closer to a 5 if the battery life was longer. For me, battery life is important in a phone as I am out of the house most of the day. The phone itself is great and would recommend.
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