Impressions

[sprocket2107]

I know it hasn't even been even a week yet but I thought I would express how I feel about my new iPhone. I came from a Samsung Epic 4G. I loved that phone, it was my first smartphone. The first week with my android phone was great but after that it was rough. I was experiencing lag and force closes. Let's just say my love turned into hate. I then turned to rooting. All was good. But again I experienced some lag and more force closes. I hated having to have my phone tethered to a charger and to have to know what was running on my phone. That has all changed. I fell in love with iOS when I first got my iPad on Christmas. The software just works. My iPad runs just as fast as when I got it. I love how snappy and smooth it is. And I know that I will be completely satisfied with my iPhone in two years. It may not have instance specs compared to the android phones but it just works. By no means am I bashing android I am just expressing my complete and utter satisfaction with iPhone. Being tied into the apple ecosystem is not as bad as everyone makes it seem (android users have said this). iTunes makes it so much simpler to sync and everything. I thought I was an apple fanboy before but now after having an iPhone I am sure that I will never go back. Let the android geeks have all their crazy "specs", but in the end I will be the one who will have a phone that just works. I hope I am not the only one who feels this way.

 

[noaim]

I know it hasn't even been even a week yet but I thought I would express how I feel about my new iPhone. I came from a Samsung Epic 4G. I loved that phone, it was my first smartphone. The first week with my android phone was great but after that it was rough. I was experiencing lag and force closes. Let's just say my love turned into hate. I then turned to rooting. All was good. But again I experienced some lag and more force closes. I hated having to have my phone tethered to a charger and to have to know what was running on my phone. That has all changed. I fell in love with iOS when I first got my iPad on Christmas. The software just works. My iPad runs just as fast as when I got it. I love how snappy and smooth it is. And I know that I will be completely satisfied with my iPhone in two years. It may not have instance specs compared to the android phones but it just works. By no means am I bashing android I am just expressing my complete and utter satisfaction with iPhone. Being tied into the apple ecosystem is not as bad as everyone makes it seem (android users have said this). iTunes makes it so much simpler to sync and everything. I thought I was an apple fanboy before but now after having an iPhone I am sure that I will never go back. Let the android geeks have all their crazy "specs", but in the end I will be the one who will have a phone that just works. I hope I am not the only one who feels this way.

I love iPhone and it works well most the time but its not that an app never force closes because they do.. remember not all apps are made by apple and most of them have there bugs facebook still isnt perfect and some force close at times.. so not everything is perfect

I do love ios more then the others at this point but theres always rooms for improvement

 

[sprocket2107]

Oh I agree but even the core apps have force closes. I have never had a core app on iOS have a force close. For example I would have my dialer and messages force close on me and I would have to restart my phone. IOS would never do that.

 

[chrstdvd]

Yep I like my 4s too, but I miss the back button on the Droid. If I am surfing and get and email or text and choose to read it, I have to go back to the home screen and hit the Browser button to get back to where I was reading, but, I have the browser set to "private" with no history. Well, ya see the problem. Maybe I just have not learned how to do something yet. I have read that you double tap the home button and the open apps will show up. I keep forgetting to try that.

The other thing I notice, is when I hit an app or link in the Browser, sometimes nothing happens. It is like I have to bang it with my thumb a few times.

 

[mannie213]

I agree with the OP iOS just works. I got sick of having to overclock my phone and try 30 different roms for it to just work. I mean the features of android are amazing but whats the point if they don't work. Android is too much like linux, I know its built on linux but it shouldn't have the same problems. iOS just seems air tight and reliable. After using a blackberry storm and Moto droid I hope 3rd times the charm getting this 4S. Just wish it had 4G!!!

 

[anon(4698833)]

Yep I like my 4s too, but I miss the back button on the Droid. If I am surfing and get and email or text and choose to read it, I have to go back to the home screen and hit the Browser button to get back to where I was reading, but, I have the browser set to "private" with no history. Well, ya see the problem. Maybe I just have not learned how to do something yet. I have read that you double tap the home button and the open apps will show up. I keep forgetting to try that.

The other thing I notice, is when I hit an app or link in the Browser, sometimes nothing happens. It is like I have to bang it with my thumb a few times.

Double click the home button to access another app...Safari still remains open and does not "close" even under private browsing...its the iPhone's version of multi-tasking...and will be your best friend in that situation.

As far as my impressions of the phone...i'll sum it up with 3 good and 3 bad...

The Good:

- The technology in this phone is awesome, and the new features are very natural and fluid...instead of clunky and hit or miss like many phones (including my android) when something new is implemented. Siri stands out more than i thought it would, and i find myself using it A LOT now, especially doing text messages while driving with my bluetooth headset...a headset that i never used really before getting this phone. I think the shining feature though, is the camera...it's simply amazing. I shot a video of my brother and his new M Roadster doing a burn out, and it came out just amazing...im going to eventually load it up online, but we watched it on my 51" plasma and it was as crisp as anything i've ever seen on that TV, i knew it was going to be good...i did not expect it to be THAT good. Sound is also superb, we have a 6.1 DTS surround sound system in the living room and it seemed to almost be mastered FOR it...i didn't expect that at all. Still pictures seem on par with what i expected coming from the iPhone 4, but the video...wow.

- This went for the iPhone 4 as well, but the screen is simply flawless...its perfectly sized and absolutely gorgeous. Every person that compares any of the android phones when it comes to quality is really taken back compared to this phone (and honestly, i feel like the 4S is a hair sharper than the iPhone 4 was, might just be the newness related to having just got it, but side by side with movies and such, it seems a bit more refined).

- The boost in internet speed, at least for me, has been a surprising and very welcome feature. Some people have not experienced significant increases, and perhaps this can be attributed to the better antenna more so than a new "feature" mind you, but whatever it is, my tethering and on the phone browsing has become legitimately and noticeably better.

...And THE BAD...

- The battery life, after winding down a few days during the initial flood of usage to check out new features, has not increased much, and I'm finding that overall battery life is about 75% of what the iPhone 4's was, and much less than the iPhone 3GS. I didn't expect an increase in overall battery life, but i VERY MUCH didn't expect a decrease like this...its a bit concerning to me, especially with the idea that we could be seeing a bigger, badder, more feature filled phone very soon...and that phone could experience even less life. It's beginning to look a lot like Android...and that sucks.

- I can tell the home button is going to be problematic with this handset as it was with the iPhone 4...and although it was hit or miss with the iPhone 4, A LOT of people experienced the "dead home button" phenomena. This morning i was double clicking to get to the multi-tasking bar, and it didn't respond, and i noticed over the weekend the same thing when trying to simply wake the phone up, it took a couple of hits on the home button to get it to register. I've seen it before, and I'm not too happy about it.

- I really wish the tethering "blue bar" wasn't so intrusive...it's a little complaint, and maybe that speaks worlds to how good i really think this phone is to only have a few complaints, one being so petty...but it truly is bothersome at times, especially when setup to tether but still needing to use some things on the phone...it simply doesn't need to be a 3-4 line wide banner at the top of the phone to indicate the service is being used, the top info bar only would suffice just fine, but for some reason, they really want you to know (especially on the lock screen, lol). Within this, it seems the tethering still doesn't intuitively turn itself off when both the computer and handset are within a WiFi network...something that i was really hoping would change in iOS 5.

...that's it, that's a pretty basic but detailed impression of the iPhone 4S from me thus far. I love it, its the best iPhone i've had so far, and the first one i've purchased that i'd rather hold onto than sell (given how hot the market is right now online for these things).

 

[pilsbury]

My last i4 had the "dead button" syndrome. But I attributed some of that to the jailbreak. This i4S home button has been superb so far, no lag at all. With the new notification system in iOS5, Im hesitant to jailbreak when it becomes available.

 

[anon(4698833)]

My last i4 had the "dead button" syndrome. But I attributed some of that to the jailbreak. This i4S home button has been superb so far, no lag at all. With the new notification system in iOS5, Im hesitant to jailbreak when it becomes available.

What has concerned me though...is not so much a "lag" problem (which i experienced with the iPhone 4 many times), its the no response at all issue, like no button has been hit.

 

[cardfan]

What has concerned me though...is not so much a "lag" problem (which i experienced with the iPhone 4 many times), its the no response at all issue, like no button has been hit.

With my ip4, i'd double click the home button and get the search screen. Double click some more, and finally get the multitasking bar. Yep, it was crap. The 4S is great right now, but i expect it will happen later. If i don't have it jb by then, i'll exchange it this time That's what happened with ip4, never wanted to lose jb to swap it out.

 

[j_benj]

Yup I agree. I used to be a tweaker. In fact, I had an Epic 4G myself. I got really tired of having to sink with my phone constantly trying to get things to work. Finally I wound up getting an iPhone 4 for work and realized how simple an functional iOS was. Still there were a few things that bugged me (notifications being the worst) so I didn't want to get an iPhone as a personal device.

Needless to say, iOS 5 took care of every issue I had and I preordered a 4S. Absolutely loving it!

 

[BMWGSrider]

Compared to my recent BB's, the 4S is much more user friendly. I find the operating system to be much more intuitive.

There are a few things I miss about the BB, like the flashing LED light message alert, the large number of free ringtones and the ease of installing them, how easy it was to make a personal photo the desktop background, etc. Overall I can't imagine going back though. I am sure that some of the stuff like the desktop background (or whatever it's called on a phone) is a matter of me learning how to do it.

I'm in my vehicle a fair amount. The ability to get off of a call and tell Siri to schedule an appointment is a huge benefit for me. The more I use the phone and read about some of it's features, the more I like it. It's my first experience with an iPhone and I can tell that I have a lot to learn to get the most out of it.