Should You Get An iPhone 4S?

@BWyche October 7, 2011 1

Should you upgrade from whatever you have now to an iPhone 4S? The answer to that depends entirely on what exactly you have now, or whether any of the features of iPhone 4S are compelling enough to makes it worth upgrading regardless of what you have now.

Read on for the full breakdown below via the iPhone Blog.

Upgrading from an iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, or iPhone 3GS

If you’re currently using an original iPhone, iPhone 3G, or iPhone 3GS than your contract has likely expired and you can get an iPhone 4S at full, subsidize price. You can also get an iPhone 4S on Verizon or Sprint in the US, which wasn’t an option for any of the pre-iPhone 4S models.

The improvements to iPhone 4S for iPhone 3GS owners are significant. For iPhone 2G or iPhone 3G owners, they’re stratospheric. Retina display, a much better camera that shoots HD video, silky smooth multitasking, incredible gaming power, FaceTime video calling, Siri voice control — the list goes on and on.

Also, you get to keep your apps, you maintain easy access to any iTunes music, TV shows, and movies you might have bought, and your cables stay compatible.

iPhone 4S is almost a no-brainer update from those early iPhone models.

Upgrading from an iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S

If you’re currently rocking an Phone 4, the answer isn’t as easy. You’re probably still on contract with the carrier, so you may not be able to get the fully subsidized price unless you qualify for an early upgrade or you lean on them and their retention departments. There’s also not a huge difference in functionality — more speed, a better camera, Siri voice control, availability on Sprint, and world-phone CDMA roaming being the major differentiators.

If you’re a hardcore gamer or productivity maven whose tolerance for lag is less than zero, the 2x speed and 7x gaming power might tempt you to upgrade.
If you’re a photo and video enthusiast who really wants the “best camera”, that 8mp, F2.4, 1080p lens might tempt you to upgrade.
If you want the future now, now, now, or you’re visually impaired, the artificially intelligent, natural language interface Siri promises might tempt you to upgrade.
If you need Verizon or Sprint at home but have to travel a lot, the ability to roam on international GSM networks might tempt you to upgrade.

iPhone 4S is not a compelling upgrade for most iPhone 4 owners unless you really want or need a specific new feature.

Upgrading from Android, BlackBerry, webOS, or Windows Phone to iPhone 4S

If your current phone of choice runs Android, Windows Phone, or webOS or is a BlackBerry, here’s where it gets tricky. If you’re not on contract, it’s easier. If you are, you need to weigh the pros and cons and see if the features you get outweigh the penalties you’ll have to pay.

iPhone isn’t as customizable as Android unless you Jailbreak it (think root), and that’s not always possible at first when a new device comes out.
iPhone doesn’t have BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), so if that’s what your friends use you’ll be out of touch — and out of luck. iMessage will let you talk with other iOS users in an SMS/MMS type way, and there are cross-platform apps, but none of them are BBM.
iPhone has the slickest UI and best UX in the business, but it isn’t as simple or elegant as the new Metro UI on Windows Phone, or have as good a multitasking metaphor and aggregation system as webOS. It does more (for now) but taste and preference are subjective.
iPhone only comes in one style and screen size. 3.5-inch slab. No sliders, no flips, no hardware keyboards of any kind, and no option for 4 to 5.5-inches.
No Adobe Flash video. (That could be a pro or con depending on how you feel about it.)
No LTE, WiMax, or HSPA+ 21 or 41 mbps options for faster internet.

That said, you get the most powerful web browser on mobile, the biggest app ecosystem, the least carrier-controlled experience (no crapware, no feature lockouts, no random casing changes) and a product that invented the “just works” cliché.

If you’ve only been using another platform because you were waiting for the 2011 iPhone on your choice of carrier — go get it.

If you like your current platform but are curious or considering the jump to iPhone 4S, wait until you can try one at the store and really get a feel for it.

Upgrading from a feature phone to iPhone 4S.

Yes. Do it now.

(If you’re really hard up for up-front cash, consider a $99 iPhone 4 or free iPhone 3GS, but if you can scrape together the $199+ for an iPhone 4S, considering the contract will cost you ~$2000+ over two years, it’s not really much of a savings.)