New Apple iPhone 4S Box

Apple’s most powerful iPhone to date, it is. However, with iOS 5 equipping iPhone 4S with hundreds of new features, is the new iPhone 4S worth the upgrade?

It was the most anticipated iPhone announcement since iPhones begun. In the 16 months from the launch of the iPhone 4, we’ve had antennagate, the unveiling of iOS 5 and three versions of Google Android’s Honeycomb.

So how different is it and, crucially, is it worth upgrading? We’ve been living with the iPhone 4S, iCloud and iOS 5 for a few days. Here’s what we think, in a few words…

Out of the box, the 4S looks identical to its older sibling bar the distinguishing birthmark of a brace of top-mounted incisions signifying that a new antenna design lurks within. Switch on the phone, however, and things are different.

The new A5 dual-core processor (as seen in the iPad 2) makes things noticeably nippier. Apps launch quicker, web pages load faster, multi-tasking is more fluid and resource-hungry apps like Pages now allow you to edit documents without any lag.

The camera‘s had a major overhaul, now capable of taking eight-megapixel stills and recording 1080p video. iOS 5 brings with it the option to use the ‘+’  button as shutter when taking landscape shots. Face detection is also an upgrade and works well. The 1080p, 30fps camera is impressive.

The main talking point of the iPhone 4S, quite literally, is Siri – a voice-controlled in-built app that acts like your own PA. Hold down the home button to launch Siri and then ask it to perform certain tasks. We barked a variety questions and demands, all with varying responses and success rates. Siri needs at least a 3G connection to operate and we found that Wi-Fi works better.

Battery life has also been improved. Apple claims 8 hours of 3G talk time, upto 9 hours of wifi use, 10 hours video playback and 40 hours of musical pleasure.

Verdict : So, as previously mentioned, the iPhone 4S is the most powerful and feature-packed phone that Apple has ever made. It may not be what people were hoping for – whatever that looked like – but the iPhone 4S is now the best phone from the Apple stable. A powerful mobile device with a great OS and some cutting-edge tech to boot.

What’s more, are people really going to wait another year to see the iPhone 5?

For Full Review, visit Apple iPhone 4S review