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Review: Faster iPhone 4S is worth the upgrade
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The Toronto Star-By Marc Saltzman
You could feel the collective sigh of disappointment last week when Apple took the wraps off its iPhone 4S, which looked exactly like last year’s smartphone, instead of introducing a radically redesigned iPhone 5.
But it didn’t stop Apple from breaking a sales record with a million pre-orders for the smartphone within 24 hours, says the company, which lost its visionary co-founder, chairman and former CEO Steve Jobs a day after the unveiling.
But after spending a week with iPhone 4S (which is out in Canada on Friday, priced from $159.95 on 3-year plan with Bell Mobility, Rogers and Telus), I can tell you there’s nothing to be let down about. It’s worth the upgrade for those waiting to buy their first iPhone, but those who already own an iPhone 4 need not feel too left out.
Featuring the dual-core A5 chip found in the iPad 2 tablet, the iPhone 4S enjoys much faster speeds over the iPhone 4. Tap on an app or launch a game and they start instantaneously. I did a side-by-side comparison with an iPhone 4 and without question you can see the boost in performance. Websites also load much faster, which might be related to the iPhone 4S’s new dual-antenna design, which improves download speeds and reception quality (more of an issue stateside) and lets you roam internationally on various networks.
The camera is noticeably better in the iPhone 4S, too, now with an 8-megapixel sensor instead of 5-megapixels, 1080p HD video recording (at 30 frames per second) as opposed to 720p, and better overall optics for richer colours, better contrast and improved low-light performance. I took a handful of photos and videos while apple picking with the family over the weekend and was very impressed with the quality.
Without question, the most impressive feature found in the new iPhone 4S is Siri, a voice-activated personal assistant you can talk to by pressing and holding the Home button (or if you like, simply lift the phone up to your ear). Tell Siri what you want or ask a question and the artificial intelligence (A.I.), delivered by a female-like voice, will give you the information you seek.
I asked Siri to text my wife Kellie a message saying to call her mom back. Immediately, Siri transcribed my voice instructions into text and asked me if it could send it to her. Or say “remember to pick up cigars for dad tomorrow at 1 p.m.” and Siri will open the Reminders app (one of more than 200 new features found in Apple’s iOS 5 update) and ask to confirm the reminder. “Is it going to be hot out today?” I asked. “Not too hot,” Siri—who sounds like your GPS unit — replied, and then “she” showed me the weather in Toronto leading into the weekend. I asked Siri to marry me and she said she was flattered but wasn’t permitted to do so.
When Siri works, it works great, and never ceased to amaze the people I showed it to. But – there’s always a catch – directions, maps and restaurant searches won’t work in Canada. Ask about Indian restaurants in Denver and Siri will list the top-rated ones, but ask the same question for Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver and she tells me Canada isn’t supported. I received the same response when I instructed Siri to take me to the CN Tower. But say “take me to Buffalo, New York,” and Siri will open up the Maps application and show me the way from my home as the starting point. Hopefully Canada will be supported sooner than later.
Despite Siri’s limitations for Canadians, this voice-activated feature is the real benefit to iPhone 4S over its predecessors. Its faster processor, better camera and antenna redesign help its appeal, too, but the “magic” that Jobs often talked about is in Siri.
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