IPhone 4S Reviews: "Best iPhone Yet", Great Camera, Siri is "Straight Out of Science Fiction"
Kim Photo courtesy of TechCrunch The early iPhone 4S reviews are in. Apple has provided some publications with an early review unit of the iPhone 4S and here are the reviews. We"ve extracted some of the more interesting points from each review, but you can click each title to read the full writeup. TechCrunch - "The iPhone 4S blows away the iPhone 4 when it comes to speed." - "The true killer feature of the device is Siri." - "The amount of times Siri hasn’t been able to understand and execute my request is astonishingly low. I’ll say something that I’m sure Siri won’t be able to understand, and it gets it." - "Because it uses server-side software to decipher what you’re saying (likely using Nuance-licensed technology), you have to be connected to the Internet in order for Siri to work." ThisIsMyNext - "On paper, [the iPhone 4S] may not stand up to the latest and greatest Android phone with 4G radios, a massive screen, and a screaming 1.5GHz dual-core CPU — but in use, it’s easily one of the most capable handsets on the market." - "The 4S is more than capable of going through a full business day without needing a charge, and if you’re a lighter user, you’ll rarely have to worry about it." - On Siri, "The software even has a good sense of humor. Asking it “what is the meaning of life?” will bring up a number of responses, both serious and not so serious. The first time I asked, Siri simply said “42.” AllThingsD - "My advice is that owners of the iPhone 4 needn’t rush to upgrade; they can get the new operating system. But owners of older iPhone models, or those with basic phones, will find this latest iPhone a pleasure and a good value." - "In numerous tests at three different locations in the Washington suburbs, I averaged download speeds of nearly 7 megabits per second—better than in prior tests on Sprint and T-Mobile 4G phones." NYTimes - "This phone comes dangerously close to displacing a $200 point-and-shoot digital camera." - "Apple says Siri will improve with time — both because she adapts to you, and because Apple itself will periodically upgrade her brain." Wired - "Before, with the standard iPhone calendar, I would often forget to add an event because I was too busy to type it, and as a result I would forget I had something scheduled altogether. With Siri and Apple’s new Reminders to-do list app, it’s unlikely I’ll forget anything important again because the process is so effortless. - "From my experience, talking on an iPhone 4S on AT&T sounds noticeably clearer than it did on past iPhones I’ve owned" - Several amusing examples of Siri responses including "I"m Drunk" (Here"s a list of cab companies) Macworld Macworld includes a video showing Siri, including some mis-steps: