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soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,645
5,801
Southern California
This was a tough one. This is no way a perfect 10, but it's not that innovative and not that big a reason to jump from an iPhone 4. Still a good product nonetheless.
 

DroidRules

macrumors 65816
Aug 10, 2010
1,006
1
This was a tough one. This is no way a perfect 10, but it's not that innovative and not that big a reason to jump from an iPhone 4. Still a good product nonetheless.

Not that innovative and not that big a reason to jump huh. Are we supposed to take your blog seriously when you make those types of statements? Not saying it's the best phone out there for every user but I say the millions sold (many by 4 owners) tell a different story.

This phone is head and shoulders above the 4, in many aspects. Speed, antenna, camera, dual core processor, video, picture editing on phone, Siri..... If it was in a different case with slightly bigger screen I bet you would be freaking over it and saying how innovative apple is. Even though I don't agree with your findings thanks for posting it up.
 
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Peterg2

macrumors 6502a
Jan 28, 2008
818
15
Montreal, Canada
Not that innovative and not that big a reason to jump huh. Are we supposed to take your blog seriously when you make those types of statements? Not saying it's the best phone out there for every user but I say the millions sold (many by 4 owners) tell a different story.

This phone is head and shoulders above the 4, in many aspects. Speed, antenna, camera, dual core processor, video, picture editing on phone, Siri..... If it was in a different case with slightly bigger screen I bet you would be freaking over it and saying how innovative apple is. Even though I don't agree with your findings thanks for posting it up.

I may disagree with his comment that it is not a big enough reason to jump from a 4 to a 4S (I don't think it is for *me*), but I do think that you are not differentiating properly between something that is *innovative* and something that is, for example, *evolutionary*. I will grant that Siri is a great evolution (some will say revolutionary which is fair) and the antenna may well be revolutionary (in terms of dual diversity for both send and receive but this was to fix a problem which should not have existed) but the rest? Speed, dual core, video, picture editing on phone...

On balance overall, this is a great evolution.
 

soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,645
5,801
Southern California
It will be very interesting when the hack makes Siri 100% functional on the iPhone 4. I stand by my review and it's pretty clear that the leap from the 4 to the 4S wasn't that great a leap from the 3GS to the 4. And as I mentioned, anyone with less than an iPhone 4, this would be an excellent phone to upgrade to.
 

mackmgg

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2007
1,660
572
This was a tough one. This is no way a perfect 10, but it's not that innovative and not that big a reason to jump from an iPhone 4. Still a good product nonetheless.

When reviewing a phone, why should you factor in how big of a jump it is over the previous model? If it's the best phone on the market, it should be a 10/10, and the iPhone 4, if only slightly lesser, should be a 9/10. Then users would see that, and decide whether or not to upgrade.
 

Peterg2

macrumors 6502a
Jan 28, 2008
818
15
Montreal, Canada
When reviewing a phone, why should you factor in how big of a jump it is over the previous model? If it's the best phone on the market, it should be a 10/10, and the iPhone 4, if only slightly lesser, should be a 9/10. Then users would see that, and decide whether or not to upgrade.

No phone is perfect. Thus to award a phone 10/10 implies that in terms of the current state of development it cannot be improved upon. That is absurd.
 
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mackmgg

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2007
1,660
572
No phone is perfect. Thus to award a phone 10/10 implies that in terms of the current state of development it cannot be improved upon. That is absurd.

Oh, I didn't mean that it deserved a 10/10. He just said in a reply that it wasn't a perfect 10 because it wasn't big enough of a jump. I don't think that it is a perfect phone, but it's certainly better than a 7.5/10, and the fact that the previous generation was also good shouldn't discredit a new phone.
 

soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,645
5,801
Southern California
Oh, I didn't mean that it deserved a 10/10. He just said in a reply that it wasn't a perfect 10 because it wasn't big enough of a jump. I don't think that it is a perfect phone, but it's certainly better than a 7.5/10, and the fact that the previous generation was also good shouldn't discredit a new phone.

I think you just skipped right down to the last paragraph and didn't read the rest. I have a bad habit of doing that too. Lack of innovation was not the only reason. Battery performance wasn't as great as the 4 (from my own testing), no LTE in this 4G capable world, iOS 5 is the best iOS but it doesn't really stand out or do anything different from rival mobile OSs

7.5 is in no way a bad rating. I said several times it's a great phone. I love apple and know what they've been capable of. There's just a lot more they could have done on this years iPhone
 

kre62

macrumors 68020
Jul 12, 2010
2,373
1,248
I cant wait til iOS 6 comes out and all these 4 owners will be crying about how their phones with 3GS technology (internal chip architechture) cant keep up.

Lol at shortsightedness. I saw the same thing when the 3GS came out, and people thought it wasnt a big deal cause right then and there at that time, the 3G ran iOS 3 just fine. We all know what happened after that...
 

2IS

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2011
2,938
433
Not that innovative and not that big a reason to jump huh. Are we supposed to take your blog seriously when you make those types of statements? Not saying it's the best phone out there for every user but I say the millions sold (many by 4 owners) tell a different story.

This phone is head and shoulders above the 4, in many aspects. Speed, antenna, camera, dual core processor, video, picture editing on phone, Siri..... If it was in a different case with slightly bigger screen I bet you would be freaking over it and saying how innovative apple is. Even though I don't agree with your findings thanks for posting it up.

So the only reviews you take seriously are ones that treat the 4S as the holy grail of phones?
 

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
Careful with your review: You say that all accessories are compatible with 4 and 4S, and that's simply not true if you have an AT&T iPhone 4. My original Apple bumper doesn't work (the new revision does), and a LOT of my cases that came out for the AT&T iPhone do not work fit correctly because of the shifted mute switch.
 

soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,645
5,801
Southern California
Careful with your review: You say that all accessories are compatible with 4 and 4S, and that's simply not true if you have an AT&T iPhone 4. My original Apple bumper doesn't work (the new revision does), and a LOT of my cases that came out for the AT&T iPhone do not work fit correctly because of the shifted mute switch.

Thanks for pointing that out. I have a the Snap Case from Incase and it works on both the iPhone 4 and the 4S. The bumper works on both too, so I guess I have the newer revision. I'll make a note of that!
 

braddick

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2009
3,921
1,018
Encinitas, CA
I think you just skipped right down to the last paragraph and didn't read the rest. I have a bad habit of doing that too. Lack of innovation was not the only reason. Battery performance wasn't as great as the 4 (from my own testing), no LTE in this 4G capable world, iOS 5 is the best iOS but it doesn't really stand out or do anything different from rival mobile OSs

7.5 is in no way a bad rating. I said several times it's a great phone. I love apple and know what they've been capable of. There's just a lot more they could have done on this years iPhone

7.5 out of ten is 75%. A 75% on a term paper or a test is equal to a C+.
 

impulse462

macrumors 68020
Jun 3, 2009
2,084
2,872
I think you just skipped right down to the last paragraph and didn't read the rest. I have a bad habit of doing that too. Lack of innovation was not the only reason. Battery performance wasn't as great as the 4 (from my own testing), no LTE in this 4G capable world, iOS 5 is the best iOS but it doesn't really stand out or do anything different from rival mobile OSs

7.5 is in no way a bad rating. I said several times it's a great phone. I love apple and know what they've been capable of. There's just a lot more they could have done on this years iPhone

You can't dock points off the phone's score for what it's not. That's like a car reviewer saying that a Ford is not as good as a Saturn V rocket because it can't reach terminal velocity.

I agree with everyone else, if it's the best phone on the market, you should have given it a 10/10. It is, however, nice to see someone taking the time to write something up like this.
 

TopToffee

macrumors 65816
Jul 9, 2008
1,039
972
It will be very interesting when the hack makes Siri 100% functional on the iPhone 4. I stand by my review and it's pretty clear that the leap from the 4 to the 4S wasn't that great a leap from the 3GS to the 4. And as I mentioned, anyone with less than an iPhone 4, this would be an excellent phone to upgrade to.

But that's not the comparable leap.

The comparable shift is from 3G to 3GS... and this revision (4 to 4S) is MUCH MUCH bigger
 

2IS

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2011
2,938
433
I agree with everyone else, if it's the best phone on the market, you should have given it a 10/10. It is, however, nice to see someone taking the time to write something up like this.

Except not everyone else is saying that. You can get the highest score on a test in your class, that doesn't mean you got 100% on the test. So unless the review scoring is based on a curve, "the best phone on the market" does not have to equate to a perfect 10/10
 

soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,645
5,801
Southern California
7.5 out of ten is 75%. A 75% on a term paper or a test is equal to a C+.

That's a pretty good grade for some people! Seriously, just because I didn't give it anything higher than a 9, doesn't mean I'm trashing the product at all.

Everyone has different expectations. I respect that.
 
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timberga

macrumors member
Jun 23, 2009
49
0

I agree on the battery life part.....it's definitely worse on the 4s than the 4.....but I think a good comparison would be

iPhone 4 with iOS 5 and
iPhone 4S with iOS 5 (default)

My friends with iPhone 4 are complaining about battery life as well that have upgraded to iOS 5.

----------

But that's not the comparable leap.

The comparable shift is from 3G to 3GS... and this revision (4 to 4S) is MUCH MUCH bigger

Wait you are saying that the 3G to 3GS wasn't as big of an "impact" as the 4 to 4S?
 

JohnnyQuest

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2006
1,521
362
Your review is flawed.

The 4S is heavier, and is distinguishable by the Verizon-like antenna setup and the inclusion of a SIM slot. Plus, you call it "the phone of 2011," yet give it a 7.5/10?
 
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