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Any iPhone 4S (or other models) disappointed with the 5C/5S, and unsure what to do?

G

GodWhomIsMike

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 24, 2007
580
2
Any iPhone 4S (or other models) disappointed with the 5C/5S, and unsure what to do?

For now, I am holding on to my 4S. Yes, the LTE is going to be great, but the jump from 3.5" to 4" isn't enough for me to be locked in for two years. I've used a Moto X a few times now, and I absolutely love the screen size.

Honestly, if it wasn't for all of the apps and music I have collected since when the iPhone 3G was first released, I would make the jump to the Moto X. Although, if they had a 64GB model, or an SD slot, I would have probably jumped immediately.
 
The 5S is a MASSIVE, MASSIVE upgrade over a 4S. That's what I came from too (4S -> 5S). Nothing to be disappointed about at all. It's a huge leap forward, and it should be more than enough for almost anyone. Seriously.
 
1) Both 5S and 5c are big upgrades over 4S. I had a 4S and now a 5c; battery life, camera and LTE are all the big upgrades. Honestly I have not really noticed the screen size change (which can be good or bad).

2) That said, iPhone 4S running iOS7 is very good. If your 4S works fine (no home button issues, battery life is OK) and you are not compelled to upgrade, then don't upgrade. No need to buy a phone you don't want if the 4S is working for you.
 
For me I went from iPhone 4S to Samsung Galaxy S4. I got my Samsung G S 4 on 9/6/2013, way before Apple's announcement and I knew 100% that Apple's iphone 5S/5C was going to be a disappointment. Sure it may be a huge upgrade if I went from a 4S to a 5S, but the screen size disappoints me.
 
Adelphos33 said:
1) Both 5S and 5c are big upgrades over 4S. I had a 4S and now a 5c; battery life, camera and LTE are all the big upgrades. Honestly I have not really noticed the screen size change (which can be good or bad).

2) That said, iPhone 4S running iOS7 is very good. If your 4S works fine (no home button issues, battery life is OK) and you are not compelled to upgrade, then don't upgrade. No need to buy a phone you don't want if the 4S is working for you.
Click to expand...

I just upgraded my Google Drive account to 100GB, and offloaded my photos. I was tired of the lack of storage (16GB model), but this freed up a lot of space.

Maybe I should hang on to it for another year. The $200 trade-in offer is tempting to upgrade for 64GB of storage space, but I just don't really see anything all that pressing to jump to the 5S.

Here's to hoping the iPhone 6 is a redesign with a 4.8" screen, like the rumors on phone arena are stating.

----------
Shadowbech said:
For me I went from iPhone 4S to Samsung Galaxy S4. I got my Samsung G S 4 on 9/6/2013, way before Apple's announcement and I knew 100% that Apple's iphone 5S/5C was going to be a disappointment. Sure it may be a huge upgrade if I went from a 4S to a 5S, but the screen size disappoints me.
Click to expand...

How do you find the android ecosystem after using iOS for so long? Anything that drives you crazy, how was moving contacts, music, videos, and photos over?
 
Switching from a 4s to a 5s, my first impression was "wow! This thing is fast! Apps load almost instantaneously. Touch ID means I can enter my phone simply by pressing the home button (and keeping my finger there).

A decent upgrade, IMO.
 
I loved my 4S, and considered holding out until the 6; but upgrading to the 5S really is a no-brainer and you'll be much happier with all the new technology in this puppy!
 
GodWhomIsMike said:
Any iPhone 4S (or other models) disappointed with the 5C/5S, and unsure what to do?

For now, I am holding on to my 4S. Yes, the LTE is going to be great, but the jump from 3.5" to 4" isn't enough for me to be locked in for two years. I've used a Moto X a few times now, and I absolutely love the screen size.

Honestly, if it wasn't for all of the apps and music I have collected since when the iPhone 3G was first released, I would make the jump to the Moto X. Although, if they had a 64GB model, or an SD slot, I would have probably jumped immediately.
Click to expand...

Clever troll
 
jamesryanbell said:
The 5S is a MASSIVE, MASSIVE upgrade over a 4S. That's what I came from too (4S -> 5S). Nothing to be disappointed about at all. It's a huge leap forward, and it should be more than enough for almost anyone. Seriously.
Click to expand...

Agreed. If you are coming from a 4S, the 5S is a worthy upgrade.
 
If you don't appreciate the upgrade from a 4S to a 5S I suggest you get your Moto X -- see how long before that disappointment sets in. Enjoy.
 
GodWhomIsMike said:
How do you find the android ecosystem after using iOS for so long? Anything that drives you crazy, how was moving contacts, music, videos, and photos over?
Click to expand...

Well transfering contacts wasn't that hard. Since I bought the phone at Best Buy Mobile, they had a machine where they could transfer contacts and photos over from the old device to a new.

But I have the address book saved in icloud and in Google account so just in case if I switch back to iphone later in the future then I still have the contacts, of course I can do that at the store again later.

I personally like that you can customize on android phone the way you want it to work. iOS did not give me that (but I can see that iOS is catching up), such as the short cuts for turning off wifi, bluetooth, airplane mode, etc since android had that feature for quite some time but Apple just caught up with that via control center.

Plus removable battery so if I run out of juice I can always pop out the battery and put in a new one.

Since I have my iPad mini, apps on my iPhone are no longer a concern for me because I can still use them on my ipad mini.

But I do gotta say that with the external storage, you can add up to 64 GB using the micro SD card, and store musics, photos, and some apps (if developer allows it).

Of course there are few things that drives me nuts, such as that the internal storage issue, the OS, along with touchwiz take nearly 1/2 of the storage (16),so your just left close to 8 mb of space, but of course the external storage helps remedy the internal storage issue.

Of course bloatware but that's not a problem because I have disabled them.
 
Shadowbech said:
For me I went from iPhone 4S to Samsung Galaxy S4. I got my Samsung G S 4 on 9/6/2013, way before Apple's announcement and I knew 100% that Apple's iphone 5S/5C was going to be a disappointment. Sure it may be a huge upgrade if I went from a 4S to a 5S, but the screen size disappoints me.
Click to expand...

By "way before", you mean 4 days?
 
To be honest, I feel like iPhone upgrades have become less compelling over time, and the level of technology has saturated a bit. My first iPhone was the iPhone 3G, and when I upgraded to the 4S, there was a gigantic leap between the two phones. The speed was truly different, the camera difference was night and day, the screen difference was astonishing, and added some very useful features like multitasking, and of course, added Siri as well. :p

Here I am now, I feel like I want to buy a new iPhone, but I just can't justify it. The 4S is still very quick and very responsive, even with iOS 7, and I've played with a 5/5c/and 5s and they're not mind-blowingly faster than the 4S. It's like comparing cars with 300hp and 400hp; yes, the more powerful car is quicker, but day-to-day you'll hardly notice the difference. The camera is still impressively good, and takes some fantastic shots. The 5/5c is barely an upgrade (only higher ISO for night shots), and the 5s is a good improvement, but nothing that makes me jump out of my chair to go buy one. The taller screen on the 5/5c/5s only has little benefit, showing 1 or 2 more tweets in Twitter or other feed apps, and while widescreen video is nice, I'm not going to watch a movie on a 4" display. Other than that, iOS 7 runs virtually the same on the 4S and the 5/5c/5s, battery life is probably better but they all have to be charged each night, so it doesn't matter that much. Touch ID is cool, but it's still limited.

iPhones are so great and software is so integrated that it hardly makes me want to upgrade every year or 2 years. I'm going to hold on to my 4S for now, and I have no urge to switch to Android. Hopefully next year's iPhone will have something to make me upgrade.
 
I went from a ip4 to a 5s and the improvements are highly noticeable.

Its FAST and the camera is way better. But some things are different.

I cant call someone from the message section like i used to. Also the way to edit sms-es is not so visible and intuitive...i guess these are bugs in the system which i hope will soon be fixed.

Sold my ip4 for approx $240 and paid $242 for the ip5s with a contract renewal. 2 bucks for a great new phone sounds like a good deal.
 
4S > 5S here, too.

if you're eligible for an upgrade with your carrier, I think it's a no-brainer not to do it.

Here's why I say that:

Re: "locked in for two years"... you're not really. You CAN leave. It just costs $375 minus $10 for every month you go... so, really, not that big a deal. Plus, you're not going to have a cell phone? What will you use? Or will you build a cellular network of hubcaps tied to trees? (Thanks, Louis CK.) The two biggest carriers (Verizon and ATT) are solid. I could see if you had Sprint, you wouldn't want to commit to anything, but if you're off-contract with them, you have your pick.

Re: "can't justify the cost"... Sell the 4S and your new phone is essentially free. If you have to buy the phone unlocked, well, then, I can't really say I could justify the cost, either.

Re: "not much of an upgrade"... That's totally your call. LTE is way faster. The phone itself is faster. TouchID is worth it for many. Better camera, for those who use it. For me, it's been worth it.
 
jamesryanbell said:
The 5S is a MASSIVE, MASSIVE upgrade over a 4S. That's what I came from too (4S -> 5S). Nothing to be disappointed about at all. It's a huge leap forward, and it should be more than enough for almost anyone. Seriously.
Click to expand...

X2 ! Screen size is perfect for me as I wouldn't want a touch pad sized phone in my pocket. I love my 5s 64gb.
 
Last edited:
Shadowbech said:
Well transfering contacts wasn't that hard. Since I bought the phone at Best Buy Mobile, they had a machine where they could transfer contacts and photos over from the old device to a new.

But I have the address book saved in icloud and in Google account so just in case if I switch back to iphone later in the future then I still have the contacts, of course I can do that at the store again later.

I personally like that you can customize on android phone the way you want it to work. iOS did not give me that (but I can see that iOS is catching up), such as the short cuts for turning off wifi, bluetooth, airplane mode, etc since android had that feature for quite some time but Apple just caught up with that via control center.

Plus removable battery so if I run out of juice I can always pop out the battery and put in a new one.

Since I have my iPad mini, apps on my iPhone are no longer a concern for me because I can still use them on my ipad mini.

But I do gotta say that with the external storage, you can add up to 64 GB using the micro SD card, and store musics, photos, and some apps (if developer allows it).

Of course there are few things that drives me nuts, such as that the internal storage issue, the OS, along with touchwiz take nearly 1/2 of the storage (16),so your just left close to 8 mb of space, but of course the external storage helps remedy the internal storage issue.

Of course bloatware but that's not a problem because I have disabled them.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Definitely makes me think long and hard about the move.
 
Xeyad said:
To be honest, I feel like iPhone upgrades have become less compelling over time, and the level of technology has saturated a bit. My first iPhone was the iPhone 3G, and when I upgraded to the 4S, there was a gigantic leap between the two phones. The speed was truly different, the camera difference was night and day, the screen difference was astonishing, and added some very useful features like multitasking, and of course, added Siri as well. :p

Here I am now, I feel like I want to buy a new iPhone, but I just can't justify it. The 4S is still very quick and very responsive, even with iOS 7, and I've played with a 5/5c/and 5s and they're not mind-blowingly faster than the 4S. It's like comparing cars with 300hp and 400hp; yes, the more powerful car is quicker, but day-to-day you'll hardly notice the difference. The camera is still impressively good, and takes some fantastic shots. The 5/5c is barely an upgrade (only higher ISO for night shots), and the 5s is a good improvement, but nothing that makes me jump out of my chair to go buy one. The taller screen on the 5/5c/5s only has little benefit, showing 1 or 2 more tweets in Twitter or other feed apps, and while widescreen video is nice, I'm not going to watch a movie on a 4" display. Other than that, iOS 7 runs virtually the same on the 4S and the 5/5c/5s, battery life is probably better but they all have to be charged each night, so it doesn't matter that much. Touch ID is cool, but it's still limited.

iPhones are so great and software is so integrated that it hardly makes me want to upgrade every year or 2 years. I'm going to hold on to my 4S for now, and I have no urge to switch to Android. Hopefully next year's iPhone will have something to make me upgrade.
Click to expand...

Thank you for better articulating exactly how I feel. I also was an iPhone 3G user, and had made the update to the latest iOS that was available for it right before the 4S came out. My 3G at the time was extremely slow, and almost unusable. The 4S was extremely fast and light years better. It was a massive massive upgrade over the 3G.

I guess I am expecting that two years later from getting the 4S, that I would be able to get an upgrade that has just as much of an impact as going from a 3G to a 4S. Problem is, I just feel like going from a 4S to 5S would be as substantial. My 4S, even with iOS 7, works perfectly fine. Camera is still great. Yes, sometimes it is laggy and slow now with iOS 7, but it is nothing unbearable.

I am hoping the 6 gets a larger screen option. Then I would probably feel like it would be worth the upgrade.

----------
terzinator said:
4S > 5S here, too.

if you're eligible for an upgrade with your carrier, I think it's a no-brainer not to do it.

Here's why I say that:

Re: "locked in for two years"... you're not really. You CAN leave. It just costs $375 minus $10 for every month you go... so, really, not that big a deal. Plus, you're not going to have a cell phone? What will you use? Or will you build a cellular network of hubcaps tied to trees? (Thanks, Louis CK.) The two biggest carriers (Verizon and ATT) are solid. I could see if you had Sprint, you wouldn't want to commit to anything, but if you're off-contract with them, you have your pick.

Re: "can't justify the cost"... Sell the 4S and your new phone is essentially free. If you have to buy the phone unlocked, well, then, I can't really say I could justify the cost, either.

Re: "not much of an upgrade"... That's totally your call. LTE is way faster. The phone itself is faster. TouchID is worth it for many. Better camera, for those who use it. For me, it's been worth it.
Click to expand...

I'm perfectly happy with AT&T. With locked in, I just mean that I am kind of stuck with the device for close to two years, unless I want to incur massive penalties for extremely early upgrade.
 
5S all the way

I have been skipping a generation of iphones since original iphone (upgrade every two years from AT&T). Original iPhone, 3GS, 4S and now 5S. Every time a big jump. But from 4S to 5S has been huge. compared to the 4S, the 5S is super fast, LTE is great speed, camera takes outstanding pics, battery life, the screen is much nicer than 4S and the phone is super light, i keep checking my pocket to see if it's there.

As for the size queens out there, I don't want a huge crappy screen like the Galaxy. the size of the 5S is great. It's a PHONE to take with you everywhere.

:apple:
 
I went from a 4S to the 5S.
I recommend you do so also since LTE is that goodddd.
The other features and screen are just icing on the cake
 
The 4S is still excellent

I upgraded from the 4S to the 5S, and don't regret it, but the 4S is still a great smartphone. I would have been fine keeping it for another year. I take a lot of pictures with my iPhone, and the camera improvements in the 5S compared to the 4S were enough to justify it for me. The Touch ID feature works OK, but something about my thumbprints makes it work inconsistently (but no big deal). Yes, the 5S is "snappier", but the 4S was plenty fast, even on iOS7. Better life is signficiantly better on the 5S compared to the 4S running iOS7 (something that might lessen over time with updates), so that's a plus.

I agree with the post saying that the level of technology has saturated a bit. I was really impressed jumping from the 4 to the 4S, more so than jumping from the 4S running iOS7 to the 5S. Still, the 5S is a nice, shiney new toy, and good for another two years....

But if you love your 4S and nothing with the 5S feels compelling, perfectly fine to stick with the 4S.
 
I'm in the same boat. Have an iPhone 4S, which does everything I need. Was my first iPhone, changed from an iPod touch 2G. Can't say that the 5/5s tempts me.

Yeah they have a slightly bigger screen and better camera etc, but it would cost me an extra £15 a month and a £250 upgrade.

I'm going to switch to a low cost sim only 12 month contract and wait for the iPhone 6, and use the money I save to buy an iMac. I'm 6'6" and so have massive hands, and so "phablets" are like normal phones to me. The idea of a 5.7" iPhone sounds just up my street, so I'll wait for that.

I'm a student studying graphic design, so a new iMac is better value for money (for me) .
 
Oops on my previous post here i meant to say 8 GB of space. not 8 MB. 8 MB of space is rather not enough to do anything on it.
 
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