Just for the OP, I have had 0 problems with my iPhone 4S. Perfect screen, after two full cycles I get a day and a half of battery with normal use and a day with 'heavy' use. Siri is awesome and I have only gotten the 'unable to connect' error once and I've probably used it 100+ times (it's awesome for scheduling things). Reception is good (AT&T). The speed is awesome.
Anyway, I am not saying that others aren't really having issues. I'm just saying it's hard to tell what % of iPhones have had these issues. (though some of the battery gate stuff was people just not cycling their phones and calibrating the battery meter properly). Additionally, for any legitimate issues, Apple is generally very good about just giving you a replacement, especially if you notice it right away.