Even though I recently managed to squeeze more power out of my iPhone 3G, a few weeks ago I decided to bite the bullet and purchase an iPhone 4S. My journey with the iPhone 4S started out a bit rocky, and here’s why…

MY THOUGHTS AFTER THE INITIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Initially when Apple made the announcement about the iPhone 4S I was angry, I thought it was a completely ridiculous that we had to wait for several months in anticipation of a slightly update iPhone 4. Further to this it seemed as though Apple was banking largely on selling the 4S based on Siri and although I felt it would be a great party trick, I thought in practicality Siri would end up being one of Apple’s least used features to date. I also recall on the day of the launch I had a conversation with my brother where he suggested that I should upgrade my iPhone 3G to the iPhone 4S. I replied to him saying that I’d probably hold out for the iPhone 5 next year.

As the weeks went by I soon realized that I wasn’t mad because of the lack of features – I was mad because I had been waiting since July to see what Apple was going to announce. I also realized that the phone did exactly what I wanted – it was faster than my current phone, had the features I wanted and most importantly I was able to keep the apps that I previously had paid for. I made the decision that I was going to get the iPhone 4S… if I could get Rogers to get close to the price point I wanted, which I finally got.

After signing with Rogers I anticipated having to wait quite sometime to get my hands on an iPhone 4S. Before I went to put my name in the hat on the Rogers reservation system I decided to call around just for giggles and to my surprise I managed to locate an iPhone 4S at the local Rogers dealer. Within a couple hours I had the phone in my hand without any waits.

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE iPhone 4S
There’s something that’s comforting about starting up a phone that is fresh out of the box. It’s hard to describe but it just feels so new having no signs of wear or use – it’s just pure awesomeness. I went to my car, pulled out the phone, and programmed my wife into the address book with anticipation of FaceTiming her. I waited for FaceTime to connect but sadly it appeared she wasn’t near her phone and my first experience with the iPhone 4S was a failure. That being said, I tried the next thing that came to mind which was Siri – I said to Siri, “Remind me at 8 o’ clock to restore my backup” – Siri quickly responded and confirmed with me the reminder… SUCCESS!

Rather than sitting in my car in a dark parking lot talking to my phone I decided that it probably would be better to head home and play with the phone there. I continued home, started to get my work attire ready for the next day and as I was doing that my reminder came up to restore my backup. I promptly headed to my computer and started the restore. Anticipating that it would take quite awhile to restore (as my encounters with my 3G were a few weeks ago) – I walked away and continued with my other activities. About 20 minutes later I found myself checking how the restore was going and to my surprised I discovered that my iPhone 4S had already finished; needless to say, so far I was extremely satisfied with my iPhone 4S.

HOW DO I FEEL AFTER A FEW WEEKS WITH THE iPhone 4S?
Now that it’s been a few weeks with my iPhone 4S I’m happy to report I’m mostly happy with it. As I anticipated, the coolness of Siri’s tricks have indeed worn off and I’m now using her for my real needs – such as in the car. Most people who know me know that my previous iPhone Calendar was filled with various to do lists, tasks and other general items I had to remember. The new iPhone reminder app is great for these items and definitely helps keep my Calendar clear for actual appointments. I also really enjoy being able to set myself a reminder in my car through my BlueAnt by simply telling Siri to do it. While we’re on the topic of the reminder app I should note that find the app overall extremely clunky especially for Apple software. The list doesn’t auto sort by due date, it’s too many clicks to set a reminder time and overall it’s just very un-apple feeling. I have to admit that without Siri I likely wouldn’t be using it; however, Siri is my hero as I find it significantly quicker to set a reminder through her than do it by hand. On the negative side of Siri I do find that she doesn’t perform the best when there is interference coming from background noise. Now before you criticize me for what seems like an obvious comment, remember that I said Siri is very useful in the car. I have actually had several times where Siri has not been able to understand even a simple “yes” when I’ve been driving in heavy rain. Overall though I’m very happy with Siri and even though she needs some drastic improvements, I’m happy she’s part of the iPhone 4S (especially when I need to swear at an inanimate object).

The next best feature to Siri and the reminders is the notification centre. The notification center on the iPhone is extremely useful especially when you tie it with the calendar and reminders function of the phone. Back when I used to put all of my reminders into my Calendar I’d often find that I’d ended up missing items as frequently a notification would pop up over top of the previous one. With the notification centre now containing all of my notifications (whether facebook or important calendar events) I can now see everything in one easy to read location. Additionally, I find it extremely useful being able to see my entire to do list for the day in one easy glance – it just makes sense. There’s been some debate on where Apple got this idea from, but wherever it was, I’m happy they developed it.

The other feature I’ve been enjoying a lot (aside from the obvious ones such as speed) is iMessage. Although I could use apps like Whatsapp for the same features as iMessage, there’s something functional about having messaging integrated into one place on the phone. Although a subtle feature, Apple’s approach of using color changing to indicate whether a user is going to send an iMessage or SMS is just brilliant. Sure it may sound like a simple idea, but it just makes sense and is a very easy way for users to know if they’re about to send an SMS or an iMessage. My biggest complaint in regard to iMessage is that there is no sound-clip ability like BlackBerry Messenger has. I also admit that I find it a bit irritating that the default setting is to send by SMS if iMessage fails – which could be expensive if you didn’t realize that your international contact changed to say an Android device.

Now that you know the features that I’m enjoying, you’re probably wondering what issues I have with the iPhone 4S. The first one, which I’m sure you’ve heard before, is indeed the battery life. I’m planning on doing some details practical use comparisons with my wife’s iPhone 4; however, my preliminary observations are that my iPhone 4S does seems to chew away at the battery quicker than her phone. That being said, I want to make it PERFECTLY CLEAR that I am not encountering any drastic battery drain issues that some people are commenting on. The second thing that I’ve recently encountered is a buzz in the earpiece of the phone. I just noticed this the other day so I do need to investigate the issue more; however, when I do use the phone I hear a slight buzz. The buzz is not very loud, but is annoying none the less. The final issue that I have with the iPhone 4S is more to do with the iOS5 notification centre and a feature I feel is obviously lacking – I wish that Apple had put WiFi controls there. The notification centre is so easy to access it seems like users would want to have easy access to seeing their WiFi status OR even better, turn it off and on. I hope Apple does add this down the road as it would be a very handy tool to have access to.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with my iPhone 4S. I will admit that when selecting a phone there were some other very attractive phones on the market. Regardless, once I evaluated all the options, the iPhone’s smooth operations combine with my previous app purchases made the iPhone 4S my choice. Of course now that I’ve saved money on my case and have given my iPhone 4S some protection, I’m extremely happy with the phone and don’t regret it one bit.