iPhone 4S Review, 6 Months On

Sometimes I wonder when I read reviews of products. Everyone tends to have bigger preferences with the shiny new things. But after a while, do they still love it?

Well, I’m happy to report that after six months, I still love my iPhone! I almost would say: “I would not want another type/brand of phone”. Although ten years ago I don’t want to have other phone than my shock resistant – amazing storage of 100 sms – Siemens phone, so let’s see how it goes in the next couple of years ;).

My background: I’m quite the techie geek, I know how to code and I’m also a graphic designer so I don’t think you could get geekier than that. I’m also a writer, I love taking pictures, and I’m an avid user of social networks.

Mobile phones prior to iPhone 4S: Blackberry 8900, Nokia 6600, Siemens M45, Nokia 3210.

Alright, let’s get to it!

Best feature:

The camera. It’s even more than what I dreamed of. The main reason why bought this phone. It’s amazingly good and fast. It allows me capture quick moments, much faster than the normal camera. It’s very quick to start, just whip out the phone from my pocket, and I usually do have them handy, and take the picture! PS: I already posted a review on it here and here.

Other things I love about it:

  • Speed. It makes everything a breeze, especially when you’re looking for something in the city. Map, direction, place recommendations, everything!
  • Apps. There’s just seems to be an app for everything and more. And I love it!

Overrated feature:
Siri. I never use it after the first two weeks. Just maybe sometimes when I want to show off my phone to my friends.

What I wish I could change:

Capacity expansion. Due to my love of apps, my 16gb one is 85% full. The thing is, when I read people’s recommendation of the size, they always said the bigger ones isn’t necessary if you don’t have much music and movies. This is not true. Mine is full of apps and games, and pictures (must start deleting them :P).

What I thought I wouldn’t like but turned out it’s okay:

  • Battery life. Although it would be nice to be able to use the phone a week straight without charging, I find as long as I could spend the day comfortably, it’s really okay. I use my phone for a lot of things: playing music, facebook, checking e-mails, playing games, so it’s only normal for the battery to run out after a day. Besides, my battery seemed to run longer compared to hubs’ Samsung Galaxy S (especially after the 5.1 update)
  • Touch screen for typing. It’s surprisingly not bad at all. As long as the autocorrect plays nice. I would think if one writes completely in one language, it should be very good. But as I have to write in English, Indonesian, and German, I have to remember to change the language whenever I type or the recommendation will be very weird.

Most used apps:

  1. Facebook. I love the interface and the ability to easily check in, upload pictures, and tag people. It’s especially great in comparison to my old blackberry version. I could happily check Facebook on my phone instead of the web.
  2. IMO & Whatsapp. Both are instant messaging apps. Neither I’m very satisfied with, but they are absolutely necessary and a cheap way to message your friends (especially if you have friends in different continents)
  3. Skype. I use this mostly to call my mum in Indonesia. Absolutely love the iPhone version because I could use the hands free and then I could walk around while talking to her (you know how long it tends to take ;)).
  4. Classic Booth. I love this one! Seriously, this app should have more buzz. It’s a fun photo booth app, where it emulates a classic photobooth. I love doing photobooth with my friends, so this app is just freakin’ awesome!
  5. Instagram. So far it’s still my favorite app for sharing pictures from the iPhone. Yes, there are far better photo editing tools out there (my favorite is Camera+) but most of the times, Instagram does a good enough job. I also love seeing other people’s pictures in here. And it’s so easy to use.
  6. I Can Has Cheezburger & IMDB. Both are good replacement vs browsing the website. I used to visit the website a lot, and now I prefer just doing so on my phone.
  7. miCoach. I used this to track my run. It’s no frills, easy to use, and free.
  8. Awesome Note & abc Notes. Both I use for jotting down ideas, making plots and characters for my novel. Awesome Note is a better version than Apple’s Notes because you can easily categorize them. Also you can add to-dos and pictures. abc Notes emulates those sticky notes, plus you can have several pages of them.
  9. Kindle. Lately I’m taken to reading book on my iPhone more than paper books. It’s easy to carry around (always bring the phone anyways) which means I can read anytime anywhere. The only downside is I couldn’t buy it from the app (a feature I’m jealous of the android version).
  10. Games: This is where my money goes. I buy at least a new game every month! Current favs: Angry Birds Space, Tiny Wings, Real Kakuro (not perfect, but I love playing Kakuro after Sudoku becomes boring), Spirits, Need For Speed Shift 2.

Just for fun, here’s a picture of me and hubs playing around with Classic Booth 😀

Me and Hubs Using Classic Booth

 

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