iphone 4S vs iphone 4 ? is the extra money worth it ?

[Ineedajob]

My old phone is cracking up and I am opting for for a shiny new iphone. But the 4S is significantly more than the iphone4. I plan to have this phone for a good few years. So should I fork out for the latest, 4S model or am I just spending good money on a flashy gimmicks ?

It's the camera that interests me most - I'm not much impressed by the talking Siri thing. Is there a significant difs between the quality of the 4S and the 4 camera ?

Ta in advance for any advice

I went from a 4 to a 4S and the difference isn't worth the bother or money. I've had every model of iPhone since day one and this is the first time I've thought meh. I'd go for the 4, especially if you've never had an iPhone before.

Gwendoline that's very useful - thank you. And do you notice any difs in the quality of your photo's ?

Hmmm, if the camera interests you the most then it 'may' be worth it.

The new camera is better....by how much I guess is subjective and it's worth is relative to the cost to you.

Technically the 4S camera is 8 Megapixel which is pretty meaningless nowadays. More than enough to upload to Facebook anyway. It's improved aperture of f2.4 means it should be better in low light than the plain 4. Given it's only half a stop better but on a camera phone like this, that's pretty significant.

Personally I have an iphone 4 and I am a total camera geek but I cannot justify the price difference. But if I didn't have an iphone then I'd just go and get the 4S without any thoughts at all.

The 4S camera has a flash - does the 4? I don't know.

I skipped the 4 and went from 3GS to 4S. I wouldn't think you'd miss anything by having "just" a 4 TBH.

Yes it does

Ooh, I'm just making this decision too. I was told (both my shop man who WOULD say that & a mate who has one that 4s is much faster - and Siri once you get used to it is helpful (eg dictating texts/quick emails when on the go). But am happy to be persuaded not to spend extra cash...

Thank you all - this is very informative. I am honestly not persuaded by Siri. I've used voice technology on my PC and I know that it can be as much of a pita as as an aid. But the camera...a flash...does sound appealing.

And I think the 4S IS faster but does that matter ? If the 4S didnt exist then wouldnt we just be satisfed, pleased even, with the the speed of the 4? Part of me wants the very latest and up-to-datest and part of me wants to get off the consumer fast train and not allow myself to be persuaded that we 'need' faster, brighter, shinier..

I have the 4s and I love it. I've never had an iPhone before so have nothing to compare it with but I haven't had to use the laptop since I got this phone.

The camera is really responsive once I'd worked out that you have to take the plastic off the back to get the flash to work properly and I am always taking photos.

Don't use Siri. I can't use it to search for local places to eat etc as it tells me I can only search for businesses in America. Once the novelty of asking it stupid questions had worn off I haven't used it once. Plus it never understands me anyway.

The 4S is of course faster but in the real world of how most of us use it, it's pretty irrelevent. The bottleneck will be the speed of your wifi/3G signal. And that won't change no matter which phone you have.

The only exception to that is if you will be playing games on the phone a lot. Then the faster speed is worth considering.

My 4S costs me significantly less than the 4 did - with the same company. And it's way faster. Love it, I do.

WRT the 4S being faster - I've not really noticed any difference to my old 3GS. I don't doubt is is faster but for how I use it it really doesn't notice.

Sounds like it's the 4 for me then as I dont use my phone for games at all . And on the deal I am being offered it is significantly cheaper

Interestingly, i have just upgraded from a 3GS. I asked the Orange sales rep on the other end of the phone what the difference was between the 4 and 4S apart from the fact i could have the 4 free on contract and the same per month as 3GS and would have to pay more for 4S.

Bear in mind the fact that I love my iphone a little more than DH and would probably have fallen for some smooth sales patter and forked out the extra cash. However, the man on the phone from Orange said that the only real differences was the camera ( perfectly good however on 4), the talking thing ( doesn't interest me in the slightest) and the memory (never filled 3GS so not an issue). He recommended the 4 and I would have paid for the 4S if he had sold me it as indispensible.

In conclusion, in the words of the phone salesman, save yourself the money and get the 4.

Thanks ellie, I think you've just clinched it for me.

They are utterly wonderful, those iphones, arent they...

I've literally just gone from a 3GS to a 4S and find it loads faster, haven't used the voice thing yet but am expecting it to be a gimmick ( have a car and a tv you can talk too, neither understand me very well ). The camera is amazing I have to say, but I never had a 4.

Re price, I got a 4S for free on a 24m contract unlimited data £34 a month which I thought was pretty good, old 3GS was costing me more . Dunno how this compares to 4 tho as I didnt look at then as I will have this phone for at least 24m ( had the 3GS for slightly longer than a similar 2y contract) so always work on the premise of getting latest, keeping for 2y and then not being too far begin the iPhone 7 or whatever it will be then that it's embarrassing.

who's your contract with? I've just upgraded with O2 using this deal at tesco phone-shop.tesco.com/mobile-phones-and-sim-cards/pay-monthly-phones/O2-Apple-iPhone-4S-16GB-Black-1d51443e-71fb-4959-9e61-3a5df33ab25f