In: Mobiles3 Jun 2012
The smartphone market is now flooded with lots of flagship products like the HTC One X. The latest one joining is Samsung Galaxy S3. Both phones feature cutting edge technology and loaded with features. But, still there are people who prefer iPhone 4S over these new phones. In India, the Apple iPhone 4S is available for a street price of around 38,000 Rs for the 16 GB model which is quite high. Almost one year ago, I’ve written an article titled “10 reasons for not buying an iPhone 4″. Now, I’ve found 15 reasons for not buying an Apple iPhone 4S.
The iPhone 4S was released on October 2011 and now it is almost 9 months and there are many other flagship phones available. So, why should you pay a premium for an old device?
The iPhone 5 is just around the corner and will be available in some months. It is said to have a completely revised design and feature a larger screen. The rumors even suggest a different aspect ratio – 16:9 instead of 3:2. So, if you buy iPhone 4S now, you’ll have an outdated phone in just 2 – 3 months.
The all new iPad (iPad 3) with better hardware and retina display is a better choice if you want to experience the iOS ecosystem. While the all new iPad 3 is available from 30,500 Rs(499 $), the entry level iPhone costs significantly more( 7,000 to 8,000 Rs). Also, the old iPad 2 is available from 21 – 22K which is a good price for a tablet. You may even buy a combination of an iPod Touch and iPad 2 much cheaper.
Now, quad core phones are flooding in the market. The iPhone 4S is not only clocked below 1 GHz, but also limited to two cores while the phones like Samsung Galaxy S3 (1.4GHz x 4 cores) and HTC One X (1.5 GHz x 4 cores) have processors with higher clock speeds and 4 cores. Also, new processors are built with 32nm and 28nm die sizes which makes the processor smaller and power efficient without compromising on performance.
The iPhone 4S has just 512 MB of RAM while 1GB is the standard now.
Also, the cameras on both HTC One X and Galaxy S3 feature zero shutter lag and burst mode shots.
The 3.5 inches screen is too small for any serious multimedia use. Today’s minimum standard is 4 inches and iPhone 5 is rumored to feature a larger display. So there is no reason to stick with a 3.5″ small display.
The 960 x 640px resolution (326 pixels per inch) available in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S was said to be one of the sharpest. Well, not anymore. Now the standard is 720P (1280 x 720 px) which is equal to the resolution of a normal 14/15″ laptop.
More and more smartphone makers are trying to equip their phones with AMOLED technology as it can offer deep blacks, infinite contrast ratio and nice saturated colors while being power efficient. Unarguably, Super AMOLED displays are the best display for mobile devices but the iPhone 4S is equipped with the normal IPS LCD technology.
Can you believe the MRP of iPhone 4S is 44,500 Rs (800 USD) in India? You may able to buy at a street price of 38 K but still it is very high for an almost 1 year old smart phone and there is no justification for the price.
The Samsung Galaxy S II which is available for around 26K Rs (iPhone 4S costs almost 12,000 Rs more) is a better smart phone and provides maximum value for your money.
The all new Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.x) is an excellent mobile OS and is more open to developers. It does not limit the users from using popular features like Bluetooth file transfer, DLNA sharing etc. Unlike iOS, Android OS supports true multitasking and the new ICS task manager interface allows you to switch between applications easily. Also, while iOS is very minimalistic and too simple with its icon oriented interface, Android OS offers excellent customization, widget support, live wallpapers etc. The user can even replace the shell (the user interface) with other custom made ones.
Also the Android platform is not closed and you even have choices of other app stores (for eg; Amazone) or even side loading (just install the application after downloading the .apk file) application is possible
Unlike earlier times, the Android Play store has now almost caught up with the iOS Appstore. The difference between the number of applications available is not huge anymore. As the store is more open to developers you’ll be able to find a variety of applications. Almost all good applications and games in iOS are now ported to Android as well. Also, like iTunes store, Google Play now offers movies and music buying and rentals.
Another important thing is the availability of free apps. In Google Play Store, almost 70% applications are free while in Apple’s appstore only 46 % apps are free. You may find more info here.
When the iPhone 4 was released two years ago, it was one of the cool looking phones. But, for the past two years the design is the same and it is starting to appear boring. Also, it is almost certain that the new iPhone 5 (or may be ‘new iPhone’ like ‘new iPad’) will feature a completely different design. Also, the glass incorporated design is not durable – just one accidental drop can break your costly phone and hence you’ll need to take extra care while holding it.
One of the important advantage of iPhone 4S over iPhone 4 was Siri – the virtual assistant with natural language processing. Though the usability was questionable, it remained as a cool feature. While Android phones have voice command support from long back, the natural language processing was cool. But now there are many applications in the Android platform which offer similar features. The new Galaxy S3 comes with the S – Voice which can rival Siri in every sense. Also, S – Voice seems to understand many more accents including Indian accent.
Neither Apple is the largest smartphone maker nor iOS is the most popular mobile platform. The largest smartphone manufacturer is Samsung and the most popular mobile platform is Android even in US. Well this is not important but some people always want to go with the majority.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is undoubtedly one of the best phones ever created and is available for a similar price. The 1.4 GHz quad core Exynos System on Chip is breaking many benchmark records. The 4.8″ Super AMOLED HD display with 1280 x 720 px is the best in the market. The innovation is in the software side as well. The TouchWiz user interface is a lot better and provides some cool features like Smart Stay, Direct Call and S-Voice.
The HTC One X is a great phone with great design and features. One X is available for a lesser price (36 K) than iPhone 4S and has many cool features.
What do you think. Is there any justification for buying iPhone 4S at this price? Please let me know in the comment section. Also, kindly let me know if there are any factual errors.
Hello! my name is Hafees. Living in Kerala, India. I've been working as a web developer for more than 5 years. At present, I am working in Flip Media, the leading independent interactive media agency in the Middle East as Group Head of programming team.
Being passionate about technology, programming and photography, through this blog, I will be writing about technologies, softwares, computers, gadgets, photography and anything that fascinates me.