iPhone 5 much better than iPhone 4S?

Dave!

Hey,

So I'm 11 months into a 24 month contract with Three, after having gotten the Samsung Galaxy S3 with them. I've had a bunch of problems with the phone restarting, freezing, overheating, etc., but hadn't gotten around to sending it for repair yet (because I don't want to be with out a phone for the time, and they didn't have a phone to loan me any of the times I rang).

Well, a couple of days ago I dropped the phone, and now it's FUBAR! I'd have to pay to get it repaired.

Because of how sh*t the Samsung has been (my sister had the same phone with similar problems), I had been wanting to get an iPhone anyway. I gather I'll have to buy one for the full price, that Three won't give me a discounted one or anything. I had a couple of iPhones before, but have been trying the Androids lately.

TLDR:
The iPhone 5 is very expensive (€640), so I'm just wondering how does the 4S compare? Is it still a very good phone? Is it going to feel quite dated soon, or will it last me another year or two?

I'm also trying to decide between the 8GB and 16GB - the price difference is pretty substantial! If I'm going to spend €550 on the 16GB, then I might as well spend the extra €90 and get the 5!

Thanks

Zcott

It's a bit better but what you're gaining more than anything is another year of software updates that run ok. iOS 7 runs great on an iPhone 5, and iOS 8 will run pretty good on a 5. I doubt that iOS 8 will run well on a 4S, because it'll be three years old by then.

Yeah, it's expensive enough but now's the time to look at getting one second hand. Everyone is selling them on and it's a buyer's market, so you can almost dictate your price.

Word of warning though...if you drop an iPhone 5 it'll definitely break!

aspen01

I had for quite a while the iPhone 4S and changed a few months ago over to the iPhone 5. So I have a good comparison. I'd go for the new 5, as it is much faster, has a bigger screen, better sound quality and a better camera and it will last longer regarding upgrades (as mentioned by Zcott). If money is very important you might be happy for the time being with the 4S, too :-) But make sure that you run IOS 7 on it :-)

Zambia

iPhone 5 from what I hear is a monster on battery's

Dave!

^ Is "a monster on [batteries]" good or bad? You mean the battery lasts long, or the phone has alot of power so the battery dies quickly?

Is the 5S & 5C going to be available in Ireland any time soon? Do we know what the prices will be? The 5 is like €650, surely the 5S/C can't be much more expensive, can they?! :eek:

Zambia

Dave! wrote: »

^ Is "a monster on [batteries]" good or bad? You mean the battery lasts long, or the phone has alot of power so the battery dies quickly?

Is the 5S & 5C going to be available in Ireland any time soon? Do we know what the prices will be? The 5 is like €650, surely the 5S/C can't be much more expensive, can they?! :eek:

Feedback I have is that it should no longer be considered a mobile phone

Creamy Goodness

The iPhone should never have been considered a phone despite its name.

Dave!

I don't follow Isn't it effectively like every other smartphone, OS differences and gimmicky flourishes notwithstanding? There's a thin line between smartphone and tablet of course.

asif2011

Dave! wrote: »

Is the 5S & 5C going to be available in Ireland any time soon? Do we know what the prices will be? The 5 is like €650, surely the 5S/C can't be much more expensive, can they?! :eek:

Nobody knows for sure but I'm thinking it'll be released on the 1st of October (exactly 2 weeks after launch date) or 4th October (exactly 2 weeks after the 1st wave countries).

They had to give themselves room for bigger shipments to China I'm thinking (they are made in China! but you know what I mean ). So they never gave anybody a date for the second wave countries until they were sure they would meet demand.

Also, I've worked it out, buying the handset outright and using the unlimited plan for €32 on the eMobile website seems to be amongst the cheapest around. 15Gb of data but no 4G at the moment but access to all of the Eircom Wifi hotspots as well - plenty of connectivity.

I think the iPhone 5S 16GB will set you back €650 (iPhone 5S is ~€650 up the north at the moment) but 12 x €32 will set you back €1,034 in the first year but only €384 in the second year (assuming you hold on to the phone for 2 years). Depends if you can afford to pay for it up front or over the months like the other plans do but you will probably pay more that way. I calculate the costs over 2 years, that's my €0.02 worth!

Creamy Goodness

Dave! wrote: »

I don't follow Isn't it effectively like every other smartphone, OS differences and gimmicky flourishes notwithstanding? There's a thin line between smartphone and tablet of course.

It does WAY more than a phone, actually I'd say the majority of people who have an iPhone make less calls than any other phone.

This month on my bill i've spent an entire 8 minutes worth of calls.

Dave!

Every smartphone does way more than a phone! I dunno if iPhone users make less calls than other smartphone users (probably), but if they do then it's probably more reflective of the users than of the phones.

Anyway, probably going a bit off-topic.

I'm not sure I can bring myself to pay €650 for a phone – especially after having only recently bought a Macbook Air! But I don't want to be stuck with some garbage low-end Android phone until my contract is up. What a conundrum!

Creamy Goodness

I should have said I include all smart phones in my statement.

if you've already gotten an air then you love things being light. my iphone 5 is a great pairing with my 13" MacBook air on my back, barely know I have either with me (can cause me to double check a lot).

I really wouldn't be going out to buy a 4S especially at this stage they're old and clunky and heavy compared to the 5/5S/5C.

Also I know this probably isn't a good solution but have you thought about a dumb phone (nokia) and a iPod touch combination? The iPod Touches are gorgeous devices so light but incredibly sturdy (they're due a refresh soon though).

Gumbo

Why spend €640 on a 5 now when you can get a 5S for not much more?

5 owner btw.

Snake Plisken

I bought a 5 recently and gave the Mrs the 4s have to saw I wouldn't go back to the 4s, love the bigger screen on the 5, it's noticeably faster and see no difference in battery life! Happy out with it!