iPhone 4s info please

[silvarios]

mstudio wrote:
I can't believe a teenaged girl doesn't want a new iPhone. I came from a Blackberry and I find my new 4s holding a better charge and I use it a lot during the day.

I would never go back to a Blackberry after getting this phone.

Some people have different preferences, that doesn't surprise me.

Then again, I'm not sure this is what tortoise posted. I think his daughter is saying she prefers the iPhone 4 if it has better battery life, not that she prefers to keep her Blackberry,

[Article Accelerator]

tortoise wrote:
So for Christmas we decide to get our daughter a new iPhone 4s...She starts talking to her "expert" friends (including one who works for Apple) and comes back with all sorts of horror stories about short battery life

She can believe her friends...or she can believe the results of formal tests done by experts:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-201...tery-life/
"When used with Sprint's 3G EV-DO Rev. A network, we beat Apple's promised talk time of 8 hours by an additional hour and 18 minutes. That's our strongest iPhone battery test to date"

http://www.pcworld.com/article/243242/ip...hones.html
"... the iPhone 4S came in a close third--despite all of the issues and controversy"

Those articles were written prior to the release of iOS 5.0.1 which fixed some, but not all, of the issues causing increased battery drain. Further updates are expected soon.

[silvarios]

Article Accelerator wrote: She can believe her friends...or she can believe the results of formal tests done by experts:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-201...tery-life/
"When used with Sprint's 3G EV-DO Rev. A network, we beat Apple's promised talk time of 8 hours by an additional hour and 18 minutes. That's our strongest iPhone battery test to date"

http://www.pcworld.com/article/243242/ip...hones.html
"... the iPhone 4S came in a close third--despite all of the issues and controversy"

Those articles were written prior to the release of iOS 5.0.1 which fixed some, but not all, of the issues causing increased battery drain. Further updates are expected soon.

Yeah, John Gruber (that notorious Apple hater) is lying about his battery life issues with 5.0.1. When the iPhone 4S came out, there were more than a few articles on the traditional Apple friendly sites that referenced how to massage more battery life from the 4S and how to troubleshoot problems with reduced battery life on the 4S. Do you recall the same volume of articles when the iPhone 4 shipped?

[sekker]

I'm happy with my 4S so far.

I think the issue has been way overblown.

[Mac-A-Matic]

Since I upgraded to the 4s from the original iPhone, I don't know how it would compare to the other models. But I've found the battery life to be perfectly acceptable.

During my recent trip to Europe, where I seemed to be using the iPhone non-stop as a GPS map to guide me around while driving, I found that the battery seemed to be used at a good rate - bear in mind that the screen was almost constantly on for 2-3 hours at a time and I would charge it with the car plug quite frequently too.

But since I returned to the USA and started using the phone normally, I think I've had great battery performance.

I agree that the situation has probably been overblown.

[tortoise]

My sincere thanks to all of you that helped me with this dilemma. Our daughter (actually in her thirties, not a teenager) has read the comments and after doing some additional research on her own has come around and we will be getting her the new 4S model.

What I have learned from all of this is that the smartphone technology is growing faster than battery technology and Apples new phone presents a challenge of learning to manage ones usage carefully for maximum utility. Not really much different than conserving ones battery on a laptop by controlling screen brightness, or the other tricks employed by the serious laptop jockeys. I suggested she purchase a car charger so that she can replenish her battery as needed and she agreed.

So best holiday wishes to all of you and thanks again for the help.