We Double Dog Dare You To Read AnandTech's Entire iPhone 4S Review

While Apple's evolutionary iPhone 4S has only been out for a few short weeks, it's been on the market long enough for most news outlets to give it a decent assessment. Somehow, though, the fanatic benchmarkers at AnandTech have improbably eschewed brevity for longevity, compiling--in a relatively short time--the most in-depth, comprehensive smartphone review I've ever seen. And, except for my editor, I'm probably the only person to have actually read the whole thing. The massive missive, at 16 (forever-scrolling) pages deep, is insanely detailed and specific, covering every alteration and enhancement Apple's made in the 4-to-4S transition. For a refresh popularly pegged as the same old thing, there sure is a lot to discuss. However, since I'm not up to matching the crazy wordcount I just absorbed, I'll pick out only the best parts for you to enjoy. Right at the outset, reviewers Anand Lai Shimpi and Brian Klug take great pains to convince us that the 4S is not nearly as physically similar to the 4 as a photographic comparison might lead one to believe. Sure, it looks the same, but, aside from the familiar form factor, it's an entirely overhauled, refitted handset. Antennae On the outside, the most evident difference is visible in the (now)symmetrically-seamed aluminum band. Carried over from the CDMA iPhone 4 released earlier this year, the band gets rid of the WLAN capabilities (now internalized) and utilizes a pair of cellular antennas that work in tandem to eliminate the infamous "death grip" while simultaneously increasing both general and fringe signal sensitivity. Says Anand:

The original iPhone 4 design was flawed. Although Apple downplayed the issue publicly, it solved the deathgrip antenna problem with the CDMA iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S brings that fix to everyone. If you don’t remain stationary with your phone in an area with good coverage, the dual-chain antenna diversity introduced with the iPhone 4S is a tangible and significant improvement over the previous GSM iPhone 4.

Baseband Going inside the 4S, AT&T users have another reason to upgrade: the new baseband chipset. Apple's newest mobile uses an as-yet unannounced Qualcomm MDM6610, which increases maximum GSM throughput to HSDPA 14.4 Mbps. The previous GSM iPhone 4 was limited to half that. The 4S, then, is a true HSPA+ (or "4G," if you accept carriers' new definitions) device. Unfortunately, Klug reminds us,

[u]sers who are using the 4S on CDMA (like Sprint or Verizon) won’t see a performance difference since this is still the same EVDO Rev.A.

Of course, even the CDMA crowd will notice the dramatic overall performance boost the 4S offers. With its dual-core, 800 MHz A5 processor, everything is quite a bit quicker. For practical purposes, says the review, the real speed and feel

comes from by shaving off of seconds here or there. For example, I noticed apps like Messages pop up just slightly quicker on the 4S and you'll see your listing of messages a hair faster than you would on the 4. These subtle decreases in response time are simply icing on the cake. The move from a 4 to a 4S is one of those upgrades that you'll notice right off the bat but will really appreciate if you go back to an iPhone 4 and try to use it. If you do a lot of web browsing on your phone, you'll appreciate the 4S.

If you do a lot of gaming on your phone, you'll appreciate the 4S, too. The handset uses the same PowerVR SGX 543MP2 GPU included in the iPad 2. Using Epic's Citadel demo app as a benchmark, the iPhone 4 averaged 22.1 frames per second, while the 4S chewed through the same data at more than double the FPS (50.1). Remember, though, that until developers actually harness this increased processing power to show off specifically enhanced visuals (as Epic's doing with the 4S version of Infinity Blade 2), this beefed-up framerate is the most tangible benefit you'll see. Siri The AnandTech team discusses Siri at some length. Since the new virtual assistant is the 4S' biggest selling point, we're all more or less familiar with what it does and how it does it. A couple of interesting tidbits came out of the section, though. For one, I wasn't aware Siri could be triggered by simply holding the handset up to your ear in the typical "call" position. Neat. But the real meat of the matter lies with the Google (dis)connection:

It is interesting to think of Siri as Apple’s foray into search. Siri isn’t designed to monetize search, but any queries run through Siri definitely don’t line Google’s pockets. Given how much Google depends on search for its revenues and the growth of its businesses, Siri may be viewed as a competitive threat.

Even Eric Schmidt agrees (at least in the courtroom), and Siri is simply another piece of evidence that Google's slowly getting muscled out of the iOS experience altogether. Connectivity Wi-Fi capabilities are also a tad better on the 4S, and--even with its internalized radio array (first seen on the CDMA iPhone 4)--the unit beats out the previous model for general speed on all test. However, these gains are mostly attributable to the faster A5 processor running the show, as the 4S neglects to include 5 GHz Wi-Fi support. On the other hand, the brand new Bluetooth 4.0 protocol is supported, so the whole connectivity suite is a definite step up from the iPhone 4. Rounding that suite out is GPS, and the 4S' Qualcomm baseband chipset embeds the new multi-platform receiver onboard. North American GPS is supported, as is the Russian GLONASS system and the (as-yet unofficial) European Galileo network. In practice, the 4S purportedly uses both GPS and GLONASS in tandem to acquire faster and more reliable positional data. From the review:

I don’t think many people complained about the GPS performance on the 4, but both time to fix and overall precision are without a doubt improved over the GSM/UMTS 4. Subjectively, indoor performance seems much improved, and I’ve noticed that the iPhone 4S will report slightly better horizontal accuracy than the 4 (using MotionX-GPS on iOS) indoors.

Call Quality Call quality doesn't seem to be much better than previous iterations. Sure, you won't drop nearly as many connections, but those calls won't sound a whole lot better than what you're already used to on previous-generation iPhones. Noise cancellation seems slightly better, while in-call line noise is actually worse. Retina Display Another holdover from last-gen devices is the 3.52-inch Retina display. While reports of overly warm color temperatures are popping up here and there, the tech community consensus is that these anomalies mostly fall under typical manufactory tolerances. The 4S' contrast ratio, too, seems scattered unit to unit. The handsets tested

[fell] short of the quoted 800:1 contrast ratio, whereas the 4 previously well exceeded it (the earliest 4 we saw had a contrast value of 951). Rumor has it that Apple has approved more panel vendors to make the retina display, I have no doubt that we’re seeing these changes in performance as a result of multiple sourcing.

Camera Aside from Siri, the big selling point Apple touts for the 4S is camera performance. The new infrared-filtered camera uses an industry-first five-piece plastic lens stack, producing cleaner lines to its Sony- and OmniVision-sourced eight megapixel CMOS sensor. This, paired with the A5's vastly improved image signal processing, makes for a distinctly superior shooting experience. AnandTech reports:

The changes include faster processing to accommodate an 8 MP sensor, and vastly improved white balance..., and finally some face detection algorithms that work in conjunction with autofocus and autoexposure. I’ve also noticed that the A5’s ISP seems to have improved [autofocus] speed (it’s hard to measure, but it just seems much faster) and more importantly the framerate of the capture preview is much higher. The 4S is almost an entire second faster at launching the camera app than the 4, and 1.5x faster at merging three images to HDR than the 4.

Video performance, too, is significantly improved, with effective image stabilization and full support for 1080p recording at 30 frames per second. Unfortunately, however, the news isn't all good:

...Apple is compensating for lower encoder efficiency (quality per bit) by encoding their 1080p video at a higher bitrate. Other players are getting the same quality at lower bitrates by using better high profile encoders. ...[T]he result is that video shot on the 4S will use ~40% more space per minute compared with 1080p30 video shot on other platforms (180 MB for 1 minute on the 4S, 128 MB for 1 minute on the SGS2, and 113 MB for 1 minute on OMAP4).

Battery Since Apple's already identified and announced a bug that's been largely hampering 4S battery life, this particular section of the AnandTech review is perhaps a bit premature. That said, the team ran an extensive series of tests and drainage scenarios, discussing much of portable battery theory along the way. In any case, the guys reckon the 4S' battery is on par with the previous version's life-cycle numbers, even managing to trump the iPhone 4 by over an hour for 3G talk time:

Based on the data we have here, I'd say Apple's claim of 8 hours of battery life is fairly realistic. ... The raw power consumption numbers show a platform that's competitive with its predecessor in most areas, only really hurting when it comes to heavy 3D workloads. If you're seeing worse battery life on the 4S, the cause would appear to be software related. ... Moving forward, I wouldn't be too surprised to see battery life remain around this level for the near future without significant advancements in battery or process technology.

Wrap-Up After wading through AnandTech's 4S opus, the conclusion seems to be a hearty thumbs-up. Whether or not you should upgrade is dependent on several factors, but the ultimate experience of upgrading to the 4S should be one of appreciative satisfaction. It's undeniably the best handset on the market, and Apple's class-leading OS and app ecosystem make the 4S that much better. But don't take our word for it. Heck, if you made it this far, you'll certainly enjoy the full AnandTech review. It's literally everything you want and need to know about the 4S, and it'll be a viable and informative reference work for some time to come. 10,000+ words, 100+ pictures, and graphs galore, the thing's a beautiful technical achievement. Just like the iPhone 4S! [Image credits: anandtech.com]

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