4S unbiased review

So far everything I read is gushing by Iph fans. This 4S review is a bit late when S4 is out, but it still needs to be out there because some of these observations are related to iph in general. With that said, here is a balanced review of a un-hypnotized person.
1. Closing tabs: To close background tabs you have to press down home key, then press the active icons till they shake and then press minus sign to close them. WHAT!! How inefficient this closing apps procedure is.. why couldn't there be a simple way to just use the app and close it after you are done? Say a "minus" sign in a red circle at the top right always?

2. Cannot YouTube in background (maybe not the phone's fault?): Say you are playing something on video using the app, and just need to quickly check a message, the video pauses!! When you return to YouTube, you have to un-pause manually :x :x
Haven't tried Pandora yet and Grooveshark wasn't in app store, (but is free downloadable to a jailbreaked phones, 9$ a month for full version!! WHAT!! )
Tried to stream mp3 from Lyricsmasti: needs Flash player :P
Used Grooveshark from website: music to my ears while eyes look London, while screen locked <3 
I got a call during Pani da rang.. it picked up where it had left, all from the locked screen <3 <3

3. Free calling apps don't work well in WiFi: If google voice could work well with the same WiFi on my laptop, how come it keeps dropping calls when used on the phone? And the problem is not just with GV, viber, tango, facetime, Skype all had a droppy performance in the WiFi, whereas Skype, hangout and GV worked on laptop. So if someone is on a limited data plan, and is on a go, and wants to call his/ her parents abroad using  GV using the hotel's WiFi, good luck with that!
You need a different GV number to use GV on phone, though that's not the phone's fault.

4. Camera - and battery performance goes hand in hand. When I went to DC and we were using Teja's NL920 for the DC pics we took 1000 pics in 2 days. So lets average that to 500 pics per day, and that still left enough juice on Teja's NL920 to search for restaurants nearby, and to call Taxi to go home. Iph4S barely took 100 pics, with just a few minutes of google maps use.
All those false reviewers who babbled about NL920's battery life!! You liars!!
Photo quality: There is a lot of noise compared to my Canon 14 MP. Picture sharpness I cannot comment a lot about it.

Update 1: Just back from Smokeys trip. Battery lasted a whole day of taking loads of photos (= 200 photos) - with the phone in Airplane mode. 

5. Free imessage (not really): For it to be "free" I need to use WiFi/ 4G. I could have might as well pinged someone online free once i am in 4G/ WiFi.

6. Size of letters/ numbers while typing: Once upon a time, I was a messaging addict with almost 200 texts a day, yet no finger ache even when using buttons, plus when u need to press a button multiple times to get a desired letter if using vernacular words/ dictionary cannot find the word.
I agree I am not the same old ( I mean same younger) texting genius I used to be. Nevertheless, pressing the correct letter on the touchscreen needs some precision. Might need a stylus if I am going to be texting a lot on this phone.

All in all, sure it can replace GPS in car, but I don't think 4S is as good as a Point and Shoot. Net on the go is the only biggie. As far as I know phones were accessing net through GPRS and all in 2007 when I bought my 1st phone, so one day or the other everyone would have got to WiFi, 3G, 4G etc. So I don't see this as a groundbreaking product or anything.

A good product becomes a great product when it is advertised well. I had seen a painting at an art shop in St Augustine, it was a sunset painting and I had liked it. The lady in the museum saw me looking at the painting. She showed me the adjustable lights overhead and pointed out that the painting looked different in different light setting - it can emulate noon to sunset with varying lights. I was impressed!! Apple guys have won hands down in just making people look at their product in a different light.

object so close all cameras would have fumbled

For photos like this, no optical zoom in the phone camera is a scream. The birds had a red head..couldnt get that in pic

You can spot the peocock only if you peer closely.. again lack of optical zoom makes its presence felt

 

Takes 2 pics HDR one and non-HDR one, I am guessing this one was the HDR one

Loved this one.. Malgudi days :)

 

some memories you just have to hold in the "flash of your inward eye" because no machine can capture that green of the far-away water, and the gold of the sun. This one did an okay job with the red head

larger f number = worse performance in low light, ISO needed = noise added

To counter this low light Vs need to use higher ISO dilemna, a camera just needs a larger aperture to let in more light :)