iPhone 4S Sucks, Get an Android phone

Look, the iPhone 4S isn't at all a bad phone. It's better than 99% of the phones out there. I'm no iPhone hater and I actually use an iPhone on a daily basis. However, this latest iPhone 4S just isn't a big enough leap forward over the iPhone to be worth the upgrade. Let me tell you why I think so.

What's new? The new iPhone 4S has a faster processor, better camera, and Assistant. These are the features it brings over the iPhone and it just isn't enough.

The faster processor is a dual-core A5, while the iPhone has a single-core A5. It supposedly makes games run faster, yada, yada, yada. Look, the best Android phones are just as fast, if not faster with dual-core processors, too. Apple is just playing catch-up here which isn't a position they're accustomed to being in. If the new processor was a lot faster, or had extra cores, or used much less battery power, then it might be worthy of the WOW factor. It's simply not enough to be playing catch-up.

The better camera in the iPhone 4S is an 8MP camera capable of taking video in high definition. The camera in the iPhone 4 is only 5 MP. Sounds great, except that there have been Android phones with cameras at least as good for over a year now. And they didn't upgrade the front-facing camera. It's still just a VGA camera while many phones have front-facing cameras in the 2 MP range. Again, Apple is just playing catch-up with the iPhone 4S. It's not really better in any way over offerings of some great Android phones.

Lastly, the iPhone 4S brings the Siri Assistant. This is the one feature that really stands out over any other phone out there. It's basically very fancy voice control of the iPhone. You can speak to it in a natural voice to give commands or ask for information. It's very smart and capable of understanding all kinds of queries and orders. Like, "Set an alarm for 6 am tomorrow". Bam! Alarm set. It can also access your location, and do things based on where you are. For instance, "remind me to buy eggs at the grocery store". When you're passing a grocery store, Assistant tells you to get eggs. Pretty sweet.

However, I'd never use it, and neither will most people after one or two times for the novelty. Why? Most of us just try to remember on our own, or it's easier to just set the alarm by hand. It's great, but I'd just forget to use it. I remember setting up voice control on my Mac a year or so ago. It worked, but it's easier to just do a couple of clicks than tell the computer.

In the end, the iPhone 4S is a fine phone, but it's just not good enough to beat the competition. Let me show you some of the competition...

On the surface, most smartphones seems pretty similar. Unless you're always keeping up to date, it's hard to tell what's the latest and greatest. iPhones are pretty good phones, no doubt about it. But they're missing a lot that other phones have to offer. In particular, phones running the Android OS have a great deal of functionality missing on the iPhone 4S.

Like what?

• No external storage - no microSD card slot for adding storage.


• No file system access - you can't save and retrieve file from wherever you want on the phone.


• Static icons instead of dynamic widgets that update continuosly


• No turn-by-turn GPS navigation built in.


• No flash on websites


• Removable batteries


• Customization, customization, customization...

Really, this is just scratching the surface. But these are the main things that getting an Android phone allow you to do that an iPhone can't (or Apple won't allow).

The Galaxy S II is an absolutely awesome phone. It's been flying off the shelves in Asia and Europe, and only just recently made it to the United States on AT&T, T-Mobile (available starting Oct. 12), and Sprint (called the Epic 4G Touch). The Samsung Galaxy S II is the phone to get if you want the very best. Why? Here's what it's made of:

*There are slight differences depending on which service provider you get the phone on.*

Huge 4.52" AMOLED (4.3" on AT&T) screen. The iPhone 4S only has a 3.5" screen. Win! The Galaxy S II screen is big, bright, and beautiful.

1.2 GHz dual-core Exynos processor (1.5 GHz Snapdragon on T-Mobile). Easily faster than the iPhone. There's no good reason for Apple to be playing catch-up all the time. They simply went from a single-core processor to a dual-core processor, which most top Android phones have had for over a year now.

The Galaxy S II comes with a microSD storage card, which the iPhone 4S does not have. The iPhone may have more storage out of the box, but if you get the 16 GB version and find you need more space, you're out of luck. You're stuck with 16 GB. The Galaxy S II comes with an extra 8 GB card (in addition to the 16 GB or 32 GB built-in) which can be changed for a 32 GB card. Also, you can have as many microSD cards as you want, so there's essentially unlimited storage capacity.

The Galaxy S II weighs 116 grams compared to the 140 grams the iPhone 4S weighs. 140 grams isn't exactly a heavyweight, but at 116 grams, the Galaxy S II is almost a featherweight. I've had phones in about the same weights, and I can tell you that you'll feel the difference in your pocket over time.

More about the Galaxy S II on Amazon

Sadly, the Samsung Galaxy S II will not be available on Verizon. If you're one of these unfortunate souls, the phone to get is the Motorola Droid Bionic. There are several reasons why it's better than the iPhone 4S, so I'll share them with you.

4G LTE is fast. Super fast; and it's not available on the iPhone 4S. This was a huge oversight by Apple, because if they'd had LTE, it would have killed any serious competition. What's LTE? LTE Stands for Long Term Evolution and it's the next giant Internet speed bump on cell phones. Only large cities have LTE at the moment, but all the major carriers are hard at work upgrading their equipment and it will be much more widespread soon enough. By including LTE on the Droid Bionic, Motorola has made this phone future proof while the iPhone 4S will look like a snail in a year or two.

Large 4.3" screen. Again, another phone with a big, beautiful screen that the iPhone 4S can't match. Even with Retina Display, the iPhone 4S screen is simply too small for a lot of people.

Flash on the 8 MP HD camera. Like the Galaxy S II, the Droid Bionic has a flash on the back camera. Unlike the iPhone 4S. Simply unacceptable of Apple to not be including a flash on the iPhone 4S camera.


Dock. The Droid Bionic has an optional dock that lets you use a keyboard and mouse with it, just like you're using a regular computer. This is more functionality than the iPhone 4S could give you because the iPhone 4S doesn't have much in the way of editing documents or spreadsheets. With this, the Droid Bionic almost becomes a replacement for a netbook or laptop. Sweet!

Although it's a bit larger than an iPhone 4S, it manages to pack a lot more into it's package. It's the slimmest and lightest phone with 4G LTE and a dual-core processor.

If I had to get a phone on Verizon, this is the one I'd get.

More about the Droid Bionic at Amazon