We’re going to start a new category here entitled “BuyBackWorld Reviews” and use it to perform in-house reviews of all the hottest tech right here inside our own offices. Grab your labcoats and enter the world of BuyBackWorld (no pun intended).

For our first review, we’re going to be taking a look at Apple’s latest iPhone, the iPhone 4S. When it was announced, skeptics claimed to be disappointed as everyone was looking for the tear shaped larger screened iPhone 5 body type. Since everyone already knows the specs we’re going to focus our review on user interface and overall experience instead of boring you with just another spec showdown. We’ve had the device in-house for a little over two weeks now and here’s the rundown:

Pros:

• Same beautiful form factor as the iPhone 4. If you were in awe of the 4 you can’t really complain about form factor
• Camera = SUPERB. We’ve had a chance to shoot photos in every environment and haven’t been let down once. Bringing a traditional point and shoot out is now a thing of the past
• Speed = SNAPPY. All apps open and close seamlessly and flawlessly. Browsing through your phone has never been easier
• Display = Retina Display which is still the best in its size/class
• Rearranged antenna locations for better reception and less “antennagate” issues
• SIRI = GAME CHANGER. Mark our words – Siri will get better and better. And better. And it will become more ubiquitous across multiple Apple platforms. Look for it to make its way to the new Apple TV as a central control station and we think there is still huge progress to be made into every day consumer life such as housing and our cars. Wouldn’t you like to live in a smarthouse which knew you woke up at 630, so started the heat at 615, shower at 635, and coffee at 645? Oh yeah, your car is being started at 6:55 so when you get inside it at 7am to drive to work you don’t have to deal with the hot or cold of summer and winter without appropriate AC or heat. What we would like to see from Siri in the next 12-18 months is successive learning. What we mean by this is the ability to tell Siri one thing, but allow it to perform the next 3-4 steps beyond that initial command based upon your preferences. For example, say I like to set reminders for Dr’s appointments. I would like to say, “mark my calendar for Dec 10 at 5PM for Dr XYZ.” If my preferences are to have this reminder set the day of 1 hour in advance, 24 hours before and sent to my Outlook calendar at work, Siri should be able to perform all these tasks simply based on my one command. In terms of car integration, that is more up to the automobile industry, but in an effort to cut down on cellphones and driving, there needs to be more R&D spent on smartphone integration through a live 3G connection. We see Siri as a major way to bridge this gap.

CONS:

• Battery Life – some people say turn off the automatic time and date settings. We say send us a patch Apple. Whether or not it’s an iOS bug, we need it fixed ASAP so we can enjoy our phones ever more
• WiFi = This is single handedly the largest problem on the iPhone 4S. Switching between WiFi zones simply doesn’t work at times even though the phone displays full Wifi signal strength. The easy (and annoying) fix is to switch WiFi off and let it essentially reset your wireless connection, but who wants to do that three times within their own house mid browsing? Since when do people opt for 3G browsing when in WiFi zones? Again, if this is an iOS 5 issue, Apple needs to send out the patch ASAP because in such a premium product there shouldn’t be any unaddressed error like this.

There you have it, great phone, great overall user experience. What makes Apple so appealing to customers is their product integration. Everything on an iPhone is so easy to navigate and every app out there seems native to iOS – developers know where they gain the most market exposure and make sure to get their products to the app market. All Apple needs to do is release iOS 5.1 and everyone can live happily ever after.

Until the next iPhone rumors of course

BuyBackWorld.com's Official iPhone 4S Review