Cell phones forum: Please explain your iPhone 4s rating.

I'll not mince words in responding to your post. It would be greatly helpful for you to learn more about what's involved with technologies under the hood and why a business decision might be made. You should know by now that 'best' is most certainly subjective.


Understand, the 4G networks are quite new and not yet widespread, hence the (arguably) better business decision by Apple to *not* include the LTE radio under the hood with this particular subsequent version. If they did it now it would be half baked at best with more complaints than compliments based on issues with the carriers immature networks and lack of backhaul. They can just as easily profit next year when they actually match up another iPhone with LTE radio to more mature LTE networks that perform, with appropriate backhaul/capacity. It will also allow them some extra engineering time to work on the battery life issue. Right now the dual radio 3G/4G (CDMA/LTE) handsets on the market (most of them, anyway) suck battery power like a fiend. The 4S is most certainly a compromise. Keep in mind many folks don't have an issue with either the Verizon or ATT version of the 4S (or 4, for that matter). The 3G networks (redefined HSPA + as 4G, by the ITU) can perform well depending on where you use the phone/service. YMMV.

"Locked into older technology"


If your worry is about keeping up with the Jones', then perhaps. The reality is, upgrading from HSPA+ (the 4S) to a future version of the iPhone w/ LTE won't mean as much in the real world once the network is full of users. Initial speeds won't be a massive jump in performance per user. Most of the benefit of LTE is about capacity. In this regard, a handset might still be considered an extremely functional and capable device regardless if it has access to the latest network technology. Put everything in perspective instead of worrying about whether or not CR or CNET happens to label a product 'best in class'.