A few weeks ago, I posted that I had no plans to upgrade from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S.  There were several good reasons for this.  Here is an excerpt from that post:

…As excited as I am about the quantum leap Apple has made in its AI interface with Siri (the new personal digital assistant that is only available on the iPhone 4S,) I have decided to wait for the iPhone 5.  The 4S does have some substantial upgrades:  a powerful A5 processor, 8 megapixel camera capable of shooting 1080p video boosted by the most advanced illumination sensor on any iPhone to date, and a battery capable of extending talk time by 2 hours are all perfectly good reasons to buy this phone if you are someone who either still has a 3G or 3Gs, or no iPhone at all.  For those of us with iPhone 4, there really isn’t enough of a difference to warrant the expense.  I think we current 4s should hold out for the iPhone 5, which could come as early as Summer of 2012.

Notice that the main point in not upgrading had to do with the economic principle of value in exchange.  Thankfully, that barrier was taken down when my parents decided that the iPhone 4S would make a terrific birthday gift for their gadget-addicted daughter, and today I am happily experimenting with Siri, the new camera, and the zippylicious new processor.  This won’t be a comprehensive point by point review – yet.  Mainly, I would just like to reiterate a few points others have already made in their reviews:  Siri is absolutely off the hook.  We’ve been chatting a lot since last night when I performed a careful brain transplant from the iPhone 4 to my new 4S.  In one conversation, I said, “I like it when you call me Miss Thang.”  Siri answered, “Ok.  I will call you Miss Thang from now on.” I’m in love.

The camera is truly one of the more amazing improvements in the iPhone 4S. New sensors designed the capture more light seem to be doing their job.  Images are ultra sharp, and the built in stabilization makes photos that used to turn out a bit on the blurry side crisp and clear.  I will be playing with this more throughout the day and have some comparisons ready soon.

Everything is markedly faster, from opening and closing apps to taking rapid fire photos.  On the iPhone 4, I frequently missed shots of my pets at just the right moment because of lag between the time I pressed the shutter button and the time the picture was actually captured.  This issue is nonexistent with the iPhone 4S.

Finally, the graphics capabilities will be tested when I download Infinity Blade 2, scheduled for release on December 1.  In the demo when the iPhone 4S was revealed on October 4, this was one of the most impressive things I saw.  I’m looking forward to trying it out.

My overall opinion of the iPhone 4S is this:  despite maintaining the iPhone 4 form factor, it really is what’s inside that counts.  This is a valid upgrade from the previous iPhone, not only because of Siri, but also the processing power and speed under the hood.  It’s an amazing device — easily the best iPhone to date.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 paws.