iphone 4s or 5? Which carrier?

hardware_failure

hardware_failure

[H]ard|Gawd
2FA
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
1,783
My wife and I are in the market for new iphones. We both have never had one, but she does have an ipad and we both have ipods. Long story short we are sick of our android phones*. We have alot of 25 pin accessories/chargers. Like most people, I am NOT a fan of the lightning charger but Im sure as time goes on it will become the norm.

So the Q - iphone 5 or 4S?
  • Money is not a huge issue.
  • I have not held the 5 but I like the shape/feel of the 4S. I like the solid glass feel.
  • Walmart has great discounted prices on both units but they are out of stock so thats moot
  • In fact, EVERYWHERE I have called is out of stock with the 5 and 4S. Whats the best fastest way to order one? (without paying ridiculous shipping costs)
  • I hate cell phone stores. The car sales person mentality of the goons that work there makes me sick. Just about the only thing that makes me more sick to my stomach is going into an apple store.
  • The 4S screen is a bit small, but the 5 looks like a giant ugly snickers bar. (weird long shape)
  • Having the "latest and greatest/popular" is somewhat important to the wife, not so much to me.
  • I dont like scratches but I do generally use screen protectors/cases.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!


* Situation: Right now my wife and I are on Sprint, both with HTC evo4g's. We hate our phones. I used to have Verizon but its pricing/lack of unlimited plans made me switch. I did it more out of principal/pride. I miss the coverage. In my area, I got MUCH better coverage from Verizon. Our phones freeze. Right now mine flips between driving mode and normal. I get force close messages. We both dont get mms messages sometimes, particularly when we have alot of undeleted messages. Pandora doesnt work for my wife sometimes while it works perfectly on her co-workers iphones. The android os just feels "clunky" and unsmooth yet when I play with other peoples iphones they feel silky smooth. My co-worker has a nexus 4g and as fast as it is it still just doesnt feel as "smooth". Why is that? Im a typical anti-apple fan boy for the most part, (locked systems, monopolistic practices, disgust of apple sheep) but I do appreciate that they make alot of quality products. When it comes to a cell phone I want something that just plain works and is reliable.
 
I'd get the 5 over the 4s, barring price being a factor. I find the lightning connector to be a big plus.
 
Absolutely go for the 5 if price isn't an issue for you. Its just a better piece of hardware in every way.

the weirdness of it's shape goes away pretty quick. It was a little odd having used an old iPhone for so long... but now that I'm used to it, it feels wierd to have such a small screen on my iPhone 4 (still use it as a remote/media player)
 
Get the 5 for sure... I've had every iPhone released...

Currently have a 5 for personal phone and a 4s for work. The 5 is much, much, faster. Both data speeds and just processing power.
 
My wife likes her 5, but she came from a 3. On the other hand, I know a lot of people who don't think a 5 is worth moving to from a 4. I'm not an iphone user, but the 5 is faster and has one more row of icons on the home screen.
 
I had the 3s, 4s and 5 and sold my 5 to keep the 4s.

The iPhone 5 does have everything faster compared to the older phones, the new lightning adapter making it easy to plug the cable in, but the 4s is still great with the screen, weight, speed with apps and responsiveness.

Also the 4s still have alot of gadgets/toys out there with it as well without having to get the $30 adapter.

I will possibly get the 5s when it comes out.
 
Thank you all for the great replies. I think we are going to go for the 5's.

Can anyone speak strongly for/against any of the 3 carriers?

Thanks again.
 
I really can't say too much about the carriers. I was on Verizon for a few days with my iPhone 5 and the LTE was pretty epic... but it was only a few days.

The only thing I'd say is stick with AT&T or Verizon unless you get good service in your area wtih sprint.
 
I have AT&T, they are good, but Verizon is possibly better... LTE is great when its available...
 
I have Verizon on my iPads and the coverage has been pretty good. I would check your location first if you want the LTE is important to you. On my iPad it is, but it would not be on my phone, since I don't really do a lot of internet stuff on my phone.
 
Carrier I would just say who has the best coverage and LTE in your area, if anybody.

I have AT&T and haven't had any issues.

I like being able to use the data connection while on a call, you can't do that with other carriers.
 
Go with the 5, As for carrier, Go with ATT, They have much better 4g coverage and their LTE speeds are much faster here in Florida anyways, then Verizon.
 
I ended up getting 2x iphone 5s on verizon, the LTE map is pretty good in my area.

Its FAST! Wow what a difference. I used to not even bother surfing with my phone because browsing was so slow. The iphone5 hardware + LTE is a different story.

Thanks everyone for the replies.
 
I have 3GS / 4S / 5, and now iPhone 5 is collecting dust....

The colors are weird on the new screen, camera have purple lights issue, and hard to use with just one hand.

In the end, iPhone 5 turn out to be a Netflix / Youtube device, keep the 4S for personal usage.
 
Just dropped $650 for an unlocked iPhone 5 and a $300 early termination to get off Sprint network. Data speed was absolutly TERRIBLE! We went with T-Mobile (hence the unlocked phone) and they do not offer 4G/LTE for iPhone 5's yet. It will be rolled out later in the year. Still their 3G in DFW is leaps and bounds better then Sprint. PS, I walked in to an Apple store and bought the phone no problem. The carrier subsidized ones might be harder to find since they are "cheaper" though.

I had the 4S so I just had 3G, but the most I could ever get was ~200KB (thats kilobytes) and that was in downtown Dallas or in my work which has dedicated Sprint/Nextel repeaters. Otherwise it was 20-80KB/s and terrible latency.

This is random places through out DFW. I tell EVERYONE I can about how crappy Sprint is in this area. Sprint is "unlimited" data because you will never actually use that much even if you try.

sprint_speed_slow.jpg


I just surf the Internet and listen/watch media. I use my phone as a music player alot. So to me the difference between the 5 and the 4S is moot to me. For those activities, there isn't much difference.

The 5 is quite a bit lighter. The 4S has a nice solid feel. But the 5 supports 4G/LTE so it was the best choice in my mind and hopefully the extra power will make it feel snappier for a while. If I could have taken my Sprint 4S to my next carrier I would have.
 
I get anywhere from 10-20mbs up and down on the VZW LTE. The data plan is going to go by so fast :(

I guess the best of both worlds would be an unlocked phone on t-mobile. Thats alot of cash to front tho.

I was getting similar if not worse results with my unlimited sprint 3g. I had an evo 4g but I almost NEVER got a 4g connection. It was like dial up most of the time.

Anyway.. so long as I can manage not going over my data limits I think I will be happy. Thanks again.
 
Oh the lightning port is pretty cool too. Yes I'm annoyed that I have like 7 30 pin cables lying around and can't use them. But the lightning cable I hope will catch on in other devices. I love that it can plug in either way, why hasn't this been standardized before? And it has physical detents inside the port to keep it held in place, doesn't just rely on friction like USB. And the socket itself is beefy.

I really hope this cable or something similar gets standardized in the next 4-5 years.
 
westrock2000 said:
Oh the lightning port is pretty cool too. Yes I'm annoyed that I have like 7 30 pin cables lying around and can't use them. But the lightning cable I hope will catch on in other devices. I love that it can plug in either way, why hasn't this been standardized before? And it has physical detents inside the port to keep it held in place, doesn't just rely on friction like USB. And the socket itself is beefy.

I really hope this cable or something similar gets standardized in the next 4-5 years.
Click to expand...

I've been buying the cheapo lightning cables off Amazon and so far everyone of them works...I think I have 4 or 5, too.
 
AQ_OC said:
I've been buying the cheapo lightning cables off Amazon and so far everyone of them works...I think I have 4 or 5, too.
Click to expand...
I bought a handful of them off amazon yesterday. The lowest price us sellers seem to be at about $5 and theres tons that ship from china/hong kong for $2.57. (shipping from there can take 2 weeks+) I got a few of each.
 
LTE on Verizon is amazing.

Verizon is the most expensive but does typically have the largest and fastest coverage. They have also been ranked by JD Powers for best customer service three years in a row. I know this can vary by a dull phone rep but thats a pretty consistent rating. I can imagine most people on [H] are well educated consumers and won't have a problem with customer service with any carriers.

Both are good phones. If money is not an issue I'd get the 5 though if you have LTE in your area, it makes a huge difference.

Although cell phone stores I hate too, they do carry the car salesmen mentality because they're on practically pure commission. I actually never had a bad experience in the Apple store, its always a painless experience there because none of the employees are on any commission I don't think. At least they never gave me that impression and some have told me that too.

So I guess look for an online deal for carrier of choice. I'd seriously consider the 5 if you have LTE in your area though. If you don't like the build quality you can always offset either model by getting a nice case for it.
 
If you want to jailbreak your iPhone, the 4S is the only choice. Otherwise, everything else favors the 5.

The one advantage AT&T has over Verizon is the ability to talk and use data on the phone at the same time. I prefer Verizon, though it's an easy choice for me because I have unlimited data grandfathered in my contract. In my experience, Verizon's customer service stomps all over AT&T.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top