Legend has it the 4S was born to full the void left by a postponed iPhone 5, but Apple's latest is no stopgap. Its new 8MP camera, lightning-quick dual-core A5 chip and the KITE like charms of its Siri personal assistant add up to one formidable smartphone.



Build and styling
Despite having an identical case to the iPhone 4, the 4S issues a slightly hollow sound when tapped. Still, it remains the best-built phone on test, and it's beautiful. The antenna issue of old has been consigned to history, so there's no need for a bumper or case if you don't want one.

Battery life
Early concerns over the 4S' battery life were soon identified as an iOS 5 issue rather than handset one, and promptly fixed. Still, it's one huge - Apple claims it'll give you an extra hour of 3G on the 4, but Siriand other new features quickly reclaim that. Pack the charger for an overnighter.

In use
'Dual-core 1GHz' may not be much on paper, but the 4S uses every iota of that power to accelerate the iOS 5 experience. Animations are fluid, apps load in seconds and web pages render double-quick. The keyboard feels cramped next to big-screened Androids, but is unerringly responsive.

The screen
Another hangover from the 4, the 3.5inch Retina Display is still the crispest available. Colours are accurate and its size makes the phone perfectly pocketable, but AMOLEDs are brighter, and the larger screens of rivals make for a marginally better typing and web browsing experience.

The camera
The 4S twins an 8MP sensor with a wide aperture lens (f/2.4) that pulls in more light, and the resulting pictures are natural, crisp and are fact-free in all but the darkest conditions. Filming in 1080p with digital image stabilisation is the match of many pocket camcorders. Masterful.

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