iPhone back on top?

The iPhone 4S is every bit a smartphone, and an excellent one at that. The range of functionality that it delivers, along with the entire ecosystem that it inhabits, still make it one of the best phones on the market. Apple has done an excellent job pushing things like the App Store and incorporating features that see wider adoption, like AirPlay, its wireless streaming system, for example.
Although we're not huge fans of iTunes as a software package, there is some convenience in having an end-to-end system that will deliver your music and movies in a format you can enjoy simply any easily. The headphones in the box are still poor, but you're spoilt for choice when it comes to buying accessories.
It's easy to criticise the iPhone for the things it doesn't have: the screen could be bigger, the battery life should be longer, iOS still could be improved, there is no NFC, Flash support or options for memory expansion. But you have to decide whether these things are important to you. If they are, you now have many choices elsewhere.
To us, the iPhone 4S feels as though it has responded to the competition, it's adapted a better notifications system, and ushered in new features, but in many ways we can't help feeling it has adopted some of the nice things about Android. For some, the concern might be that it's adapted Android's battery management issue too. The iPhone 4S is likely to be exactly what some people are looking for. For others, the excitement in other smartphone quarters could well draw their eye.