iPhone 4S Doesn't Have Antennagate Issues, Says Consumer Reports

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Consumer Reports, easily the publication of note when it comes to the last word on just how good any particular product is, has come out with some word about the iPhone 4S. And though it’s likely too late for Consumer Reports’ word to sway anyone one way or the other (those that wanted an iPhone 4S likely bought it by now or are waiting for them to arrive, and those who didn’t probably wouldn’t change their minds anyway), the word has still landed, and the news is surprisingly mixed.

First, the big news: Consumer Reports’ extensive testing has shown that the issues that caused Antennagate when the iPhone 4 emerged are not present in the iPhone 4S, however they are still present in even the newest manufactured copies of the iPhone 4. In addition, Consumer Reports had nothing but praise for the iPhone 4S’ other systems, like their battery life (which they rated Very Good, despite recent reports that the battery life was anything but), their A5 chip, and their new camera systems, as well as giving a nod to the great game-changer that is Siri.

However, it wasn’t all good news for Apple here, as Consumer Reports went on to say that, despite the impressive systems the iPhone 4S could bring to bear, it wasn’t really much better than the current lineup of upper-tier Android phones on the market. From Consumer Reports:

These pluses were not enough, however, to allow the iPhone 4S to outscore the best new Android-based phones in our Ratings. Those top scorers included the Samsung Galaxy S II phones, the Motorola Droid Bionic, and several other phones that boast larger displays than the iPhone 4S and run on faster 4G networks. (Technically, only the AT&T version of the iPhone 4S supports 4G, running on the carrier’s HSPA+ network at download speeds of about 14 megabits per second, the bottom rung of what is considered to be 4G network speed.)

And this is no doubt a blow, but a blow that likely would have been more telling had Apple not already sold these hand over fist across large chunks of the planet, with basically only parts of Asia remaining. But what do you guys think of this? Is the iPhone 4S really not that much better than some of its major competitors? Will the new crop of phones incoming–like the Galaxy Nexus and the Droid RAZR–end up swamping the iPhone 4S? We want to hear from you, and the comments section below is the place to do just that!