If you have been waiting to buy the iPhone 4S in India, the good news is that your wait is almost over as telecom operators Airtel and Aircel will officially launch the iPhone 4S in India on November 25. Both black and white models of the iPhone 4S (GSM) are available for pre-order.
The disappointing bit is obviously the price – see chart. The 16 GB iPhone 4S would sell in India for 45k while the higher-capacity models exceed the 50k price bracket which is almost unimaginable for a mobile phone in India.
iPhone 4S has a better 8 MP camera but the one feature that has attracted the most attention is the built-in voice assistant called Siri. It seems to work like magic but based on what I have heard from people in India who already have an iPhone 4S, Siri does have trouble understanding the Indian accent. Satyan Gajwani added that “even with an American accent, Siri doesn’t grab Indian names well.”




Then there’s the battery draining issue in iPhone 4S that Apple is still working hard to resolve. Yes, these are issues that can be fixed with future software upgrades but when your spending $1000 on a phone, you expect more.
There are some worthy alternatives. Nokia Lumia 800 is expected to hit retails shelves in India in December and even John Gruber has some good things to say about this Windows Phone. Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus runs on Ice Cream Sandwich and The Verge calls it the best Android phone ever – this could again launch in India this year.
Update: The iPhone 4S has officially launched in India but thanks to the steep price tag, there were no queues spotted outside any of the Airtel or Aircel outlets.

Price of iPhone in India