Is the iPhone 4S or 5/5C better for me?

I have decided to leave Nokia behind after about 15 years of loyalty and jump onto the iPhone bandwagon.

I'm looking at buying a refurbished example - it's what I did for my current phone and it has been great. I also have a SIM only deal thing (giffgaff for those who know it) which only costs £7.50/month.

For the new phone my budget really depends on what type of iPhone I buy, and I've seen examples of both at acceptable prices.

I'm buying the phone outright, not on contract, and I'm in the UK.

I'm not a phone addict. I read my emails, I take photos and videos, I occasionally listen to a little bit of music. I do research on the internet.

The reason why I'd like an iPhone is the apps system. I'm always looking online for BBC news or weather and it'd be cool to have a app to do it. Also things like snapchat appeal because I like to send photos and currently if I take a photo on my phone I have to send it via Bluetooth to my laptop and then attach it onto an email - very annoying!

I generally keep phones 3 years and then decide what to do, so in three years time I don't want a phone that's gone past its expiry date (so you can't get apps to work for it anymore etc) and this is why I ask:

Should I get an iPhone 4S…

… Or an iPhone 5/5C?

The 5S is too expensive.

I know the 4S will do me fine now but what about 3 years down the line? But Apple still sell 4Ss new…

I don't know the difference between 5/5C much so if you think that's best, say

I have the iPhone 5S right now and I love it, it is kind of expensive though. I would say the 4S is good for what you want, it's cheap and does the basics. It will probably run a little slower though and Apple won't offer support for it for much longer because new models keep coming out. Some apps probably aren't available on the 4S either because there are new models. The 5C is probably the best of the three. It's new, fast, and you can use all apps on it and it's fairly cheap.

Have a 4s and 5 now myself. 4s will still work for your needs as it's performed well since 2011. Globally there are still plenty of 3gs's and 4's running in Asia and India and elsewhere. But honestly if you will hunt refurbished I'd go 5 for 5c. 5c is essentially a 5 packaged differently but still uses the current charging cable, and has the larger screen and a quicker processor. Either way, with care and general usage you described, an iPhone will get you 3+ years down the road. Best luck.

You are better of going with a phone without a camera and any propitiatory software to prevent the government from tracking or spying on you.

5S is great but I always buy on contract, to me thats surely worth it, right now Verizon has it for $99 on contract. In your case, and in the UK I'm not sure how contracts work there, but if buying outright then compare 4S/5/5C. Imo its worth to pay more for 5 or 5C compared to 4S, just because the hardware is alot better, but 4S is still a good option.

Iphone 5 and 5c are the same spec but 5c is newer and more fashionable, I suggest 5c since you can choose over different colors and screen size is 'acceptable'. Not too much of iphone fans, their phones are made by cheap part from china but charge a lot, screen size is way too small for me, I can't read comic on it it hurt my eyes by reading small letters for too long.

I'm quite the opposite of you, I was iphone and samsung user until 1 year ago switch to Nokia lumia 920 and 1520 it was better than I expected and I stick with nokia since then, specially the new phones w/ their new cameras not even the iphone or samsung can compare

I'm not sure what your issue is with Nokia I've always found iphone and android to be too complicated to use from the beginning.