Wife has been an iPhone 4 user and her contract just got eligible for upgrade to 4S, and now that AT&T allows unlocking iPhones that got out of contract, thought it’s about time to get an iPhone for myself!

I just walked in to the Apple Store on Stockton, got a white 16GB iPhone 4S, and also replaced her iPhone 4 to the brand new one because the home button issue (thanks to Apple Care). All in $250 incl. taxes. Not so bad.

We activated the new 4S in store, and put back the new SIM to 4 so she can continue using it. My 4S is now activated but has no SIM, i’m using it with tethered to iPad’s Verizon LTE, but i just ordered Straight Talk SIM that should allow unlimited talk+text+data for $45 prepaid, even on AT&T locked phone. Updates on that later.

(Couple of Apple Store employees also have told me that AT&T would unlock your iPhone for international use if your account is clear for 60 days or more, like Verizon and Sprint, and that it’s a recent development. I still doubt that, but it sounds worth a try)

Coming from Android, this is my first iPhone (although I’ve used the original iPad and the new iPad, so iOS 5 and Retina display are not the first experience for me) and here’s my 12 hour impressions:

• Camera’s quality is stunning.
• Battery life is awesome. I will never complain about that coming from 6-hour ICS that always needs a micro USB cable in your pocket.
• Notification Center is a mess. Turning off Sound notifications for each app is a pain, and can’t dismiss each notification with swipe?
• The screen feels tiny. I know Retina Display is awesome, but its physical size is just too small. Note that I came from 4 inch Galaxy S, not like Galaxy Note or Nexus with the huge displays.
• Yet, with the small screen, the device feels heavy, and is actually heavier than my Galaxy S.
• I miss back buttons and Intent. And systeem dialer integration with Google Voice. Overall I like it, but there are definitely things that worked better on Android, but there’s no perfect phone in the world. I’ll keep the Android phone around especially for international use and tethering. I hope Apple fixes tethering with iPad so that the same SIM card that can do tether fine with Android can do the same with the iPad.