Rene Ritchie presents his take on the latest iOS release.

As I’ve been telling folks, if you own an iPhone 4, this is a must have upgrade:

I installed it iOS 7.1 on my circa January 2011 white GSM iPhone 4 and performance does indeed seem to be markedly improved. Where before it would stutter and stammer and otherwise force me to practice my deep breathing and dude-abiding skills, now it’s noticeably better. It’s not iPhone 5 fast, of course — that old Apple A4 chipset, it ain’t what it used to be — but it’s at least acceptable now.

If you have an iPhone 4, you’ll want iOS 7.1.

Another critical point:

iOS 7.1 fixes that. According to Apple, Touch ID now has improved fingerprint recognition. So, while things like moisture can still throw off the sensor, the record itself should now work the way it’s supposed to for everyone and all of the time.

Touch ID worked well enough for me in iOS 7 but it’s worked flawlessly for over a month with iOS 7.1 (including the betas). What’s more, if you had problems, it should just start working better. Better still, if you have to or want to reset or redo your Touch ID fingerprint registration, Apple has also moved the Touch ID — and Passcode — Settings out of the General basement and onto the top level, making them easier to access.

I couldn’t agree more. I did not do anything special (no re-registering of fingers, no nothing). As soon as I installed iOS 7.1, Touch ID became flawless.

I’ve found something unique and worthwhile in every 7.1 review. This one is no different. Well worth the read.