To say I was excited when FedEx arrived around noon today (roughly an hour and a half before I had to head into work) is a bit of an understatement – that gratifying sensation of opening a new gadget for the first time is something that is very hard to match. I excitedly tore open the package, finding this inside -

Hello, beautiful

Of course, in their usual style, Apple kept true to the refined packaging, maintaining the same box that it has used for the 4, the 3GS, and others before it.

Setup was a breeze thanks to iOS 5, with just about everything done on the phone outside of calling your carrier (in my case, AT&T) to transfer information and my account over to the new phone (which, in turn, turned my 3GS into a glorified iPod touch). Greeted by a gray welcome screen, similar to what Lion has been using in one of its many backgrounds, the phone takes you through the steps of choosing your location, setting up the iCloud, and of course, initiating Siri.

So far, she has been one of my favorite news aspects of iOS 5. I have also read that she personalizes herself and her responses to your voice as time goes on, so I will be sure to report on that as I get more familiar with the phone.

The other has to be the speed – man, this thing is fast. Granted, this should be taken with a grain of salt, considering I’m coming from a 3GS, but it just feels so much nicer. A buddy of mine reported that it felt a great deal faster than his 4, but I’m sure it’ll be just a matter of time before the independent reports surface (and something tells me it’ll live up to the benchmarks that Apple set).

I don’t want to dive too much into iOS 5, as I’m leaving that review for Joe, but I must say, I am extremely happy with this phone. Ended up going with the white, and it provides such a gorgeous contrast to the retina display screen.

Stay tuned for a more in-depth write-up, but from what I have been seeing on Facebook and Twitter, everyone that got one seems to be extremely happy.

With that said, what are your thoughts? Did you buy an iPhone 4S? If so, what carrier? And of course, what are your impressions? Let us know!