After years of being behind the competition, Apple looks to have finally caught up in various areas. The initial unveiling was filled with some disappointment as it was exactly what the rumors & leaks suggested. But after selling over 2 million pre-orders and breaking previous iPhone sales, makes the i5 on par to be the best-selling iPhone yet. The newest iPhone brings several new features to the hardware and iOS 6 with LTE speeds, a 4inch display, an improved camera, and faster dual-core processor. Is it actually leaps and bounds over the previous iPhones? Or over the competition? After spending some quality time with it, all of your questions will be answered below.
The increased size from 3.5inch to 4inch display is easily the most noticeable difference on the newest iPhone. The new display is taller but retains the same width with a new 1136 x 640 resolution as opposed to 960 x 640. The taller screen is also adds another row of icons to the homescreen. The boost in resolution adds a subtle but needed enhancement to the iPhone’s visuals. Even going head-to-head against the Galaxy S III with a lower resolution, offers brighter colors & more crispness. Anyone who streams media on their iPhone is gonna love the new screen.
The iPhone 5 is equipped with now a full 1GB of RAM, an improved 1.3GHz dual-core A6 processor, and LTE radios for an even faster experience. Using the i5 on a daily basis I easily noticed apps/media downloading faster no matter the radio (Wi-Fi, HSPA+, or LTE). Even graphic-heavy games like those using the Unreal Engine just flow smoother. Just fast, fast, fast. Easily the speediest of all of the iPhones.
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| Super fast LTE speeds on AT&T network |
Apple used a slightly larger yet thinner battery within the iPhone 5 as they quoted around 8 hours of consistent usage. Definitely a rough accusation with the addition of LTE to the iPhone. Speaking of LTE, on AT&T network I was able to get download speeds ranging from 20Mbps-30Mbps & upload speeds from 9Mbps-17Mbps on average. Very fast and very nice. On the battery side, I easily got slightly over 8 hours of heavy real-world usage that consisted of a total of 2-hours of phone calls, a few hours of listening to music (not streaming), reading/sending Tweets, emails, & texting. The perfect example of great specs & performance with the iPhone 5.
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| Apple’s new surprising good EarPods |
The new iPhone offers an enhanced audio experience as it is equipped with a not two but three internal microphones. This makes the call quality even that much better with the noise-cancellation for phones calls & speakerphone calls. Even playing media without headphones are even louder than previous iPhones and offers more clarity. The newly bundled EarPods have a new design that offers more sound & clarity with sound coming out three different places on the earphones. While I didn’t have this issue, some may have issues with them staying in your ears. They sound much better than most bundled earphones as they are priced at $30 for those interested without buying the new iPhone.
*Quick Note: The new Lightning port will be a pain-in-the-ass for long time iPhone users as they will have to buy a $30 adapter for all of their older accessories. The transfer speeds are slightly faster than the 30-pin plug Apple used to use. *
“I know many of you were expecting maybe a higher megapixel lens but don’t get too disappointed. “
Cameras
The shooter on the iPhone 5 is an improved 8MP iSight camera with a f/2.4 lens. I know many of you were expecting maybe a higher megapixel lens but don’t get too disappointed. Coming from the i4S there isn’t huge jump with the shooter but the keyword for this review in subtlety. The rear shooter offers better performance in low-light and better image stabilization when recording video. So unlike most camera phones, great lighting for your subject is now somewhat optional. You can now also capture photos while recording video as it doesn’t work as fast as on Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich but a welcome addition nonetheless.
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| On a cloudy day |
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| Night time Panorama |
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| FaceTime photos on the i5 |
The update to iOS 6 adds a guided Panorama feature that works better than on most devices. The front-facing shooter has now been updated from VGA to an amazing 1.2MP camera that records video in 720p HD. I say amazing because you would think the megapixels are higher as you can finally take great shots with the front camera as well as not appear as grainy on video chats. Until the Lumia 920 gets tested in the real-world, this iPhone is still the best camera on a smartphone.
While Apple made sure to beef up the hardware, they chose to simply refine the little details on iOS 6. Apple added many notable new features like Facebook integration, native turn-by-turn navigation, more Siri functionality, a digital wallet called Passbook, new email features, a new Panorama camera feature, and FaceTime over 3G in a nutshell. I know, sounds like iOS 5.2 or something.
The new Maps offers good turn-by-turn navigation by lacks public transit directions or good 3D graphic visuals. Siri is still in beta but becomes faster and more useful with movie/actor info, open apps, make restaurant reservations, post to Facebook & Twitter, and sports scores/stats. Passbook kind of acts like a lazy NFC app where merchant have to scan the QR code for savings/access. Looks good but not much app support as of yet. You can now add photo/video attachments within emails instead of doing beforehand from Photos and a priority inbox called VIP where you can give VIP contacts their own notifications. While these are all but mostly welcomed, the overall look of iOS looks the same. The same icon placement, lack of widget support, and no new UI changes. At least the developers have it easy but possibly at the cost of software innovation.
If you are familiar with all of the iPhones in Apple’s history, they are not focused on specs but more with actual day-to-day performance. Apple enhancements within the iPhone 5 are subtle yet visible. On paper the iPhone 5 may seem underwhelmed compared to the competition. That is not the case. The i5 performs exactly as advertised: thinner, lighter, faster. Easily the best iPhone out and can outperform the best of other platforms (Galaxy S III, One X, Lumia 900). My only issue is the staleness of iOS 6. I already expressed this earlier as the hardware surpasses the software and iOS is just boring compared to Android 4.1 or Windows Phone 8. I’m not looking for a drastic change like a complete redesign (this wouldn’t work well for developers) but something to move innovation forward a little. Maybe Apple will fix this on the iPhone 6. The modernized iPhone will appeal to everyone as Apple’s imperfections are now a little more exposed, it may cause some hesitation for others.
While many consumers are awaiting for an upgrade or contract release are on the fence between this, the Lumia 920, or the Galaxy S III. This choice is surely a difficult one. If you are already immersed within the iOS ecosystem or owned previous iPhones, this is the one for you. Those of you who are unsure may want to wait for other devices to review better review their options.
