Hey guys, this is Austin and today I’m here with a review of the iPhone 5.
With a larger screen, LTE and some of the best hardware period is the new
iPhone for you?
To start with we have to go over the design.
In pictures it looks just like the iPhone 4 and 4S but in
person it’s a huge change.
The first thing I noticed was just how light it is,
even though it’s larger it weighs 20% less.
Build quality is also absolutely top notch with incredibly fine tolerances
and more importantly an excellent feel.
Take the rear for example.
It’s now mostly aluminum with glass on top and bottom
which works really nicely in the hand.
I think Drew summed it up nicely as it really is slimmer, lighter and
sleeker in a major way.
On bottom you’ll see the new Lightning port which is
much smaller and reversible however if you’ve got 30-pin docks and cables
you’re going to need adapters.
The headphone jack has also been moved to the bottom of the iPhone 5, not a big deal
to me but it’s something not everyone is a fan of.
Up front you’ll find a larger 4” display with a resolution
of 1136x640 and immediately you’ll notice it makes a big difference.
The added height give you more screen real estate
to work with which is something the iPhone has been needing for
quite a while.
It’s not all perfect however.
Apps need to be updated to work with the iPhone 5’s larger screen,
if not they revert to a smaller size with letterboxing.
Something I found strange is that iOS really doesn’t take
advantage of the larger screen.
Notifications still cover up the top of whatever you’re doing and the
experience feels like Apple just stretched iOS to fit rather than tailor it to
really use the larger size.
iOS 6 comes preinstalled on the iPhone 5 and is
honestly my biggest letdown.
Technically it’s faster than ever and there are
numerous bits of polish added but the improvements are minor.
Elkanna puts it best I think, the hardware is great but
the software lets it down.
Google Maps and YouTube were removed in exchange
for Apple Maps.
There are a few improvements like turn-by-turn directions
and a new 3D view but for the most part it doesn’t match up with Google
Maps.
Apps like Passbook are meant to make it easy to use your iPhone for
boarding passes, tickets and more but without NFC it’s more of a novelty.
iOS 6 isn’t broken but it’s absolutely lacking innovation compared to
Windows Phone and Android.
Internally you’ll find a new Apple A6 dual core processor clocked at 1.2GHz
paired with 1GB of RAM.
Here I have to say I’m impressed, this is the fastest
System on a Chip you’ll find in any phone or tablet out right now.
With a GPU on par with the iPad 3 gaming is impressive
with enough horsepower to run even the most demanding games without breaking
a sweat.
Once games like Real Racing 3 come out you can expect near
console quality graphics on your phone.
In day to day use there’s definitely a difference although opinions
vary on how much.
Most people feel it’s not a massive improvement over the
already fast iPhone 4S although upgraders from the iPhone 4 tended to be
much more impressed.
From the 3GS it’s really no contest.
One of the big additions is LTE which unlike on the iPhone
4S is true 4G.
Speeds here are really impressive as they’re better than
most home connections and I can see LTE being worth the upgrade alone for a lot
of people.
With the bigger screen, more powerful specs and LTE battery life is
actually quite a bit better.
Even with fairly heavy usage including calls, shooting
video and gaming I was easily able to get through a day and I don’t think
it’s a stretch at all to get two days out of a charge with more average use.
The rear camera is mostly unchanged with the same 8 megapixel camera with 1080p
video recording.
There have been some upgrades in the optics but for the
most part it’s the same quality from the iPhone 4S.
It’s one of the best smartphone cameras out there but
probably not for long with phones like the Nokia Lumia 920 on the horizon.
Video is also still solid but nothing spectacular as it still doesn’t autofocus on
it’s own unless you tap to focus.
One nice improvement is that you can take pictures while recording video and the camera
will take pictures about as fast as you can hit the shutter button.
Panorama mode is also included although it’s hardly a groundbreaking feature.
The bigger change is with the front facing camera which has been upgraded to 1.2
megapixels and shoots in 720p.
It’s nothing on the rear camera but for video chatting or recording a quick clip
it’s really not bad.
Like Tim said I think it will make a nice improvement for
vloggers.
The iPhone 5 is a solid upgrade and easily the best one yet.
With LTE, a bigger screen, improved battery life
and an outstanding design I don’t have a problem recommending this at all.
What it doesn’t do is present a great case to switch from Android or Windows
Phone.
While the hardware is top notch iOS is in serious need of an overhaul
as it feels clunky and unintuitive much of the time.
Put simply the iPhone 5 is one of the best phones out there and an easy choice for a
lot of people but it’s not the best phone for everyone.
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