This October, Apple unveiled the smartphone we all had been waiting for – The iPhone 5. With a larger screen and a modified design, the iPhone 5 is Apple’s answer to Google’s ever growing Android army. I couldn’t resist the new Apple device and got myself a shiny new 32GB white iPhone 5. It’s been over a month using the latest iPhone and I feel it’s time for a review.
Design
The first thing you notice when you hold the device is that how lightweight it is. Weighing at 112 grams, the iPhone 5 is 28 grams lighter than its predecessor, the iPhone 4S (140 grams). Kudos to Apple for such a substantial reduction in the weight. Apart from being lighter, the phone looks classy and feels solid in the hand, thanks to its aluminium build. It looks sleeker and thinner as well. The front side of the device looks more or less the same, it’s the backside that has been modified. The iPhone 5’s back is multi-shaded, ie. it has been divided into 3 parts. The top and bottom parts have the same colour (white or black) and the middle part has a different shade (light grey or dark grey). Personally I love this combination. It looks very stylish and attractive.
Screen
Hardware and Performance
Camera
Coming to the camera, there’s an 8MP iSight camera with autofocus and LED flash, which produces stills of 3264×2448 pixels resolution. It produces very good images with lots of fine detail and great color reproduction. I didn’t come across the so called purple haze problem. The shots are very fine and clear to look at. The camera UI has seen only cosmetic changes, over the previous iOS build. The shutter button in the camera app is silver and circular on the iPhone 5, compared to the ellipse button on the 4S. The main addition to the camera app is the Panorama mode. The iPhone 5’s Panorama mode is a great new feature and offers a simple way to stitch and elongate your photos. You can access it in the options tab.
The front camera has also been upgraded. Now it’s a 720p HD camera. It’s not grainy, as most front facing cameras are. Rather I was amazed at the clarity. Facetime calls are a pleasure now.
iOS 6
On the inside, iPhone 5 comes with latest version of iOS, the iOS 6. Apple claims the iOS 6 to have more than 200 new features. One of the new features that makes full use of the iPhone 5’s larger screen is Safari’s full screen mode. It allows you to get more content per page and the benefits are especially felt in landscape mode. You can also share pages on Facebook and Twitter right from the browser and bookmark pages to the Reading List to view offline.
Siri
Though Siri is now available on the iPad 3 and iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 has a little advantage. The 3 microphones in the iPhone 5 prove to be very useful when using Siri, as you no longer need to tilt the device to reach the bottom mic. Instead, you can just speak naturally into the earpiece above the display. Apple has also made some enhancements and additions to Siri. There is language support for: Canadian English and French, Italian, Spanish, the varieties of Italian, German and French spoken in Switzerland, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin. Now you can also talk to Siri about sports, movies and get restaurant listings and even ask her to open apps.
Maps
How can we forget the new Apple Maps with voice-guided navigation, courtesy of Siri, faster vector graphics, a 3D Flyover mode and a list of shortcomings. Okay so here’s what happened: I was out driving somewhere and opened up the Maps app to find directions. The maps looked gorgeous and I fell in love with them. I searched the place where I had to go and tapped Show Directions. Instead, here’s what I was shown: Directions not available. Turns out, the new Maps don’t show directions in every country yet. WTF do I do with the Maps app then if it can’t show directions? I had to switch over to Google Maps and Here. The Maps app is just not ready yet, but Apple is working hard to fix it and the day it’s ready, I’ll be happy to use it as the visuals are very appealing.
The App Store and iTunes store have also got a visual revamp. You are also not prompted to enter your password when you just update apps.
EarPods
Apart from all this, a new pair of earphones have also been bundled with the iPhone 5. Dubbed ‘EarPods‘, the new earphones have been completely redesigned. The design is defined by the geometry of the ear which actually makes them more comfortable for people than any other in-ear style headphones. Unlike the traditional Apple earphones, ‘EarPods’ fit the ear comfortably and do not fall out. The sound quality is also excellent. The bass is very good and the maximum volume is also very high. The noise cancelling technology of the embedded mic is also very effective.
Battery
So what about the battery life? Well I’ve been experiencing decent battery performance, if not very good. I’m a very heavy user with lot of 3G web browsing, texting, gaming, listening to music etc. I have a full 100% charge in the morning at around 9:30 AM and my battery dips below 10% level after 9 P.M. So ya it’s not the best, but it’s good considering my usage. A normal user won’t have any problems as such.
Conclusion
The iPhone 5 has some issues like the faulty Maps, but there’s no doubt that it’s a great, handsome looking device that performs really well. iPhone 4S users won’t find much of a difference other than the lighter body, larger screen and faster UI, so there’s not much incentive to upgrade. But at the same time, if you’re an iPhone 4 user, you’ll be tempted to swap your phone with this beauty.
