Apple iPhone 5 review

1. Apple iPhone 5 review

2. Summary and Introduction
At a glance
• + A speedier and smoother experience
• + Improved battery life
• - Horrible built-in mapping solution
• - Lack of innovative features on the OS
With every new revision of Apple’s iPhone that comes along, this has turned into
an annual ritual for all of us. The general consensus with all reviews for Apple’s
flagship device have got to be the improvement of the successor over its
predecessor, and, god forbid, faults that come along with it. As a standalone device,
there is no doubt that the iPhone 5 is a great device, but how much of an
improvement over the iPhone 4S is it? Read on to find out.

3. When the existence of the iPhone 5 was first made known through leaked photos, which by the way,
ended up being real, we weren’t terribly impressed by how little it has changed in the aesthetics
department. It’s only when you have the actual device in hand that you begin to appreciate the subtle
changes that were done to the iPhone 5.
Visually, everything looks to be more or less the same, until you realise that the iPhone 5 now has a
new two-tone aluminum body that strikes out as a lot more alluring than its predecessors ever
did.And if there’s one thing anyone who picks up the iPhone 5 can tell you, this little baby is light as a
feather.

4. The A6 chip on the iPhone 5 doesn’t sound terribly impressive on paper at first, but believe
us; it’s fast enough to warrant a speed ticket. Benchmark tool Geekbench tells us that it’s a
dual-core 1.05 GHz processor supported by 1GB of RAM.
Apple never made this clear during their launch event, but we sort of get why. The numbers
game these days have become redundant, because if Cupertino had taken part, so it would
have only gotten flak instead.

5. CAMERA
• Another aspect that Apple has kept consistently great
with every update has got to be their camera, and we’re
happy to report that the iPhone 5 scores a homerun this
time around as well. It isn’t much of a departure over the
iPhone 4S, per se, but as always, Apple taught the old dog
a few new tricks.
• For one, taking photos feels so much snappier than ever
before, and the dynamic low-light mode cuts down on
pixel count but drastically improves darker images.
Additions like the sapphire crystal lens allow more light
in, and the filter has been tweaked to bring out natural
colours.
• New to the iSight camera is the panorama mode, in which
you can tap a button and sweep the phone across to
create one massive image. We’re looking at results of
11,000 x 2500 pixels here, to be exact.
• The front-facing camera however is the one that received
the actual upgrade, as it is now capable of capturing 720p
video. To be honest, we couldn’t really appreciate the
improvements done to it, but we suppose that depends
on how much you actually have your visage all over
FaceTime anyway.

6. VERDICT
The iPhone 5 surpasses its predecessors in virtually every aspect, and it is without a doubt
the best offering from Apple so far. Despite the oversight with regards to the maps, it isn’t
quite the off-putting flaw that makes the iPhone 5 any less of a beast (especially since it
can be rectified). While it isn’t exactly ahead of its Android competitors in raw
performance, the fact of the matter is that Apple has packaged it in such a way that it
works with aplomb. We do wish that Apple has taken bold measures to go even further, but
in hindsight, we’re struggling to come up with what else they could have “re-invented”, so
to speak. Ultimately, while the iPhone 5 isn’t going to win anyone over from the Android
camp over, it is the best thing yet for those holding the Apple banner.