Apple iPhone 5 review
Time was, smartphones did little that was actually smart. They had front-facing cameras and maybe a touchscreen, but operating systems geared more for a stylus than fingers. It wasn’t until the iPhone landed in 2007 that things changed. For the next few years Apple continued to deliver the brainiest of smartphones. No one else …
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Sony
I supposed it's inevitable, having borrowed the design of the iPhone off a Sony prototype (sorry, inadmissible evidence, too damaging to the plaintiff) in the first place, that they now follow Sony's trend of using 16:9 screens and will probably claim it as innovative/patentable.
Re: Sony
Sony Prototype/?
Shows the typical comprehension skills of a Fandroid.
To correct you, it wasnt a Sony prototype - it was a hypothetical design project, internal to Apple. Jony Ive challenged one of his team to 'Come up with what the iPhone would look like if it was designed by Sony'.
But hey, never let the facts get in the way of a good dig at crApple! Far more fun to demonise them!
Thank goodness...
...I wasn't wearing rose tinted glasses when readin the review... and that I WAS wearing flame retardent clothing when reading the comments...
Lot of hipstery in this thread so far
I guess the cool kids are just so over the iPhone. Out here in the real world, though, where the grown-ups live, I know lots and lots of people who have iPhones and love them -- and exactly four people with Android handsets, only one of whom even likes it. Seems to me that Mr. Jobs' brainchild wins by acclamation; when you consider that it is, after all, the device which invented the modern smartphone, it's impossible not to notice, in the sort of Android-centric smuggery we see in threads like this one, a strong flavor of sour grapes.
And, yes, for those who'll ask -- I am an iPhone owner; in fact I'm posting this very comment from my shiny new iPhone 4S. And, yes, I may myself seem a bit smug on the whole subject. Given my experience, and the experience of the other smartphone owners I know, I have to say the difference appears to be that an iPhone owner's smugness, when it exists, is justified.
Re: Lot of hipstery in this thread so far
"I know lots and lots of people who have iPhones and love them -- and exactly four people with Android handsets, only one of whom even likes it."
Oh for goodness sake. Why does anyone, no matter what side of the argument they're on, think this is somehow credible evidence? It's anecdotal nonsense.
Personally, I know more Android phone owners than iPhone owners, largely due to the relative cost of getting a half-decent one. Most of the people I know who own iPhones like them, but then so do the people who've bought Android phones. I would say, anecdotally, that the Android phone owners I know are more technically minded than the iPhone owners. Take from that what you will.
Re: Lot of hipstery in this thread so far
@Aaron Em
More than anything else, this attitude is why many of us can't stand Apple. The delusion that owning Apple hardware make you a better person.
Wanker.
Re: Lot of hipstery in this thread so far
And to counter, many people hate Android because it seems to generate smug self satisfaction and anti-apple rhetoric that is mostly founded in myth and here-say than actual fact. Lord a lorky, someone likes a iPhone? They must be a brainwashed iSheep!
Re: Lot of hipstery in this thread so far
Richard 81: "Anecdotes are not data." Well, sorry, brother, but I and the people I know live anecdotal lives, in an anecdotal world. "Statistics über alles!" is the cry of a technocrat.
Mr_Bungle: Well, I only bought my iPhone on Tuesday -- and it's the first smartphone I've ever owned, I would hasten to note -- but that's okay; I don't need an iPhone or anything else to know that I'm better than you.
Let me just throw a question out there
What can your Android do that my iPhone can't?
Re: Lot of hipstery in this thread so far
*sniff* "I don't need an iPhone or anything else to know that I'm better than you." *sob*
Posting a comment intending to annoy other readers, then acting like a child when you are corrected. Like I give a fuck if it's your first smartphone.
Re: Let me just throw a question out there
Direct me via a map.
Re: Let me just throw a question out there
Well a few small things.
I can charge it using the same power supplies as my work's Blackberry, my ereader and my blue-tooth headset. I can transfer data to and from my computer using the same cable as my blackberry, my ereader or my camera. Might sound like a small thing but it means I don't need to worry about making sure I carry specific cables/chargers for this phone (like I have to with my ipod).
When I upgraded from my HTC desire I had 32GB of photos and music which needed moving. I just took the SD card out of the HTC and put it in the S3 and it was all there for me. If I run out of space on my 32GB card I can just swap in another card - so if I'm away from home for a long period and have a poor data connection I don't need to worry about running out of space for photos or videos.
Both of these are of course NOT related to Android - they're features a lot of other phones have...but not anything from Apple.
Re: Lot of hipstery in this thread so far
What Richard 81 said.
>...due to the relative cost of getting a half-decent one.... I would say, anecdotally, that the Android phone owners I know are more technically minded than the iPhone owners. Take from that what you will.
I'm not taking anything from it, except to think about the disposable income of people who grew up with technology (at least using a PC routinely in secondary school, say born after 1976) and the disposable income of those who grew up to see the transistor radio become the thing. The latter group will have been working for longer, and are more likely to have paid off their mortgage, one assumes... the former group have, from a young age, been used to games consoles, computers, mobile phones, graphing calculators, digital watches, proverbial VCRs etc, and are usually confident that they can persuade any new gadget to do what it is intended to do.
Re: Let me just throw a question out there
Widgets. I can turn off my data connection, wifi and sound by tapping little buttons on my home screen. I have a calendar and more things one screen to the left, my music player widget one screen to the right. I don't have to trawl through an endless list of icons and settings to do all these things, I can just unlock the phone and bam, done.
I can install a completely different launcher if I want. I can completely customise the lock screen itself. I take ownership of my device by making it look the way I want it to look instead of just getting a grid of icons.
That's just off the top of my head.
There is no doubt that the iPhone 5 is one of the best mid-range handsets on the market.
Read this bit and rolled my eyes....
"What you do see every time you look at the display is the improved colour saturation. It’s noticeably brighter and more vivid than earlier iPhone panels and easily on a par with the gaudiness of the Galaxy S III or the upcoming Nokia Lumia 920."
So an obvious fanbois says that the SIII and Lumia 920 have gaudy displays but the same on an iphone is something special.
Lets be honest here, yes its the best iphone ever, but it is not the best phone out there, the UI is old, stale and boring with what looks like a vtech innotab setup, and oh lok a great new feature that you can make panarama photos with it.....err theres been an app or 50 for that for ages on both Apple and iOS, you can even get apps for 360 degree views as well....
If you love the iphone then yes its an ok upgrade but not a great step forward, otherwise the MEH.....
Re: Read this bit and rolled my eyes....
Indeed, nobody has seen the finished Nokia 920 yet, so why mock it?
Only pre-release products have been shown up until now.
Re: Read this bit and rolled my eyes....
Okay, let's get somethings straight here...
Most people in this forum will compare with a set of rose-tinted glasses and bias it against their appreciation for the company over another. I personally have not seen a working iPhone 5 yet, but I'm seriously considering not to let my iPhone 4 go in March when my contract is up for renewal. It's not because of the UI being "old, stale and boring with what looks like a vtech innotab setup". How does a UI become that? It works and you don't break something that works as that old phrase goes. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm more concerned Google have to programme radically new interfaces everytime a release pops up. It upsets the user when you can have handsets that are software updatable.
My other concern is that Apple have made a huge bummer over the maps app. For something that's become a pinicle to the iOS experience, it's been totally destroyed with a half-baked combo of already existing tools. I'd of thought Apple would of been working on it's own version whilst running the Google model since the first release of the iPhone. That worries me. I'm using iOS6 on my iPad to test it out (as the maps feature is less important for me on there). All the other new things are non-essensial to me as well apart from LTE. If I can't make use of the extra screen for a better web/map experience, then why bother? I will be looking at the new Nokia's (as I'm an old Nokia lover here from the good old days of 3310s etc).
Fandroids here should cool down to be honest. Some of us that love Apple products know this iPhone 5/iOS6 release is a bit sour in the mouth.
Re: Read this bit and rolled my eyes....
Funnily enough, I noticed that as well.
iPhone -> vivid. (Yay!)
Samsung -> gaudy (Boo!)
Review -> ever-so-slightly biased...
Re: Read this bit and rolled my eyes....
99% sRGB gamut = good
138% sRGB gamut = gaudy
Not that hard to work out.
Re: Read this bit and rolled my eyes....
Perhaps the reviewer has seen the Nokia 920.
The review says he;s been using the iPhone 5 for 5 days!
A bit too much misinformation
Time was, smartphones did little that was actually smart. They had front-facing cameras and maybe a touchscreen, but operating systems geared more for a stylus than fingers. It wasn’t until the iPhone landed in 2007 that things changed. For the next few years Apple continued to deliver the brainiest of smartphones. No one else came close.
Most high-end phones were a lot 'smarter' than the iphone on release/. It didn't have 3g, didn't have video calling, didn't have the ability to run 3rd party apps, no copy and paste etc
There were also capacitive displays on other phones that were only geared towards fingers (that's why they were capacitive).
I will agree that things changed with the iPhone, but not because it was truly amazing - if it had been released exactly the same but by a little known asian manufacturer it would probably not exist to this day.
Re: A bit too much misinformation
But I'm glad they put that passage in first though, at least I got rid of my lunch at the start of the article.
Drool drool slabber
wow, sycophantic review or what.
As an iPhone 4 user, confirmed Apple Fanboi with a large number of iOS devices and iMac's scattered around the house, I am certainly NOT in the queue for the 5. Why? Because there's nothing worth getting excited about in it. It's got a bit more speed, so what, it's a phone. I have yet to meet a game I want to play that challenges the iPhone 4's processor. It's got a bit more screen. So what. I don't want to watch movies on a pokey 4" screen. What else does it have?
What it has got is a shit new connector that obsoletes all my current docks and breaks the "just works" philosophy for absolutely NO good reason. Absolute fail.
And as to iOS 6? Give me 5 back PLEASE. I liked YouTube and google maps
Re: Drool drool slabber
You can save the Youtube by downloading the Youtube app from the app store (yes it's a pain) but the maps thing is just google through safari which is highly annoying.
Apple could do us all a favour and release the google maps app to download (this is probably quite easy to do in a short time) but they wont as it will be seen as a u-turn.
Sorry, but 90%?
Goodness no, there's nothing here that makes you want to go out and stand in a queue for hours.
why did they move the headphone socket?
If it's in a pocket you need the socket at the top.
I can't think of a situation where the socket at the bottom would be an advantage apart from some docking station - but that's what the Lightning connector is for....
Re: why did they move the headphone socket?
just because pockets with the opening at the top have been the norm for some time doesn't mean apple can't change it.
time to upgrade all your pockets to the new apple standard with the opening at the bottom.
Re: why did they move the headphone socket?
TBH when I'm holding my phone and put it back in my pocket it tends to go in upside down as this seems to be the most natural way. To put it in so that the phone is orientated "correctly" involves making a conscious decision and effort to do and not a "natural" way.
When you then reach into your pocket to take it out the upside down phone then comes out the right way up.
Maybe that's just me? Maybe that's the way the majority of people do it and so Apple went with that? Maybe they just needed to make more space at the top and it fitted easier at the bottom?
Re: why did they move the headphone socket?
Because they are idiots? The only things that interest me about this phone are the better processor and 'a bit more' battery life. FFS I had an Ericsson mobile (Not Sony Eric..) that had a thirty day battery. I don't want slimmer, I want tougher and a screen that doesn't crack when my daughter fumbles it in the park. I want a phone that still sits in my enhanced GPS car cradle. 90%? in the wrong direction!
Its only the lock in thats driving this release...
The i owning masses are now realising that lock in is shit when apple makes its decisions for its congregation (maps - icloud that works the wrong way etc). But they still keep shouting amazeballs.
90% ffs! How can it be when an 18 month old phone (N8) can still out perform its functionality and add lots too in virtually every area.
Much like the dead tiles in iOS reflect the phone purchase thought patterns of their owners.
Non!
Re: Its only the lock in thats driving this release...
If you can tell me how an 18-month old Symbian phone with lots of ridiculous menus etc and poorly written for touchscreen phones can beat a targetted OS for that market - then you can become God. Until then, I'll sit here with my feet up as I get more comfortable as every minutes goes by.
First sentence wound me up immediatly
WTF does using a finger or stylus have to do with a smartphone being a smartphone?
I assure you that in their time, Palm, Handspring, iPaq and many others were smart, and used stylii. They were smart because of what they could do, not how they did it. They still worked using rectangular icons arranged in a grid, with multiple pages and apps that used gestures rather than key presses. They could install software. They could do media, games, productivity applications, and they could interact with the outside world.
My Treo functioned perfectly well with a stylus (conveniently tucked into a slot, always available), a pen top, or even a finger nail (I play classical guitar so I have an advantage here), but if the on-screen buttons were designed properly to make them large enough, would also work with a blunt finger. I used Graffiti all the time in place of a on-screen keyboard or even the keyboard buttons, so I never had to peck at a keyboard with a stylus or fingers.
I am currently trying to find a decent stylus for my capacitive-screened phone and tablet, because it is just so much more natural for someone who still writes with implements to use a stylus. I'm sure that there will come a time in the not too distant future when we will find people who have grown up without having to learn to write with a pen or pencil, who find that using a finger is more natural, but to date, everyone who has been through school will have learned to write in the traditional manner.
I look at the Galaxy Note 10.1 (not a phone, I know) with envious eyes, merely because of it's stylus. Looks like the best of all worlds, but is too expensive for me.
Re: First sentence wound me up immediatly
Stylus' were there in the 1990s/early 00s because no-one could be bothered to make OSs that were designed for finger touch and include a suitable touch-screen.
The Galaxy Note 10.1 is poor. Hardly any apps know how to use the magic stylus properly. Hardly magic when you have fingers to do the work for you already.
Re: First sentence wound me up immediatly
You have your opinion, but I have to disagree. Styli were there because at the time, not only were people used to using pens and pencils, but also the necessary technology for capacitive screens could not be overlayed on a screen at a price point and energy budget that made it suitable for hand-held devices. There was also the problem that of technological and cost necessity, the screens were much smaller (my Treo had a 360x360 screen that was about 2" in diagonal), so on-screen buttons were small and you would not have been able to use a finger for anything other than the broadest of selections.
I don't actually believe that there is a significant difference in UI design. I could scroll my Treo with a swipe of a suitable input device, but often it was just more convenient to use a scroll bar (it was the lack of processing and graphics power that made single large scrolls better than many small incremental scrolls rather than the input method). And what is it that makes a finger a better pointing device than a stylus, apart from convenience? It's certainly not more accurate! And I find that carrying around a polishing cloth all the time because of the grease marks a pain (I don't have olephobic coatings on my devices).
I have not actually used a Galaxy Note 10.1, but I have used Wacom graphics tablets (apparently the same technology). There is no comparison between using a finger (which a Note can also do), and using a device that allows you to rest your hand on the screen, have total confidence that what the stylus is pointing to is accurate, and allows multiple levels of pressure to emphasize what you want to do. I suspect that you've never come across a situation where a pressure sensitive input device is a real benefit.
On a Note, I would not use the stylus to play Angry Birds or select the next music track I wanted to listen to. But I may use it when browsing the Internet (too often do I select the wrong link with my index finger on my current tablet), and definitely would wherever I wanted to make notes, free-hand drawings or anything else that requires a high degree of accuracy.
Re: First sentence wound me up immediatly
Last year's Note works wonderfully with or without its stylus, and while unashamedly man-sized it's nowhere near as massive as everyone says once you get used to it. I haven't played with the new Note yet (no need; old Note's got plenty of life in him for the time being) so can't comment on how well it operates, but as long as Samsung haven't screwed it up (and they don't tend to do that) it's probably pretty useable...
Or get yourself invited to one of the better class of trade show. There's generally someone in there handing out pens with capacitive stylus tops in exchange for five minutes of sales pitch... ;)
Re: First sentence wound me up immediatly
@ Mr Gathercole. Got a Wacom Stylus. Works great with pretty much any capacitative screen. Personally I think 10" is too much to lug around and I love my Samsung Galaxy 8.9.
Re: First sentence wound me up immediatly
@BorkedAgain
I've got some which do work to an extent. I'm using one now on an android tablet. Let me enter something with Graffiti without correcting it.
Ths quick beown fx jumpes over the lazy dog.,
'he quick brown .iox imizs over the lazy dog.
Tite quick .browU fox juaes ovclr the laz= dog.
Now with a finger.
The quick brown fox jumpes over the lazy dog.
Hmmm. Capacitive stylus not so good. And that is one of the better ones I have.
Repairability
I always feel repairability is very important in guiding by buying choices, and I found a really interesting teardown of it here
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-5-Teardown/10525/1
which at first indicates very promisingly that the two most common repairs- glass and battery- are nice and straightforward, actually the whole thing looks pretty good overall. However, I got all the way to the end of it before reading "The front glass, digitizer, and LCD are all one component, thereby increasing cost of repair." . Hmmph.
Where is the Meme icon for
kill yourself...
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/kill-yourselfkill-yourselves
Why looks don't matter
I rarely see an iPhone without a cover. Normally they're sheathed in some ugly leather case or silicon jacket. Kind of makes you wonder why the hell anyone cares what they look like underneath.
Excuse me...
I thought Saint Jobs said a 3.5" screen was absolutely optimal. So a 4" screen must be sub-optimal. Unless Steve was wrong. Was Steve wrong?
Re: Excuse me...
SJ has never been shy on changing this mind.
Anyway, in 2007 phones still were getting smaller and smaller and compared to contemporary phones the original iPhone was a brick. Anything larger would have doomed it. Things have changed, people use their smartphones all day long for so many things that they accept even much larger phones now. Things change and was was right yesterday doesn't have to be right today.
Anyway, I hate Apple, I think iOS is getting stale, but the hardware looks and feels great. Funny enough most Windows-Phones also look rather good while Android phones tend to look rather gaudy. Why is this so? Offer me a Lumia with Android and I'll buy it...
Re: Excuse me...
"SJ has never been shy on changing this mind."
I suspect its limited now though to whether to turn clockwise or anti-clockwise.
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