The iPhone 5S is still part of Apple's smartphone lineup along with the iPhone 6, 6 Plus and the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. Here's our iPhone 5S review, updated from the original which was written in September 2013.
Update: September 2015
Currently, the iPhone 5S is available in 16GB or 32GB capacities and in Space Grey and Silver. Gold has been dropped, and there's no 64GB version any more.
This is the second price cut for the 5S. It originally cost £549 (16GB) and £629 (32GB). The new prices are £379 and £419 respectively. Note that there's now only £40 difference for the extra 16GB, as opposed to £80 with the original prices.
We've had our 5S for two years, so we're experts in its strengths and weaknesses. Fortunately, any downsides are more than outweighed by benefits and the 5S is still a truly great smartphone.
Screen sizes have moved on quickly from the 4in display bestowed upon the iPhone 5S and it now feels dinky compared to even the 4.7in iPhone 6S let alone the 6S Plus with its 5.5in screen. However, not everyone wants a huge smartphone and the 5S slips into a pocket with ease, whereas Apple's latest phablet does not.
It's also supremely well built and surprisingly light considering that sturdy build quality. The screen may be small but it still competes with the best in terms of quality. There's really no need for any more pixels since at 326ppi, you can't see the individual dots anyway.
We've also no issue with performance. We've been running iOS 9 for a few short days, but as with iOS 8, apps still run as quick as ever. This is partly thanks to the fact that the A7 processor is a 64-bit chip. As we said at the 5S's launch, this makes it more future-proof than the iPhone 5 and 5C which have 32-bit processors.
You will miss out on some of the new features in newer iPhones, though. The 5S has the useful TouchID sensor for unlocking the phone and making purchases with your finger, but it doesn't have NFC which you need for Apple Pay and it doesn't support 802.11ac Wi-Fi. Perhaps the biggest difference is that it doesn't have the 3D Touch screen of the iPhone 6S so you can't use the new context menus in iOS 9.
Just as the iPhone 4S was almost indistinguishable from the iPhone 4, the 5S has only its rather understated golden finish and TouchID to differentiate it from the iPhone 5. The similarities are largely superficial, though. See also: Apple iPhone 5S vs iPhone 5 comparison review: What's the difference?
The iPhone 5S's dimensions are 123.8x58.6x7.6mm, and it weighs just 112g. That's the same as the iPhone 5. See also: Best cases for the iPhone 5S
The 4in Retina display has the same 1136x640 resolution as the iPhone 5 (and 5C) and is a decent screen. However, compared to the larger, much higher resolution displays of the iPhone 5S’s rivals, the screen does feel cramped.
We've mentioned the lack of 802.11ac Wi-Fi but, with 802.11n on board, the 5S should still be quicker than your broadband connection, and 802.11ac routers are still relatively few and far between - you probably have an 802.11n router at home. The 5S doesn't support as many LTE bands as the newer iPhones, but you'll still be able to use it in most countries on 3G.
0 comments:
Post a Comment