Apple iPhone 5 - Best iPhone Ever, But Is It The Best
Smartphone?
Apple’s iPhone 5 is more eye-catching
than ever before, and thanks to solid under the hood improvements, the new
iPhone 5 makes for a much better upgrade than the previous 4S.
The latest iPhone feels like the scrum-half
to the lock that is the Galaxy S3 and the prop that is the Lumia 920. In fact,
number 5 is Cupertino’s lightest (112g; 20% lighter than iPhone 4S) and
thinnest (7.6mm) smartphone yet, resulting in the best device to use one-handed
out of all the recent smartphones we’ve managed to test.
Apple
iPhone 5
More screen real estate
Apple equipped the iPhone 5 with a new
Retina display that measures 4” (640 x 1136 pixel resolution; 326 ppi) compared
to 3.5” (640 x 960 resolution; same ppi) found on the 4S. Not only does it
boast vivid colours (though not as good as on an AMOLED display) and fine
details, but it outmatches most rivals (excluding the Lumia 920) when used
outdoors in direct sunlight.
Also onboard is a trustworthy-as-always 8
MP rear-facing autofocus camera which performs well in all lighting conditions,
helping users snap excellent looking stills and lag-free full HD (1080p)
videos. You are now also able to capture pics whilst recording video, and take
panorama shots, but both of these features have been available to Android users
for a while now.
You
are now also able to capture pics whilst recording video, and take panorama
shots
Faster CPU and new OS
It’s difficult to fault the iPhone 5 on
performance, since onboard is Apple’s new dual-core 1.2GHz A6 chip with 1GB RAM
(not 2GB as on the Samsung Note II). This makes things noticeably snappier when
multitasking and accessing more advanced functionality such as taking HDR
photos for instance. Less impressive than the new CPU, is Apple’s new iOS 6,
which may sport more than 200 new features including Facebook integration, but
looks and feels exactly the same as iOS 5. It’s also looking seriously dated
next to Android Jelly Bean.
Apple
launched the full music section of the iTunes Store locally, making a huge
library of more than 20 million songs available to local users
Beyond the new OS, Apple also finally
launched the full music section of the iTunes Store locally, making a huge
library of more than 20 million songs available to local users. This while the
arrival of Google Maps to the App Store has played a huge part in mitigating,
the Apple’s beleaguered new Maps.
Other features
Although the iPhone 5 does offer support
for LTE, this service is currently not available for this smartphone, but is
expected early this year. Apple equipped the iPhone 5 with a 1440 mAh battery,
which lasted well past a 12 hour working day, as we managed around 14-16 hours
from a single charge on average.
Apple
equipped the iPhone 5 with a 1440 mAh battery, which lasted well past a 12 hour
working day
It is worth noting that you now use a
smaller Lightning connector the phone, meaning that users who have iPhone
accessories will have to fork out around R330 for a Lightning-to-30-pin
adapter. You also won’t be able to use your iPhone 4S’ micro-SIM in the new
device, since it makes use of a new Nano-SIM card format.
To the point
As can be expected, Apple’s iPhone 5 is the
best ever incarnation of Cupertino’s smartphone, boasting a much needed larger
display and quicker processor, within amore slender, featherweight frame that
is a classic piece of industrial design. Although staunch iPhone supporters
will not be disappointed with their choice of smartphone, we feel that the S3
offers better spec bang for a lot less bucks.
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Specifications
§ Price:
16GB ($199), 32GB ($299), 64GB ($399)
§ OS:
iOS (6.1, 6)
§ Dimensions:
123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6mm
§ Weight:
112g
§ Physical
size: 4.0 inches
§ Resolution:
326 ppi
§ Colors:
16 777 216
§ Touchscreen:
Capacitive, Multi-touch
§ Features:
Light sensor, Proximity sensor
§ Battery
capacity: 1440 mAh
§ Processor:
Dual core, 1300 MHz, Apple Swift
§ Graphics
processor: PowerVR SG543MP3
§ System
memory: 1016 MB RAM
§ Camera:
8 megapixels
§ Camcorder:
1920 x 1080 (1080p HD)
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