For some, the best just got better. The
sixth avatar of the iPhone looks slimmer, slicker, slighter and more svelte and
elegant than ever before. Tipping the scales at just 112 gm and a mere 0.3
inches thick, the latest iPhone with its largely aluminum rear panel feels
incredibly light but positively solid. And it is anything but plastic KY.
iPhone
5 - First Among Equals
The stretched 4-inch design of this tall
boy which allows an extra row of icons on the screen makes it easier to grip
and more usable with one hand. In the horizontal mode, the new screen has a
16:9 as thus Qh yes, the iPhone 5 runs discern ably faster. At its heart is a
new A6 dual-core processor from Apple, ticking at 1,2GHz, which is nearly
double the speed of what lies embedded in iPhone 4S. The larger 4-inch means
that 18 per cent more pixels have been crammed in to give a 1136x640p
resolution to the eye-popping Retina display with 326 pixels per inch density.
The
stretched 4-inch design of this tall boy which allows an extra row of icons on
the screen makes it easier to grip and more usable with one hand.
The good thing is that battery life remains
unaffected (8 hours of talk time; 8 hours of 3G browsing) and easily lasts you
through the day pretty much outlasting most Android phones out there. There is
an audible improvement in the voice and audio quality in calls made and received
as well on the speaker both in terms of clarity and loudness. The new EarPod
headphones though far from the ultimate are way better than their previous
avatars. Apart from a far more comfortable fit in the ear, they offer more
thump on the bass front.
The
good thing is that battery life remains unaffected (8 hours of talk time; 8
hours of 3G browsing) and easily lasts you through the day pretty much
outlasting most Android phones out there.
While the camera on the iPhone 5 remains 8
megapixel and a delight to shoot with during the day it now offers excellent
low-light imaging abilities for a smartphone cam. And the Panorama shooting
functionality stitches up the fields seamless and beautifully, even in dim
lighting conditions.
The new and improved iOS 6 software update
ensures that it has the same DNA as the previous iPhones. While Android has
grown by leaps and bounds and in several instances now surpasses the more
sedate iOS, the coders at Cupertino have packed and polished enough to keep the
operating system at the leading edge.
New call response options, a Do Not Disturb
feature, Face Time calling over cellular, FaceBook integration, individual
signatures for different mail accounts, and a VIP inbox for email are the
primary improvements.
Integrating Facebook to
your iPhone 5 is a nifty new feature of Apple's latest operating
system, iOS 6
By far the biggest downer for all and
sundry are the iOS 6 Maps. By now the stuff of many spoofs and less than
objective autopsies, this is an area where Apple has undeniably blundered and
bungled. And there seems no immediate succor in sight for now, other than turning
to Google Maps or Nokia here.
In terms of interface, naysayers find the
still very mute icons as compared to Android’s info-at-a-glance widgets and
Windows live tiles-static and boring. While it retains its perch as the
benchmark for smartphone design and the durability of the aluminum rear
(combined with the
Gorilla Glass front) gives it the ability
to absorb shocks and knocks better, complaints of scratches and scruffs to the
body paint coating have been heard.
Yet, all-in-all, the iPhone cult endures...
For the Apple aficionado and iPhone idolater there is enough and more than
enough innovation and improvement in here to draw applause, even instant grins
and wows. Even hardcore Android fans grudgingly grunt their approval at this
one. It resets the bar in terms of hardware design.
The iPhone 5 comes in either white and
silver or black and slate. And just as it doesn’t feel cheap, it doesn’t come
cheap.
The $838 (16GB), $966 (32GB), and $1,095
(64GB) price tags make you gasp and gulp. That’s a lot of bucks for this bang.
But if you want the most evolved and
refined phone out there right now and one that offers unarguably the best cache
of fine spun apps you’ve got to shell out the shillings. If you have extra
moolah stashed in your bank, it may be well worth the monetary setback to pick
this first among equals.
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Specifications
§ Price:
$838 (16GB)
§ Thickness:
0.3 inches
§ Weight:
0.25 pounds
§ Form
factor: Slab
§ Screen
size (diagonal): 4 inches
§ Carriers:
AT&T
§ Operating
system: iOS
§ Launch
OS version: 6.0
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