Ah, to review the iPhone 5;
what a blessing, and what a curse. It's actually funny to think that
there was a time not that long ago that the iPhone wasn't even a thing,
let alone an iconic part of pop culture. A time when an Apple-made
phone was just a fantasy; a blogger's fever-dream; a secret glimmer in
the eye of Steve Jobs and his team of engineers and designers.
But the iPhone has become very
real. In fact, it's grown up, moved out, and taken over the world. Well,
half the world anyhow. These days the iPhone isn't just components on a
breadboard in a lab in Cupertino, it's the device by which all others
are measured. And that makes for some interesting measuring indeed.
The new iteration of Apple's
phone is everything it should be: faster, smarter, thinner, and lighter.
It boasts LTE data speeds, improved cameras, a larger screen with a
higher resolution, and a design which — while not groundbreaking — is
unquestionably beautiful. But it's also very much the iPhone you've seen
before. Apple's iOS 6 software is not a leap forward, but a small jump,
and the phone design is an evolution of the iPhone 4S, not a
revolutionary new spin.
So does the new iPhone 5 retain
its title as MVP in smartphones, or is it just another contender in a
big, big game? Read on for my full review and find out.
Design and hardware
Until you've held it, you haven't seen it
iPhone 5 review pictures
You may think you've seen this
device before, but trust me: until you've held the new iPhone, you
really haven't seen it at all. While the basic design of the phone
mimics the look of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, the actual components,
materials, sizing, and weight make it seem like another device entirely.
The iPhone 5 retains nearly the
exact shape of the iPhone 4, with its rounded corners, glass-covered
façade, and metal band running around the edges of the device. Where the
5 differs is its brushed aluminum backing capped by glass on the top
and bottom and the placement of the screen and back within the housing.
Previously, both sat above the metal band, pushed off the surface of the
phone. Now they're integrated and flush with the band, removing the
harsh step from one surface to the other. It's a minor detail, but one
you sense immediately when you're holding the phone.
You'll also immediately sense
how little it weighs. The iPhone 5 feels extremely light in your hand,
weighing just 3.9 ounces (compared to the iPhone 4S's 4.9 ounces). That
makes for a device that almost doesn't seem heavy enough when you first
pick it up — in fact, when I first handled it after the announcement, it
nearly went flying out of my hands.
Truly something to behold
The phone is also thinner and
of course taller. Combined with the lighter weight, it feels somehow
smaller in your hands despite that new 4-inch display.
Apple moved the headphone jack
to the bottom of the phone, which is a welcome change in my opinion. It
also slightly tweaked some of the details on the device, like the grid
on the speakers and the more polished, streamlined beveled edges on the
sides of the phone. The mirrored, angular rims give the phone a glint
akin to jewelry (something I noted in my first hands-on with the
device).
In all, while the iPhone 5
might look familiar, the sheer attention to fit and finish in its build
lends it a sense of quality and craftsmanship that far too many devices
lack. The new design — particularly the black version, which has a kind
of sinister simplicity to it — is truly something to behold.
In the past, Apple has often
treated "feeds and speeds" as an afterthought — something that seemed
like an annoyance rather than an opportunity. The company appeared to be
leaving the specs race behind in its march towards the Post PC future
it's been designing. But the folks in Cupertino have come out swinging
with the latest iPhone (even though Apple demurred on some facts, like
clock speed).
Inside the iPhone 5 you'll find a new dual-core A6 CPU running at a reported
1GHz, 1GB of RAM, between 16GB and 64GB of storage (I tested the 64GB
version), and an assortment of radios supporting Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n on
both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, 3G and LTE on both CDMA and GSM
networks, and a GPS chip. Of course.
LTE speeds were excellent on
the device, and general performance seemed excellent — easily surpassing
what I'm accustomed to on the 4S, which is no slouch (more on both of
these points later).
The device also features new
cameras; an 8 megapixel shooter on back and a 1.2 megapixel version
around front, and sports a compass, proximity sensor, ambient light
sensor, gyroscope, and accelerometer.
Display
As you may have heard, Apple
has increased the size of the display on the iPhone 5 to 4 inches (at an
1136 x 640 resolution), as opposed to the 3.5-inch screens that have
dominated every other model in the line. Prior to the release of the new
phone, there were many people who argued that the 3.5-inch display was
scientifically perfect — having been engineered to match the average
reach of a thumb — and a larger screen would create all sorts of
usability problems. Undoubtedly those poor individuals are undergoing
surgery as we speak in the hopes that they may someday be able to reach
the upper left corner of the iPhone 5's screen with their right-hand
thumb. I can tell you I've had no such troubles, but then again I have
huge, monster-like hands.
In other areas, a new
treatment has been utilized on the display which Apple claims produces
brighter colors as well as deeper blacks while reducing display
thickness. In a side-by-side comparison with the iPhone 4S, it did look
better to my eyes, though next to the excellent screen of the
higher-resolution HTC One X, the improved imaging was less apparent.
Other than the additional row
of visible icons and some extra emails in view, the new screen size is
put to weirdly little use in the software. Yes, apps show more
information, but nowhere in the OS is the additional screen real estate
utilized for anything that would make sense... you know, like an area
for notifications that doesn't interfere with other onscreen activities
(more on this below as well).
Sound and reception
The sound on the new iPhone is
crystal clear for both incoming audio on the earpiece or speaker, and
outgoing audio from the mic on the device (or at least that's what
callers told me). Apple has included three microphones on the new device
to pick up sound as well as help with noise reduction, and it seems to
be working.
The speaker was especially
loud and clear for calls and playing back audio, but never distorted or
otherwise bad sounding in a way that made me feel life wasn't worth
living.
As far as reception was
concerned, I had only one noticeable dropped call, but it occurred while
riding in a cab through Manhattan — not exactly the best place in the
world to make and receive cellular phone calls. Overall I was happy with
the results.
EarPods
Apple has included a new type
of earbud with the iPhone 5 called EarPods. The partially in-ear headset
seems considerably more robust than the previous throwaway pair that
Apple included with older devices. Sound from the odd looking, white
semi-spheres was clear, though a bit bass heavy. The buds still don't
fit in my ears and do feel as if they're going to fall right out when
I'm walking around — a problem I had with the older versions as well.
However, the warm throb they produce is markedly better than before. I
think I still prefer the cheap RHA MA-350 earbuds you can buy on Amazon
for around $40, but as the bundled free pair, the EarPods do a fine
(though not revolutionary) job.
iPhone 5 camera shots
The
new camera on the iPhone 5 is absolutely stunning. Let me be clear, it's
one of the best cameras I've ever used on a smartphone — and a fine
camera by point-and-shoot standards. The pictures from the iSight
shooter on the back of the device look crisp, clear, and ultra-defined.
The depth of field is shallow enough that you're able to produce shots
that look dramatic without verging into parody. Wider shots looked
fantastic as well, and macro performance was excellent. As I expected,
color reproduction was a little bit blown out compared to other devices
(though actually somewhat better than the 4S, as it's less artificially
saturated). I wouldn't say the exaggerated hues are a dealbreaker by any
measure.
As expected, the full HD video
was no slouch either — capturing mostly shake-free content that looks
just as good as still images. Video processing seemed especially speedy
on the phone, and uploads on LTE were, of course, totally awesome.
The new front-facing camera
was surprisingly good at snapping the hundreds of self portraits I took
while testing the phone. The camera didn't improve my looks, but I was
able to study the increasing amount of gray hair and wrinkles each
iPhone review gives me in painstaking detail.
On the software side, not much
is new save for the much-touted panorama mode. If you don't understand
panorama photography, it allows you to pan across a large scene at a
constant pace, snapping photos as the phone's software stitches them
together in one big... panoramic picture. iOS implements this mode
better than most devices, though the guided movement isn't novel — many
current dedicated cameras and even Android devices contain similar
functionality. That said, the results produced by the iPhone 5 were
markedly better than most (though low-lighting did cause some noticeable
noise), and depending on how slowly and smoothly you move your hand you
can take shots as high as 30 megapixels.
If you're used to the iPhone
4S camera, the new shooter won't seem like a massive change in quality,
but side-by-side there's definitely a bump in definition and clarity in
the images the iPhone 5 produces. Perhaps challengers like Nokia's Lumia 920
will be able to knock Apple off of its throne here, but right now the
iPhone 5 is the device to have in your pocket if you're leaving the
point-and-shoot at home.
Lightning port
The new Lightning port Apple introduced caused something of a stir in the world of accessory makers,
as well as users who've collected countless iPhone add-ons over the
years — all of which utilize the now-old 30-pin dock connector. Though
Apple will make adapters available, some functionality will be lost in
translation: the new connectors won't support video out or iPod-out,
which will render some setups non- or partially-functioning. This is
particularly true for automakers, some of whom have already released
statements noting reduced operation when the adapter is in use.
The port itself, which is
roughly the size of a Micro USB jack, but position agnostic (you can
insert the plug either way) doesn't bring much new functionality either.
It's USB 2.0 on the other end, so sync speeds won't suddenly crank up.
The use of the smaller plug seems to be almost entirely about downsizing
components, which is fine, though in the short term it's sure to annoy a
handful of customers.
The Lightning port doesn't bring new functionality
Performance
Faster performance on the
iPhone 5 was not exactly unexpected. Every year, Apple bests itself in
the speed of operation for its phones, and I had no doubt the company
would accomplish a bump in the new device. After touting what the A6
processor and its GPU could do on stage at its event two weeks ago, I
knew that the iPhone 5 would feel faster than its predecessor. My only
surprise was that the increase in speed wasn't quite as noticeable
between the 4S and the 5. That may have more to do with the
still-excellent performance of the iPhone 4S (particularly with iOS 6)
than it does with the A6.
When running
graphically-intensive games, there are clearly some improvements in
frame rates, as well as a noticeable lack of stutter on the iPhone 5.
General multitasking and app performance was superb. In particular, the
new Maps 3D Flyover view pushed the phone hard, and the differences
between the older and newer models was clear. Basically — there's not
much to complain about when it comes to speed on the new phone. It's
really, really fast.
A noticeable lack of stutter
Battery Life
One of the most amazing feats
Apple pulled off in the thinner, lighter iPhone 5 is that the battery
life is not only as good as the previous phone... it's actually better.
Even when using LTE data!
During my time testing the
phone, I did find that the battery life was improved over the 4S, though
lately my 4S levels have been dipping at an alarming rate. The iPhone 5
managed to stay with me through a typical day of heavy use (web
browsing, loads of email and Twitter, some gaming, music playback, and
occasionally watching videos), though the meter was often near zero when
I placed the phone back on the charger in the evening. Part of the
battery drain can definitely be attributed to iOS's confusing and poor
handling of lock screen notifications, which bizarrely wake the display
up every single time a new notification comes in. That's fine if you're a
casual user, but I get enough email and mentions on Twitter that the
alerts seemed to be affecting battery life. When I turned off email and
Twitter notifications on the lock screen, I did a little bit better.
Still, the long and short is
that the iPhone 5's battery lives up to Apple's claims. You should have
no fear about getting through a reasonable day, even with LTE data
flowing in and out — but for heavier users, you're going to want to keep
a wall charger handy.
Data speeds
The LTE data on the iPhone 5
is absolutely fantastic. I tested the AT&T version of the phone, and
saw some of the strongest download and upload speeds yet on the
network. In midtown Manhattan, I managed to score between 5 and 10Mbps
downstream, and weirdly, much higher numbers up (all the way up to
14Mbps). In Brooklyn, where I saw fewer bars, the speeds generally
hovered between 5 and 10Mbps — certainly better than anything I see on
standard AT&T 3G. Excuse me, I mean "4G."
In most situations, the speed
was enough to go without Wi-Fi if I wanted, though of course that kind
of throughput can result in nasty bills if you're not careful. I'm
certain the meager 4GB of monthly data I pay for will be whisked away if
I don't keep watch on what I'm doing — LTE is just too easy to spend
bits on.
I will say this: the LTE
performance coupled with that improved battery life is possibly reason
enough to buy this phone. It's just very, very good.
Software
There's much to be said about
the latest version of iOS present in the new iPhone (and present in the
old iPhone, and the iPad) — and we've actually got a full review of the software itself. Still, I have some personal thoughts on the older pieces of the stack, as well as new additions Apple has added to the mix.
The new iOS is everything you
would expect. Clean, simple, fast, and easy to understand. It is the
very best that iOS has ever been.
But it's crucial to point out
that the gulf between iOS 5 and iOS 6 is extremely narrow for most
users. True to form, Apple is making nips and tucks, tweaks, stylistic
edits — not reinventing what the OS does or how it does it. There are
some wonderful new flourishes in the operation system — the kinds of
things Apple is known for, such as reflections on your music controls
that change when you tilt the phone, or the mutating pull-to-refresh
animation now present in the Mail app. The company has added some really
great little touches, like reply with text when you refuse a call
(present in other phone OSes, but nice to see here), and Do Not Disturb,
which lets you set a time window when only the most important people
can get through to you. Ah, silence.
Overall, though, this is still
the same iOS you know, and all the steps you took to get things done in
the last OS, or in iOS 4, or iOS 3 even — well those are pretty much
the same too.
And some of those steps are
maddening, or poorly thought out. In particular, Apple's implementation
of "unobtrusive" notifications while you're using the phone stands out
as one the weaker components of the system. Originally I saw
Notification Center as a welcome relief from Apple's pop-up messages and
alerts, but the way the company handles these beacons can now be nearly
as annoying as the previous version. As I mentioned, instead of
utilizing that new, taller screen to give you notifications removed from
areas of the phone you regularly need to access (you know, like menus
in apps), the notifications continue to pop down over the upper portion
of the screen. The result is that you feel trapped, waiting for the
message to disappear before you can access buttons you need to get to,
or forced to swipe to the left on the message — a hidden function which
scurries the dropdown away.
Elsewhere, Apple is still
making users jump through hoops to perform simple tasks, like switching
to a private browsing window or clearing the cache in Safari. It takes
no less than six button presses and home key taps to make that happen
while browsing. Settings in general are a mess — wonderful when you
first set up the phone ("hey! everything is in one place!") but
frustrating later when you have dozens of apps ("hey... everything is in
one place"). Multitasking remains a black box, not representing app
states and forcing what should be "always on" applications like IM
clients into a constant state of shutdown warnings. Twitter won't update
in the background (nor will clients like Tweetbot), meaning that you're
always playing catchup with "realtime" services. (Mind you, on Android
the Twitter app will load updates in the background, meaning that even
if you're disconnected you'll likely have new content to view.) It
sounds minor, but when taken as a whole and spread across multiple
applications, it makes the OS feel claustrophobic, mysterious, and
downright unhelpful at times.
There are also missed
opportunities. Apple has opened social sharing options up to Twitter and
Facebook, which is wonderful, but everyone else is out in the cold.
Want to save a file to a Dropbox folder? Read an article later using
Pocket? Post a picture to Tumblr right from the browser? Sorry, that's
not possible. There may be some hacky bookmarklet to accomplish the
task, but I can't imagine anyone believes that a kludgy line of
JavaScript is the most elegant way to accomplish those tasks. And by the
way, these are things I do every day on my phone, and things that I
know lots of other people do. They may be fringe to Apple's target user,
but they are a real part of the market at large. They are the part of
the market pushing what smartphones are capable of and what they mean to
users.
Apple also leaves developers
empty-handed on widgets. It provides the minimally useful weather and
stock widgets for the notification drawer, but isn't opening up that
space to anyone else. And I must mention this — the fact that the
weather icon continues to read 73 degrees and sunny
when it is clearly possible to have icons update with at least some
information (see the calendar icon) is now laughable at best, and sad at
worst.
And what about actionable
notifications? Notifications in Jelly Bean can be acted on without
having to jump into an app, which is a fantastic addition to Android. I
use them all the time. I would have loved to see Apple innovate in this
area — especially considering the fact that iOS multitasking still
doesn't represent an "always on" experience.
Don't get me wrong, iOS is a
beautiful and well-structured mobile operating system — but it's begun
to show its age. It feels less useful to me today than it did a couple
of years ago, especially in the face of increasingly sophisticated
competition. I always have this sense now in iOS of not knowing where I
am, what my status is — constantly having to load things and reload
them. It feels tiring.
Maybe you'll call me an
Android fanboy for saying this, or maybe it's because much of my
business utilizes Google apps and its communication tools, but it didn't
take me very long with the iPhone 5 to start thinking about getting
back to the Galaxy Nexus and Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). For what I do, I
think it's a more effective, more elegant, and more powerful OS right
now. What it may lack in polish and consistency, it makes up for in
power and flexibility.
Maps
The new Maps application in
iOS 6 is really handsome. It's smooth, fast, and now provides free
turn-by-turn navigation. The new Maps also shows off some of Apple's new
technology, partnerships, and acquisitions with its 3D Flyover mode,
Yelp integration, and hooks into and out of Siri.
But for me, and for many people I know, the new Maps application is a big step backward for iOS — a "downgrade,"
as John Gruber called it in his review of the iPhone 5 — and one that
will take time, perhaps years, to become great again. It's not
impossible to see Apple building its Maps into something stellar, but
the company needs data that it simply doesn't have right now.
Apple previously relied on
Google's mapping prowess to power this application on the phone. That
relationship has ended — linked undoubtedly to the ever-growing
animosity between the two companies — and that has left iOS users with a vastly inferior product.
In fact, the product becomes even more inferior in the face of the
latest Android Google Maps app, which continues to build on Google's
rich mapping data and content partnerships.
The new Maps can be great at
times, mind you. Turn-by-turn worked very well for me, and its interface
is smartly and cleanly laid out. I had a couple of issues where the GPS
seemed to lose signal or navigation stalled out altogether, but that's
happened on other phones, so I don't know how much it's the fault of the
iPhone 5 or Maps. TomTom is powering the navigation, and it seems like
there are still kinks to be worked out. Traffic data, for instance, was
scarce when compared side-by-side with Google Maps.
The Flyover mode I mentioned
is a nice effect, but compared to what Google now offers — extensive
Street View, indoor maps for some stores or museums — it's hard to be
too impressed by detailed renderings of buildings. It's beautiful, but
not exactly useful.
But perhaps the biggest issue
with the new Maps is its complete lack of transit data. This may not be
an issue in other parts of the world, but in New York, having
up-to-the-minute subway info can be seem like a matter of life or death
on some days. Apple seems to be relying on developers to provide apps
that will handle this data, and there are some apps that do the job
decently right now, but it seems like a cheap and counterintuitive way
out of this problem. Since when does Apple choose to let developers pick
up the slack of its first-party applications on the iPhone?
Mail is largely unchanged,
save for a few new features. Firstly, you're able to pull down to
refresh, which is a nice addition. Secondly, Mail now boasts a "VIP"
inbox, where you can assign specific contacts, sort of like Google's
"Priority Inbox," but much more manual. It's also easier to flag
messages in Mail, though it never seemed like too big of a hassle for me
in the first place.
Most of the changes are for
the better, if subtle. One thing that hasn't changed, however, is Mail's
inability to search message content. It didn't do it before, and it
doesn't do it now. That can be a little trying when you're on the go and
need information, but don't know the best way to get at it — it seems
like a minor addition to index those messages, so I'm not sure why Apple
isn't doing it. Is it to hurt us? A future update? Who can say.
Siri
I'm happy to report that Siri —
while still not out of beta — seems far more capable on the iPhone 5
(and frankly, on the updated 4S) than ever before. Not only can the new
Siri now do things like Tweet and post to Facebook for you, open
applications, give you sports scores and detailed information on movies,
but she generally just seems to be better and faster at finding all
kinds of information.
A number of times while
testing the iPhone 5, I used Siri to handle tasks that I didn't have my
hands free for. The service responded quickly and got the correct
information I was looking for or carried out the requested task on the
first try. A noticeable improvement from the previous generation, though
I'm certain that the LTE connectivity when out and about is helping
Siri get connected much faster.
Passbook
Passbook is kind of like an
answer to a question no one asked. At least, I'm not asking it. Maybe
this is the kind of thing that will be really hot somewhere that I don't
hang out very often — like the South? Okay, I just checked; one member
of The Verge team is really excited about this idea.
Regardless, the new app —
which collects the QR codes and vital info from plane tickets, Starbucks
cards, movie tickets, etc. — is certainly novel. Right now, Passbook
feels as if it could be very useful... or it could be the next Ping. An
experiment gone horribly wrong.
Only time will tell, as many
of the apps which utilize the functionality don't seem to be working yet
for me (Fandango, for instance). Apple reps assured me that many
services are going live on launch day, so everyone will have a better
opportunity to roadtest the new tool.
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