iPHONE 5 FULL REVIEW: FINALLY THE iPHONE WE ALWAYS WANTED
- PART 1
[PHOTO - Scott Stein, CNET
Senior editor E-mail
Scott ]
CYBERSPACE,
SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 (CNET.COM) BY SCOT STEIN - The good: The iPhone 5 adds
everything we wanted in the iPhone 4S: 4G LTE, a longer, larger screen, free
turn-by-turn navigation, and a faster A6 processor. Plus, its top-to-bottom
redesign is sharp, slim, and feather-light.
The bad: Apple Maps feels unfinished and buggy; Sprint and Verizon
models can't use voice and data simultaneously. The smaller connector renders
current accessories unusable without an adapter. There's no NFC, and the screen
size pales in comparison to jumbo Android models.
[Apple demos its new Maps app at the iPhone 5 launch event
on September 12. (Credit: James Martin/CNET) After
users this week discovered glitches in Apple's update to its mobile operating
system -- the first to include the company's mapping technology instead of
Google's Maps app -- the conventional wisdom had it that Apple acted in a very
un-Apple-like manner by pushing live an obviously defective
product.]
The bottom line: The iPhone 5 completely rebuilds the iPhone on a
framework of new features and design, addressing its major previous
shortcomings. It's absolutely the best iPhone to date, and it easily secures its
place in the top tier of the smartphone universe.
The iPhone 5 is the iPhone we've wanted since 2010, adding long-overdue
upgrades like a larger screen and faster 4G LTE in a razor-sharp new design.
This is the iPhone, rebooted.
The new design is flat-out lovely, both to look at and to hold, and it's hard
to find a single part that hasn't been tweaked from the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5
is at once completely rebuilt and completely familiar.
I've had the chance to use the iPhone 5 for nearly a week, and have been
using it for nearly anything I can think of. Is it as futuristic or as exciting
as the iPhone 4 or the original iPhone? No. Does this change the smartphone
game? No. Other smartphones beat it on features here and there: if you want a
larger screen, go with a Samsung Galaxy S3. If you want better battery life, go
with a Droid Razr Maxx.
But, if you want a great, all-around, beautifully engineered smartphone that
covers all bases, here it is. Just like the MacBook is to the world of laptops,
the new iPhone is one of the top three, if not the best-designed, smartphone
around. It's better in all the important ways.
Editors' note: we are continuing to update this review with additional
observations and test results. It will continue to evolve in the days ahead.
(Credit: Sarah Tew)
What's different? Look at our review of last year's iPhone 4S, where
we said, "Even without 4G and a giant screen, this phone's smart(ass) voice
assistant, Siri, the benefits of iOS 5, and its spectacular camera make it a top
choice for anyone ready to upgrade."
(Credit: CNET)
Well, guess what? Now it has 4G LTE and...well, maybe not a giant screen, but
a larger screen. That's not all, though: the already great camera's been subtly
improved, speakerphone and noise-canceling quality has been tweaked, and -- as
always -- iOS 6 brings a
host of other improvements, including baked-in turn-by-turn navigation, a
smarter Siri, and Passbook, a location-aware digital wallet app for storing
documents like gift cards, boarding passes, and tickets.
The question is: a full year later, is that enough? For me, it is. I don't
want much more in my smartphone. Sure, I'd love a new magical technology to sink
my teeth into, but not at the expense of being useful. Right now, I'm not sure
what that technology would even be.
(Credit: CNET)
Like every year in the iPhone's life cycle, a handful of important new
features take the spotlight. This time, 4G, screen size, and redesign step to
the top.
You've gotten the full rundown already, most likely, on the various ins and
outs of this phone, or if you haven't, I'll tell you about them below in greater
detail. Here's what I noticed right away, and what made the biggest impression
on me.
(Credit: CNET)
First off, you're going to be shocked at how light this phone is. It's the
lightest iPhone, even though it's longer and has a bigger screen. After a few
days with it, the iPhone 4S will feel as dense as lead.
Secondly, the screen size lengthening is subtle, but, like the Retina
Display, you're going to have a hard time going back once you've used it. The
extra space adds a lot to document viewing areas above the keyboard,
landscape-oriented video playback (larger size and less letterboxing), and
home-page organizing (an extra row of icons/folders). Who knows what game
developers will dream up, but odds are that extra space on the sides in
landscape mode will be handily used by virtual buttons and controls.
(Credit: Sarah Tew)
Third, this phone will make your home Wi-Fi look bad. Or at least, it did
that to mine. Owners of other 4G LTE phones won't be shocked, but iPhone owners
making the switch will start noticing that staying on LTE versus Wi-Fi might
actually produce faster results...of course, at the expense of expensive data
rates. I hopped off my work Wi-Fi and used AT&T LTE in midtown Manhattan to
make a FaceTime call to my wife because the former was slowing down. LTE, in my
tests, ran anywhere from 10 to 20Mbps, which is up to twice as fast as my
wireless router's connection at home.
Using your iPhone 5 as a personal hot spot for a laptop or other device
produces some of the same strong results as the third-gen iPad...and it's
smaller. Of course, make sure you check on your tethering charges and data usage
fees, but my MacBook Air did a fine job running off the LTE data connection at
midday.
(Credit: CNET)
The look: Thin, metal, light as heck You know its look, even if the look has
been subtly transformed over the years: circular Home button, pocketable
rectangle, familiarly sized screen. Can that design be toyed with, transformed a
little, changed?
From left: The Lumia 900, iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3. (Credit: CNET)
The newest iPhone has a wide metal body that stretches above previous
iPhones, but is also thinner; still, this isn't a massive phone like the Samsung
Galaxy Note or HTC One X. The iPhone 5 rises above the iPhone 4 and 4S, but
subtly.
From left: The Lumia 900, iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3. (Credit: CNET)
The newest iPhone has a wide metal body that stretches above previous
iPhones, but is also thinner; still, this isn't a massive phone like the Samsung
Galaxy Note or HTC One X. The iPhone 5 rises above the iPhone 4 and 4S, but
subtly.
Credit: CNET)
From the front and sides, it looks very similar to the iPhone 4 and 4S. The
same rounded metal volume buttons, sleep/wake button on top, and silence switch
remain. The headphone jack has moved to the bottom of the phone, just on like
the iPod Touch. Some will like it, some won't; it makes standing the iPhone
upright and using headphones a virtual impossibility. Actually, the entire
bottom is all new: the headphone jack, the larger, redesigned speakers, a
different type of perforated grille, and a much tinier Lightning connector port.
Credit: CNET)
The Gorilla Glass back of the last iPhone is gone, replaced with metal. The
two-tone look might seem new, but it's a bit of a reference to the
silver-and-black back of the original iPhone. The very top and bottom of the
rear is still glass. That anodized aluminum -- which Apple claims is the same as
that on its MacBook laptops -- feels exactly the same, and is even shaded the
same on the white model. So far, it's held up without scratches. I'd say it'll
do about as well as the aluminum finish on your 2008-and-later MacBook. On the
black iPhone, the aluminum matches in a slate gray tone. On my white review
model, it's MacBook-color silver. That aluminum covers most of the back and also
the sides, replacing the iPhone 4 and 4S steel band, and lending to its lighter
weight. The front glass sits slightly above the aluminum, which is cut to a
mirrored angled edge on the front and back, eliminating sharp corners.
(Credit: CNET)
(Credit: CNET)
Why the move away from a glass back? Is it about creating a better, more
durable finish, or is it about weight reduction? Apple's proud of its claims of
how light the iPhone 5 is, and the new aluminum back is part of that. So is the
move to a Nano-SIM card (making SIM swaps once again impossible and requiring a
visit to your carrier's store). So is the thinner screen and the smaller dock
connector. You get the picture.
Hold an iPhone 4S up to the new iPhone, and I could see the difference in
thickness. It's not huge, but it feels even slimmer considering its expanded
width and length. What I really noticed is how light it is. I still feel weirded
out by it. The iPhone 5's 3.95-ounce weight is the lightest an iPhone's ever
been. The iPhone 4S is nearly a full ounce heavier at 4.9 ounces. The iPhone 3G
was 4.7 ounces. The original iPhone and iPhone 4 were 4.8 ounces. This is a
phase-change in the nearly constant weight of the iPhone -- it's iPhone Air.
Yet, the iPhone 5 doesn't look dramatically different like the iPhone 4 once
did. Actually, it seems more like a fusion of the iPhone with the iPad and
MacBook design.
(Credit: Sarah Tew)
And, of course, there's the new, larger screen. You may not notice it from a
distance -- the screen's still not as edge-to-edge on the top and bottom as many
Android phones, but extra empty space has been shaved away to accommodate the
display. There's a little less room around the Home Button and below the
earpiece. The iPhone 5 screen is just as tall as the screen on the Samsung
Galaxy S 2, but it's not as wide. That thinner body design gives the iPhone the
same hand feel, and what I think is an easier grip. The extra length covers a
bit more of your face on phone calls.
(Credit: Sarah Tew)
Over the last week with the iPhone 5, I started to forget that the phone was
any larger. That seems to be the point. And, the iPhone fit just fine in my
pants, too: the extra length has been traded out for less girth, so there's
little bulge. And, with that awkward statement having been uttered, I'll move
on.
That 4-inch screen: Going longer The iPhone 5 finally extends the 3.5-inch
screen that's been the same size on the iPhone for five years, but it does so by
going longer, not wider. A move from the iPhone 4 and 4S' 3.5-inch,
960x640-pixel display to a 4-inch, 1,136x640-pixel display effectively means the
same Retina Display (326 pixels per inch), but with extra pixel real estate
versus a magnified screen. All the icons and app buttons are the same size, but
there's more room for other features, or more space for videos and photos to be
displayed.
The iPhone's interface is the same as always: you have app icons greeting you
in a grid, and a dock of up to four apps at the bottom. Instead of a grid of
four rows of four apps, the longer screen accommodates five rows of four apps.
More apps can fit on the home screen, but that's about it as far as user
interface innovation. Extra screen height means pop-up notification banners are
less intrusive at the top or bottom.
(Credit: CNET)
It's odd at first going longer versus also adding width, and it means a shift
away from the iPad's more paperlike 4:3 display ratio. Pages of e-books could
feel more stretched. In portrait mode, document text may not seem larger, but
you'll see more of it in a list.
Credit: CNET)
In landscape mode, text actually seems bigger because page width stretches
out (so, you can fit more words on a line). The virtual keyboard in landscape
mode also ends up a bit more spread out, too, with a little extra space on the
sides, which took some getting used to.
(Credit: CNET)
I preferred portrait typing because the keyboard size and width remains the
same, while the extra length allows more visible text above the virtual keys.
The screen difference isn't always dramatic, especially compared with some
ultra-expansive Android devices: the Samsung Galaxy S3 beats it both on overall
screen size (4.8 inches) and pixel resolution (1,280x720). In the iOS 6 Mail
app, with one line of preview text, I fit six and a half messages on the screen
at the same time on the iPhone 5 versus five and a third on the iPhone 4 and 4S.
Other apps toy with the layout more; I fit eight tasks on one screen in the new
iOS 6 version of Reminders, versus five on the iPhone 4S with iOS 5.1.1.
Infinity Blade II, before iPhone 5 optimization. Note the black bars.
(Credit: CNET)
Of course, you'll need new apps to take advantage of the longer screen, and
at the time I tested the iPhone 5, those weren't available because iOS 6 hadn't
formally launched. Older apps run in a letterboxed type of mode at the same size
as existing phones, with little black bars on the top and bottom. Apps work
perfectly fine this way, especially in portrait mode, but you definitely notice
the difference. App-makers will be scrambling to make their apps take advantage
of the extra screen space, and my guess is it won't take long at all for most to
be iPhone 5 (and iPod Touch) ready.
(Credit: CNET)
I tried iMovie, iPhoto, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, GarageBand, iCards, and all
of the iPhone 5's built-in apps (Maps, Reminders, Messages, Photos, Camera,
Videos, Weather, Passbook, Notes, Stocks, Newsstand, iTunes, the App Store, Game
Center, Contacts, Calculator, Compass, Voice Memos, Mail, Safari, Music, and, of
course, Phone), and they all take advantage of the extra space in a variety of
useful ways. How others will adopt the extra real estate remains to be seen.
(Credit: CNET)
I'm looking forward to killer apps that will take advantage of the larger
screen. So far, I haven't found any that do it in surprising ways. My guess is
that games will benefit the most, along with video and photo apps, and, to some
degree, reading/news apps.
(Credit: CNET)
Video playback, of course, has a lot more punch because the new 16:9 aspect
ratio reduces or removes letterboxing across the board in landscape mode. An HD
episode of "Planet Earth" filled the entire screen, while the available viewing
space shrank down even more on the iPhone 4S because of letterboxing. YouTube
videos looked great. Some movies, of course, like Pixar's "Wall-E," still have
letterboxing because they're shot in the superwide CinemaScope aspect ratio
(21:9), but they look a lot larger than before -- and you can still zoom in with
a tap on the screen.
I think that, much like the Retina Display, you'll miss the iPhone 5's new
screen more when you try to go back to an older phone. The new display feels
like a natural, so much so that to the casual eye, the iPhone 5 doesn't look
entirely different with the screen turned off. The iPhone 4 and 4S screens feel
small and hemmed-in by comparison.
iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S video playback of the same 1080p nature video.
(Credit: CNET)
The new iPhone 5's display also has a layer removed from the screen, creating
a display that acts as its own capacitive surface. I didn't notice that
difference using it; it feels as crisp and fast-responding as before. Apple
promises 44 percent extra color saturation on this new display, much like the
third-gen iPad's improved color saturation. The difference wasn't as dramatic in
a side-by-side playback of a 1080p episode of "Planet Earth," but the iPhone 5
seemed to have a slight edge. It was a little too close to call in game-playing,
photo-viewing, and everyday experience with the phone, even held side-by-side
with the iPhone 4S. The real difference, again, is the size. Autobrightness
adjustments have also been tweaked a little, and I found on average that the
iPhone 5 found more-appropriate brightness levels for the room I was in.
(Credit: CNET)
This seems like a good time to discuss thumbs. As in, your thumb size and the
iPhone 5. Going back to the iPhone 4S, I realized that the phone's design has
been perfectly aligned to allow a comfortable bridge between thumbing the Home
button and stretching all the way to the top icon on the iPhone's 3.5-inch
display. That's not entirely the case, now. I could, with some positioning,
still thumb the Home button and make my way around the taller screen, but the
iPhone 5's a little more of a two-hander. It might encourage more people and app
developers to switch to landscape orientation, where the extra length and pixel
space provide finger room on both sides without cramming the middle.
(Credit: CNET)
Game developers are likely to lean toward the landscape 16:9 orientation,
because it more closely matches a standard HDTV's dimensions, and most console
games. The extra width allows useful virtual button space, too.
4G LTE: Faster, at last Last year's iPhone 4S had a subtle network bump to
3.5G (listed as "4G" on the iPhone 4S following iOS 5.1), offering faster data
speeds on AT&T. The iPhone 5 finally adopts faster LTE, joining most other
smartphones on the market and even the third-gen iPad, with the leap to LTE back
in March. (On the top corner of the iPhone, the service indicator reads "LTE"
when it's up and running.) However, the presence of LTE doesn't mean a world LTE
phone; currently, LTE roaming between carriers overseas is impossible.
(Credit: CNET)
There's also support, depending on the iPhone 5 version you buy, for slower
GSM (including EDGE and UMTS/HSPA) and CDMA/EV-DO networks. The iPhone 5's LTE
uses a single chip for voice and data, a single radio chip, and a "dynamic
antenna" that will switch connections between different networks automatically.
In the United States, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless will carry the
iPhone 5. T-Mobile loses out. In Canada, it's Rogers, Bell, Telus, Fido, Virgin,
and Koodo. In Asia, the providers will be SoftBank, SmarTone, SingTel, and SK
Telecom. For Australia there's Telstra, Optus, and Virgin Mobile, and in Europe
it will go to Deutsche Telekom and EE. On carriers without LTE, the iPhone 5
will run on dual-band 3.5G HDPA+. I didn't notice any problems when switching
between LTE and 4G, but I tended to find myself stationary in a place that had
LTE service or a place that didn't, without much time to test the transition
midcall.
There's a catch, though: there are now two versions of iPhone 5 in the U.S.,
one GSM model and another version for the CDMA carriers. You may not have your
dream of a universal LTE phone, but international roaming is possible between 2G
and 3G. Also, get ready to accept that Verizon and Sprint iPhone 5s still won't
be able to make calls and access data simultaneously, even though many other
Verizon/Sprint LTE phones can pull this off. That's because those other phones
use a two-antenna system for LTE/voice (voice doesn't run over LTE yet), while
the iPhone 5 only uses one plus a dynamic antenna for what Apple says is more
connection stability.
Nevertheless, data access via 4G LTE is stunningly fast. This is no gentle
upgrade. In my home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I tested both my
AT&T iPhone 4S and the AT&T iPhone 5 at the same time. The iPhone 4S
averaged a 2.4Mbps download speeds over "4G," whereas the iPhone 5 averaged
20.31Mbps. In comparison, my home wireless Internet via Time Warner averaged
9.02Mbps at the hour I tested (1:30 a.m.).
(Credit: CNET)
The difference can be felt loading Web pages: the mobile version of CNET took
5.3 seconds over LTE, versus 8.5 seconds on the iPhone 4S. A graphically
intensive Web site like the desktop version of Huffington Post took 16 seconds
to load via LTE, versus 23.3 seconds on the iPhone 4S in 4G.
Those who already use 4G LTE may simply be nodding their heads, but to iPhone
owners looking to upgrade, this is major news. For many people, LTE will be
faster than their own home broadband.
Of course, that's a dangerous seduction: with fast LTE comes expensive rates
and data caps. AT&T also requires a specific plan to even enable FaceTime
over cellular. Make sure you don't fall down the rabbit hole of overusing your
LTE, because believe me, you're going to want to. I tried setting it up a
wireless hot spot for my MacBook Air, and the result was generally excellent.
Outside major cities, it's not quite as exciting if you don't have LTE
coverage. Using the AT&T iPhone 5 out in East Setauket, Long Island, data
download speed was merely 3.5Mbps because of a lack of AT&T LTE service.
Verizon's LTE coverage map is larger, but Sprint's LTE network is small as well.
My experience with AT&T and LTE may not necessarily be yours.
Wi-Fi has also gotten a bit of a boost via dual-band 802.11n support over
both 2.5GHz and 5GHz. It should help in the event of interference with other
Wi-Fi devices, although I never encountered that problem before, even with tons
of Wi-Fi gadgets scattered about my apartment.
(Credit: Sarah Tew)
The camera Something on the iPhone 5 has to not be new, right? Well, even the
rear iSight camera's been tweaked, but not quite as much as other features. It's
still an 8-megapixel camera, but there's a new sapphire-crystal lens, and
improved hardware enabling features like dynamic low-lighting adjustment, image
stabilization on the 1080p video camera, and the capability to take still shots
while shooting video.
(Credit: CNET)
The camera takes excellent pictures, a bit more so now than before. The
iPhone 5 takes far clearer low-light pictures, but the result, while more
coherent, is grainier and lower resolution than the wonderfully detailed images
taken in bright, direct light. I ran around in semi-darkness in my son's room
taking pictures of his toys, and found that the iPhone 5 was able to make things
out in places where the iPhone 4S couldn't.
Indoor shot with the iPhone 5. (Credit: CNET)
I settled for some indoor house shots instead to show off how the camera
works in dimmer conditions. Of course, you'll probably use flash in those
instances, but it can't hurt to have it as a backup.
iPhone 5 camera, outdoors. (Credit: CNET) Continue to next page 1 2 .
TO BE CONTINUED......
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