THERE’S The Easy way to explain an Apple iPhone 5: it’s thinner, lighter plus a little higher than the 4S. While this summary certainly conveys the general look of the phone, it underestimates what’s disappeared in the design for it striking handheld.
Apple has managed to shave 1.4mm from the thickness of its previous phone. If you comparing the two models side by side, it’s quite obvious. The iPhone 4S’s screen and back bulge out from the side, whereas the iPhone 5 has a flush-fitting back, and the screen is barely raised at all.
While the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 are clearly related, there are some aesthetic changes to the new model, which give it a different look and help to keep the weight down. Gone is the all-glass rear, changed with an aluminium panel that covers almost all of the back of the phone, bar two glass panels at the top and bottom. We’ve been told that during manufacturing, the back of the phone is photographed with the aluminium panel in place, so that the best-fitting glass panels can be found. Our review model was certainly well put together, with a flush-fitting rear.
Bigger Screen
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| Bigger screen |
The iPhone 5 features a bigger 4in screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio, as opposed to the 3:2 aspect ratio used on the iPhone 4S. What this means in practice is that both screens are the same width, however the iPhone 5’s is slightly taller, with a resolution of 1,136x640, maintaining the same high 326ppi pixel density, (whereas the iPhone 4S has a resolution of 960x640). This is still a Retina display, which Apple defines as a screen where you can’t see individual pixels.
The extra resolution is useful, as you can now fit five rows of icons on the homescreen, up from four on the iPhone 4S. It also makes sense when you use a lot of the applications: you can view more calendar appointments and emails in a list, for example. Typing with the phone in portrait mode is also easier, as there’s more space above the keyboard for text, making it easier to see what you’re writing and correct any mistakes as necessary.
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| Retina Display |
It’s not just a bigger screen. The iPhone 5s display embeds the touch components with the actual pixels, removing a layer from the old screen. As well as being thinner, the new screen is brighter with higher colour saturation. Compared side by side with an iPhone 45, we really noticed the difference; the iPhone S’s screen looks a lot more vibrant, with more pleasing colours. The screen is evenly lit and the viewing angles are excellent, with the display easy to see from any angle. A 16:9 display also makes more sense if you’re watching a lot of TV programmes or films on your phone. The screen suits the aspect ratios usually used, leading to a reduction (if not complete removal) of black bars.
A6 Chip
Along with the new phone comes a new processor: the Apple A6. Apple promises this is twice as fast as the iPhone 4S for the CPU and provides double the graphics performance. It’s also 22 per cent smaller. It’s hard to test a phone’s processor, but this dual-core model certainly proved itself in the tests we performed. The SunSpider JavaScript test completed in 9441ms on the iPhone 5 and took more than twice as long on the iPhone 4S, completing in 1,9173ms. Web browsing in general was very quick, with the BBC News home page rendering in less than four seconds.
The iPhone 5 was a little snappier than the iPhone 4S, opening applications such as Photos just that little bit faster. As you’d expect from Apple, iOS is beautifully smooth throughout, effortlessly rendering all the operating system’s animations.
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| A6 chip |
The iPhone 5 ships with iOS 6, available for older iPhones and iPads as a free upgrade. In the main, iOS 6 is a tweak to what’s gone before, making the iPhone work better in the cloud and with other Apple devices. Improvements are mostly small, but they are handy; for example, Safari now has iCloud Tabs, which means you can see browser tabs currently open on your other Apple devices. We like the way that you can share Photo Streams with people on iOS 6 devices or, for everyone else, via a public website. As it currently stands, using postcodes is the only sure-fire way of finding the address you want. Apple is working on this problem at the moment, but it’s a little sad that Maps currently represents such a wobbly step back.
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| Map |
In its favour, Maps introduces turn-by-turn directions. Youre given a clear choice of three routes, with traffic problems highlighted, making it easy to choose your own journey. Prompts are spoken clearly by Sin, and we like the way that the next turn indicator counts down the distance, so you know exactly when to make the manoeuvre. We also like the 3D Cities view which gives you a 3D model of the place you’re looking at so you can fly over it virtually. The centre of London is covered, but that’s about it for now in the UK, although Apple has plans to expand its content.
Siri is faster to respond than before, and you can also post Facebook or Twitter updates using it. Again, Siri swings between scarily accurate and annoyingly wrong, but it’s often a quick way to use a feature; we think it’s brilliant for setting reminders, for example.
Passbook, a brand-new app, is a digital wallet for tickets, store cards and coupon codes. Currently, it’s a bit limited in the UK, but we expect more partners to come online in the coming months. When it has full UK support, it could prove really useful. Passbook is location-aware so it can, for example) pop up your airline boarding pass as you reach the airport, so you don’t have to hunt through your bag for the old paper version.
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| Siri |
SIM PLEASURES
While the iPhone 4 introduced the Micro SIM, the iPhone introduces an even smaller version: the Nano SIM. If you’re buying an unlocked phone, you’ll need to get your operator to switch your old SIM for the new one. Your operator ought to do this free of charge, and you should be able to make the switch in-store, but phone to check.
Apple has revamped its in-ear headset and introduced the EarPods. This is good news for commuters; you will no longer be bombarded with irritating, tinny noise coming from people who haven’t upgraded their bundled headphones.
The slightly strange design of the EarPods sends the audio into your ear rather than letting it leak. It’s a big improvement in sound quality, too, because there’s more range, better balance and a real sense of bass. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that they’re relatively pleasant, although the sound is still slightly muddy, lacking fine detail and the full range that you get from other sets. As such, wed still suggest that you invest in a decent set of headphones, with the EarPods acting as a decent backup pair.
As with the old buds, the EarPods have a built-in microphone and responsive in-line remote with volume control and a multifunction button. Call quality is pretty good, with the microphone clearly picking up our voice.
WIRELESS AND 4G (Ultra Fast)
Apple has completely upgraded the wireless technology inside the iPhone 5. First up is the 80211n dual band, which means it’ll connect to 24GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks. The advantage of 5GHz is that there’s less congestion, so you’ll get better throughputs. You’ll need a dual- band router, though.
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| 24GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks |
This is the first iPhone with built-in 46, and it will work with the new Everything Everywhere 4G network. From what we’ve seen, 4G provides really fast downloads) making the mobile Internet experience similar to being on a home network.
AFTER SHOTS
A thinner case has meant that Apple has had to redesign the lens and sensor for the iPhone 5, but it still has the same 8-megapixel resolution as the iPhone 4S. There’s little difference in practice between the two models; like the 4S, the iPhone 5 has one of the best smartphone cameras around.
Shots are bright, vibrant and detailed. For most purposes, you can happily use your phone rather than a compact camera. The iPhone 5 also introduces a panorama mode. Just hold the phone steady and pan up to 2700 to create one massive image.
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| 8-megapixel |
Video is shot at 1080p at 3Ofps, and quality is generally excellent. Footage is detailed with punchy colours; it’s easy to see why there’s no longer any need for Flip video cameras or the like.
Battery life is quoted by Apple as the same as the 4S, which is impressive, considering the iPhone 5 has the larger screen. In our video playback test, the iPhone 5 lasted 12 hours and four minutes, which is pretty much the same as the iPhone 4S in the same test. (David Ludlow)
SAMSUNG HAS EXPANDED its range of Galaxy smartphones
with the Mega, a 6.3in handset that fills
the gap between the flagship Galaxy S4 and S-pen packing Galaxy Note 2. The
device, which had been rumoured to exist for some time before being made
official in March, uses LCD display technology rather than AMOLED, which is
reserved for premium handsets such as the Galaxy S4. It also has reduced specifications
in order to hit a lower price when it launches later in the year. 
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