iPhone 5s review

iPhone 5s: Camera

The other evident area of improvement over the iPhone 5 and differentiation between the 5c lies with the new iSight camera. Rather than upping the megapixel count, to match that of the Sony Xperia Z and Samsung Galaxy S4 and the staggering 41MP on the Nokia Lumia 1020, Apple has opted to increase the 8MP sensor by 15% and individual pixels to 1.5 microns. The aperture has also had a spec bump to f/2.2, increasing light sensitivity by 33%.

While that's all well and good on paper, it's in the wild where these claims count. Mercifully, in Apple's case, the results are noticeable.

We've already said how the A7-powered Camera app zips along like a greased squirrel, now we'll make a claim of our own and say that pictures taken with the iPhone 5s are the best we've ever seen on any iPhone to date. There's a new sense of depth to shots, especially with close-up subjects, while low-light photography now produces photos worth keeping.

Another fresh string to the 5s bow is the upgraded flash, which Apple's marketing team has named 'True Tone'. Without getting geeky over gamut, the flash works out the intensity and colour temperature for the environment it's about to shoot in, resulting in brighter background definition and more natural colour tones in shots. It works. We're impressed.




Other iPhone 5s-specific camera features include; auto image stabilisation (steady), 3x video zoom (bit blurry), 30fps panorama with varying light control (megabyte-y), burst mode at 10 photos per second (cheeky) and, best of all, slo-motion video capture, which is absolutely brilliant. It’s the iPhone 5s's Panorama moment and you can expect to see your social feeds filling up with quarter-speed 120fps 720p footage very shortly.

The fact that the iPhone 5s can process it all on the fly is testament to the new A7 chip. Video quality is outstanding and, even if capturing your child's meteoric face-plant (we speak from experience), all emotional guilt is washed away as you become Spielberg for a second, seizing every last crunch in superb clarity and detail. Disclaimer: no children were harmed in the testing of this iPhone.

Another vast improvement is with the front-facing FaceTime HD camera. An improved backside illumination sensor improves video calls in lower light and still shots look cleaner than ever. Video records in 720p. At the time of writing we couldn’t stream Slo-Mo video to an Apple TV from the iPhone 5s but were reassured that an update would fix that.





iPhone 5s review
Love

Touch ID
Improved camera and flash
Wide LTE support
Hate

Price
Battery life
iPhone 5s: Screen

Swanking the same 4-inch, 1136x640 at 326ppi screen as its predecessor, and matching that of the 5c, the iPhone 5s display feels small in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy S4 (5-inch), the HTC One (4.7-inch) and the Sony Xperia Z (5-inch).

Screen quality is pin-sharp but, after watching films on bigger handsets, you really notice the drop in size. However, the Retina screen really shows off iOS 7’s brighter, more vivid UI.

iPhone 5s: Size and build

The iPhone 5s is basically a supercharged iPhone 5, so the weight, size and overall build are pretty much identical – 7.6mm deep, 123.8mm tall and 112g in bulk. That makes it slimmer than the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, but not quite as slender as the world’s slimmest smartphone – the Huawei Ascend P6, which measures in at 6.18mm.

It’s still lightweight but feels reassuringly premium with its three colour variants - Gold, Silver and Space Grey – adding to the mix and differentiating it once more from the colour-coordinated 5c.

The Gold finish may be too bling-y for some but if it suffers the same chamfered edge scuffing as its predecessor, a lighter colour will conceal it better than the darker Silver and Space Gray.

Aesthetically, however, we prefer how the 5c matches its case colour to the iOS 7 background. Apple is selling its own dyed leather iPhone 5s case in a multitude of shades for £35, which turns it into a 5c-looking device, but if we’re splashing out more bunce on the flagship model, we’d rather forgo the jacket and show it off.





iPhone 5s review
Love

Touch ID
Improved camera and flash
Wide LTE support
Hate

Price
Battery life
iPhone 5s: Screen

Swanking the same 4-inch, 1136x640 at 326ppi screen as its predecessor, and matching that of the 5c, the iPhone 5s display feels small in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy S4 (5-inch), the HTC One (4.7-inch) and the Sony Xperia Z (5-inch).

Screen quality is pin-sharp but, after watching films on bigger handsets, you really notice the drop in size. However, the Retina screen really shows off iOS 7’s brighter, more vivid UI.

iPhone 5s: Size and build

The iPhone 5s is basically a supercharged iPhone 5, so the weight, size and overall build are pretty much identical – 7.6mm deep, 123.8mm tall and 112g in bulk. That makes it slimmer than the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, but not quite as slender as the world’s slimmest smartphone – the Huawei Ascend P6, which measures in at 6.18mm.

It’s still lightweight but feels reassuringly premium with its three colour variants - Gold, Silver and Space Grey – adding to the mix and differentiating it once more from the colour-coordinated 5c.

The Gold finish may be too bling-y for some but if it suffers the same chamfered edge scuffing as its predecessor, a lighter colour will conceal it better than the darker Silver and Space Gray.

Aesthetically, however, we prefer how the 5c matches its case colour to the iOS 7 background. Apple is selling its own dyed leather iPhone 5s case in a multitude of shades for £35, which turns it into a 5c-looking device, but if we’re splashing out more bunce on the flagship model, we’d rather forgo the jacket and show it off.



iPhone 5s: Performance

While we continue to getting used to the new OS, using the iPhone 5s is a joy. Multi-tasking is quick, navigation is innate and it still feels slicker than Android or Windows Phone.

Restoring backed up content from your old iPhone is a matter or time, rather than effort (about three hours until all apps were re-loaded – we have a lot), and if you’re used to iOS 6, you’ll pick up the new phones and start using them immediately without much fuss.

We did experience a couple of glitches in Mail and the Camera app, which caused the iPhone 5s to crash – time will tell as to whether it’s a persisting problem.

Phone calls are clear and we didn’t experience any call-dropping in our testing. Many apps will need updating asap, however – Google’s Gmail app still displays the old iOS 6 keyboard, for example.

Sound quality is on par with the iPhone 5, but wireless connectivity (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) seems to be a bit more stable than before - Personal Hotspot connected a lot quicker, too.

The iPhone 5s is available in 16Gb, 32Gb and 64Gb versions (see price below).


Battery life
iPhone 5s: iOS 7

Within the iPhone 5s and each new device shipping with iOS 7, you get Apple’s iWork apps - Pages, Numbers and Keynote – for free.

Swiping down on the homescreen now reveals the Search bar, while swiping apps up while in multi-tasking view will close apps.

Swipe up on the homescreen and you’ll now be presented with a handy shortcut of features ranging from activating Aeroplane mode to adjusting brightness to turning on the torch.

While there isn’t much in the way of iPhone 5s-specific iOS 7 features apart from those already mentioned, the new iPhones are clearly designed to compliment iOS 7 in terms of colour (the 5c) and the power (the 5s).

iPhone 5s: 4G

The iPhone 5s has a wider range of LTE bands that every UK provider should be able to support. We tested the 5s on EE’s 4G network and, like the iPhone 5, experienced blisteringly fast internet connections and downloads.

Of course, your actual speeds will depend on a wide breadth of parameters, but you should hope to achieve uploads and download speeds in excess of 15/20Mbps.

The pace of LTE really proves its worth when using FaceTime HD and streaming content.

iPhone 5s: Battery

Apple quotes ten hours talk time on 3G, 250-hours in standby, ten hours of internet use on 3G, LTE and Wi-Fi, with video playback running to 10 hours and audio stretching to 40 hours.



In our real-world testing, we found the iPhone 5s mimics that of its predecessor – great in standby, draining when using 3G/4G and performing graphically intensive tasks. For example, we started the day (10.20am) with 82% of battery and after a 20-minute TomTom navigation, an hour’s worth of on/off slo-motion and regular video and photo capture, and a bit of web surfing, by 12.37pm we were down to 4% and in desperate need of a recharge.

As previously mentioned, app developers will need to take advantage of the new hardware to help reduce energy consumption. For now, it looks like you’ll need a portable battery pack in your pocket if you intend on hammering your new iPhone 5s all day.

In terms of battery, there’s very little between top-tier smartphones like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 – you can pretty much expect a day’s use out of all of them, unless you're the most intensive of users


iPhone 5s: Verdict

We kicked off this review by stating the 5s has the potential to be Apple’s most game-changing iPhone since inception. Apple is clearly looking to future-proof its handset while offering developers the opportunity to take advantages of its 64-bit architecture, A7 chip and M7 Coprocessor. Right now, you won’t really experience what this phone is capable of. Give it six months and we’d expect some truly groundbreaking apps to appear.

But, as ever, you’re going to have to pay for the privilege now. Off contract and SIM-free, prices range from £549 for the 16Gb model to an eye-watering £709 for the 64GB version. Our first car was cheaper than that.

At the time of writing, the cheapest monthly iPhone 5s deal we found was from EE; £26 for the 16GB and 32GB models, with an additional upfront handset cost of £260 and £350 respectively. This does, however, only come with 500MB of monthly 4G data. Not cheap.

But then this is a statement of intent. It’s not only Apple’s flagship iPhone but it’s also the best phone the company has ever made. The camera is extraordinary. Touch ID is revolutionary. The iPhone 5s is a stunner today, but expect the real fun to come tomorrow.

iPhone 5s release date: 20 September

iPhone 5s price: £549 (16GB), £629 (32GB), £709 (64GB)