Apple iPhone 5s Review

New Features + Should You Get It?

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iPhone 5s Introduction

This is my full in-depth iPhone 5s review. Externally the iPhone 5s looks almost exactly the same as the iPhone 5. It’ s sporting the same aluminum-style shell with the microphone, speaker, and Lightning connector at the bottom. The same 4-inch 1136×640 Retina display and the same 1.2 Megapixel front facing camera. It also has 4G LTE support and comes in the same storage capacities: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB.

Speed & Performance

The speed of the iPhone 5s is blazingly fast thanks to the new 64-bit A7 processor. If you own an iPhone 4S or earlier iPhone you’ll be immediately captivated by the quickness of the 5s. Even iPhone 5 users will notice the speediness as the iPhone 5s claims to double the 5’s CPU and graphics performance. I’ve noticed a huge speed increase in app launching and loading, multitasking management, taking photos, even shuffling songs seems even more instantaneous. Playing games is definitely a treat on the 5s. When put to the test, the 5s came out ahead in nearly every benchmark test. As of right now, according to the benchmarks, it’s safe to say the iPhone 5s is possibly the fastest smartphone available.

Battery Life

The iPhone 5s does not have a magical new everlasting battery that we all dream about, but it shows no decrease in battery life either. Apple says it can get up to 10 hours talk time, 10 days on standby, 40 hours music playback, or 10 hours video playback on a single charge. I’ve concluded that the standard “daily overnight charge” is still needed. On a regular day I can wake up with 100% and make it through 16 hours and by bedtime have anywhere from 10% to 20% remaining. Battery life does have a slight increase thanks to the M7 coprocessor taking some of the load off of the main chip.

Camera

The iPhone 5s camera is a huge improvement & does take some awesome photos and videos. It’s still an 8 megapixel camera, but each pixel is bigger, and the sensor is larger as well. The aperture was increased to 2.2. That along with the new dual LED flash improves the quality of photos in low-light conditions. Also new is image stabilization, and burst mode. A cool new video recording feature is the slo-mo feature which captures video in 720p HD at 120 frames per second and allows you to slow down the whole video or a certain portion. Overall, the new camera can produce stunning photos and HD videos.

Touch ID

The most talked about feature of the iPhone 5s is the new fingerprint sensor called Touch ID. The fingerprint scanner is built into the all new redesigned home button. It takes about 20 seconds to set up a new fingerprint. As of right now the authorized fingerprints can be used to unlock the device and make iTunes and App Store purchases. Overall, I think the Touch ID feature improves the user experience more than being a gimmick.

iOS 7 Software

A match made in heaven. That is the best way to describe the iPhone 5s and the new iOS 7 software. The general layout is the pretty much the same as iOS 6, but now there are brand new designs, icons, colors, fonts, gestures, and animations. The new multitasking is very fluid on the 5s. Spotlight search is the quickest I’ve ever seen it, and Siri seems snappier as well. iOS 7’s makeover includes new animations and parallax 3D effects. The new Control Center adds a much-needed feature to iOS 7, giving quick access to popular settings and apps that make the user experience more efficient. iTunes Radio is a nice feature as well, allowing you to create your own music stations. So from what I can tell, the iPhone 5s and iOS 7 were meant to be together.

Conclusion

If I had one word to describe the iPhone 5s it would be: delight. It’s a delight to use this phone, with the power it has paired alongside iOS 7. So the question is should you get it? If you own an iPhone 4S or earlier, yes I would highly recommend getting the iPhone 5s. If you’re an iPhone 5 user, I wouldn’t recommend upgrading to the 5s unless you’re a hardcore camera lover or have the need for speed. iPhone 5 users should probably stick it out and wait for the iPhone 6 or if you want a bigger screen you’ll probably want to switch to Android. With its new power and speed, its new camera and fingerprint sensor, and new software design, the iPhone 5s is a fantastic smartphone.

By Andy Slye