According to me, there are only two best (and pure) smartphones in the market at the moment namely – Samsung Galaxy S3 and Apple iPhone 5. Both have their pluses and minuses.Apart from the Apple Maps fiasco – everything else is inline with what, iPhone fans would like to have in an upgrade. Again, I am not talking about flexibility on offer from Android against iOS. If we consider & believe that its not happening, picking a smartphone is an easy task.
1] Design
Many people complain about the design not being any different from previous iPhones. I would ask, why would you like to have a different design, when you know the one it already has works lot better?
Also, changing the design entirely would have had a risk of mass-dislike across the world. People want to feel the iPhone that they know with a hint of improvement & that’s exactly what Apple did.
The iPhone 5 design is improved in a right amount, enough to show its new & perfectly balanced to make it a member of the family.
The back side is made of anodized aluminum, same material that is used on MacBooks while its top and bottom made of ceramic glass (on the white and silver model) or pigmented glass (on the black and slate model).
The new iPhone is as thin as 7.6mm. Alternatively, you can say its as thick as the aluminum part on the sides of iPhone 4 or 4S. It uses single chip for LTE voice + data and now requires even shorter sim card type: Nano-Sim.
2] 4 inch Display
iPhone 5 has a 4 inch Retina display, making it approx. 9mm taller than iPhone 4S. Apple made it into a 16:9 aspect ratio by keeping the same width, giving it a close to true wide-screen feel when held horizontally.Because its not too wider nor too taller, we can easily operate all the functions with just one hand. Which otherwise is a drawback in phones with 5 inch display.
3] Processor
iPhone 5 comes with (approx.) 1.5 GHz dual-core A6 chip which is Apple’s first custom-designed processor manufactured by Samsung, also features a three core GPU.Latest high-end Android smartphones come with a new standard of a quad-core processor, but you don’t really need to worry about the output you get. Thanks to highly optimized iOS and fully tested Apps on the iTunes Store.When compared, many of the popular games such as Temple Run opened a lot quicker than Galaxy S3 (with a quad-core processor).
4] Camera
iPhone 5 now has a much-needed (according to competitive market) 8 megapixel iSight Camera with a truly sophisticated Panorama captures, face detection on photos and enhanced video stabilizer which is able to shoot 1080p HD videos.Not just that, the new lens is made from sapphire crystal – a material known for being as hard as Diamond in transparent materials, so now you know why its less likely to get a scratch.
Secondary front camera, mostly used for FaceTime is capable of capturing 1.5 megapixel photos & 720p video at 30 frames per second. That’s enough for any smartphone.
5] Battery
Battery on iPhone 5 is of approx. 1430 mAh which looks alright considering the processor it needs to run & a 4 inch screen. Typically it should be enough to get you about 8 hours of talk-time, Internet usage or games & about 40 hours of audio playback with 225 hours of standby.
6] Wireless Connectivity
The new iPhone is a truly world phone because it now supports more mobile networks around the world. It also has three mics located at different strategical positions with smart noise-reduction offering crystal clear sound.
Superfast WiFi ability is also made available by implementing dual-band 802.11n wireless connectivity which basically accelerates your Wi-Fi experience up to 150 Mbps
Bluetooth 4 integration also makes sure faster connections, faster transfers & very low battery consumption when in use.
7] New Lightning Connector
The one thing Apple radically changed (hence received disappointing voices from allover) is its USB dock cable connector. However, the benefits of this new Lightening Connector is far better than the older 30 pin cable.
New Lightning Connector has 8 pins with full digital signaling, its smaller in size & because the same pins are available on both sides – it can be used either ways. We no longer need to see which side goes where, making it lot easy to connect.
8] New Earphones (EarPods)
This one is another example of Apple’s design innovations. iPhone 5 is shipped with the new earphones – they call it EarPods – are designed from a research on 600 people, turning it into an unique shaped headphone. The concept is not to just make the most comfortable earphones but also to provide the best acoustic experience.
These new Apple EarPods are also designed such that, they provide stronger protection from sweat and water & stay in-place even if you’re shaking your head upside-down.
9] New iOS 6
11 Detailed Features Why You Might Like To Buy The New iPhone 5iOS 6 is the latest version of the operating system comes pre-installed on iPhone 5. This newer version is a more stable and optimized with 200+ new features and tweaks for improved user experience.
The Mac users have added benefit of faster data & connectivity sync with iOS 6 devices including that for multi-player gaming through Game Center
10] Improved iTunes Store
I would always rate iTunes Store as the best app store anywhere in the world for any purpose. The entire process is highly streamlined (minus the developers’ headache if any :) ) for a user.
Importantly, each and every app and it’s updates are tested thoroughly before they are approved to enter the main App Store for downloads. This process is done manually to maintain high standards for apps unlike Google Play Store where maximum apps are either of no use or are very badly crafted & are prone to malware activity.
Also, new app suggestions from friends on social media such as Facebook & Twitter only helps us choose the right apps we might need or find more interesting.
11] The Brand Value
Last but not the least – Apple’s brand value & quality standards. No matter how many people shout bad about the iPhone, no one can complain about the materials, precision and the quality of the devices they produce.
Apple also offers best value to its iPhones by not releasing too many phones back-to-back, making your iPhone an exclusive handset for almost a year. All these factors also help getting the highest resale value for your older iPhone.
That’s about it for now. I hope this article resolves any confusions you may have (just in right time) because the new iPhone 5 is coming to India in first week of November 2012.
