Apple iPhone 5S review

New Delhi: With the new iPhone 5S, Cupertino-based Apple has stuck to its gun: a redesigned iPhone with sunning looks, upgraded internals and a minor improvement in the shape. However, many of you may ask: is the new iPhone 5S, worth jumping on? Or should I hold off this year and wait for another year in hopes of something better. Clearly, the iPhone 5S is Apple's most powerful smartphone yet and it is quite evident from the buzz it has created in the markets worldwide. Such is the craze among Apple fanboys and fangirls that the unopened and unlocked 16GB gold Apple iPhone, which retails for around $200, is selling for $10,100 on ebay. And if you thought that the market for high-end smartphone has become satured then think again. Apple has announced that combined sales of its brand new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5C handsets topped 9 million units through their first weekend of availability. In the end, figures don't lie. This makes us think what lies inside the 4-inch smartphone. Well, read on to find out.Design and buildSurprisingly, there's nothing new in terms of design. The iPhone 5S inherits the design legacy of the iPhone 5, meaning you get aluminum, chamfered edges and glass. While the iPhone 5 was launched in silver and black options, the 5S retains silver, replaces black with a new space grey and adds a champagne-colored finish. Out of them, consumers prefer the gold-hued iPhones and are willing to bid thousands of dollars on eBay to get them. The obvious reason is that it gives them the panache when going to an upmarket area of the town. The point I want to make here is that the gold-hued color iPhone certainly makes the smartphone look like a luxury item, which you can only compare to the HTC One. In dimensions, the 5S measures at 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6mm, and it has a weight of 112 grams.And Apple is still satisfied with the resolution and screen size. The 5S features a 4-inch, 1,136 x 640 Retina display with a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, a brightness rating of 500 nits and an 800:1 contrast ratio. Regarding the button allocation, the power button is still at the top, next to a 3.5mm audio jack. On the side there are volume buttons and mute switch and the lightning connector is at the bottom. The only new physical addition to the iPhone 5S is the TouchID ring built into the home button. The silver ring around the home button acts as a fingerprint reader for enhanced security.The TouchID can read in any orientation and scans below the epidermal skin layers. The home button is now made from sapphire crystal, in order to avoid scratches. The camera is always one of the primary reasons people choose to upgrade to a new iPhone, and I must say Apple hasn't disappointed at all. In order to improve the overall image quality, Apple has enhanced the rear camera sensor by 15 per cent, and now uses 1.5 micron pixels for improved low-light shooting. The f/2.2 aperture also a bit large, and is paired with a twin-LED flash for even more light when shooting in dark conditions. Apple calls it "True Tone", with one cool white flash and a second warmer amber LED which automatically adjusts depending on lighting conditions for the best picture. Image stabilisation and best shot selection are also automatic.DisplayWith iPhone 5S, Apple has decided to retain 4-inch (diagonal) retina display which offers 1136x640 resolution, giving 326 pixels per inch. But the irony here is that Apple iPhone 5s' screen is very small for a 2013 smartphone, especially when you are charging consumers a premium pricing for it. At a time when phablets are gaining popularity among consumers, it becomes hard to digest the fact that your smartphone has only 4” screen. So can we expect bigger screen on Apple's 2014 iPhone (likely the iPhone 6)?But having a 4” inch screen has its own benefits. It is easy to reach out across the screen with just one finger and you can easily do one-handed tap-typing on a smaller screen.Overall, the screen display looks pretty good. Despite having a smaller canvas, both photos and video look crisp and colorful. The iPhone 5s comes with one of the brightest displays on a smartphone, which makes it a lot easier to view content even in direct sunlight. The color reproduction and general effect is perfect, but still there are better displays out there. HD movies still look acceptable on the device, but there are truly excellent displays on rivals like the LG G2.Fingerprint sensor and Touch IDThe iPhone 5S' fingerprint sensor is a nice piece of technology, which we haven't seen till now in a smartphone. TouchID is a new hardware addition that replaces the home button with a scanner that can read your fingerprint and compare it to the stored information on the device to unlock the phone and make purchases through the App and iTunes Stores, should you so choose. The Touch ID sensor is capacitive and can scan in 360 degrees. That means that you don't have to orient your finger in a particular manner to get it done. It also can learn multiple fingers, so it's not limited to just your thumbprint. According to Apple, the chance that Touch ID will misread a finger is 1 in 50,000 —a much lower probability than the 1 in 10,000 chance for guessing a four-digit password. In case you are worried that someone may grab your fingerprints off your iPhone screen (or elsewhere) and build a latex replica, you can try a finger you don't often rely on — say your pinkie finger.Moreover, Apple also gives you the option to not use the fingerprint scanner, as you can always swipe to the right on the lock screen at any time to access the passcode entry screen.However, reports suggest that Touch ID doesn't respond to wet fingers. Overall, Touch ID is the perfect balance of smartphone security and convenience.Apple also claims that it doesn't store fingerprint details in iCloud or any of its remote servers. It's all contained within the hardware, meaning nobody can get at your data.Processors and performanceA first for smartphones, the iPhone 5S has an A7 processor under the hood that uses 64-bit architecture. Apple claims that the combo will deliver speed twice that of the A6 chip and vastly improved OpenGL ES 3.0-compatible graphics.To those who wonder, what a 64-bit chip does, here is the explanation. A 64-bit chip allows for more powerful processing and a greater amount of power to be plugged through the phone for most tasks. It will tolerate a greater amount of RAM in the future too.The A7 chip also makes more sophisticated and powerful apps--especially games – enjoyable. For instance, you'll be amazed to see the details in the Infinity Blade III, which has been optimized for the new chip, especially the realistic looking water and the detail in our hero's armor and nearby rocks. In addition, the A7 chip makes the camera app a lot zippier on the iPhone 5S and makes real-time previews, on-the-fly effects processing, autofocus, a lot more smoother.A handful of 64-bit apps include apps from Autodesk (like Sketchbook Pro and Pixlr Express Plus), Smule's Sing! Karaoke, algoriddim's djay 2 and vjay and Gameloft's Total Conquest.On Geekbench 3, which measures processor and memory performance, the 5s notched 2,556, which is nearly double the older iPhone 5's mark of 1,297. The 5S also beat most Android phones, including the HTC One (2,460) and Moto X (2,068),but the Galaxy S4 scored an even higher 3,177.In 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited test, which gauges graphics performance, the iPhone 5S scored 13,795, second only to the Snapdragon 800-powered LG G2 (16,201). The Moto X, HTC One and Galaxy S4 all scored below 11,000.M7 CoprocessorThe iPhone 5s has a dedicated M7 coprocessor that measures accelerometer, gyroscope and compass data, which can be used for fitness apps and other applications. It allows the main CPU to snooze while it tracks the motion of the phone, through the accelerometer, gyrometer and compass.That means the phone will know when you're jogging, and can take that information and store it without needing to drain the battery by having the main CPU chugging away.CameraThe new iPhone has not disappointed us with its new camera at all. This time Apple has kept the 8-MP resolution the same while enlarging the sensor by 15 percent and upping the size of the individual pixels. There's also a lower f/2.2 aperture. The result: brighter and sharper images, especially in low light. Apple calls it "True Tone", with one cool white flash and a second warmer amber LED that automatically adjusts depending on lighting conditions for the best picture. Image stabilisation and best shot selection are both automatic. There's also a burst shot mode and 120fps slow motion video recording at 720p, along with the new filters found in iOS7.The pictures taken with the iPhone 5s are the best I have ever seen on any iPhone to date. The good thing about the new iPhone camera is the more you use it, the more it will amaze you. On the outside, in ideal lighting conditions, most smartphone could snap a decent photo. But the real test is always in low lighting conditions. I must say the color accuracy is much better in the iPhone 5S and details are sharp too. iPhone 5c vs iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5: General everyday photographyiPhone 5c vs iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5: Low light photographyiPhone 5c vs iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5: Flash photographyiPhone 5c vs iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5: HDR photographyiPhone 5c vs iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5: Macro and zoom photographyiPhone 5c vs iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5: Motion photographyiPhone 5c vs iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5: PanoramasThe dual LED True Tone flash is a great advantage when it comes to illuminating a much larger percentage on the screen (in a dark room). In addition the subjects look more vibrant and more detailed, resulting in a perfect image in perfect conditions. Moreover, on a cloudy day, or imperfect lighting when indoors, the images taken by the iPhone 5S are still clearer. On the iPhone 5s, the camera only chose ISO sensitivity level 2,500, which resulted in less visual noise and pixellation.The new iPhone now has a new flash – a red lamp and a white lamp, as opposed to the white-only lamps available on the iPhone 5. That means the new model can illuminate a dark scene using a blend of red and white light so that subjects are more realistically light and less "washed out". This is great when we photograph skin. The camera is fast to start up and the new burst mode is highly effective. Holding down the shutter causes the iPhone 5s to capture ten full-resolution photos per second -- ideal for capturing sports.The iPhone 5s also shoots high-speed video at 120fps, meaning it can be slowed down smoothly like something out of a nature documentary. The result is a slowdown in clips that is fun and simple to execute. At the same time, the new camera app interface is simple and easy to use. The new UI lets slide between modes, be it panorama, a new 'square' mode for social networks, the standard photo and video at 1080p.The all new burst mode works well and the new iPhone intelligently works out the best shot. Although Apple is late to the burst mode game, but it's implemented it really well. 4G, contacts and callingIn terms of calling, the iPhone 5S is same as the iPhone, but with iOS 7 and a few more LTE bands, it means that it can function on any next-gen network around the world. In UK, you can connect to 4G on Vodafone, O2 and Three.The call quality on the new model is decent without being stonkingly clear. But there's not much that you can do to improve the call quality as you could do on rival handsets. Thanks to three microphones that enable excellent noise cancellation and can pick up a wide level of what you're trying to say.There's no smart dialling here. The contacts on the iPhone are still dismal, and that needs improvement. MessagingThe iOS 7 takes messaging a step ahead in the new iPhone. The new software gives you a lot many options on simple things like swiping away an email. But typing on such a small screen is always a problem, as you could find it frustrating to pick out the letters on on too many occasions.The predictive text is good and seems to have improved over previous iterations of the iPhone.On the iPhone 5 it is pretty easy to manage you email. An email on the iPhone 5S is excellent due to faster CPU speed and a strong UI. Similarly, the folder organisation is easy to use.A swipe to the left or right on the message will give you the option to delete said email or quick reply without having to open the message itself. With iOS 7 on board the iPhone 5S it means Twitter and Facebook come integrated into the handset. Go to the settings menu and tap the relevant social network to sign in to your account.Say you want to post a photo on the Facebook, go to the Photos app, and select the image you want, tap the share button and choose the FB icon.A similar process is for Twitter, but there you'd use only 140 characters.InternetDue to a sleek UI, using Internet is much easier than the previous version. A striking change is of course how fast the URL bar will shrink and grow as desired. Start scrolling and you'll see it move away, but still give you the information you need to check on where you actually are on the net.You can easily do the general browsing and the A7 chip is great enough to render webpage with so much ease. Battery life, connectivity and iTunesWhile the battery life of iPhone 5S is an improvement from the last iteration, there was still room for more. The iPhone 5s reportedly features a 1560 mAh battery, a jump from 1440 mAh on the previous model. As a result of that extra capacity and efficiencies emanate from its new chips. Apple claims that its flagship can last up to 10 hours on LTE. Overall, it is pretty decent to provide a day's medium-to-heavy use of calls, messaging, web browsing and media playback.I charged the phone to 100 per cent on Friday night and by Sunday afternoon, it got reduced to 20 per cent. This includes playing for a couple of hours Temple Run. The main thing that's been fixed is that leaving the iPhone 5S on standby, perhaps overnight, sees very little drain on the battery.ConnectivityThe iPhone 5S comes will all manner of connectivity options, but NFC is absent. The iPhone 5S comes with Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, 3G and 4G connectivity.The iOS 7 offers a new way to control Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 through the Control Center, which you can access with a swipe up from the bottom of the screen as we mentioned before.GPS and GLONASS also make an appearance to help you locate yourself in Maps with great accuracy and navigate you round the world with the free turn-by-turn satellite navigation system.AppsApple now offers its Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps for free, giving users an Office-like experience on the go. Similarly you get iPhoto and iMovie apps for free.The new Safari gets a unified address bar and search box (similar to Chrome), and a new tab view which makes it easier to scroll through open pages in a vertical orientation. Then there is iTunes Radio, which offers more than 300 DJ-curated and genre-focused stations, according to Apple. You can create a new station from an artist or station.The new smartphone comes with an improved Siri, which now gives you the option to choose from male or female voices. It also checks out what people are saying on Twitter and uses both Wikipedia and Bing as a source for searches. Configurations, Plans and PricingIn addition to the three color options, consumers will be able to purchase the iPhone 5s with 16GB of storage for $199, 32GB for $299, and 64GB for $399.VerdictSimple put, Apple has done a pretty fair job in putting everything it has learned in this space over the last six and a half years in a simple yet appealing manner. The new iPhone has a faster processor, brighter camera and a little smart software – all which is relevant to deliver a winning formula. It is a no-brainer upgrade for anyone looking to upgrade from, say iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, or a smartphone for business that is safe, secure, and comes with simple mobile operating system that will keep its corporate data and networks secure.However, I must say that matching the specs of the new iPhone with its other rivals in the market is a difficult task, which also renders the whole point of getting everything Apple. For instance, Touch ID simply feels normal, like you'd already known it. Well, the A7 chip does makes things faster, including things like camera and increased security in Touch ID. The inclusion of M7 chip alongside, however, still intrigues us, but in reality the company is giving a cool tool to play with, and we'll see the fruits of it in the near future. 64 bit apps, which consumers don't have access yet, will really turbocharge the experience, and the A7 processor is clearly capable of some very heavy lifting.The camera has improved substantially, taking some excellent shots with minimal backlift needed, and the Touch ID sensor is the first real step into biometrics on a smartphone.Now comes the point, should you upgrade it? It depends on which side are you coming from. Are you coming from Android phones that have a larger screen real estate (4.7" to 5") then, of course, then switching to the iPhone's four-incher isn't easy. Its screen does not stand tall as compared to high-end Android competition. However, if you're coming from an older iPhone (4S or before), then it is certainly a huge upgrade with many pluses that makes it a good purchase. And I can bet you won't regret it.It isn't revolutionary, but it is the best iPhone yet. And that I leave it upto you to decide! Do let me know your comments on this.