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 build
Surprisingly, 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.
