Review: Apple IPhone 5C — If Apple Was Honest With Us, Here Is the Thing It Would Say.
IPS (Retina Display / Gorilla Glass / Gyroscope / Accelerometer / Proximity Sensor / Ambient Light Sensor)
In a market obsessed with the shiny and new, the iPhone 5C is an outlier.
It looks every bit like a toy, and the candy-colored shell comes in a veritable rainbow of pastels — lime green, electric blue, bright yellow, plain white and watermelon pink — but instead of a muted metal and glass work of art, the interchangeable cover strays in a stark, smooth and round contrast, as if to announce to the world, “The fun is finally here.”
Really, though, the 5C just an iPhone 5.
They say, if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it, and it seems, nobody repackages a better phone, with more style, than Apple.
The 5C looks delicate, but it’s not flimsy. The tough, polycarbonate plastic is particularly well-suited for the heavy-handed, masking the inevitable bumps and bruises of everyday use. Meanwhile, a re-enforced steel skeleton gives it some rigidity, so it doesn’t flex, but adds nearly an ounce to the weight. The thicker, wider body is more comfortable to hold, too, but old cases, alas, no longer fit its longer, flatter frame.
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Despite a colorful splash of informality that is purely kitsch, the build quality is surprisingly high, and exactly what you’d expect from Apple, even if it costs only $100 with a two-year contract.
I sit down on a sofa in the white, very modern living room, and fire up the 8-megapixel camera. Apple doesn’t pretend the 5C reuses the same lens, but as it so happens, it’s still one of the best around.
Photos are crisp, and colors warm and true-to-life, though sometimes they lean towards the darker end of the spectrum. In HDR mode, the amount of detail is exceptional. Blades of grass seem sharper in a swaying prairie, and cotton balls of clouds have an extra splash of red during sunsets. But if that’s not enough, Instragram-esque filters can add a tint of emotion, as well.
“But what about low-light?” I wonder.
Here, the 5C particularly outperforms the old iPhones. Not only were pictures clearer and brighter, but with less noise and grain. This is no easy task.
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I fire up the 1080p video recorder. While the slow-motion feature of the 5S is noticeably missing, the 5C, nonetheless, performs admirably well — smooth and accurate, now with digital zoom in the mix, as well.
If you’re a shutterbug, rivals sport more impressive cameras — Nokia’s Lumia 1020, with its whopping 41-megapixels, comes to mind. But for the price, the 5C certainly has an exceptional system, and you’ll be thrilled with the results.
That same 4-inch Retina display is enough for the 5C, and it is still beautiful, cramming 326 pixels into every square inch for a clarity and luminosity that matches the highest-caliber LCDs. But like real estate agents call a small condo, “cozy,” Apple calls the smaller display, “portable.” And if the 5C had a weakness, this would be it.
The A6 processor, flanked by 1-gigabytes of RAM, is as fast and snappy as ever. I load up Angry Birds, Infinite Blade and iMovie as if I have ADHD, and each fling of the slingshot, swipe of the sword, and cut of a scene, is handled without a hiccup or hitch.
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But the 5C is only half as fast as the bleeding-edge A7 processor of the 5S. That’s because the 5S, unlike the 5C, Apple says, can run 64-bit apps, not that you’d notice. Developers have yet to release any these advanced programs, so the old ones run at the same speeds on the 5C. Still, the 5S lays the groundwork for tomorrow, while the 5C is firmly rooted in today. In other words, you won’t miss out for at least another year.
Pow.
The software hits you like a ton of bricks. With your first swipe, you know that this isn’t your tried-and-true iOS interface. These are colors and icons you have never seen before.
This radical redesign is particularly shocking because it is released after so many years of consistency. The layout, all clean, with bold hues to match the colorful exterior, makes you feel that you have picked up a futuristic iPhone, but the few familiar mainstays make you feel that you belong there. Apple overlooks no opportunity to streamline the interface.
But there’s a reason for the change: to give the illusion of a bigger display.
Sure enough, when you open the browser, there it is, more content luring you to take it all in. Safari benefits the most from the new layout, but simple shortcuts are just as useful, too. Swipe up to access the control panel, saving time when selecting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or the flashlight. Meanwhile, pull down to expand notifications and view the Calendar app. The features here are added in so many small, considerate increments that you’ll marvel at the ease of use.
Siri is smarter, as well, able to show more and do more — like search tweets, for example. Apple throws in iTunes Radio, too — a free streaming service akin to Pandora. If you tire of the same old albums, fire up the Music app and enjoy genres of great songs.
With all changes, though, the experience is a mixed blessing. Menus can be rather confusing, and the Calendar app, which lacks appointment lists, leaves me scratching my head. I admit, it took me a week to get used to the layout, but once I did, I prefer it.
One bonus: Apple is giving away a core suite of apps, including iWork, GarageBand and iMovie, with the purchase of a new device. It’s a handy package to rival tools that Android rivals have had for years.
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Powerful and cheap, and a longer battery life. On a full charge, I last from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. That’s not bad for listening to a few hours of music, a heavy dose of Facebook and constant Web browsing. In this day and age, don’t expect to squeeze out a full day. So if you plan to meet up with friends after work, keep a charger handy at the office.
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 a year ago, it was ahead of its time. The 5C, though behind those times, is still a high-end device. By sharing components, Apple managed to milk another year of production from its supply chain, and that essentially saves money, which is it then passed down to you.
Same is not bad, and the 5C doesn’t feel like outdated technology. If you’ve waited this long to jump on the Apple bandwagon, this is the iPhone you’ve been waiting for. ♦
Other Reviews From Around the Web
- New York Times
- The Telegraph
- The Guardian
- Wired
- CNET
- ZDNet
- Engadget
- Gizmodo
- TechCrunch
- Ars Technica
- USA Today
- PC Mag
- Laptop Magazine
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