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| The iPhone 5S |
Time flies, doesn’t it? It's been five years since I got this amazing phone and so far this 2018 it's still keeping up when it comes to a lot of things. The proof that the iPhone 5S is indeed alive and well is its great software support from Apple. I really commend Apple for making such an old iPhone up to date with iOS 12. The great thing about this update are the massive performance improvements it brings to the old hardware and new features as well. Faster app launches and loading times make this iPhone still very capable even with this year's standards. However, I doubt that it will get the next version of iOS next year due to its iteration, the iPhone SE, being axed by Apple during their recent 2018 iPhone XS keynote along with the iPhone 6S. Just to reiterate,, the iPhone used in this review is five years old so please excuse the dents and imperfections the phone have. It's been a while with this hardware.
Forward Thinking
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| Apple showcasing the new Gold color option along with Silver and the new Space Gray (via Apple.com) |
During its release, Apple call this phone 'Forward Thinking' which is true in many of its features. First, the implementation of the fingerprint sensor: Touch ID as they call it. It's something we take for granted today because of the security and convenience it gives. They may not be the first to do it but they are the first one to do it correctly. Second is the processor. The Apple A7 chip that is shipped with the iPhone 5S is the world's first 64-bit mobile processor. This opens the door for Apple to give future iPhones more memory to use and support for more heavy computational tasks. Third and lastly is the Gold color option. This is the first time Apple offered this color on any iPhone ever. This is so unusual because Apple only used to offer white and black colors for iPhone 5s. This made the iPhone 5S in Gold a must get to some customers. As usual, the competitors started to offer gold color options with their phones. Some of you may not agree but Apple does really set the trend. Just look at the notch on the iPhone X, now every single phone manufacturer does it.
Build Quality
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| iPhone 5S in Space Gray |
Personally, I think this is Apple's best iPhone design yet. This look aged like fine wine. Apple even used the same exact look with the iPhone SE making the design and build quality really relevant even for a five year old phone.
The mix of aluminum and glass back build of this phone never fails to convince me that I'm holding such a premium phone even with those dents and scratches. It still feels very well built and sturdy which is to be expected from a flagship phone especially coming from a company like Apple.
The sides of the phone, which serve as the antenna, is also made of the same premium aluminum with the signature chamfered edges. On the left side houses the mute switch as well as the volume rockers. The mute switch is convenient when you just want to put your phone to silent mode without actually opening the display—a great user experience design from Apple. The right side is where we can find the sim card tray that only accepts a nano SIM. The black lines along the aluminum sides are the antenna bands helping with the signal or reception.
The speaker grills can be found on the bottom side of the phone along with the proprietary lightning port and the about-to-be-extinct 3.5mm headphone jack. That's the only speaker on the phone placed below. If you are used to front-firing speakers then this is going to be a bit of a deal breaker to you. The speaker grills might already fooled you because there is only a single speaker. If you do have the same phone try covering the other half of the grills while playing some music.
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| Look from the back of the iPhone |
The mix of aluminum and glass back build of this phone never fails to convince me that I'm holding such a premium phone even with those dents and scratches. It still feels very well built and sturdy which is to be expected from a flagship phone especially coming from a company like Apple.
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| The left and right sides of the phone |
The sides of the phone, which serve as the antenna, is also made of the same premium aluminum with the signature chamfered edges. On the left side houses the mute switch as well as the volume rockers. The mute switch is convenient when you just want to put your phone to silent mode without actually opening the display—a great user experience design from Apple. The right side is where we can find the sim card tray that only accepts a nano SIM. The black lines along the aluminum sides are the antenna bands helping with the signal or reception.
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| The bottom part of the phone |
The speaker grills can be found on the bottom side of the phone along with the proprietary lightning port and the about-to-be-extinct 3.5mm headphone jack. That's the only speaker on the phone placed below. If you are used to front-firing speakers then this is going to be a bit of a deal breaker to you. The speaker grills might already fooled you because there is only a single speaker. If you do have the same phone try covering the other half of the grills while playing some music.
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| The top portion of the phone housing the power button |
Lastly is the top part of the phone where we can find the lone power button. This is an ideal placement for a small and compact phone. With the iPhone 6, they moved it on the right side just like what Samsung and other manufacturer does.
Display
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| The 4-inch display |
Before Apple chose to go with the big screens, this is the screen size they considered perfect because you can easily use the phone with just one hand. They even made an ad for it to prove their point which was known as the ‘Thumb Ad’ for the iPhone 5. The 4-inch screen is indeed perfect for some people. It’s an IPS LCD display, meaning you are going to have a good color accuracy and great viewing angles. This display sports an almost 720p resolution of 1136 x 640 with 326ppi or pixels per inch making the pixel invisible if you are using your phone 18 to 20 inches away from your eyes. ‘Retina Display’ is what Apple calls it for the sake of a good marketing name.
326ppi is still sharp in my own opinion if I'm going to compare it with my iPhone 7 Plus. When it comes to using the display under the sun it’s pretty acceptable. At maxed out brightness, I can still see the content on the screen but you won't always use your phone under the sun, I guess. The 326ppi is actually really controversial today because of the upcoming iPhone XR which will have the same pixels per-inch as the iPhone 4 making lots of tech enthusiasts and Apple fans disappointed.
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| The screen at maxed brightness during daylight |
326ppi is still sharp in my own opinion if I'm going to compare it with my iPhone 7 Plus. When it comes to using the display under the sun it’s pretty acceptable. At maxed out brightness, I can still see the content on the screen but you won't always use your phone under the sun, I guess. The 326ppi is actually really controversial today because of the upcoming iPhone XR which will have the same pixels per-inch as the iPhone 4 making lots of tech enthusiasts and Apple fans disappointed.
iOS 12
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| From the left: Home Screen, Widgets, Cover Sheet/Notification Center and Control Center |
iOS 12 is incredible on the iPhone 5S. Let me begin with the speed of this thing on this update. The loading times of launching the camera app from the lock screen and pulling up the keyboard is twice as fast just like what Apple promised. The share function on apps is the most noticeable part of the speed improvement. Back in iOS 11, it takes around 3-4 seconds just to pull up the sharing options, but now its instant. They also fixed the scattered notifications by grouping them together if they came from the same app, making finding a specific notification easy and clean looking as well. In addition to all these fixes is the new Screen Time feature which tracks your overall screen time and shows what apps are taking your time the most. You can even set a time allotment with any app when you feel like you're spending too much time on them.
Battery
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| Getting 2h 14m on a day of full use |
So far, the battery life on my iPhone 5S is pretty fine. It's great on standby but when it comes to using the phone for a quick Facebook browsing or watching YouTube videos, it starts to drain real fast. Then again, it might be my battery getting really old fast even though I just got it replaced months ago. This might be a problem to some users but if you're not really a heavy phone user then it will be just fine.
Camera Shots
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| The main camera shooter, rear microphone and true tone flash |
The 8-megapixel 'iSight' camera is still giving great photos considering you have a good source of lightning which goes the same with video recording as well. It's capable of recording up to 1080p 60fps or frames per second and slow motion video at 240fps. The HDR or High Dynamic Range is also helping with the photo's quality. The colors are accurate, neither dull nor saturated. The details are good and very much acceptable when in a good lighting condition. The dual true tone flash does help during low light shots.
Now, with low light and night shots, I put together a comparison between the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 7 Plus.
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| Comparing the low-light shots of the iPhone 5S to the iPhone 7 Plus |
They are nowhere near equal.
As for the low-light shots posted above, the noisiness can really be noticeable with the iPhone 5S. Just like with the example photos, comparing it side-by-side with the iPhone 7 Plus resulting shots, the iPhone 5S's camera is overexposing the bright parts of the photo while the iPhone 7 Plus handles it extremely well. This is to be expected in this comparison considering the three-year gap between the technology on both phones.
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| Great with daylight shots |
With today's standards, if you're just going to post for social media and not at a professional extent, the camera on the iPhone 5S is great during its time. If you haven't seen my thoughts about the iPhone 7 Plus yet, the phone shots are actually shot with the iPhone 5S. It really looks good. you should go ahead and check it out!
Here are some more shots from the iPhone 5S' camera. Just tap or click the photos to zoom them in for a better look:
Final Thoughts
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| The iPhone 5S can actually stand up straight on a flat surface thanks to its symmetric design |
The iPhone 5S is still relevant this 2018. Thanks to Apple's great support for its hardware, the iPhone 5S is alive and well five years later. The build quality will never feel cheap nor old even through the years. The aluminum and glass combination and the shiny chamfered edges will always be an iconic part of this phone. Apple using the very exact design with the iPhone SE proves this claim. The camera may not be as great as the camera that we have right now but it’s still a very capable camera. Don't get me wrong, it is indeed a great device but for its current price today at the second-hand market which is ranging from Php 5,000 to Php 7500, I would recommend you to save a few more hundreds to get the iPhone 6. If you are fine with a 4-inch screen and want to try an iPhone for a really low price then you won't be disappointed with this one. Even for a five year old phone, it's definitely great!
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Reviews
Amazing review! Looking forward to more apple product reviews in the future!
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