Little bit snappier, slightly better camera, fingerprint gimmick.
Not worth hundreds for the tiny upgrades. Wait for the 6.
It's definitely 'snappier'....whatever that implies. I gave my wife my 5 and bought the 5s. It loads apps significantly quicker...IB3 on my son's iTouch 5 and wife's 5 takes nearly a minute to open. On the 5s, it's seconds. Same with the Asphalt series I've noticed. As well, with iMovie, I've noticed a drastic difference playing with the effects, uploading and saving with a lot of edits between still and motion as well as the addition of music. The animations and general fluency of the UI Is definitely flawless, on the 5 there's once in a while a slow down or 'missed frame' (don't know now else to explain it). Maybe it's iOS 7--but to me, error and spelling correction seems much faster as well. As far as battery life, I've noticed maybe a 10-15% improvement.
Finger print is definitely NOT a gimmick. It's an absolute home run, works quick, elimates the 'code' and it's exceptionally accurate and easy to use.
Why wait for the '6'? Seriously?
According to most of the bench tests, not much faster. Its notoriety pretty much. If the fingerprint scanner sells you + the little improved camera, then it's the phone for you if not save your bennies.
Lol. Not sure which benchmarks you've looked at but a quick scan of anandtech's review with a pleothera of benchmarks...the iPhone 5s doubles, triples...and in some cases quadruples the performance of the '5' and ANY other phone on the market. While apps haven't been optimized to take advantage of its power...they're coming. But your comment is horse pucky. It's an absolute powerhouse and an actual computer in your pocket. Nothing to do with 'noteriety'.
The camera is much improved. You got that part right
What's better about the panoramic camera mode? I upgraded from the 5 to 5S but only because I was finally getting my daughter a phone and I wasn't going to let her have a newer phone then myself. Finally set it up today, and it is faster, but only during certain program loads and animations. I have not been able to test the low-light abilities of the camera but I did try the panoramic setting and it still makes crazy distorted pictures as the 5. I hate the commercials from last year showing a panoramic picture of all of those kids at the party and they are all totally straight with no distortion. Total BS.
The new panoramic mode allows for continuous lighting and brightness/contrast evaluation by the ISP on the fly. It's a much better shot when the exposure is the same across the entire shot. The burst mode helps a LOT with fast motion (I've got an active 8 year old son)--and in low light, no competition. The 5s is the best of the lot. Definitely improved flash if you're in close to your subject in low light
All the way around, in my opinion...it's the best 's' update so far. It's phenomenal and there's a lot developers can do to take advantage of its new found power and capabilities (XCode was also just updated for easy 32-64bit transition). Keep in mind, until now...developers have been programming to the masses, and the A5 processor. A few have taken advantage of the 5s & the A6's extra power, but 64bit processing, the CPU speed and updated GPU and RAM DDR3 update will greatly benefit future app development and enjoyment.
As far as benchmarks....all said, the iPhone 5 (last years model) continues (again, looking at Anand's site) to hold its own even against the current crop of Android flagship phones. The HTC One, the S4, Nex 4 and Note 2. Nothing to lose sleep over as it's still a monster even at a year old. That said, the 5s is truly a break through in SoC technology, speed and efficiency.
These are objective benchmarks. Real numbers. Real performance. Will you notice it playing the new Angry Birds Star Wars 2? No...maybe a few seconds less while launching it. But switching apps and multitasking, animations of the UI and the general overall incredible fluency of use is immediately apparent. The fingerprint scanner after a couple of days is something you get used to and as mentioned earlier...makes it possible to have your phone protected at all times....yet ready to use as soon as you retrieve it from your pocket. As your pulling it out with your thumb on the home button it's good to go! Awesome addition and definitely the opposite of a gimmick or marketing bonus. It's an amazing introduction to consumer biometric security that....actually works as intended
J