New iPhones Score Well with 'Consumer Reports', but Display and Battery 'No Match' for Android Competitors

[MacRumors]

Influential ratings and review magazine Consumer Reports has reviewed Apple's new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models, giving them high scores but calling the 4-inch Retina display and 8-10 hour battery life "no match" for Motorola's latest Droid smartphones. The full mobile phone ratings are behind the magazine's paywall, but the summary blog post outlines the magazine's thinking on the issue.

The iPhone 5s tops the already great iPhone 5 with a surprisingly reliable fingerprint reader, a faster processor, and better-than-ever camera. And the affordable iPhone 5c is a compelling offering for budget-minded buyers. Consumer Reports testers found both phones delivered better performances than the iPhones they succeed--they even have longer talk times (a tad less than 7 hours). [...]

Yet, battery life was still notably shorter than on other phones in our tests, including three of the latest Droids from Motorola, which ran for as long as 24 hours. Also, their small screens, while sharp and bright, can't beat the larger, sharper displays that adorn flagship models from Samsung, LG, and HTC.

Many Android device manufacturers have been increasing the size of their devices and displays, pushing into so-called "phablet" territory, but Apple has so far kept to smaller displays facilitating one-handed operation. In a minor change, Apple increased the height of the iPhone's display with the iPhone 5 last year, but the 4-inch display now standard on Apple's latest iPhone and iPod touch models remains much smaller than seen on many competing devices.

Apple has reportedly been testing prototype iPhone designs with larger displays measuring between 4.8 and 6 inches diagonally, with a particular focus on 4.8-inch models. Apple does, however, routinely test a variety of different prototype designs and it is unclear if the company is planning to launch the larger-screen designs with the next iPhone hardware update presumably scheduled for next year.

Article Link: New iPhones Score Well with 'Consumer Reports', but Display and Battery 'No Match' for Android Competitors

 

[Squilly]

Apple is doomed.

Gotta wait a year for yet another incremental improvement while other competitors are already ahead.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

Never thought I would have heard Android being better for battery than iOS.

I can usually get a couple of days out my iPhone 5... yet my GS4 wielding friends get worried at the thought of leaving their houses without the charger.

 

[Klae17]

Thin is no longer in. Those who says size doesn't matter secretly likes them fatter.

 

[Rogifan]

Consumer Reports? Does anyone care what they have to say anymore?

 

[johnnnw]

The battery is pretty bad.

 

[DOSNET]

It's not the size that matters, it's what you do with it that counts.

 

[Klae17]

Never thought I would have heard Android being better for battery than iOS.

I can usually get a couple of days out my iPhone 5... yet my GS4 wielding friends get worried at the thought of leaving their houses without the charger.

I have an external just to last the day and sometimes use it twice in one day. It depends on the user.

 

[DaBossIsHere]

Never thought I would have heard Android being better for battery than iOS.

I can usually get a couple of days out my iPhone 5... yet my GS4 wielding friends get worried at the thought of leaving their houses without the charger.

I have the S4 and I can go through the day easily... dunno what your friends are doing tbh.

 

[Klae17]

Consumer Reports? Does anyone care what they have to say anymore?

A lot of people read them.

 

[rajat8676]

4.8 with curved glass would be good

 

[Aye]

Droids saturated screen and better in battery? Lol

 

[bchery21]

better battery life is expecting seeing that they can fit larger batteries in those phones...

 

[TTile]

Never thought I would have heard Android being better for battery than iOS.

I can usually get a couple of days out my iPhone 5... yet my GS4 wielding friends get worried at the thought of leaving their houses without the charger.

I've seen this with my friends as well.

 

[LostSoul80]

Inb4 2.5" screens FTW

 

[stuffradio]

Consumer Reports? Does anyone care what they have to say anymore?

Just because they bashed Apple, doesn't mean they're not good.

 

[oliversl]

How is pentile OLED sharper than IPS LCD?

 

[gregwyattjr]

I have seen some phablet displays and they are beautiful. But holding them can be extremely frustrating. I need a phone with one-handed use and these phablets require two hands. They also take up a lot more space in my pocket which can be annoying. I hope Apple can make the iPhone's screen larger without making the phone itself bigger. The iPhone 5 is large enough for my taste.

As for battery life, Apple needs to step it up. I get just 4 1/2 hours on my iPhone 5. Battery life is my only gripe about the iPhone.

 

[Lesser Evets]

Apple succeeded because this problem would have had Jobs throwing a hell-bent s••t fit 6 months before launch. To Tim Cook it's probably no big deal.

 

[Aye]

A lot of people read them.

A decreasing tiny few percentage of Americans ...

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

I have an external just to last the day and sometimes use it twice in one day. It depends on the user.

Android users must never use their phone then. Oh, oops.

 

[dtich]

The battery is pretty bad.

my 5S battery is pretty *good* actually. def go more than a day with fairly heavy usage. not sure what cr, or other people, are doing with their phones.. but calls, texts all day, surfing, some video and music pb, takin pix... no battery issue.

and i for one do not want a phone bigger than the 5. when i want a tablet, i'll reach for a tablet; when i want a phone, i reach for a phone....

 

[khovland92]

Contract will be up for the iPhone 6. I'm expecting

• Bigger screen (4.8 inches? sure!)
• Much better battery life (so much more room)
• Nifty iOS 8 features, since iOS 7 was more of a re-design, now they can actually add more things

 

[Aye]

Just because they bashed Apple, doesn't mean they're not good.

They did not bash Apple but they are not really "consumer reports".

 

[Tankmaze]

Apple can take their time to deliver bigger screen iphone thats "right" maybe with slim bezel or edge to edge screen or any other technique I can't think of.