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5c performance good enough or 5s?

emembee

emembee

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 31, 2013
330
102
Surrey,UK
I am looking to upgrade from IP4 but can't decide on 5C 32g or 5S 16g (budget limit is around UK £500). Is the 5S really that much faster in day to day performance, I want to keep the phone for around 3 years. Problem is that 16g is small in space but I can't justify 629 for a 32g 5s.

Anyone have tried both and know the difference? I will not be gaming on it either.

Thanks.
 
If you're keeping it 3 years, then for sure get the 5s. It's much more future proof with the 64 bit chip. It's also the faster phone. I've had both and you'll notice a big difference with intensive apps not just gaming.
 
Ramio said:
If you're keeping it 3 years, then for sure get the 5s. It's much more future proof with the 64 bit chip. It's also the faster phone. I've had both and you'll notice a big difference with intensive apps not just gaming.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that might be true. Funny thing is that in the apple store I preferred the feel of the 5c in my hand and also liked the yellow :) The space might be an issue, can't really see me managing on 16g for apps and photos. Suppose music can be loaded as needed only.

Only other option is to find a good contract with a 32g model but I prefer paying up front and not monthly.
 
emembee said:
I am looking to upgrade from IP4 but can't decide on 5C 32g or 5S 16g (budget limit is around UK £500). Is the 5S really that much faster in day to day performance, I want to keep the phone for around 3 years. Problem is that 16g is small in space but I can't justify 629 for a 32g 5s.

Anyone have tried both and know the difference? I will not be gaming on it either.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
No it's not.

Particularly then the A6 in the 5C will be fine.

The A5 dual core was incredibly fast, dual core cpu and runs iOS7 and all apps flawlessly. The A6 in the iPhone 5/5C doubled it's power and RAM.

The A6 is going to be good for a long time.

Even Gaming, with the iPad 2 still being sold, game devs will still be targetting it as lowest common denominator. And your A6 CPU will be faster than that!

Is 16GB really that small? I've got 144 apps, some are games, 3 playlists. And have 3.2GB free. If you aren't downloading multiple of the 1GB games, 16GB is often adequate.
 
5c should be good. I think you will be happier with 32g as you build uo photos, music, apps, etc. over time. The processor age will show in a couple years, but so will the 5s.
 
emembee said:
I was thinking that might be true. Funny thing is that in the apple store I preferred the feel of the 5c in my hand and also liked the yellow :) The space might be an issue, can't really see me managing on 16g for apps and photos. Suppose music can be loaded as needed only.

Only other option is to find a good contract with a 32g model but I prefer paying up front and not monthly.
Click to expand...

You'll be listening to music sometimes but you'll be using your phone all the time so I say get the 5s. It will easily be good for 3 years. The 64 bit is a big deal and especially if you're keeping it for a while. I'm sure the 5c will work but it will become really slow. I say put music as needed and definitely get the 5s. The camera is much better. I shot a concert indoors in the dark and the quality was amazing. With the 5c, it will be dark and not detailed. When I used to play videos off my iphone 5 on the tv using Apple TV, it would take a very long time. With the 5s, they play almost right away. Touch Id is also very nice too and use it all the time. You'll thank me next year :). Here is an example using heavy apps. http://youtu.be/1EWpFM30yPY
 
Ramio said:
You'll be listening to music sometimes but you'll be using your phone all the time so I say get the 5s. It will easily be good for 3 years. The 64 bit is a big deal and especially if you're keeping it for a while. I'm sure the 5c will work but it will become really slow.
Click to expand...

I think I may check out the performance of the new ipad as that will give me an idea if I want it on the phone, which would seem unlikely but the camera improvement could be worth the extra layout.

thanks
 
5c performance good enough or 5s?

Sounds to me the 5c would suit you better, in facing same dilemma IP4 and wishing to have greater space over a stupid amount of money more for much less storage.

No brainer if you ask me. Why make do with shuffling stuff about to accommodate within 16gb when you can have pics, music and videos all on one device!

Sounds like you had kinda made the decision after holding a 5c lol
 
The A5 was a fast processor. The A6 is a whole different story. It's fast as hell and will be useable for a long time.

The 5c feels better when holding it. The 5c's performance is right up there with any high end Android phone. The A7 isn't going to reach it's full potential for a year at least . Even then the A6 is going to be nice.

The ipad 2 is still around. It uses the A5 chip. The 4s uses the A5. The 5c as hard as it is for many to admit is going to be here for a while.

I say take the higher capacity 5C. You're not gon be disappointed.
 
Tthomas612 said:
The A5 was a fast processor. The A6 is a whole different story. It's fast as hell and will be useable for a long time.

The 5c feels better when holding it. The 5c's performance is right up there with any high end Android phone. The A7 isn't going to reach it's full potential for a year at least . Even then the A6 is going to be nice.

The ipad 2 is still around. It uses the A5 chip. The 4s uses the A5. The 5c as hard as it is for many to admit is going to be here for a while.

I say take the higher capacity 5C. You're not gon be disappointed.
Click to expand...

I have an ipad3 which is A5X and find the performance perfectly adequate on ios7 so I suppose the A6 will be that much better. It is just that tHE Ip4 is so sluggish now. camera seems quite poor and also doesn't support all the new things like airdrop so I do want To upgrade but keep it for as close as 3 years as I can - maybe avoid the iOS updates :D
 
emembee said:
I have an ipad3 which is A5X and find the performance perfectly adequate on ios7 so I suppose the A6 will be that much better. It is just that tHE Ip4 is so sluggish now. camera seems quite poor and also doesn't support all the new things like airdrop so I do want To upgrade but keep it for as close as 3 years as I can - maybe avoid the iOS updates :D
Click to expand...

Welli look at it like this... The iPhone 4S and ipad 2 are both almost 3 years old. I know from experience that they both run iOS 7 pretty well. Therefore I believe that the 5c will run iOS 9 very well and be cut back on iOS 10. That's 3 years from now. Your phone will be fine for 3 years whether it be the 5c or 5s.
 
emembee said:
I am looking to upgrade from IP4 but can't decide on 5C 32g or 5S 16g (budget limit is around UK £500). Is the 5S really that much faster in day to day performance, I want to keep the phone for around 3 years. Problem is that 16g is small in space but I can't justify 629 for a 32g 5s.

Anyone have tried both and know the difference? I will not be gaming on it either.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

getting an iPhone 5S to keep for 3 years will make sense than getting a 5C. also if you plan on selling it later on, 16GB has better value down the line compare to 32/64.
 
On paper, 5s is a lot faster than the 5c.

In real world use, 5c is not much faster than the 5s.

If u r in a budget, just buy a used (last year's) 5 and skip the 5c.

The 5c is just an old 5 in a plastic shell.

You can probably find a 5 for about $300/$400. If u are lucky, u might be able to find one with apple care plus.
 
5S hands down.
It lighter, thiner, it's not made of plastic, touch id, better camera.
And it's a lot faster.

3 years? Think 4 vs 4s in iOS 7. The 4 is just so slow, doesn't have most of the features, while 4s is ok-ish.
 
5S......I have the 16Gb version and with iCloud it's more than enough for me.

Three years down the road the 'S' will be worth more than the 'C' as well.
 
kingalexthe1st said:
*with better front camera
*and more LTE bands supported

Just sayin' ;)

Pompiliu!! I've just seen your signature! On which tree did you find money growing on; disclose its location immediately please :)
Click to expand...

And a better battery
And better audio processing
And a better speaker


The more I think about it, I bet the 5s shares more parts with the 5 than the 5c does.

----------

I'm a big 5c supporter. But if you want it for 3 years, get the S if it isn't financially too much of a step up. Most of is in the states are on 2 year contracts, so that is all I buy my phone for.
 
Ramio said:
If you're keeping it 3 years, then for sure get the 5s. It's much more future proof with the 64 bit chip. It's also the faster phone. I've had both and you'll notice a big difference with intensive apps not just gaming.
Click to expand...

is not a big difference in the real world, stop spreading non sense
 
I think 3 years is just too much for a smartphone, so get the 5s ...

5c is just ok, performance wise, but basically is an iPhone 5, so 1 year old technology.
 
Max(IT) said:
I think 3 years is just too much for a smartphone, so get the 5s ...

5c is just ok, performance wise, but basically is an iPhone 5, so 1 year old technology.
Click to expand...

In 3 years the 5s will be outdated. The truth is the market has hit a saturation period ...

The A6 is fast and will be for a while.
The A7 is fast and will be for a while . It's full potential is still about a year away. The 5s is more future proof...

I say no matter which on you choose you will be happy and they both will make it through 3 years as well as can be expected. Get the one YOU like best. Not everyone else.
 
richardbb85 said:
is not a big difference in the real world, stop spreading non sense
Click to expand...

If you are expecting a huge difference in speed, you won't find it but where the 5s shines is heavy apps like games, imovies, watching videos on Apple TV and so on. I have access to both the 5c and the 5s and have tested both thoroughly. The 5s is no doubt the faster phone. Everything opens faster except for basic apps like the calculator, stocks and simple apps...not much difference there. The camera in the 5s is also better especially indoors. Indoor pics and videos actually look really nice now. Don't get me wrong, the 5c is a really good phone but if he's keeping it for the next 3 years then the 5s would be the better choice. Here is an example of the difference in speed using a heavy app.
http://youtu.be/NTp_zzPcCEo
 
Thanks to everyone for their help.

I think I will go with the 5s if I can manage on 16g, else it will be the 5c (current IP4 32g is almost full).

Gone are the days of premium products lasting 5 to 6 years (like my macs have done).
 
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