The Good:
Overall feel and look is very smart and more comfortable than the 4/4S to hold. (I have the black version though think the white arguably looks even better. I prefer a black border on the screen in daily use.)
The new screen size for me, as someone dubious about going to "only" 4" is very nice indeed - I didn't really notice any negatives in the transition from an iPhone 4 as I thought I might.
Speed of operation, overall very slick in most areas and feels rapid under most circumstances.
Light weight - had the possibility to feel "cheap" but doesn't in the hand due to the solid construction, an improvement over the heavy older phones.
Speaker - Nice upgrade on the old model (as are the headphones) which goes both louder and deeper, within the constraints that are down to physics of course! Nice to not be outdone in the volume battle by Samsung/HTC wielding friends any more.
The Bad:
WiFi freezes or dropouts, have experienced these on three occasions where not even the App Centre will load despite every other device on WiFi having no problem (including iPhone 4 operating at the same time). When it's working it's very fast but this problem has arisen in two separate locations and networks.
Yellow tinted screen, mine definitely displays a yellow tint. It's more noticeable next to the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 I have but on more than one occasion I've noticed whites looking "off" and skin tones a little sickly. I'm not a big believer in the glue-curing story so if as I expect this doesn't improve in the next week it may well be a return issue for me. I will measure color temp with a lightmeter later and update the thread. I'm aware the iPhone 4 had a blueish tint but this mainly looks "clean" compared to a yellow tint so is less distracting. My iPad 2 displays very good color balance.
Battery life, while not terrible by any means is certainly down on my iPhone 4. I expect it's comparable to a 4S but overnight with 3G and Bluetooth off (WiFi on) it dropped about 3%, my 4 would still be at 100% in the same circumstances, I'm not sure why the phone would use more battery just to sit at idle like that. I could probably get a couple of days max out of it with normal mixed use judging by the weekend's experiences so this is just about OK.
The Ugly:
Scuffs on the anodised aluminium. I checked the phone over when new and saw no marks, I can now see one tiny mark on the back bezel where it meets the glass panel, it's small and not a huge problem yet but the phone wasn't knocked or mishandled, slammed down or anything else abusive. How this finish holds up over the next couple of years remains to be seen but it's not looking hopeful for durability going by the amount of reports on this problem.
No I will not get a case, I never have as the phone spends most of its day in my pocket and I don't require any additional bulges down there thank you very much.
I haven't mentioned maps as that's an iOS issue and can be fixed, for now they look "ok" in my area - the location is not as accurate as before that's for sure, I'm now about 50 feet away from where I actually am according to them - this won't help if I ever need "Find my iPhone" will it? Other than that iOS 6 (and Siri which is new for me) are quite solid - Siri actually found out my local football (soccer) scores in less time than it would have taken me to look them up.
Just a small write-up of my experiences for those who haven't yet decided on or received their iPhone 5.
Cheers,
Jim.
Overall feel and look is very smart and more comfortable than the 4/4S to hold. (I have the black version though think the white arguably looks even better. I prefer a black border on the screen in daily use.)
The new screen size for me, as someone dubious about going to "only" 4" is very nice indeed - I didn't really notice any negatives in the transition from an iPhone 4 as I thought I might.
Speed of operation, overall very slick in most areas and feels rapid under most circumstances.
Light weight - had the possibility to feel "cheap" but doesn't in the hand due to the solid construction, an improvement over the heavy older phones.
Speaker - Nice upgrade on the old model (as are the headphones) which goes both louder and deeper, within the constraints that are down to physics of course! Nice to not be outdone in the volume battle by Samsung/HTC wielding friends any more.
The Bad:
WiFi freezes or dropouts, have experienced these on three occasions where not even the App Centre will load despite every other device on WiFi having no problem (including iPhone 4 operating at the same time). When it's working it's very fast but this problem has arisen in two separate locations and networks.
Yellow tinted screen, mine definitely displays a yellow tint. It's more noticeable next to the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 I have but on more than one occasion I've noticed whites looking "off" and skin tones a little sickly. I'm not a big believer in the glue-curing story so if as I expect this doesn't improve in the next week it may well be a return issue for me. I will measure color temp with a lightmeter later and update the thread. I'm aware the iPhone 4 had a blueish tint but this mainly looks "clean" compared to a yellow tint so is less distracting. My iPad 2 displays very good color balance.
Battery life, while not terrible by any means is certainly down on my iPhone 4. I expect it's comparable to a 4S but overnight with 3G and Bluetooth off (WiFi on) it dropped about 3%, my 4 would still be at 100% in the same circumstances, I'm not sure why the phone would use more battery just to sit at idle like that. I could probably get a couple of days max out of it with normal mixed use judging by the weekend's experiences so this is just about OK.
The Ugly:
Scuffs on the anodised aluminium. I checked the phone over when new and saw no marks, I can now see one tiny mark on the back bezel where it meets the glass panel, it's small and not a huge problem yet but the phone wasn't knocked or mishandled, slammed down or anything else abusive. How this finish holds up over the next couple of years remains to be seen but it's not looking hopeful for durability going by the amount of reports on this problem.
No I will not get a case, I never have as the phone spends most of its day in my pocket and I don't require any additional bulges down there thank you very much.
I haven't mentioned maps as that's an iOS issue and can be fixed, for now they look "ok" in my area - the location is not as accurate as before that's for sure, I'm now about 50 feet away from where I actually am according to them - this won't help if I ever need "Find my iPhone" will it? Other than that iOS 6 (and Siri which is new for me) are quite solid - Siri actually found out my local football (soccer) scores in less time than it would have taken me to look them up.
Just a small write-up of my experiences for those who haven't yet decided on or received their iPhone 5.
Cheers,
Jim.
