So after 2 years with Android I've come back to the iPhone and got a 32GB Space Grey 5s. To put into context my previous iPhone experience I had a 3Gs before it got upgraded for a Galaxy SII.
Well impressed with the screen but as most people here have probably been used to retina displays the last couple of years that probably comes as no surprise. Thought a move down from a 4.3" to 4" screen would have been more of a system shock but thankfully adjusted pretty much instantly.
I did keep hold of the 3Gs (updated to 6.1.4), and had been using it as an iPod touch until last week when I lent it to a mate. The 5s feels like it's on steroids compared to the 3Gs and SII. Everything is just smooth and fast, I'm quite happy with the animations etc in iOS 7, feel like they add to the experience rather than slow things down to me. Just bought Infinity Blade 3 as from the Keynote it looks like the current killer game to show the phone off properly, very impressed with the level of graphics and effects from my quick go on it.
Touch ID: Sometimes non passcode/word based security options can sound great but be to much of an inconvenience in practice. When Android first brought out face unlock I couldn't wait to try it,, but with use it turned out to be very hit and miss as to whether it did work, and when it did it took longer to unlock the phone than do a pattern so I ended up tapping the x to bypass it and go straight to pattern unlock, and then ended up turning it off.
I was wondering if Touch ID would be a similar experience, but thankfully finding it the opposite so far. It is certainly a lot faster than code or pattern unlocking, and so much more convenient then having to type a password when purchasing apps. Have not had it fail on me yet either so massive kudos to Apple for making what has been redundant tech in consumer electronics effortless and unobtrusive.
I haven't had time to test the camera out yet, photography is certainly a hobby of mine and looking to see how it fairs in low light and how the new flash works out.
My time with Android proved the grass isn't always greener on the other side, fragmentation of updates (My SII stopped receiving them a year and a half into my 2 year contract which is extremely poor), and the experience depending on the Manufacturer. Touchwiz is awful and I ended up rooting the handset and using custom ROMs quite early on. I remember being unimpressed with the new look in iOS 7 when I first saw it, however having used it, the OS is now growing on me. This is most noticeable when opening apps which haven't been updated yet and still use the old keyboard etc, they look quite dated.
I'm sort of glad I did go to Android though because otherwise I'd probably have been upgrading from a 4s and wouldn't be appreciating the 5s as much. Yes Android has much more in the way of customisation, but to get the most of it you have to go down the custom ROM route, and in my experience that brings a whole host of problems like negative impact on stability and battery life.
I'm delighted with the 5s and definitely glad to be back with a handset I know will receive regular updates through it's lifetime and far better syncing with my Mac.
Sorry if this has been a bit rambling, I just wanted to write my thoughts down. Here's some photos of my new gadget
Well impressed with the screen but as most people here have probably been used to retina displays the last couple of years that probably comes as no surprise. Thought a move down from a 4.3" to 4" screen would have been more of a system shock but thankfully adjusted pretty much instantly.
I did keep hold of the 3Gs (updated to 6.1.4), and had been using it as an iPod touch until last week when I lent it to a mate. The 5s feels like it's on steroids compared to the 3Gs and SII. Everything is just smooth and fast, I'm quite happy with the animations etc in iOS 7, feel like they add to the experience rather than slow things down to me. Just bought Infinity Blade 3 as from the Keynote it looks like the current killer game to show the phone off properly, very impressed with the level of graphics and effects from my quick go on it.
Touch ID: Sometimes non passcode/word based security options can sound great but be to much of an inconvenience in practice. When Android first brought out face unlock I couldn't wait to try it,, but with use it turned out to be very hit and miss as to whether it did work, and when it did it took longer to unlock the phone than do a pattern so I ended up tapping the x to bypass it and go straight to pattern unlock, and then ended up turning it off.
I was wondering if Touch ID would be a similar experience, but thankfully finding it the opposite so far. It is certainly a lot faster than code or pattern unlocking, and so much more convenient then having to type a password when purchasing apps. Have not had it fail on me yet either so massive kudos to Apple for making what has been redundant tech in consumer electronics effortless and unobtrusive.
I haven't had time to test the camera out yet, photography is certainly a hobby of mine and looking to see how it fairs in low light and how the new flash works out.
My time with Android proved the grass isn't always greener on the other side, fragmentation of updates (My SII stopped receiving them a year and a half into my 2 year contract which is extremely poor), and the experience depending on the Manufacturer. Touchwiz is awful and I ended up rooting the handset and using custom ROMs quite early on. I remember being unimpressed with the new look in iOS 7 when I first saw it, however having used it, the OS is now growing on me. This is most noticeable when opening apps which haven't been updated yet and still use the old keyboard etc, they look quite dated.
I'm sort of glad I did go to Android though because otherwise I'd probably have been upgrading from a 4s and wouldn't be appreciating the 5s as much. Yes Android has much more in the way of customisation, but to get the most of it you have to go down the custom ROM route, and in my experience that brings a whole host of problems like negative impact on stability and battery life.
I'm delighted with the 5s and definitely glad to be back with a handset I know will receive regular updates through it's lifetime and far better syncing with my Mac.
Sorry if this has been a bit rambling, I just wanted to write my thoughts down. Here's some photos of my new gadget
