Just a little background: I'm coming from an iPhone 4 with iOS 7 that I was very happy with. The main reason for the upgrade was storage capacity, better camera, and LTE.
I've been traveling so my iPhone has been sitting in a box since it arrived earlier this week. I finally got my hands on it late last night. Here are my first impressions.
Touch ID - I too was under the impression that I could touch the sensor without pushing the button down and it would unlock. I was annoyed when I hear this was not the case. This is a non-issue. Pushing the button down and taking pressure off, without lifting the finger is seamless. I cannot relate to the people that are complaining about this.
Also, the Touch ID feature is much faster than I expected. I did not have a passcode on my previous phone because it was quicker to just slide to unlock, without worrying about the code. Touch ID is faster than no password. I'm shocked.
Speed - I was all too happy with my iPhone 4. Ya, it felt a little sluggish, even before moving to iOS 7 but most phones do. The iPhone 5s is FAST. I'm stunned at how smooth everything is. No more accidentally clicking on something because of screen update delays.
As a side note I was in the Stanford Apple store on Monday, spending a few spare minutes playing with a demo phone. It was super smooth and fast. Out of curiosity I wanted to see how many apps were open. I didn't count but it took me about 45 seconds to close them all. All were open with no noticeable performance hit.
Look - My first impressions of the look of the phone online was 'just ok'. The silver was the most appealing, which is what I bought and it meets expectations. The Space Grey was not appealing but looks much better in person than it does online. Almost to the point that I wish I got one.
The Gold was the most surprising. At first I said I would not be caught with one. Then I saw the pictures after launch and it looked awesome. Then I saw one in person in the Apple store, and it looked terrible. It may be because the lighting in the Stanford store is less than ideal but I'm glad I didn't get one, but I can see the appeal.
Camera - I haven't had a chance to stress the camera yet but it has impressed me so far. Low light is ok but the Slo-Mo video is just damn cool , as expected. I gave it a try on a ceiling fan moving so fast I can't make out the individual blades with the naked eye. In playback there was no blurring and the fan blades were clear as day. Pretty sweet.
Overall it was a great upgrade from the iPhone 4 and I'm extremely happy with it.
Update:
I am annoyed with the 'feel' of the home button. Not so much the 'clicking' people are talking about but it feels like there is no support at the top of the button, almost like the button is balanced on a point.
It feels cheap and I think they could have made it more sturdy.
I've been traveling so my iPhone has been sitting in a box since it arrived earlier this week. I finally got my hands on it late last night. Here are my first impressions.
Touch ID - I too was under the impression that I could touch the sensor without pushing the button down and it would unlock. I was annoyed when I hear this was not the case. This is a non-issue. Pushing the button down and taking pressure off, without lifting the finger is seamless. I cannot relate to the people that are complaining about this.
Also, the Touch ID feature is much faster than I expected. I did not have a passcode on my previous phone because it was quicker to just slide to unlock, without worrying about the code. Touch ID is faster than no password. I'm shocked.
Speed - I was all too happy with my iPhone 4. Ya, it felt a little sluggish, even before moving to iOS 7 but most phones do. The iPhone 5s is FAST. I'm stunned at how smooth everything is. No more accidentally clicking on something because of screen update delays.
As a side note I was in the Stanford Apple store on Monday, spending a few spare minutes playing with a demo phone. It was super smooth and fast. Out of curiosity I wanted to see how many apps were open. I didn't count but it took me about 45 seconds to close them all. All were open with no noticeable performance hit.
Look - My first impressions of the look of the phone online was 'just ok'. The silver was the most appealing, which is what I bought and it meets expectations. The Space Grey was not appealing but looks much better in person than it does online. Almost to the point that I wish I got one.
The Gold was the most surprising. At first I said I would not be caught with one. Then I saw the pictures after launch and it looked awesome. Then I saw one in person in the Apple store, and it looked terrible. It may be because the lighting in the Stanford store is less than ideal but I'm glad I didn't get one, but I can see the appeal.
Camera - I haven't had a chance to stress the camera yet but it has impressed me so far. Low light is ok but the Slo-Mo video is just damn cool , as expected. I gave it a try on a ceiling fan moving so fast I can't make out the individual blades with the naked eye. In playback there was no blurring and the fan blades were clear as day. Pretty sweet.
Overall it was a great upgrade from the iPhone 4 and I'm extremely happy with it.
Update:
I am annoyed with the 'feel' of the home button. Not so much the 'clicking' people are talking about but it feels like there is no support at the top of the button, almost like the button is balanced on a point.
It feels cheap and I think they could have made it more sturdy.
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