*EDIT* My short intended review turned into an epic rant 
Ok..to give a quick rundown of me and apple..
Have had every iphone since its release...get them religiously like most of you here every year on launch day. This year was no different.. A little backstory before i go any further..
I have been really tired of iOS since around the 4.0 time frame..Not that its not good, just like with anything else though after using it for awhile you need a good refresh to keep you interested. During the iphone 4 though i did not try out any other phones as there really wasn't anything that could compete. After the 4s was released i was even more disappointed but got it anyway..However over the next year i tried many phones and I always came back
Gnex = 3 times
S3 = 3 times
Razr = 10 minutes
With the iphone 5 announcement i was really not into it, but it really has been everything i have been hoping for the last couple years, bigger screen, 4G LTE are the main ones.
So i picked a 64gb on launch day and returned it about 5 hrs later...I think the shock of paying $850 for a phone kinda was the main reason for returning it this time around, even though in the end i would have paid $450 after selling the 4s. I think having gigantic expectations and then seeing the same ol iOS on there is what did me in that day..
So..I pick up another s3(my 3rd and final one) ...Used it for about 4hrs and was like WTF is this..so cumbersome and all the reasons i returned it the previous two times started coming back. (not the screen size, that's perfect on it IMO) Sold it the next day and went back to the 4s... Then i started thinking about the 5 again and giving it another chance..
Looked all around last Thursday for one and BB had a white 64GB in stock Could not believe it..I really did not want white but figured i would try it out and probably return it for a black 2-3 weeks later if i was going to stick with the iphone.
After about 2hrs of constant use this time i then started noticing all the little things that really don't stick out until you start using the phone a lot and get over the "this looks the same as my 4s"
1. The screen is better hands down...A lot more pop to it and i can see what people mean now when they say it looks like everything is "floating" on the display. Not sure if this is just the color saturation playing mind tricks but everything just looks 10x better on it.
2. LTE...Lovely, although much slower for some reason than my Gnex and S3 was. I had another thread going on this if you want more info on it. But bottom line is i think Verizon is throttling iphone 5 users in my area.
3. Maps...Works fine in my area, have not seen any hiccups like others mention or warped maps. I don't think i will ever use it though since i have a NAV system in my vehicle already.
4. White vs Black = WOW..huge difference.. I am somewhat of a amateur videophile if there is such a thing but its ingrained into my mind that you must have a black surround bezel to make the screen the focus(most would agree) I always thought the white iphone would everything looks so so since it would not be a black bezel. For everything but watching videos i would say the white version is much better to have and is actually much less distracting than the black was. The white just blends into the background better it seems.
5. Overall speed is great..Web browsing is fast which is the most important to me.
6. Battery life is great - 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hrs usage ...(not ipod useage either, this is all screen on time with me doing something)
7. At first glance NO ONE can seemingly tell its a larger screen unless you put up a previous iphone to it. I have shown it to about 30 people that use iphones and they cant even tell its a bigger screen until they compare the two
Lastly...The only thing that can draw me away now is Windows phone...Which i love and would have switched to a couple years ago if Verizon had more than that stupid focus phone. That should all change next month. I am eyeing the Nokia 920 as it uses the same IPS screens as iphone uses. So the screen should be great and not like all these other AMOLED screens that are hard to see during the day.
Bottom line is if you don't think the iphone 5 is a huge upgrade over the 4s give it a chance..it really is. Just takes a bit to let it all sink in and be like "oh yeah"
Ok..to give a quick rundown of me and apple..
Have had every iphone since its release...get them religiously like most of you here every year on launch day. This year was no different.. A little backstory before i go any further..
I have been really tired of iOS since around the 4.0 time frame..Not that its not good, just like with anything else though after using it for awhile you need a good refresh to keep you interested. During the iphone 4 though i did not try out any other phones as there really wasn't anything that could compete. After the 4s was released i was even more disappointed but got it anyway..However over the next year i tried many phones and I always came back
Gnex = 3 times
S3 = 3 times
Razr = 10 minutes
With the iphone 5 announcement i was really not into it, but it really has been everything i have been hoping for the last couple years, bigger screen, 4G LTE are the main ones.
So i picked a 64gb on launch day and returned it about 5 hrs later...I think the shock of paying $850 for a phone kinda was the main reason for returning it this time around, even though in the end i would have paid $450 after selling the 4s. I think having gigantic expectations and then seeing the same ol iOS on there is what did me in that day..
So..I pick up another s3(my 3rd and final one) ...Used it for about 4hrs and was like WTF is this..so cumbersome and all the reasons i returned it the previous two times started coming back. (not the screen size, that's perfect on it IMO) Sold it the next day and went back to the 4s... Then i started thinking about the 5 again and giving it another chance..
Looked all around last Thursday for one and BB had a white 64GB in stock
Could not believe it..I really did not want white but figured i would try it out and probably return it for a black 2-3 weeks later if i was going to stick with the iphone. After about 2hrs of constant use this time i then started noticing all the little things that really don't stick out until you start using the phone a lot and get over the "this looks the same as my 4s"
1. The screen is better hands down...A lot more pop to it and i can see what people mean now when they say it looks like everything is "floating" on the display. Not sure if this is just the color saturation playing mind tricks but everything just looks 10x better on it.
2. LTE...Lovely, although much slower for some reason than my Gnex and S3 was. I had another thread going on this if you want more info on it. But bottom line is i think Verizon is throttling iphone 5 users in my area.
3. Maps...Works fine in my area, have not seen any hiccups like others mention or warped maps. I don't think i will ever use it though since i have a NAV system in my vehicle already.
4. White vs Black = WOW..huge difference.. I am somewhat of a amateur videophile if there is such a thing but its ingrained into my mind that you must have a black surround bezel to make the screen the focus(most would agree) I always thought the white iphone would everything looks so so since it would not be a black bezel. For everything but watching videos i would say the white version is much better to have and is actually much less distracting than the black was. The white just blends into the background better it seems.
5. Overall speed is great..Web browsing is fast which is the most important to me.
6. Battery life is great - 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hrs usage ...(not ipod useage either, this is all screen on time with me doing something)
7. At first glance NO ONE can seemingly tell its a larger screen unless you put up a previous iphone to it. I have shown it to about 30 people that use iphones and they cant even tell its a bigger screen until they compare the two
Lastly...The only thing that can draw me away now is Windows phone...Which i love and would have switched to a couple years ago if Verizon had more than that stupid focus phone. That should all change next month. I am eyeing the Nokia 920 as it uses the same IPS screens as iphone uses. So the screen should be great and not like all these other AMOLED screens that are hard to see during the day.
Bottom line is if you don't think the iphone 5 is a huge upgrade over the 4s give it a chance..it really is. Just takes a bit to let it all sink in and be like "oh yeah"
