Apple iPhone 5s review: Step by step

27 September 2013
It’s that time of year again and Apple’s in the usual record-breaking mood at the box-office. This is an S year in the Cupertino calendar but different enough – it may be that two phones instead of one account for almost...

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  • NMv
  • 28 Sep 2013

Well Apple continues to provide a very average product yet the sheep still come. This phone is a top 10 at best and is lacking in many ways. Apple is stuck in the past. Have fun with your neon colored and "touch id", which was hackex in less than 48 hours!

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    • MrGenie
    • HBE
    • 28 Sep 2013

    I really wished GSM review pointed that Atrix was the first to have finger print scan .. so the novelty isnt Apple's :)

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      • MisterCats
      • RHT
      • 28 Sep 2013

      Anonymous, 28 Sep 2013There are way better video players than VLC on any platform... moreHave you not heard of ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec)? It's been out forever.

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        • AnonD-146024
        • mxP
        • 28 Sep 2013

        In 2011 I bought iPhone 4s for me & samsung S2 for wife. Whereas S2 only survived its short life somehow my 4s still works perfectly even on the latest iOS 7. So spending a bit more on a quality product makes more sense than to waste it on some crap phone.

        iPhone 5S I believe is still the best one can have as it is really easy to live with unlike some gigantic 5" phone which you can't even use single handedly & all mini droids out there are really mini in performance.

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          • AnonD-143665
          • YT$
          • 28 Sep 2013

          AnonD-36554, 28 Sep 2013Can anyone explain me how can a dual core 1.3 ghz come on t... moreIt's because of the arm v-8 instruction set of the cpu. It is also backed by a simple and optimized web browser safari
          Plus, it is using power vr rouge series 6 gpu.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • AL{
            • 28 Sep 2013

            AnonD-977, 27 Sep 2013VLC and other players are available for free in the App sto... moreThere are way better video players than VLC on any platform (I don't know about iOS though), like BSPlayer and MX Player for android. And while you can sync any mp3 through your iTunes, lossless audio formats (mainly FLAC) can't be played on any iDevice while most android phones play it out of the box.

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              • Michael
              • 0UX
              • 28 Sep 2013

              AnonD-45523, 28 Sep 2013It was on par....it didn't came on top dual core krait a... moreAnd do not forget the number of pixels the CPU/GPU has to push:

              FullHD(Android flagships) 1920x1080=2.073.600 pixels
              IOS 1136x640=727.040 pixels

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                • AnonD-122881
                • KZ8
                • 28 Sep 2013

                AnonD-5197, 28 Sep 2013Cons - TouchID is greatly underused. Absolutely as expected.Just being open-minded, people lock and unlock their phones all the time

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                  • AnonD-5197
                  • QMX
                  • 28 Sep 2013

                  Cons - TouchID is greatly underused. Absolutely as expected.

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                    • AnonD-129806
                    • dQe
                    • 28 Sep 2013

                    AnonD-183586, 27 Sep 2013Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Sony Xperia z1, are much more bet... moreRubbish,best smartfone is one that suites your needs not the one driven by spec which is what most uneducated people go for.

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                      • AnonD-45523
                      • 7q9
                      • 28 Sep 2013

                      AnonD-36554, 28 Sep 2013Can anyone explain me how can a dual core 1.3 ghz come on t... moreIt was on par....it didn't came on top

                      dual core krait androids performed similar to Quad core A7's

                      just take a look at nexus 10 it has dual core but proper cortex a15. it performs way better than anroid a7 quadcores but lesser than s800

                      a7 processor is made up of custom cores and performance is similar to cortex a15 dual.

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                        • AnonD-129806
                        • dQe
                        • 28 Sep 2013

                        BooN, 27 Sep 2013Wow, what a joke of a smartphone! Can't grasp the reasons w... moreHave you tried one?

                          • o
                          • oflife
                          • ixv
                          • 28 Sep 2013

                          AnonD-191143, 27 Sep 2013... I was hoping for significant improvements in iPhone 5S ... moreDitto! (My feelings on the iPhone 5s echo yours and I'm also getting a Note 3.) BTW, check out the Note 8, good for when you need a larger display. Very fast too.

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                            • AnonD-36554
                            • uu4
                            • 28 Sep 2013

                            Can anyone explain me how can a dual core 1.3 ghz come on top against the likes of snapdragon 800?...none of the android dual cores give that kind of performance...

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • Kxu
                              • 27 Sep 2013

                              Anonymous, 27 Sep 2013Regarding audio quality and power on headphones output: 1st... moreI agree with you. I've compared the speaker of 5S, 5C. But none of them comes anywhere close to the HTC One which I compared with both iPhones to the same song. Nothing seems to impress me when it comes to audio quality on a smartphone more than the HTC One ever since I first heard it. Especially for a tiny device, being able to produce such deep, loud and clear sound... A real pleasure to the ears and audiophiles. Although to be fair the iPhone 5S only has one speaker, and it sounds alright for a single speaker, just sounds a little bit on the quieter side.

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                                • AnonD-191159
                                • HCu
                                • 27 Sep 2013

                                Still not possible to bluetooth your mp3 or pictures to your friend using the iPhone? The bluetooth is still not fully functional.

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                                  • Petey
                                  • nI5
                                  • 27 Sep 2013

                                  Not here to bash apple or android, still just about clinging on to my s2 although its very laggy and on its last legs now. What people seem to forget about iPhones when moaning about the price is that they hold there value extremely well. I'd be lucky to get £100 for my s2 although the 4s can still command about £250. Just something to think if your comparing prices and value for the long run

                                    The best smartphone out there, the iPhone 5s.

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                                      • AnonD-977
                                      • v}7
                                      • 27 Sep 2013

                                      AnonD-71586, 27 Sep 2013clearly not worth it, altough i am an android fan i will ad... moreI've got a 16GB S4, it only has 8GB of usable memory and Samsung Switch couldn't sync my iPhone backup because it ran out of memory.

                                      Had to waste my money on some cheap junk chinese memory card from ebay which made the S4 go so hot I had to take it out again.

                                      Good memory cards cost a lot more but when it's an $800 phone it's probably advisable to pay a bit more.

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                                        • Mike
                                        • 3xm
                                        • 27 Sep 2013

                                        Very nice review GSMArena. You may have helped me to make up my mind. Having ordered and Iphone 5s and still waiting with no obvious delivery date I think I'll just get the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 instead. It's screen is mind boggling! That said Apple do have that habit of being able to get in your head! Apparently I really do need an Iphone!