The iPhone 5C may not be Apple’s most powerful iPhone – but it has generated a great deal of buzz, and may have more appeal to the average consumer than the more expensive and more premium iPhone 5S. But what do the first reviewers really have to say about the iPhone 5C? We’ve rounded up the best and brightest of the early iPhone 5C reviews so you can read the conclusions for yourself!
The iPhone 5c is Apple’s mid-range iPhone model that comes in a variety of colors including blue, green, pink, white and yellow. It’s clear that the iPhone 5c is going after a different crowd than the 5s, but it would be wrong to think of this as a cheap iPhone.
[…] While many of us love having features like a fingerprint sensor, it’s not that important for all users. Some people are price conscious and will want to check out all the options available to them. I think the iPhone 5c will win out in this type of head-to-head comparison.
Apple has a one-two punch of iPhones like they’ve never had before. The iPhone 5c sales will be huge.
You’ve seen this phone before. Sure, it has a new name: iPhone 5C. And its plastic body comes in different colors. It also has an attractive price when tied to a wireless contract.
But the 5C is really a slightly improved iPhone 5, which Apple is no longer offering.
This doesn’t make it a bad phone. Quite the contrary: I’ve been using the new iPhone 5C for the past five days and it’s a solid premium phone. Its hardware improvements include longer battery life, better cellular-data capabilities and a better front-facing camera, for FaceTime and “selfies,” or photos you take of yourself.
With the iPhone 5c, Apple’s crafted something that’s more than just the sum of its parts. It’s easy to be cynical and dismiss this handset as just an iPhone 5 in a colorful plastic shell, but that’s missing the point. There’s no doubt that the 5c looks gorgeous and feels wonderful in hand. It inherits tried-and-true features from the iPhone 5 and also gains a few new ones, like the improved 1.2MP front-facing camera. Still, that’s only half the story. It’s iOS 7 that truly sets the 5c (and the iPhone 5s) apart, thanks to a delightful redesign and a dash of new functionality. With the 5c, Apple achieves an unprecedented level of synergy between hardware and software. Like many of the company’s other products, you have to experience the 5c in person to truly appreciate it.
Given the choice, there are only a few things we’d tweak. We’re happy with the iPhone 5c in terms of performance and battery life, but we’re longing for a better camera and a larger screen. The iPhone 5s addresses the former, but typing on any iPhone feels awfully cramped when you’re used to displays that measure 4.3 inches (and bigger, even). Maybe next time? If you’re using an iPhone 4s or anything older, you can’t go wrong upgrading to either the 5c or the iPhone 5s. We think most buyers will pick the iPhone 5c for the price and color choices alone, while the iPhone 5s will appeal to power users and gamers. iPhone 5 owners are probably better off sticking with iOS 7 or picking up an iPhone 5s instead of getting an iPhone 5c. And, if all else fails, there are always next year’s iPhones.
The 5c is probably more broadly appealing than the iPhone 5s just by virtue of its lower cost of entry, but it’s still premium hardware and is likely better thought of as an analogue to the iPhone 4S relative to the iPhone 5 back when that device launched.
But the 5c also has a focus on color, personality and a sort of ‘lightness’ of design. The phone feels ‘young’ overall, and it’s likely that’s the kind of consumer that’s going to enjoy this device; the youth market and those just getting their first smartphone or moving up from their first budget Android device to the big leagues.
The iPhone 5c is an improvement, even if slight, to the smartphone I’d still call the best available if Apple hadn’t also released the iPhone 5s. I’ll say that with the caveat that I believe the iPhone is still the best smartphone available for the largest number of smartphone buyers, in terms of both usability and design, even with the dramatic changes wrought by iOS 7. Given the choice, I’d choose an iPhone 5c over an iPhone 5, based on design alone, and ignoring its other benefits. In other words, if you’re in the market for a new smartphone, Apple’s iPhone 5c should be right near the top of your list.
The iPhone 5c is a well built device. For all intents and purposes it is a perfect replacement for the iPhone 5. If you were planning on buying a cost reduced iPhone 5 once the 5s came out, the iPhone 5c should have no problems filling that role. Its performance, battery life and camera quality are all on par with the 5.
Apple’s return to a polycarbonate iPhone design seems to have gone quite well. The iPhone 5c is solid, doesn’t have any noticeable amount of flex and has a great in hand feel thanks to its nicely curved edges. I feel like the color options will go over very well with the 5c’s target markets. I can see many users even preferring the styling of the 5c to the 5s in those markets that aren’t feature/performance sensitive.
In the end, I steered my mom to the iPhone 5S. You should too, unless you really, truly need to save a hundred dollars. In that case — or in the event you really love brightly colored plastic — get the iPhone 5C. Apple may not have set the global smartphone world on fire, but the 5C is another small step toward a more affordable iPhone. And if I were to pick an iPhone that wasn’t cutting-edge but still had everything most people needed to do everything they wanted, the iPhone 5C is it.
The iPhone 5C is not a flagship product – Apple’s iPhone 5S is for that – nor does it fix any of the annoying niggles you’ve perhaps started to feel with your current iPhone, but if you are looking to upgrade from the 4 or the 4S, want to stick with Apple, but can’t justify the 5S and its price, then this colourful option is could to be perfect for you.
Despite initial reservations we love the iPhone 5C – it’s colourful, joyful, capable, and just works.
Unsurprisingly, most reviewers wouldn’t recommend it as an upgrade from the iPhone 5 – but almost all agree that it carries the same appeal and uncompromising quality that people have come to expect from the iPhone. We’ll have a full review of our own once our iPhone 5C arrives this Friday!
