We've updated iPhone 5s to iOS 12 for you. Very surprised

Apple is famous for its long-term support of its own gadgets, which is why the company’s devices remain relevant for about 4-5 years. But what if we go a little further and consider the 2020 experience of using the iPhone 5 and 5s?

Let's start with the fact that many of us really like the compact format of these devices. The market dictates its own rules and screen diagonals are constantly growing. And the demand for the revolutionary “five” and its more powerful version, the iPhone SE, continues to slowly decline.

In this material, we will look at the ideal conditions under which gadgets are fully functional, despite the lack of support for the current version of iOS. All conclusions are based on personal experience - in our editorial office we found both models that editors once used.

Let's remember the technical characteristics of the iPhone 5 and 5s.

Timeless design

Both devices have an aluminum body - according to rumors, the iPhone 12 will have a frame similar in design. More importantly, smartphones received a Lightning connector, which is still relevant today. A plus in modern realities is the safety of the headphone port.

The first batches of iPhone 5 had a peeling frame around the display and a loose power key. But the company recalled the batch in time and most of the sold devices were subsequently replaced with new ones.

But the problems don't end there either. Among the most noticeable were chips and scratches on the case due to thin coating, display flickering and rapid battery drain.

If we talk about the iPhone 5s, then you shouldn’t expect any problems - the engineers took into account the problems of the previous generation. The only thing you need to be wary of is refurbished devices. And we are not talking about officially restored devices from Apple, but third-party assemblies in which old hardware is placed in a new case.

Unfortunately, in some cases, such iPhones did not have long survivability and began to fail. I personally saw one such instance.

iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 11 Pro

Remembering the differences, it is worth clarifying that the 5s model is available in gold color. In addition, the button on the front panel has lost its signature square in the center and now has a fingerprint scanner built into it.

Smartphone Apple iPhone 5s: Review

Dimensions and weight - 5.0

In terms of dimensions, the Apple iPhone 5S is completely the same as the previous model (iPhone 5) - it is thin, narrow and moderately tall, and fits perfectly in the hand. The dimensions of the device can easily be called reference for a modern smartphone; you can use it with one hand without any problems. The main body material is aluminum. The iPhone, in our opinion, has an excellent balance of size, appearance and quality materials, which is rarely found in modern smartphones. Some use low-quality materials, others do not pay enough attention to design, others release smartphones, completely forgetting about such a parameter as ease of use with one hand.

You can buy the Apple iPhone 5S in three colors - white, gray and gold.

Screen - 4.1

The display in the Apple iPhone 5S smartphone is excellent, with very high brightness, natural color reproduction and maximum viewing angles. With a 4″ diagonal, the screen has a resolution of 640×1136 pixels (PPI - 326), this is lower than the display resolutions in Android smartphones in this price category (Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One), but for the iPhone 5S this resolution is optimal. The screen is covered with protective glass, this avoids scratches and abrasions. In our opinion, the Apple iPhone 5S has one of the best displays found in modern smartphones.

Camera

The smartphone has an 8 MP camera with LED flash. The maximum resolution for video recording is 1920x1080 pixels, recording speed is 30 frames per second, sound is recorded in stereo mode. The smartphone now has a separate shooting mode with a recording speed of 120 frames per second and a resolution of 1280×720 pixels. This mode produces slow-motion video, suitable for fast-paced scenes such as sports events.

Working with text - 1.0

The standard keyboard of the Apple iPhone 5S smartphone is as simple as possible - it does not have the function of entering text by sliding your finger (“Swype”) or the ability to enter numbers without switching to additional symbols mode. The language is switched by touching one button. The main advantage of the keyboard is its very good responsiveness to keystrokes and the highest operating speed: a character is entered the same instant you touch the key. Despite the absence of “Swype” and additional symbols, the keyboard in the Apple iPhone 5S is one of the most convenient, thanks to a large vocabulary and accurate processing of keystrokes.

Internet - 3.0

The browser in the iPhone 5S is fast, it has a “Reading” mode: when you turn it on, the text on the page is enlarged and aligned to the width of the screen with the pictures inscribed in it, other information (for example, information banners and site menus along the edges) is hidden. This mode is perfect for reading large articles without being distracted by advertising, which is often present on sites, and other things.

The disadvantage of the browser is the impossibility of repeatedly scaling the text to fit the screen width; there is only one fixed text size at which it fits the screen. Because of this, when you enlarge the text of an article, you have to scroll it left and right, while in some Android smartphones (for example, HTC One), after enlarging it to any size, the text font is adjusted to fit the width of the screen. The browser supports synchronization with iCloud and the web version of the Safari browser.

Interfaces

The smartphone supports almost all common wireless interfaces, with the exception of NFC; the device has support for dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. There is currently no support for Russian LTE frequencies, but operators promise to add it soon. It is important to note that Apple iPhone 5S purchased in the USA will not work with LTE, even after the operator has activated this feature.

Multimedia - 1.0

The operating system in the Apple iPhone 5S (iOS) is focused primarily on purchasing movies and music through its own iTunes store. The device plays purchased movies and music without any problems. If the user wants to “upload” video or music from his computer, he will need to use the iTunes program. It is important to remember that the number of supported video and audio formats on the iPhone 5S is very limited, so if you plan to frequently download movies and music to your smartphone through the Explorer program in Windows (using your smartphone as a “flash drive”), then the Apple iPhone 5S is unlikely to be for you will it fit?

Battery - 2.7

In HD video mode at maximum brightness, the device is discharged in 6 hours, and in audio mode its charge lasts for 40 hours. Despite the average performance in our synthetic tests, we cannot help but note that in everyday use, the Apple iPhone 5S can easily be called one of the best in terms of battery life. In this parameter it surpasses almost all Android smartphones.

Performance - 3.8

It's important to remember that all the games available on the App Store were originally designed for iPhone, so you won't have any compatibility or performance issues. On the Apple iPhone 5S you can play any games available in the App Store, as well as watch videos in high quality. The smartphone uses the Apple A7 platform with a dual-core 64-bit processor with a frequency of 1.3 GHz and 1 GB of RAM. The results of the Apple iPhone 5S, both in synthetic tests and in daily use, are excellent. Using a 64-bit processor allows you to achieve the highest performance.

Memory - 3.5

The total amount of built-in memory of the Apple iPhone 5S can be equal to // GB, there is no slot for a memory card in the smartphone, so it is impossible to increase the initial amount of flash memory. This is a drawback compared to many Android smartphones in this price category, where devices, in addition to 16/32/64 GB of internal memory, often have a slot for a microSD card.

Peculiarities

The advantage of the Apple iPhone 5S over other smartphones is the excellent combination between the operating system and the hardware component. Due to the fact that Apple is responsible for both the development of the OS and the selection of components, the user receives the most stable and balanced device. The disadvantages of the smartphone are also directly related to the OS: for example, you cannot connect the iPhone 5S in removable storage mode to the computer; you need to use iTunes to download any data.

The iPhone 5S now has a fingerprint sensor, which can be used to quickly unlock your smartphone or purchase music/applications from the App Store without confirming authorization with a password. The sensor works flawlessly, there are no problems with fingerprint recognition (unlike the HTC One Max).

Technical part

For the end user, the software component is extremely important. There are a couple of nuances here. iPhone 5 does not support iOS versions older than 10. Because of this, there may be problems with supporting new applications that appeared and were written for the latest models.

For the iPhone 5s, the situation is somewhat better, only here the ceiling is iOS 12, the penultimate iteration of Apple’s proprietary firmware to date.

In addition, the model labeled “S” is faster and also supports some Russian LTE frequencies. And Touch ID is a useful thing, even necessary in modern realities. Don't forget that iPhone 9 with Touch ID is waiting for us in March!

The displays of both models, despite their modest dimensions, have a very modern resolution with 326 dpi. Let me remind you that the iPhone 5 and 5s screens do not support True Tone or eye protection mode. If you are not afraid of the modest image scale, then using them will be equally comfortable.

We have both models in our hands and I note that the iPhone 5 display turns yellow at the corners. This is especially visible on white. Otherwise, there are no complaints, color rendition is at a high level.

Annoyingly, I note that Apple Pay does not work on any of these devices. However, for owners of many Chinese devices this is not a problem.

My verdict: you can upgrade

Overall, the old iPhone 5s is responsive. Launching the camera no longer takes several seconds.

Now you can actually take your smartphone out of your pocket and photograph an event without any problems. Previously, because of the brake chamber, one could feel the essence of the phrase “the moment is lost.”

Apple, as promised, has focused on improving performance, stability, and bug fixes in iOS 12. There are not many new features, but the company’s programmers really did a great job on optimization.

The iPhone 5c, at least in the next year, will work adequately with the latest iOS 12. Not as fast as the new generation of iPhones, but nevertheless the result is impressive.

Already every tenth iPhone owner has installed the new version of iOS, which is absolutely the right decision.

Thanks Apple.

( 35 votes, overall rating: 4.71 out of 5)