iPhone 5 after one year

I have owned the iPhone 5 for the past year and used it as my daily phone. Before the iPhone 5 I had used the Phone 4S. The biggest difference going from the 4S to 5 was the weight and size difference. All the other phones suddenly felt heavy and the larger display made sense and I got used to it very quickly.

When I first opened the box and took the phone out, I immediately put a slim case onto the iPhone. I was worried about the black alluminium getting scratched. About 6 months later I decided to use and carry the phone the way it should be. Totally naked and without case. Surprisingly the color has been holding up pretty well. Battery life is a completely different story. After 12 months of quite a heavy usage and update to the latest version of iOS (7), the battery life suffers quite a bit. I do not know whether the main reason is the software or hardware, but I am definitely not the only one. My friend is experiencing very similar problems. Very fast charging times with very short usable time. Apple is not very good in terms of battery life and I was very surprised to hear that my second friend can easily achieve 6 hours of screen on time with not the newest Note II.

The next innovation in the mobile world should be battery technology. We are improving the processors, cameras and other features, but we have been basically stuck with the same battery technology for the past 5 years. We desperately need smaller, lighter and higher capacity batteries.

Other than that, the rest of the phone is holding up well and works perfectly well. The camera is still better than some found on todays flagship smartphones. It is snappy and can multitask without any problems. Even the most demanding games run perfectly well. The display, though not the largest, is vibrant and sharp.

Now the ultimate question: “Should I buy the 5, 5S, or 5C ?”. The answer is very easy. If you want an iPhone and you have enough money to buy the 5S, go for it, because you won’t be disappointed. If you can only afford the 5C, I would personally go with the older 5 instead. Internals are pretty much the same (the only difference is that the 5 has about 10 % smaller battery), but the casing is made out of alluminium and is a bit thinner and lighter.