iPhone 5 Review

It's been a long time coming. I've been wanting to write this review for so long but I just couldn't find the right time to do it, until now. I know, I know, the next iPhone's going to be announced next week, but if this phone doesn't get phased out, the iPhone 5 would be a bargain at a lower price point! For reviews from this point on, I'll focus on three things: Hardware, Software, and Ecosystem. Hardware would include Design, Specs, Battery Life, Call Quality, and etc. Software is self-explanatory. Ecosystem is where the media, apps, and cloud services are in consideration. Without further ado, here's the review:

Introduction

The iPhone's been here for a long while. Six years, in fact. A lot has changed since Apple launched their first foray into the mobile industry. I used to bash on Apple because I never believed that touch screen phones would be the next big thing in mobile. Turns out, it was more than just a touch screen phone. It had full internet browsing through Safari, the soul of an iPod, and applications that were built for touch. When the iPhone 3G came out, the App Store arrived. That's when the potential grew a hundredfold as developers could create anything they want the phone to do. Since then, it became a giant money-maker for Apple and led to the creation of another successful device which is the iPad. Like I said, times have changed. Android now dominates more than 2/3 of the smartphone market and Windows Phone is starting to gain some (some may sometimes be an exaggeration) traction. Has Apple maintained the gold standard with the iPhone 5?

Hardware

Apple has yet outdone itself at this department. The major change with the iPhone 5 is that it has a 4-inch screen as opposed to the 3.5-inch screen on the previous models. Despite the bigger screen, Apple managed to dramatically shave off weight from the phone. It weighs 112g, and is 7.6mm thin. When I first held the phone, it felt too light! I couldn't believe that it was this thin and light. I have to put on a case so that the weight would be okay. Another change they made is that the headphone jack is placed in the bottom of the phone. This could come in handy for pulling it out of my pocket and start using it in the right position.

Even though I put a case on the iPhone 5, I would be fine without one since they switched to an aluminum unibody with glass in the top and bottom portion of the back of the phone in order for cellular radios to go in easily. Speaking of that headphone jack earlier, beside it is the Lightning connector. That new connector caused a big debacle to owners of accessories with the 30-pin connector which was used for the previous generations. Good thing that accessory makers reacted as quick as they possibly can so by the time the new one comes out, this would be less of an issue. The good thing with the Lightning connector is that it's reversible so whenever it's dark, I don't need to worry about the position of the cable.

The iPhone's camera has always been praised for consistently taking great photos. This one's no exception and boosts the capability of the iPhone 4S's camera with "better" low-light. I did the quotes because I failed to see what's better because it's still quite dark but not as dark as the 4S's. The camera assembly is covered with Sapphire crystal. I dropped the phone a few times already and nothing really happened to it. Overall, the camera was really as great as they claim it to be. Call quality is really good with the iPhone 5, dropped calls are very rare. I was using a Globe Telecom iPhone 5, so results may vary if you're with another network.

Apple doesn't really compete in the specs department, but they don't fail to impress. Although it may be the "slowest" (in terms of raw performance) phone right now, it was the fastest by last year's standards. It sports a dual-core A6 processor clocked at 1GHz (although its maximum clock speed reaches 1.2-1.3GHz), has 1GB RAM, has 16, 32, and 64GB storage, finally has LTE (and DC-HSDPA for those in Europe) and has a 1442 mAh battery. This phone now requires a Nano-SIM instead of the micro-SIM which is also a hassle, but was done to manage space properly. Now with regards to battery life, it can last from about half a day (with heavy usage on LTE and/or gaming) to a day and a half (light web browsing through 3G, calls, texts, and music playback). It seems decent but I miss those days where phones can last 3-4 days before charging. I hope battery technology gets better because that's what Apple needs. That aside, the phone is blazing fast. Operations on iOS are simply faster, even against the 4S which was already fast enough. It's like the speed never faded when I tried using a Beta version of iOS 7! More about that in the next part.

Software

I'm gonna divide this part into two since I have experience using the iPhone 5 with two versions of the operating system, iOS 6 and a beta version of iOS 7. I won't do a comprehensive look at the iOS 7 part since it is still beta software and bugs are to be expected. I will get back to this review if there are any changes made between the beta and the final version.

iOS 6

Since iOS 6 is built-in to the iPhone 5, this version runs perfectly! All the operations that you do with this are very smooth and blazing fast despite it having a dual-core processor. The new stuff with iOS 6 like Facebook integration and Passbook are nice additions. Siri to me is nice for setting alarms and reminders, sending texts and opening apps when I tend to get lazy but after I got through all that, I got bored a bit. The most disappointing part of iOS 6 though is the new Maps app which Apple made. This was a very big fail in Apple's part since they launched a product that wasn't up to their standards. The software and user interface was good for first-generation software, but lacks a lot of points of interest. And with Google Maps containing a lot more data, it's really hard to surpass that. I never found the user interface to be really ugly, but sometimes I get bored of it because it looks like the OS when it just started. It's still functional, but it needs some change.

iOS 7 Beta

The change I mentioned earlier, is found in iOS 7. What shocked me when I first ran it is that it never lost the smoothness and speed. Despite beta bugs, iOS 7 on the iPhone 5 is still fast enough to operate although the next one would hopefully be faster. The UI has a much needed change and improvements like Control Center and AirDrop make this phone a bigger bargain than it was when it had iOS 6.

Ecosystem

iOS didn't really have a strong ecosystem at the beginning. Apple pushed for web apps the first time around. It did have iTunes early on, but the value proposition wasn't there yet. Then the App Store came and here comes the money for Apple. Thanks to that, it spurned a phenomenon where smartphones have apps that turn them into what they were designed for. If there's one thing that makes people stick to Apple, this is it.

I don't really have a lot to say here except that music, movies, TV shows, and apps are very well integrated that I have no complaints using it. iCloud is good but has flaws in document syncing. iCloud Backup is really a great backup solution for iOS devices and data for each app is retained once restored to a new iPhone. Transferring from one iPhone to another is seamless because of this feature. Photo Stream is another underrated but good feature. Pictures can be stored in the cloud these days but not everyone does that.

Conclusion

APPLE MADE A GREAT PIECE OF HARDWARE IN THIS PHONE. ALL IT NEEDS NOW IS BETTER SOFTWARE.

The iPhone 5 has been a pleasure to use, even for a technologically-inclined person like me. It's because of how well the hardware and software is integrated, and how the ecosystem has great support from developers and users alike. Apple keeps innovating in hardware which is amazing, but they are now lagging behind in software. Sure some parts of the hardware like the battery could use improvements, but the energy should be directed into doing great software because that's where Android is excelling at right now. I am hopeful that iOS 7 can change that, but I wish they could do more than just an overhaul of the user interface. There needs to be something that can wow us again and would really make us buy the next one.

For first-time smartphone owners, the iPhone 5 is a great choice although I would hold off a little longer since Apple's having an event next week and they're unveiling the next iPhone (possibly more than one?). After which, this phone will get cheaper if it stays in the lineup. If you're looking for a high-end smartphone but can't afford one, this would certainly catch your eye even more when the price drops.

JBL Micro Wireless Speaker Review

Last week, I got this speaker from iCenter in IT Park. I needed a new one since the old one I had a weak sound and decent but decreasing battery life. When I first saw this speaker, I was already in love with its simple design and various colors. You could choose from either red, blue or green. At first, I wanted the blue one but in the end I got the red one because A) I didn't have a lot of red stuff and B) I am constantly reminded of someone with this color hahaha.

The sound of this speaker is really really loud for its size. And I can connect to it using Bluetooth so I don't need to use a 3.5mm cable. But when I do need it, the speaker itself has a built-in 3.5mm cable. For the price of P2,990, it's worth every cent I spent it on.

The Lumia 720 Test Drive: The Review.

DISCLAIMER: Nokia DID NOT pay me to do the Test Drive, let alone make this review. I actually had to pay to do this test drive. 

Here we are. As of this day, I have already reset the Lumia 720 in preparation for returning it. Because of that, I'm here to give you my review of the Lumia 720 and see whether it is a solid option for first-time smartphone buyers and those who currently have smartphones and are looking for something new.

DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY

When I first held this phone when I got it at SM, it felt really nice. Although it's made of polycarbonate rather than metal, it feels like a premium device because of the way it feels in the hand. Nokia has always been one of the best when it comes to design and build quality and it certainly shows. At 9mm, the phone is really thin for a mid-range smartphone. The best part with the Lumia line is that it has colors! The 720 is available in yellow, red, cyan, black, and silver/white. I think it's best that we bring back colors into phones again they're starting to look the same in terms of the general aesthetic (that a smartphone is designed like a slab with a touchscreen).

HARDWARE

The hardware isn't by any means fantastic on this device, but it isn't meant to be since it's a mid-range smartphone. The Snapdragon S4 CPU by Qualcomm powers this device and it's already plenty fast considering that Windows Phone 8's performance is solid and doesn't need a very powerful processor. The Lumia 720 has a WVGA screen with a resolution of 480x800, which is not a surprise for a mid-range device but there are devices with good screens which are midrange (like the HTC First with a 720p display) and it could have been a differentiating factor. Good thing that the camera makes up for that because the Lumia 720 has a great 6.7 megapixel camera. The colors may be a little washed out but the quality is really good for the price that you'll pay this phone. It's even good in low light! If you're on a budget but you want a great camera, you should give this phone some serious consideration. The speaker is loud but is sadly located at the back of the phone so when I put the phone on the bed normally, the sound basically disappeared.

Click here to check full-quality photos I took from the Lumia 720.

SOFTWARE

I found Windows Phone 8 very intriguing. I like the Live Tiles since they provide more information without the clutter that Android brings with the widgets. The People hub is really practical since all the updates from your Facebook and Twitter accounts appear here. Smart Shoot and Cinemagraph are two good camera apps that leverage that great camera I mentioned earlier. The former being a photo editing tool and the latter a GIF creator. 

Beyond the included apps which run great, there's not much to go on. The apps are lacking, especially when you're a current smartphone owner looking for an alternative. Some apps like Dropbox, YouTube, and Angry Birds are here, but Instagram is not. I really use Instagram a lot and it's sad that Windows Phone does not have it yet. I seriously hope Microsoft improves their promotion to developers because Blackberry already provides a way to gain access to more apps by letting users sideload Android apps to Blackberry 10 devices. If you're not an app junkie, this phone is right for you since it has the apps you need.

THE VERDICT

Despite the fact that I own an iPhone 5, I can happily say that I loved spending 5 days with the Lumia 720 and I would truly recommend this to first-time smartphone buyers. The camera's great, the screen's okay, and the phone is fast enough. It would be a little difficult to recommend this to those who have owned high-end smartphones like the Galaxy S III or the iPhone 5 since both of those phones have huge ecosystems along with them. Unlike the Lumia 920 where there were a lot of compromises, the Lumia 720 has fewer of those compromises such as the design where there is little to no bulk in the phone but still feels solid enough to hold. It may have a lower megapixel camera than the 920, but it is good enough given the price you pay (which is P14,590 by the way so now you'd be surprised). I guess I couldn't let go of the apps I have collected over the 2 years with iOS devices. If I haven't used an iOS device though, this would be a phone I would consider buying.

Thank you, Nokia Philippines, for letting people do a test drive with the Lumia 720 to build awareness of the Lumia range and hopefully produce sales in the long run. Guess I'm not one of those who'll buy.

Later guys, gotta get some sleep..