Anandtech iPhone 5S Review

[bearxor]

LG G2 and MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 - Mini Review
by Brian Klug on 9/7/2013

Moto X Review
by Brian Klug on 8/26/2013

HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4 Google Play edition Review - Nearly Nexus
by Brian Klug on 6/26/2013

OPPO Find 5 Review
by Vivek Gowri on 5/29/2013

Samsung Galaxy S 4 Review - Part 1
by Brian Klug on 4/24/2013

The HTC One Review
by Brian Klug on 4/5/2013

We're going to have to define what a "review" is.

The LG G2 review isn't a real review, IMO. That's why it's a "Mini" review.
The HTC One and SGS4 Google Play Edition reviews weren't really reviews. There were comparisons of devices running AOSP and what you'd gain or lose by choosing them.

You can argue that maybe that's all they need to hit in a year. I mean, they've covered the HTC One, the SGS4 and the Moto X. But they still missed on several other flagship devices. The LG G2, The SGS4 Active, The Droid Mini/MAXX, The HTC One Mini, the Nexus 7 2013, almost every single Windows Phone 8 device especially the flagship devices.

Hand-on impressions, mini-reviews and a write up of whatever cheap phone Vivek happens to be using because he loathes the US subsidy model just doesn't make up for it.

Nokia Lumia 900 Review - Windows Phone with LTE
by Brian Klug - on 4/3/2012

Good find, fair enough. I just didn't go back far enough. I stopped at June 2012.

 

[Ns1]

We're going to have to define what a "review" is.

The LG G2 review isn't a real review, IMO. That's why it's a "Mini" review.
The HTC One and SGS4 Google Play Edition reviews weren't really reviews. There were comparisons of devices running AOSP and what you'd gain or lose by choosing them.

You can argue that maybe that's all they need to hit in a year. I mean, they've covered the HTC One, the SGS4 and the Moto X. But they still missed on several other flagship devices. The LG G2, The SGS4 Active, The Droid Mini/MAXX, The HTC One Mini, the Nexus 7 2013, almost every single Windows Phone 8 device especially the flagship devices.

Hand-on impressions, mini-reviews and a write up of whatever cheap phone Vivek happens to be using because he loathes the US subsidy model just doesn't make up for it.

fair enough. for all those reasons, AT isn't my #1 source for phone reviews

 

[Red Storm]

We're going to have to define what a "review" is.

The LG G2 review isn't a real review, IMO. That's why it's a "Mini" review.
The HTC One and SGS4 Google Play Edition reviews weren't really reviews. There were comparisons of devices running AOSP and what you'd gain or lose by choosing them.

You can argue that maybe that's all they need to hit in a year. I mean, they've covered the HTC One, the SGS4 and the Moto X. But they still missed on several other flagship devices. The LG G2, The SGS4 Active, The Droid Mini/MAXX, The HTC One Mini, the Nexus 7 2013, almost every single Windows Phone 8 device especially the flagship devices.

Hand-on impressions, mini-reviews and a write up of whatever cheap phone Vivek happens to be using because he loathes the US subsidy model just doesn't make up for it.

And let's not forget the mismatching products that show up in the benchmark charts. Phone A is in the first chart, but disappears from the rest, while another phone shows up in 2/3 of the charts, and certain phones are not in any of the charts despite them being flagship phones. Last I checked AT's job is to review products and inform consumers, but in certain areas they are doing a very lousy job of things.

 

[Eug]

I find that those missing benches irritating too. Then again it's probably hard to manage lists of 25 phones with every single bench out of 20. But yeah it's still annoying.

As for the Lumia reviews, I read a post somewhere that said Anand didn't review the latest Lumia simply because he didn't have one to review.

 

[Red Storm]

I find that those missing benches irritating too. Then again it's probably hard to manage lists of 25 phones with every single bench out of 20. But yeah it's still annoying.

As for the Lumia reviews, I read a post somewhere that said Anand didn't review the latest Lumia simply because he didn't have one to review.

I'm sure it is hard, but it's kinda sorta their job?

 

[MrX8503]

And let's not forget the mismatching products that show up in the benchmark charts.

Lets not forget other review sites don't have benchmarks or battery tests. More like "I feel its faster and the battery life seems good" kind of reviews.

 

[AkumaX]

Anyone notice that the battery life is a little less than the 5? Even though it has a 10% bigger capacity batter?

Other review sites are saying "it should have 10% more battery life" and that "the 64-bit processor makes the battery more efficient" :awe::awe::awe:

 

[mavere]

And face it, an iPhone 5 review is gonna generate a lot more page hits than a review of the RAZR HD (which is my current phone).

To be fair, I think it's more personal than that.

The 5S comes with entirely new ISA and GPU architectures, both of which promise massive boosts in performance and efficiency and hasn't yet appeared on any competitor's public roadmaps. Adding to that, the CPU itself is a special in-house design that's wrapped up in perpetual secrecy, which would both tease and frustrate an engineer like Anand.

The phone could have been made out of mud and come with 'Blackberry' stamped on the back and Anand would have spent every waking moment testing it.

 

[blackened23]

Anyone notice that the battery life is a little less than the 5? Even though it has a 10% bigger capacity batter?

Other review sites are saying "it should have 10% more battery life" and that "the 64-bit processor makes the battery more efficient" :awe::awe::awe:

It's common sense really. Or at least it should be - I have NO IDEA why a review site would attribute better battery life to 64 bit, that is completely ridiculous. More performance = more power, generally speaking. This all depends on the efficiency of the uarch but in general, with that big of a change it will require more power during heavy loads.

It's an acceptable trade-off given the performance of the 5S, IMO.

 

[Rakehellion]

With apple they have one chance every year to review iPhones so they can't fuck up.

They review android flagships monthly.

This.

 

[Rakehellion]

Anyone notice that the battery life is a little less than the 5? Even though it has a 10% bigger capacity batter?

It's the same clock speed on a slimmer process. I wonder where all the extra power went.

 

[Eug]

Twice the transistors?

 

[Lifted]

Apple must really have their doubts.

The 5s is the first iPhone in recent history to not be offered up for pre-order. Apple expects demand for the iPhone 5s to severely outstrip supply, and as a result won't be accepting pre-orders on the 5s.

PR speak for saying demand/hype is nowhere near levels of previous releases so they're not accepting pre-orders because A) if pre-orders are low, hype will die immediately as the sheep don't want a phone unless they think everyone else wants it, and B) more people on line to purchase it on launch day as nobody can pre-order, so artificial hype++.

 

[Eug]

Nah. It's most likely because supplies are very low in comparison to previous years.

We've not only got a new CPU, we've got a brand new architecture on a new process, and a never-before used part - the fingerprint sensor.

I suspect if they could get more stock they'd love to have it, because it sounds like their calendar Q3 sales are going to be severely constrained by inadequate supply.

Or at least that's how I see it.

I'm not lining up, but I'm going to be up early trying to order online.

 

[Joe1987]

I'm a fan of larger screens, and I've got this gut feeling Apple is going to introduce a larger iPhone mid cycle, so I'm holding out, the hardware is awesome on the iP5s, am seriously impressed with what Apple has done.

It appears there are supply constriants on the 5s, and if they put that CPU/GPU combo in the new iPad 5th gen, they're going to be scrambling for parts.

Also, read an opinion that Intel may have sourced the A7 today, I'm tempted to believe it too Samsung was too surprised to have been the source, and the new Taiwanese company said they couldn't produce the size chip till 2014, that leaves Intel. Tinfoil hat time

 

[Baasha]

Meh.. iPhones are starting to become like the CoD series - churning them out like hotcakes.

Also, the iOS 7 download was redonkulous; took forever!

 

[ViRGE]

We know that Anand didn't go out a buy a 5S, so he got phone straight from Apple for review.

I think that's the big change for this review. AT never got a phone from Apple before. Their 5 review was a week after launch, meaning they had to buy it. It's clearly a lot easier to have an expedient review when provided the hardware. Plus the NDA would create a very strict "publish or die" situation, whereas they can take their time on non-NDA hardware.

 

[Eug]

Touch ID works with cat paws so now you get an iPhone for Fluffy.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/19/wa...5s-using-touch-id-and-the-fingerprint-sensor/

 

[Rakehellion]

Apple must really have their doubts.

PR speak for saying demand/hype is nowhere near levels of previous releases so they're not accepting pre-orders because A) if pre-orders are low, hype will die immediately as the sheep don't want a phone unless they think everyone else wants it, and B) more people on line to purchase it on launch day as nobody can pre-order, so artificial hype++.

Pre-orders in China sold out immediately.

 

[Rakehellion]

Touch ID works with cat paws so now you get an iPhone for Fluffy.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/19/wa...5s-using-touch-id-and-the-fingerprint-sensor/

Reddit is going to explode.

 

[Lifted]

Pre-orders in China sold out immediately.

1,000?
1,000,000?

"selling out" means nothing without numbers, and we've seen these artificial shortages before.

oh, look what I found

The country’s second largest wireless carrier China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. said Monday that online preorders for the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C have exceeded 100,000 units, sharply lower than the more than 300,000 units that were preordered online for the iPhone 5.

LOL

The reality distortion field is in full effect.

 

[ultimatebob]

Let's face it... Apple is just better than the competition at getting pre launch hype for their phones.

The extra publicity makes sure that customers want to read the product reviews the moment the phone is released, so Anandtech (along with everyone else) rushes to get out their Apple reviews quickly to maximize their page views.

 

[Ns1]

Apple must really have their doubts.

PR speak for saying demand/hype is nowhere near levels of previous releases so they're not accepting pre-orders because A) if pre-orders are low, hype will die immediately as the sheep don't want a phone unless they think everyone else wants it, and B) more people on line to purchase it on launch day as nobody can pre-order, so artificial hype++.

I guess we'll all see on Friday. I know where I'll be at 12:01 tonight ^_^

 

[bearxor]

1,000?
1,000,000?

"selling out" means nothing without numbers, and we've seen these artificial shortages before.

oh, look what I found



LOL

The reality distortion field is in full effect.

I'm thinking they're just not going to have any.

That's probably why they're pushing the iPhone 5C so hard.

 

[JackBurton]

Apple must really have their doubts.

PR speak for saying demand/hype is nowhere near levels of previous releases so they're not accepting pre-orders because A) if pre-orders are low, hype will die immediately as the sheep don't want a phone unless they think everyone else wants it, and B) more people on line to purchase it on launch day as nobody can pre-order, so artificial hype++.

Sounds like someone is butthurt because no one gives a shit when other companies release a new phone. There will be some articificial hype by the basement dwelling geeks, but we all know it is fake. The real deal is the iPhone announcement. Everyone knows this.