A handful of news sites have spent some quality time with the iPhone 5 and the verdict is in: The iPhone 5 is — to pull words from the mouths of reviewers — “feather-light,” “superior” and “every bit the device that people were asking for,” but not without its flaws.
Here’s a rundown of the reviews.
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Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal: Mossberg’s own “quick take” on the iPhone is that, “the world’s most popular smartphone becomes significantly faster, thinner and lighter this week, while gaining a larger, 4-inch screen—all without giving up battery life, comfort in the hand and high-quality construction.”
Still, he said, the biggest drawback to the phone is the new Maps app. Citing a lack of information on public transit routes and an overall “emptier” map that doesn’t have Google’s Street View feature, Mossberg said that overall, Apple’s map program is a “step backward” from Google’s.
He still recommends the product and says it’s an “excellent choice” and that Apple has made a great product (the iPhone) even better, overall.
David Pogue, The New York Times: Pogue includes mention of a quibble in his headline, which turns out to be the iPhone’s new dock connector. It’s not that he has a problem with the performance — “It’s the very model of a modern major connector,” he quips — but he has a problem with the fact that it doesn’t fit into any current accessories.
With that quibble aside, though, Pogue is enthusiastic about the phone. He says the iPhone 5 is zippy, has a camera that’s the “best ever put into a phone” and is so “light, tall and flat, it’s well on its way to becoming a bookmark.”
Edward Baig, USA Today: Baig says the iPhone 5 is “a winner that should keep Apple at the front of the smartphone pack,” and is particularly taken with the phone’s inclusion of LTE and its larger screen.
He also has a bone to pick with Apple over the dock connector, but said that this is something he and lots of consumers are probably willing to overlook. He also adds that Siri has “come a long way” from her first appearance in the iPhone 4S.
“People have always had lofty expectations for the iPhone 5, especially as the competition stiffens,” Baig writes. “In delivering a fast, attractive, LTE-capable and larger-screen handset, Apple has met those expectations with a gem.”
Rich Jaroslovksy, Bloomberg: Jaroslovsky starts by pushing back against the flurry of interest about the phone in his first paragraph, saying, “underneath all the hype, the iPhone 5 really is just a new smartphone. A terrific new smartphone.”
The iPhone 5 on LTE, he said, exceeds the battery life of the iPhone 4S on 3G, and concludes that while the iPhone 5 isn’t perfect, it’s the only “great” phone on the market right now.
Harry McCracken, Time: McCracken says that the iPhone 5 helps Apple keep its “mojo” and that it ups the level of polish on an already polished handset.
“The iPhone 5 is one terrific smartphone,” he writes. “Ignore the naysayers — even without any awesome technological breakthroughs, it’s a sizable improvement on the iPhone 4S. For many upgraders, LTE alone will be worth the price of admission.”
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