Unboxing Apple’s Newest Baby, the iPhone 5
The iPhone 5, one of the most anticipated gadgets for 2012, is set officially debut here in the Philippines sometime in October or November. If you can’t wait and you really want one now, you can already get one but you’ll fork out a lot more cash. “Unofficial” units have started coming in though through various online stores and vendors in malls. We managed to get two handsets for review purposes and later on for comparative speed tests in different parts of Metro Manila (Smart and Globe) so expect the full review and first batch of tests early next week. For now let’s kick things off with the unboxing and our initial impressions of Apple’s newest baby!
iPhone 5 Spec Sheet
- A6 Chip (2x Faster than the A5 Chip)
- 4-inch Retina Display, 1136 x 640 pixels (~326 PPI)
- 20% Lighter and 18% Thinner compared to the iPhone 4
- 2G, EDGE, 3G, HSPA+, LTE
- 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, 3264×2448, dynamic low light mode, panorama 5-element lens, f2.4 aperture
- Records 1080p, take photos while shooting videos
- Front-facing FaceTime HD camera with 720p support
- New Connector called Lightning
- Facetime over 3G
- iOS 6
- Better Speakers
Let’s open this thing!
Blame it to the massive hype engine of Apple but we were so giddy when we got the iPhone 5 boxes! As soon as we got home we put it on our desk, stripped off the plastic, and opened the box. Just like the previous iPhones, this model came in a minimalist white hard carton 2-piece box that opens upwards. So what was our first impression when we first laid our eyes on the iPhone 5?
Erm… it looked like the iPhone 4S! Lol. That perception though changed when we picked it up and held it in our hands. The iPhone 5 is ridiculously light, thin, and it screams premium. It’s not made from plastic or non-glossy polycarbonate material. The mix of steel, glass, and the form factor is stylish, elegant, classy, geeky, and techie (words that usually don’t together, lol). We have to hand it to Apple. When it comes to product design and aesthetics no company can come close to them yet.
In terms of buttons and controls they’re pretty much in the same place save for the headphone jack which was moved to the bottom of the phone. The 30-pin Apple dock also changed to the new “Lightning” dock which is slimmer and sezzier. According to Phil Schiller during the Apple keynote, the smaller dock enabled them to make the phone much lighter and thinner.
Compared to the iPhone 4S
To get a better feel and idea of the form factor of the iPhone 5 we took a couple of side-by-side shots with its predecessor, the iPhone 4S. Check ’em out below. Don’t forget to read the captions!
Compared to the Galaxy S3
Here are two photos of the iPhone 5 side-by-side with one of the best Android smartphones in the market today, the Samsung Galaxy S3.
As you can see above the Galaxy S3 has a bigger screen (4.8-inches vs 4-inches). The iPhone 5 is slightly thinner but the biggest pro for Apple over Samsung’s flagship is the build of the handset. The iPhone 5’s mix of glass, metal, and aluminum clearly trumps the glass and plastic of the Galaxy S3.
Initial Impressions
We’ve only been using the iPhone 5 for a few days now and mostly as a glorified iPod Touch since we don’t have a Nano SIM yet so it’s not fair to give a fair assessment. We can say though that it takes beautiful photos and the camera fires off like a machine gun (really fast). We’ll give you more details when we do the full review.
What else is in the box
Other than the handset you’ll find the new EarPods (we’ll review this separately), the Wall USB charger, and the Lightning cable.
Full Review Coming Soon!!!
Expect our full review early next week. We’re also going to do a speed tests and features on iPhone 5 accessories available locally. ‘Till then, cheers everyone!
