Wednesday, September 11, 2013

iPhones 5C and 5S (updated more than once)

At first look, the new iPhones did not impress. It seemed like the 5C only had a plastic case, colors, and a slightly cheaper price to show. And that the 5S only had fingerprint lock.

But I am now watching the keynote, and I have to admit that while most changes are evolutionary, there are many of them, and many sound really nice. A lot of good refinements. For instance the camera on the 5S seems better in low light and has other interesting features. And the quality is really nice, see images here. If one is super-critical, there's a slight graininess in the sky, but see especially the pool picture, that is perfect colors and skin tones, and of course all the pics are sharp.

The flash on the 5S changes its own color temperature (mixes two small LCDs, one daylight, one warm, to taste) to match the background, that’s damn impressive. Why has nobody done this before?
The processor on the 5S is also much faster, though since I'm no gamer, I don't really know how I need that?... :)

iPhone 5 left me pretty cold, but I may warm up to this one. (Though that may just be the gold color. :)
... Actually I'm kind of sick of the White on my last phone, so I may go for the grey version, that's nice also.

Of course if it had only been a 5-inch phone like I want, then five wild bulls could not keep me from it. (Hello Apple: a 5-inch screen is much better than a 4-incher for reading, web, and video. Wake up!)


Yes, I like gold. And while full gold color would be crass on a phone, I think the "champagne" gold they chose for the iPhone is just a nice, warm metal color. 

In contrast, like has happened before with iPods, sadly I don't like any of the colors of the 5C! This is sad, because otherwise I quite like it. And I knew Apple could make something good of plastic if they returned to it. And it's strong, coated plastic, almost impossible to scratch it. 

(Maaaaybe the green one. Not sure.)

When will they learn that good colors are deep and rich? They did it right in one generation of iPods, I think it was gen5, the one with video camera. Look how cheap the colors above look compared to those below. 


See also here. Those are a good selection of colors! Nice, rich colors. Compare the wonderful deep red with the odd, washed-out "red" on the iPhone. The iPhone is more "salmon" than red. I know some cartoon characters who would call "gaaaaay!". (But those are just cartoon characters, what do they know?)


(By the way, I like the EarSkinz. The earpod (or earbud) sits better.)