iPhone 5S, Touch ID, dual-tone flash & first 64-bit processor

After the announcement of the next generation iPhone at it’s September 10 event, Apple users are eagerly waiting for the public release of the new iPhones this Friday, September 20. As a result, review posts of the iPhone 5S are on the rise from tech publications across the web. Keep reading to find out the general perception of the new iPhone 5S.

 

iPhone 5S reviews from the tech world

 

Scott Stein, CNET

We wanted a bigger screen, an improved camera, and better battery life. Apple gave us a fingerprint sensor, an improved camera, and a faster processor. Faster is better, especially when battery life doesn’t suffer, but the 5S doesn’t feel like a shocking new product.

 

That doesn’t mean there aren’t changes, but many of them seem like roadwork for the future; a cleverly ingenious under-the-home-button fingerprint sensor, a clearly better camera, majorly upgraded graphics, a motion-tracking M7 co-processor, and a new A7 processor capable of 64-bit computing are a lot of under-the-hood tweaks. But, after a week of using the iPhone 5S, it’s hard to find situations that currently take advantage of these features, except for the fingerprint sensor and camera.

 

Jim Dalrymple, The Loop

Setting up a fingerprint is as easy as resting your finger on the Home button and following the onscreen instructions. The button will vibrate when it’s reading; lift your finger and rest it on the button again; and repeat until it’s done. Very simple.

You can add multiple fingerprints and you can even use your fingerprint to buy items from the iTunes and App Store.

 

Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch

At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss the fingerprint sensor as a whiz-bang feature designed to attract eyeballs and do little else. But this isn’t that. The fingerprint sensor, unlike some other questionable recent smartphone tech like gesture control or eye-tracking, doesn’t feel like a gimmick or tech demo; it feels like a mature feature that actually enhances the overall experience of using an iPhone in a noticeable way that you encounter very frequently.

 

Edward Baig, USA Today

Apple hasn’t opened up Touch ID yet to outside app developers, something I’d like to see happen sooner than later. The company has also delayed release of a feature called iCloud Keychain that would let you store all your Web passwords in the cloud. So in the future you might be able to use your fingerprint to get past all your Web passwords, making Touch ID potentially more powerful.

 

Walt Mossberg, AllThingsD

The new camera is still 8 megapixels, but has a bigger sensor that allows for larger pixels that can capture more light and color information. All my pictures were slightly sharper than on the iPhone 5 and low-light pictures were much less washed out by the flash. The camera app has been improved, with a new burst mode that takes many shots quickly and then picks the best ones, and a slow-motion video feature that lets you choose parts of an action sequence to slow down. It worked seamlessly.

 

Myriam Joire, Engadget

First, let’s tackle the camera’s low-light performance. The shots we took with the 5s were consistently better than what we took with the 5: they were sharper, with finer details, more natural colors and far less noise. As you might expect, our daylight shots were roughly on par, though there were a few times when the 5s won out by a slight margin, offering just a little more detail.

The 5s also does a good job of reproducing color, but it’s not the best performer in this category, either. Make no mistake, though: the iPhone has been — and continues to be — great as a simple grab-and-go camera. It may not be a best-in-class performer, but the vast majority of iPhone users will still be happy.

 

David Pogue, New York Times

The 5S also has two LED flashes — one pure white, one amber — that fire simultaneously. When mixed in the right balance, their light can match the color tone of your subject (moonlight, streetlights, fluorescents, whatever). Apple says this idea is a first in both phones and cameras.

It really works. Flash photos look much, much better. No longer will your loved ones’ skin look either nuclear white or “Avatar” blue.