Apple - iPhone® 5s 16GB - Space Gray (Verizon)

IPHONE 5s Review I recently bought the iPhone 5s after having the iPhone 4 for three years. I liked my iPhone 4 but was due for an upgrade and had a gift card. My iPhone 4 was also starting to get a little slow and it had a cracked screen so it was the perfect time to make an upgrade. Apple definitely made a lot of great improvements and in my opinion it is a much better phone than the previous generations. First I will talk about the specs. It comes in a black, gold, and a silver finish and there is no price difference. The capacity comes in a 16GB version that cost $199, a 32GB version that cost $299, and a 64GB version that cost $399. The phone has a beautiful 4 inch retina display. The phone also has a 8 megapixel camera with functions such as auto focus, touch to focus, panorama, slo mo video, face detection, and a 3x zoom. The phone also has a new feature where you can unlock the phone with your fingerprint. The phone comes with apple EarPods with a remote control and a mic on them. Now I will go into more detail about all of these great features. The 4 inch retina display is beautiful, crisp, clear, and bright. On previous generations, the screen was protected by a thin sheet of glass, and that caused a lot of glare when using it outside. On the 5s, the screen and the glass are combined into one single unit to reduce the glare. The combination of the upgraded processor and the 4G LTE allows this phone to load content much faster. The 8 megapixel camera is also very crisp and clear. The shutter speed is very fast and it can take up to 10 photos per second. When taking burst shots like these the quality of the photo can suffer a little bit but not as much as I was expecting. There is also a feature called true tone flash. The phone can determine how dark it is and set the flash intensity based on that. The slow motion mode is probably the best improvement in my opinion. You can take a video and then watch it black in slow motion and it is a lot of fun. I was anticipating the slo motion to be blurry when filming high speed action but it was crystal clear. The fingerprint id might be the coolest improvement. It increases the security on your phone and makes it easier to unlock. All you have to do is lightly touch your finger to the home button and the little metal ring around the home button detects your fingerprint and your in. One of the best features that I find myself using a lot is the maps app. On my old iPhone, I would search where I had to go and it would give me directions, but I had to keep my phone in my hand and continuously check the directions. I missed a good amount of turns and it was kind of dangerous. On the iPhone 5s, apple ditched google maps and switched to their own software called apple maps. On apple maps, you can set your phone to the side and just listen for the step by step navigation. The voice is very loud and clear so it is not easy to miss directions. Although there are all these positives, I did find a couple of negatives with this phone. First off, most people claim that the new iPhone 5s has a longer lasting battery than the previous models but I found that not to be the case. I found that the iPhone 5s last just as long if not shorter than my old iPhone 4 and thats a few models old. I also had a very big problem with this phone. Ever since I bought the phone it randomly shuts itself off very frequently. It has become more frequent every day and sometimes it shuts off 5 or more times a day. Then I have to reboot the phone and sometimes it wont even turn back on right away and I will have to wait about ten minutes. When I get a chance I am going to take it back to the apple store and try to get a new one. Overall, there are a lot of great improvements that people will love and just one bad issue that I experienced with this phone, although that is probably just a fluke because I have never heard of anybody else having this problem. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives so it is worth buying. In my opinion iPhones have always been the best cellphones and this is the best iPhone to date. With that being said, I would recommend this phone to everyone.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't know if I'd be able to use the iPhone. After being an android user for the past 6 years, I was so accustomed to android that I thought I would be sacrificing usability by switching to iOS. Well let me tell you, folks, after an hour with the iPhone 5S, I have completely forgotten about android and their fragmented line up. The iPhone 5S is everything that a smartphone should be and then some. The hardware on the iPhone is simply stunning. The metal is beautifully crafted and feels solid. Unfortunately, it's so beautiful and uses such high quality materials that I feel guilty carrying the phone around without a case. I immediately put on a screen protector and a Spigen neo hybrid case (not a sponsor). What's great about the iPhone is that even with a case, the phone is compact and easy to handle. It's still significantly smaller with a case than any android phone out there. The screen quality is absolutely fantastic. Don't listen to those that make the resolution argument. I found that resolution is not everything. In fact, the colors, saturation, and viewing angles of the iPhone make the screen far superior to the Galaxy S4 (the phone I'm replacing). In fact, just about everything, in terms of hardware, is better on the 5S than the Galaxy S4. The call quality is superior, the data connection is better, the camera is faster and has less blur, the speakers are clearer, connection to wifi and bluetooth is faster. The battery life is incredible. The last time I charged it, I pulled it off at 60% before going to bed. After 5 hours of sleep, I wake up and it's still at 60%. Wow. My Galaxy S4 would have dropped at least 10% in those 5 hours. iOS is truly an optimized phone experience. The reason I decided to jump from the android ship was because I became tired of waiting for an optimized phone OS. Currently, I'd say that there is no android phone (aside from the Moto X) that has a pleasant user experience out of the box. Now before anyone starts arguing and complaining, let me explain why I believe this to be true. Lets say you get a Galaxy S4, the first thing most people do is disable bloatware (already a waste of time), then download their most used apps, and then start wasting hours upon hours customizing their home screens. In my opinion, smartphones should not be about customizing home screens. Apps are what truly make or break an experience and I think that iOS app quality is uncontested when compared to android. Sure android is more customizable, but do you really want to spend time rearranging icons, looking for widgets, etc, or would you rather be using your phone for what it was designed to do such as access the web, read news, watch videos, use apps, and so forth. Android does all of this as well, but not nearly as efficiently as the iPhone does. Apps are faster, smoother, and more optimized on iOS than on android. Also, for a student such as myself, iOS offers far more quality educational apps than android which is a big plus in my book. Lastly, I'd like to say that although iPhone home screens are not customizable, the settings menu has far more tweaks and adjustments than any android phone out of the box. Another great aspect of the iPhone is the syncing capabilities with iTunes. I haven't had too much time to play around with it but for the time I did, it's very intuitive and a much easier way to explore apps and content than the Play Store. I'd definitely recommend getting an this new iPhone. Whether you're coming from and iPhone or have been an android user since the start as I have, now has never been a better time to switch to the iPhone.

This i- phone keeps dropping calls. The first two Verizon representatives were very pleasant and tried procedures to solve the problem. The third Verizon representative stated that her records did not show dropped calls in spite of the fact that 2 of 3 calls that morning dropped. That evening when my call with her dropped 10 times during the conversation, she acknowledged that there was a problem. We reinstalled the software on the phone the next day, which helped some, but has not totally solved the problem. Both Apple and Verizon stated that because the phone purchase was over 14 days, even though I had been working with them since a few days after purchase of the phone, I could only return the phone for a reconditioned phone -- my phone was less that three weeks old at that time. I was told that the Best Buy policy was also that it was not returnable after 14 days, even if it was a defective product from the start. I felt that neither Verizon or Apple were willing to stand up to the minimum warranty required by law regarding this product.

My two year old flip phone was having problems on a daily basis: wouldn't ring, would turn off, would die. I knew I needed a phone soon. BestBuy was running a special the week I got it, giving $50 gift card to upgrade to a smartphone and they price matched Target's sale price so I decided I might as well get it. I really was reluctant to get a smartphone because I am hard on my phones. I also doubted I would use its features. I am very pleased with my decision. It has excellent voice recognition and call quality. For a first smartphone, it was very easy to adjust to and really was no big deal to switch over. The size is reasonable. I wanted something I could keep in my pocket rather than clip on a belt. Adding reminders, alarms, and appointments to the calendar helps keep me organized. I worried about battery life as my flip phone would die before the end of the work day all the time even when it was new. No battery issues whatsoever. I got the Resurgence Power Case by Otterbox. It gives you 2x more battery, is slim and very clean looking. I have not had to use it at all, but like having it just in case. I put the Zagg Glass on the front (because I break most any glass part on a phone) and have not had any problem with keys and change in my pocket scratching it or breaking it. So far so good. I am very satisfied and glad I finally made the switch. Wish I had done it long ago.

Okay, so just to give you a little background I've previously owned phones with Palm OS and Android. The iPhone 5s exceeds all my expectations. Overall it is a great device. Coming off of an Android phone it took some getting used to but after a couple days I realized that this is an incredible device. Pros - The best attribute of the iPhone5s is that it works seamlessly with iOS 7. The iPhone5 is simply amazing. I love the fingerprint reader, the battery life is much better than expected, the camera takes wonderful photos, the personal hotspot feature and thousands of quality applications all make it in a league of its own. Cons - I can't stand the humming and vibrating while in a call. I read that if I shut off vibrate while ring it will stop, it didn't. I could probably shut of vibration all together but I choose not to. This needs to get fixed...seems like the only kink in the iOS7 armor. Overall this is a superior device and I would recommend it to anyone unless they watch a lot of movies over their phone. The display is a little small for watching full length movies and television shows. Other than than that you can't get a better device. The iPhone 5s meets all the hype. I love it!

This was my first iPhone and my first LTE phone. Previously I had an iPod 5 that I used to text people who had iPhones through iMessage. When I got this phone I realized how convenient the finger print scanner was and when I went back on my iPod to play some music I forgot for a second what my password was! The 64 bit processor is a huge upgrade from any phone and everything is FAST. Unlike android phones, apple phones scroll like butter and apps open quickly. The camera is quite amazing and the slow mo and burst mode are very fun features. I enjoy this phone and recommend it. Also if you don't want a case that makes it feel chunky get the apple leather case. it keeps the prestigious feel of the iPhone while still protecting it. Overall great product. You should get it.

The iPhone is definitely not an Android, so don't expect it to be. That being said it is a great phone. The picture quality is great and runs so smoothly; No lagging or anything and apps open FAST. The fingerprint scanner works without incident and comes in helpful when downloading apps so you don't have to put in your password everytime. I unplugged my phone at 9:30am and lasted until I went to bed around 11 or 12 with regular use. I once charged and unplugged it before bed and it lasted until the next night; Overnight it used about 3%. Its not up to the standards of a Droid Maxx but, I would say its definitely better then most phones. If you like Apple and are not expecting a droid phone or new to smartphones this phone will not disappoint you!

I upgraded to the iphone mainly to have a better camera but wanted to retain a smallish cellphone. The photo quality is good (not great), though there are no manual controls or settings to adjust. The default photo viewer is very limited. You can't see metadata or edit a photo while retaining original. I prefer a smaller phone, and wish this phone was a half inch shorter, and a half inch wider. The length could have been accomplished if the screen took up the more of the face, and a wider phone would have allowed for slightly larger keys and thus fewer keystroke issues, and have provided more viewing space while retaining a pocket-able footprint. I also wish it had a Xenon type flash. The LED flash is harsh and only good for a limited distance. I also wish that apple accepted removable storage cards. Another improvement would be the 'silent' switch. It's small and awkward, and doesn't mute internet audio. Overall, the iphone 5s was the best compromise I could find in a phone. The phones with better cameras are too large, as is pretty much every smart phone on the market. I would have strongly considered the DROID MINI if it had a decent camera.