iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5c

Karen Haslam puts Apple’s phones through their paces

Wondering whether to upgrade your 
iPhone and which new iPhone to choose? 
Here are our answers to some of your 
questions about Apple’s two new smartphones: the 
iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. 

Price

In the run up to Apple’s launch of the iPhone 5c and 
iPhone 5s the rumours suggested that the iPhone 5c 
would be a cheaper iPhone, but the price di fference 
is really minimal. In fact, when you look at the o  
contract prices of the iPhones, the new iPhone 5c 
isn’t much cheaper than the 
iPhone 5 was last year when 
it launched. A 16GB iPhone 
5c costs £469 while the 
16GB iPhone 5 was £529.
There’s not really much 
di fference between the 
price of the iPhone 5c 
compared to the iPhone 5s 
either. The 16GB iPhone 5c 
is £469. Pay just £80 more 
and you can get a 16GB 
iPhone 5s for £549.
If you want the 32GB 
iPhone 5c, the price is the 

same as for the 16GB iPhone 
5s, which is £549. The 32GB iPhone 5s is £629 and
the 64GB iPhone 5s is £709.
Wondering why Apple’s iPhone 5c isn’t cheap?
Read our article: Why Apple didn’t launch a
 lowcost iPhone 5C. However, Apple may have made a
mistake in pricing the iPhone 5c so high, the sales of
that iPhone were much lower than it had anticipated,
with the iPhone 5s proving to be the more popular
option. It may well be the case that Apple could drop
the price of the iPhone 5c in the future.
If you want to pay your cash up front, you will be
able to grab yourself an iPhone 5c or an iPhone
5s without a contract (aka unlocked) from Apple’s
online store, from its physical stores and, of course,
from mobile phone stores like Carphone Warehouse.
Some people who have an existing contract that
they don’t want to lose, or those who prefer
the payas-you go model may choose to do this.
Buying an iPhone 5c with a mobile contract is
a more complicated business thanks to the huge
variation tari s and networks on o er. However, it
is likely that the networks will start a war amongst

themselves to undercut each other on pricing.

Colour options

The most striking di fference between the iPhone 5s
and iPhone 5c is colour. These new iPhones mark
the first time the iPhone has comes in anything other
than black and white.
The iPhone 5c is available in pink, yellow, blue,
green, or white. The colours are bright and vibrant.
According to a Macworld poll, the most popular
colour for the iPhone 5c is blue (43% of the vote).
The iPhone 5s looks a little more like the iPhone
5, but there is a new colour option: gold, along with
silver and gray (or Space Gray as Apple is calling
it). The silver is comparable to 2012’s White & Silver
option, and the Space Gray reminds us of the Black
& Slate iPhone 5 option in 2012. The gold isn’t
as ‘blingy’ as we expected and has proven to be
popular, although the Space Grey option is said to
be the most popular.

Size

Both the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c have a 4in
Retina display. However the dimensions and weight
of the two phones are slightly di fferent.
The iPhone 5c measures 124.4x59.2x8.97mm.
It weighs 132g. The iPhone 5s measures
123.8x58.6x7.6mm, and weighs 112g. This means
the iPhone 5c is slightly longer and thicker than the
iPhone 5s, and a little heavier.
The iPhone 5 measurements were identical to the
5s, so you may find that your existing iPhone 5 cases
are compatible with the iPhone 5c.

4G

The iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s will support more LTE
4G bands than any other smartphone in the world,
according to Apple. That’s support for up to 13 LTE
wireless bands. Initially there was some concern
when the information page on Apple’s website
suggested that only EE and Vodafone would be able
to provide 4G, however nearly all the networks are
o ffering the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s on their 4G
network (except for T-Mobile and 3 at present).
The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will run on the
following bands, in the following MHz according
to Apple’s notes: 1 (2100MHz); 2 (1900MHz);
3 (1800MHz); 5 (850MHz); 7 (2600MHz); 8
(900MHz); 20 (800 DD).

Camera

The iPhone 5s camera uses a new, five-element lens
that Apple designed specifi cally for the new iPhone.
This new lens o ffers an f/2.2 aperture, the sensor
has a 15 percent larger active area, and the pixels
on this sensor are 1.5 microns in size, larger than
the iPhone 5 and larger than other smartphones.
The iPhone 5s also includes a new dual-LED True
Tone fl ash that Apple says is the fi rst of its kind on a
phone or a standalone camera. One fl ash is cooler
white, while the other is amber with a warmer colour
temperature. The phone monitors ambient light and
then fires the two fl ashes together to match that
light. Together, Apple says, the two fl ashes provide
more than 1000 unique light combinations, for fl ash
lighting that’s brighter and more natural. The 5s also
includes improved image stabilization features, a
new burst mode and slow-motion video recording.
Like the iPhone 5s, and like the iPhone 5 before it,
the iPhone 5c o ers an 8Mp camera. However, this
8Mp camera is inferior to the camera in the iPhone
5s which o ers an f/2.2 aperture.

Battery life

Apple claims that both the iPhone 5s and iPhone
5c o er battery life equal to or greater than that
of the iPhone 5. Specifically, the company says
the new iPhones o er 10 hours of 3G talk time, 10
hours of LTE or Wi-Fi browsing, or 250 hours of
standby time. Compare that to Apple’s claims for
the iPhone 5 when that model was released: eight
hours of 3G talk time, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, or
225 hours of standby time.

Storage options

There are two versions of the iPhone 5c available:
16GB and 32GB. The 5s is available in 16GB, 32GB
and 64GB versions. For many the extra storage
o ffered by the iPhone 5s will be the deal breaker.
However, with iCloud, and the potential o ered by
external storage devices, you may not need as much
storage as you think.