iPhone 5 - Is it worth it?

[machkris]

Is iPhone 5 worth buying? There has been no visible external change apart from the flash and finger-print scanner and of course the camera. It is really worth paying so much for a plastic body phone that uses a 64-bit OS (which I think is absolutely useless)?

[ConnorLowe]

My opinion would be to go towards Android. Seems like Apple are playing catch up and their new 'budget' phone is hardly for people with small pockets.

I've got an iPhone 5 and don't get me wrong, its good for what I need it for but I'll be moving over to Android on my next upgrade.

[Saracen]

It's an individual judgement on value, and no doubt some will think it's worth it (as demonstrated by what will no doubt be healthy sales), and others, including me, will think it's ludicrously expensive.

I wonder, though, how much of the sales are about the pose factor? If a phone with the same power, speed and functionality were in a plain case, and were badged with a less 'sexy' brand name, say Huawei, would it sell for a price anything like that? My bet is it wouldn't.

So, is it worth it? To me, no. But YMMV.

[Rob_B]

No more ludicrously expensive than most other 'top-end' phones today. It's all gone a bit mad, I used to be a mobile phone salesman and the prices of both handsets, tariffs and tariff lengths were simply unheard of ~10yrs ago.

Then again there are people here on Hexus who spend what I would see as scary amounts of money on pens and watches, everyone assigns their own 'value' to things that others couldn't care less about

[mikerr]

It's an individual judgement on value, and no doubt some will think it's worth it (as demonstrated by what will no doubt be healthy sales), and others, including me, will think it's ludicrously expensive.

My phone gets more hours of daily use than almost any other object - and I rely on it probably more even than my car.

Looking at it that way, and considering you get at least 2 years of heavy daily use out of it, then the price isn't so bad

(I'm not an iphone user anymore though ... bigger is better in the way of Note2)

[Kovoet]

I have a mini mac and that's as far as I'll go with Apple as I accept there producrs are always over priced. Android Market now has 750000 apps and 60 percent of them are for free and apple you have to pay for most of them.

Apple to me is just a fashion icon with gadgets. But that's my opinion where as a lot of people think the total opposite

[machkris]

My opinion would be to go towards Android. Seems like Apple are playing catch up and their new 'budget' phone is hardly for people with small pockets.

I've got an iPhone 5 and don't get me wrong, its good for what I need it for but I'll be moving over to Android on my next upgrade.

Hello Connor. I'm a Android user myself and have been for the past several years. Android has come to be a very versatile Mobile OS and can do pretty much everything and more than iOS. I'm sure you will love Android once you move over. Do let me know what phone you get when you get one.

I have a oldie Sammy Galaxy S2 and I love it.. simplest of reasons being it's received every single OS update since 2.3 (Gingerbread).. I of course run a custom OS and updates and features of it match that of the latest S4.

No more ludicrously expensive than most other 'top-end' phones today. It's all gone a bit mad, I used to be a mobile phone salesman and the prices of both handsets, tariffs and tariff lengths were simply unheard of ~10yrs ago.

Then again there are people here on Hexus who spend what I would see as scary amounts of money on pens and watches, everyone assigns their own 'value' to things that others couldn't care less about

Rob, I agree with you till an extent. A lot of us do not realize that most of the phones in the market today sell with features that we probably will never use. It's all a marketing strategy making buying feel that they want something rather than going for what they actually need.

I don't understand the concept of Apple putting in a 64-bit OS in the phone when none of the apps are 64-bit and I sure doubt that it comes with more than 4 Gb of RAM which is a primary reason for a device using 64-bit OS.. I may be wrong.. but do correct me if I am.

I have a mini mac and that's as far as I'll go with Apple as I accept there producrs are always over priced. Android Market now has 750000 apps and 60 percent of them are for free and apple you have to pay for most of them.

Apple to me is just a fashion icon with gadgets. But that's my opinion where as a lot of people think the total opposite

Totally agree.. no point in paying a premium for the apps if you have paid a hefty amount for the phone.. right? Things should be made affordable for everyone.

[TheAnimus]

I wouldn't compare the number of 'Free' apps, because many now use in-app purchases, effectively they aren't free at all. For example the Photoshop Express app, I thought that £4 or whatever it was, was a fair price for something that can do very simple editing, cropping, curves etc. But the app then wants me to spend more money on in-app purchases to do basic functionality... Not happy.

As such, comparing the App Stores on simple metrics isn't really a good idea imsho. It is more a case of what specific apps you want.

I am also a fan of the cheaper phones, I think £200 is about right. Nokia have some really good ones in that price point, but WP8 isn't everyones cup of tea.

[vicar]

Is iPhone 5 worth buying or worth it? IMHO NO at that price point

[pp05]

Is iPhone 5 worth buying? There has been no visible external change apart from the flash and finger-print scanner and of course the camera. It is really worth paying so much for a plastic body phone that uses a 64-bit OS (which I think is absolutely useless)?

Innovations will come from software from here on from all manufacturer's. That is why Samsung have a renewed focus on that aspect because they were lacking.

[machkris]

Is iPhone 5 worth buying or worth it? IMHO NO at that price point

I second you Vicar..

Innovations will come from software from here on from all manufacturer's. That is why Samsung have a renewed focus on that aspect because they were lacking.

Very true.. and that's one reason they are leading. I know a lot of folks comment that Samsung sells a 100 different mobiles and Apple sells just one; EoD Sammy still wins..

[Number29]

I would love to get a phone like that. What makes me buy the iPhone is the combination of brilliant hardware and software. If another company offered the same combination for far less, I'd be there (and before anyone pipes up, no I don't think Android or Windows Phone are good enough so don't even bother suggesting). It'll probably be another OS that hasn't been invented yet that'll attract me away from iOS, but that assumes Apple just stand still.

[mikolaj87]

NO!!! And called me paranoid but the new finger print reader feature.... no way I'm not touching this phone!

[Bluecube]

All my PCs/ laptops/ tablets run the Apple ecosystem so for me an iPhone is a no brainer. However, I'm now intentionally running a generation or two behind with the phones as I think they're very expensive to put it mildly. I've just bought an 'old' iPhone 5 at a very nice saving on the new price and it'll last a year or two at least.

[overclockthesun]

Useless. Waste of money. I am nit at all impressed with the new phones

[machkris]

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http://youtu.be/oprUI6nupfc