iPhone 5s Review: The Smartphone Goes 64-bit

iPhone 5s Camera Performance -

As has been the case in prior years, Apple is putting a lot of emphasis on the performance of the camera within the 5s. While still just an 8MP shooter, the aperture is wider at f/2.2 allowing the camera to capture more light than before.


Apple has also retooled both the camera software and the Photos app. Now, switching into video, square (for Instagram fanatics) and panorama modes is as easy as a swipe. Apple's HDR mode is still world-class, but you won't find any manual controls here. It's a shame, really. This is probably one of the best phone cameras on the market, but you can't adjust ISO, exposure, shutter speed, etc. Apple has made a meaningful decision to block these actions, and while it impedes the power user, it makes sense for the masses who want simplicity.

Taking a photo is faster than ever, and the results are spectacular. Apple has raised the bar yet again on the camera front. There's just something about Apple's integrated approach (fine-tuning the camera hardware and the camera software) that makes images stand out. Have a look below and judge for yourself.

iPhone 5s Battery Life -

In our standard web browsing rundown test, which regularly reloads a Web link while cellular data is active, Wi-Fi is on and Mail / Twitter / Facebook are set to update every 15 minutes, we saw the battery exhaust itself after 10.5 hours. In everyday use, we had no issues getting through an entire workday. All told, we squeezed around 22 hours of use out of a single charge by using the iPhone as we normally would -- involving an hour or so of calls per day, multiple hours of browsing / checking notifications, and nonstop push updates from five connected accounts.

Apple has managed to increase the battery size from 1,440mAh in the iPhone 5 to 1,580mAh in the iPhone 5s, and it's clear that the internals were engineered in such a way to have an even more minimal impact on battery drain. While we've read some early reports that iOS 7 is actually hurting battery life on the aging iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5s impressed us with its longevity.