Forbes reviews Apple’s iPhone 5c: The mid-range wolf disguised in polycarbonate

12 years ago

“While it is not quite a curate’s egg, Apple’s mid-range iPhone 5c is a well-balanced evolution of the iPhone 5 that makes some safe choices without endangering the brand,” Ewan Spence writes for Forbes. “There are some small improvements over last year’s iPhone 5 hardware, notably the update to iOS7. Apple has bundled even more first-party software to make the handset feature-rich out of the box. This is all wrapped up in the new colorful shells that make the iPhone 5c stand out in a retail sea of charcoal and white smartphones”

“Because the iPhone 5c can be marketed as a new smartphone, it’s a far more attractive handset to retail stores and consumers than a twelve month old iPhone 5,” Spence writes. “Battery life has been improved through a mix of software improvements and a slightly larger battery. There are the improved LTE frequencies that allow an iPhone 5c to work in more countries on 4G. That’s great for the frequent traveller who is looking to roam, but I get the feeling that’s not the target market for this handset . What it does offer is another saving for Apple, this time in distribution and management as more worldwide support means less SKUs to manage.”

“It might be a tough handset to recommend to power users, but for the majority of smartphone consumers, the iPhone 5c is a handset that’s going to offer a lot of functionality, especially with the subsidised pricing on offer. It’s more than competent and it’s going to be a steady seller,” Spence writes. “While it might not capture the imagination of many in the press it’s a very important handset for Apple. For the countless consumers and price sensitive shoppers the iPhone 5c will be their first Apple smartphone, and it’s a great smartphone to start with.”

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MacDailyNews Take: The quality of Apple’s iPhone 5c is tough to fully appreciate until you’ve held the hard-cated polycarbonate beauty in your hand.