Okay, so with today being the second day of me having my iPhone 5, I figured I'd give my own little mini-review on it and the features I've used so far.
1. LTE
We all knew that this one would be mentioned. Me being on Verizon's expansive LTE network, I've had coverage wherever I've went. Even in the most desolate of area around me, I've consistently had 3-5 bars of LTE. And believe me when I tell you this: it blazes.
Yes, I've used a bit of data already - 500MB, but I've been updating apps over data, and I've been streaming Youtube videos, so it makes sense.
Rating of LTE: 5/5
2. 4-Inch Screen
Let me just say: I'm glad they didn't make it impossible to use with one hand. The 16:9 aspect ratio is amazingly helpful. For those of you not used to a 4-inch screen, the extra space helps immensely. All of the apps optimized for it look amazing, and so many developers are adapting at a rapid pace. If you have the black & slate iPhone 5, the pillar-boxing and letter-boxing of apps with older dimensions blends in pretty well and is unobtrusive, as compared to the white & silver iPhone 5, where it's easily noticeable and might be considered a distraction for you.
Rating of the 4-inch screen: 5/5
Apps I'll recommend for the new display: Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Garageband, My Verizon Mobile, Shazam, Opentable, Flipboard, iBooks.
3. iOS 6 (broken up into subdivisons for the new features)
A. Passbook.
Well, it isn't supported by many apps right now. However, I'm anxiously waiting to put my Starbucks card into it when it's supported by Passbook by the end of the month. It did pick up on a movie ticket in Fandango, and a theater nearby accepted it. The Target app was able to put coupons into Passbook, so that was nice (although I never go there - this was just purely for testing purposes). Once more things support it, it'll be better.
Rating of Passbook: 4/5
B. Maps.
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Do I need to say more? It's just horrendous when going into a big city. It sent me in circles in shady neighborhoods, and sent me in the opposite direction I came in!
Thank god for Garmin USA.
I will give it credit for this, though: If you're using it to
leave a major city, or if you're in a rural / small suburban area, then it works fine. In these situations, it takes me down normal roads, where as Garmin USA takes me down dirt roads.
Rating for Maps: [For entering big cities]: 0/5 (use a Garmin app instead); [For leaving big cities and while in rural / suburban areas]: 5/5 (I had no problems in these situations).
C. Facebook and Twitter Integration.
Seriously, I don't think this serves any purpose other than the quick post features in the Notification Center. Everything else is worthless.
Side-note for the Facebook integration: Don't let your Contacts app access your Facebook account: it'll create duplicate contacts for you, as opposed to just putting the information from your friends' Facebook pages into their already-existing contacts.
Rating for integrations: [Twitter]: 5/5; [Facebook]: 3/5.
D. Bugs.
This one is odd: There is a weird static-like bar on my keyboard through the bottom row of keys when it's on the ABC side in portrait mode. It doesn't show up when it's on the 123 side. It's nothing major, but it must be a bug in the OS.
Rating for bugs: 0/5 (I'm counting the new Maps app as a bug - I just
REALLY want to squish it!).
4. Build Quality
I've purposely dropped this thing while driving (putting it badly into a stand that I use for the GPS apps), and put it into my pocket with my keys - still no physical damage to it. Just wanted to point that out there.
Of course, everyone else's experiences will be different, but this is mine.
5. the A6 Chip
Simply put - HOLY SHIT!
<-- That's all that needs to be said - me coming from a 4, this thing has power, and everything blazes.
Review of the A6 chip: 5/5.
If there's anything else you want me to go into about the iPhone 5 or its iOS 6 features and how they work, let me know. I know I probably missed a few things, but oh well.
