1. Bigger Screen, Schmigger Screen
All we hear about the iPhone 5 is how big its screen is. This is pretty much the headline feature of the iPhone 5. I understand that this is the first time that the iPhone has had a display bigger than 3.5 inches since its very first incarnation, and so Apple fans are no doubt excited by this new change.However, if we can all take off our rose-tinted glasses for just a few seconds, it's important to remember that this is only new in the Apple universe. Everyone else has been using smartphones with screens bigger than four inches for quite a while already.
The Samsung Galaxy S3, which is the iPhone 5's biggest Android competitor, boasts a 4.8-inch display, while the HTC One X features a 4.7-inch display. This isn't exactly new to Android, either; even the previous generation of high-end smartphones had bigger displays than the iPhone. In fact, it's only really budget Android smartphones that are caught with displays as small as 3.5-inches these days.
Even Windows Phone are on board with big screens, what with the Nokia Lumia 900 boasting a 4.3-inch display. Why the world is suddenly excited by Apple's measly four inches is beyond me; it’s a great-looking screen, but let’s try not to get too over-excited by its humungous dimensions.
2. You Can't Customize the Home Screen
Anyone who has ever become well-acquainted with an Android device will know just how useful it is to be able to customize the home screen of your phone. The home screen is what you land on when you turn your phone on, or exit from any apps and menus that you're currently browsing. In Android, your home screen can be customized with apps and widgets in much the same way that you can customize a computer desktop (on both Windows and Mac OS computers, in fact).On Apple's new iOS 6, there is no such thing as home screen customization – just as there hasn't been previously. This means that you can't make the apps and games that you most frequently use – in my case, bus trackers and Angry Birds, I’m ashamed to say – easier to access. Instead you'll keep having to navigate through pages of apps to find your favorite stuff.
Even Windows Phone offers the metro tile interface, which has proved hugely popular with all who’ve tried it. Why Apple haven't updated up their home screen significantly is a complete mystery to me; sure, it works, but a little more combustibility wouldn’t have gone amiss.
3. No NFC Technology
Many people really expected the iPhone 5 to come with NFC technology. Turns out they were wrong. It must be said, of course, that NFC really isn't that big a deal nowadays. Even mid-range handsets are being bundled with NFC technology – which, by the way, stands for Near Field Communication. Without it, your iPhone 5 won't be able to make contactless payments and its Passbook app – one of the major selling points of the new phone – is not quite as awesome as it could otherwise be.Again, NFC technology is already seen in handfuls of Android smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X both have it, as does LG's high-end offering, the LG 4X HD. You don't even have to spend half your monthly wages to get your hands on an NFC-capable phone, either; the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, a budget-to-mid-range phone boasts NFC technology, as does the Sony Xperia S and the Nokia Lumia 610 NFC. In fact, if I were to write out a list of all the phones which offer NFC technology, I'd exceed my word count for this blog before finishing.
4. A Stupid Connector
“Ah,” the pedants are saying, “well, now you're clearly just being subjective and biased, because connectors can't be stupid. They're not sentient.” Well, yes they can. You heard it from me first: the Apple iPhone 5 comes with a stupid connector. It's essentially a proprietary connector, which means that it's unique to the iPhone 5. You can get an adapter for it, but that’s just an additional accessory to lose down the back of the sofa.If you lose or break your iPhone 5 'lightning' connector, you're going to have to cough up for a new one. If I lose or break the USB connector that I use for all of my other phones, I just.. use one of my other USB connectors. I have a drawer full of 'em. Do you want one?
Apple just like being different, but that means that they also like making your life more difficult. This means that the iPhone 5 is not just more expensive to buy, it's also more expensive to maintain if you’re the careless type who’s prone to losing your charger on a regular basis
5. Everything Else
OK, OK. Not everything else. The iPhone 5 wins on several fronts. It's fancy, it's quite light, and lots of people prefer the iOS interface. However, there are still plenty of things that the iPhone 5 doesn’t do as well as its Android counterparts. If you look at the iPhone 5's spec in comparison to that of various high-end Android phones, you'll see that it's lacking in quite a few departments. RAM?The iPhone 5 only offers 1GB in comparison to the 2GB offered by high-end Androids like the S3. Storage? Some models are as low as 16GB, with a 64GB maximum. There's still no external storage, which means the majority of Android phones can already store more than the iPhone 5. Even the battery isn't that great.
So does this mean that the iPhone 5 is set to be a disappointment? Of course not – it’s still a great-looking handset that’s set to break all records, just like its previous iterations. The purpose of this blog isn’t to beat up on the iPhone 5 – in spite of all appearances to the contrary. Rather, it’s to issue a gentle reminder: stop and think before you rush out and acquire the latest, greatest Apple smartphone.
There’s a whole world of Android devices out there that aren’t as achingly cool, but which get the job done with the minimum of fuss. Give ‘em a try before you buy the iPhone 5 – who knows, you might just like what you see.
SimonAbout the Guest Author:
Simon writes for the UK comparison website best-mobile-contracts.co.uk which has been helping people save money since the first iPhone release.
