iPhone 5 review

The sixth generation iPhone touches down

The Apple iPhone 5 is finally here, with the latest arrival boasting a 16:9, 4-inch screen, new smaller port, thinner, lighter design and 4G LTE.

Last year's iPhone 4S always felt like an incremental upgrade rather than a true step change, and although it sold wonderfully for Apple and brought some interesting additions, few would argue against the suggestion that it opened the door for competitors.

As a result, this year's launch was perhaps most important for Apple since the very first iPhone arrived back in 2007.

For anyone following the iPhone 5 rumours over the past year, the iPhone 5 will not bring any major surprises, with many of the new features expected – including the new dimensions and the improved A6 chip.

The iPhone 5's camera is smaller, hardier and enhanced by the more powerful chip, and the front-facing camera is bumped up to a 720p version. Wi-Fi is improved and the inclusion of 4G is a must have in the current phone world.

But it is the size, design and shape that will win the most admiring glances. The all glass and aluminium chassis can claim to be the thinnest smartphone, at 7.6mm 'thin'.

The 4-inch screen keeps the retina resolution despite the added length, which Apple has brought in to make the iPhone 5 more movie-friendly.

The added real-estate is welcome, especially given the growth of its rivals, and apps will apparently be easy to move onto the new screen size for developers.

In the hand the Apple iPhone 5 certainly feels comfortable. You can see why Apple decided to keep the width the same, since it fits the hand nicely – just as its predecessors have.

The most relevant comparison for many is with its predecessor the iPhone 4S and, for those on the now common two-year contracts, the iPhone 4.

The new phone certainly feels different – and although there will be the odd naysayer, the overwhelming majority will feel that the iPhone 5's design is a good step on from the now ageing chassis of both the 4S and 4.

The move away from glass is a welcome one, and the aluminium manages to bring a premium feel in a notably lighter device.

A new chip definitely brings a snappier feel. Many people with an iPhone 4 will be all too used to the lagginess when trying to do anything even slightly complex with the devices, and the Apple iPhone 5 manages to take things on as far as you would expect in more than two years.

What is perhaps more suprising is just how much snappier this feels than the iPhone 4S. The A6 chip clearly has significantly more grunt under its smaller hood – but what is surprising is that you can immediately tell when you use the device alongside its predecessor.

Practically speaking, this probably isn't enough to make you want to leave a 4S unless you are a hardcore fan, but it will convince many iPhone 4 users to stick with the Apple ecosystem for another generation – and you get the impression that this is goal number one for the company.

The added length could have made the phone unwieldy, but the loss of thickness ensures that it maintains its balance and premium feel.

Those people who have got used to the iPhone 4 and 4S will certainly notice the difference that the new iPhone 5 design brings. It served to make the device feel more modern, and the materials used keep that premium feel that Apple has put so much stock in to.

Thinner, lighter and more screen were always on the cards, and the fans' desires are understandable.

The aluminium backplate feels lovely – just textured enough to feel very different from its predecessors and, to our taste, preferable to the glass.

The iPhone 5 screen is bright and colourful, although it's difficult to truly appreciate the small upgrade that Apple has made in the bright lights of the show room.

The camera is also more difficult to test properly, but it certainly seemed faster to take a photo, something that can be a frustration on older iPhones.

From a software perspective, iOS 6 brings with it a wealth of new features that will certainly make a major difference to not only the way the iPhone 5 feels, but also its predecessors the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, when they get the updated software.

Maps, for instance, is significantly altered after Apple ended its longstanding agreement to use Google Maps and pushed forward with its own offering, in conjunction with sat nav giant TomTom.

The new maps certainly look the part, with some beautiful 3D renders and snazzy looking new vector graphics. We really want to take some time to tell you just how well the new offering performs in the wild, when we get a handset in for our full iPhone 5 review, coming soon.

The showcased flyover mode was great for the riverside of London, but as you would expect fell flat pretty quickly once you left the tourist districts and got to residential areas.

Early indications elsewhere are good, however, as the 'Apple designed' tag is pushed to the fore. The tilt and rotate view functionality looks gorgeous, and the turn-by-turn navigation is likely to attract plaudits with a simple and intuitive interface.

However Maps is by no means perfect, and those of you who are used to the wealth of information offered up by Google Maps may be disappointed with Apple's solution, especially as there isn't a Google Maps app in the App Store yet.

Apple Maps seems to be missing key details, as for example, we found certain London train stations didn't exist in the Cupertino firm's world.

Still, the whole Maps experience flows very well, with the smooth zoom and slick image rendering making it a joy to use – with hardly any waiting around for new areas of the world to load, something which can take its time on Google's version.

Safari has also received an overhaul and a noticeable boost in speed is apparent from the word go, as the iPhone 5 zips through pages like a hot knife through butter – the famous TechRadar.com took just three-four seconds to load in a usable form, and an additional two to fully display all the banners.

We still prefer the Android way of doing bookmarks, with small thumbnails of your favourite sites offering a more visually pleasing experience, but Safari's list does the job.

The offline reading function keeps the URL links live on the save paged, allowing you to click through to other areas of the website when you regain signal – something most Android offerings don't do, instead saving the page as a PDF like document.

Siri has been given a major, and frankly much-needed, overhaul with the voice 'companion' functionality extended into new languages and new territories in an attempt to turn the iPhone 4S's overhyped and under-featured personal assistant up to a useful level.

It coped better with the noise of the press room than its predecessor – presumably due to the new microphone set up in the new iPhone 5, and could answer the two or three stock questions we asked it.

However drilling down for information on lower-league sports teams Siri came unstuck, having to resort to a Google (haven't quite ditched your rival completely then?) search for the answer.

Given the obsession with Facebook, the need for better integration was a key addition for Apple in its latest operating system, and the iPhone 5 and its older brothers will benefit from a major overhaul of the way in which the social network links up with your handset.

The Facebook (and Twitter) functionality feels much more central to the experience this time around, and having the ability to post from the notifications screen feels like an obvious inclusion that works well.