Plastic body and colour not reasons enough to pick the iPhone 5c: Reviews

Before the official launch of the iPhone 5c, there was a lot of speculation that we could be looking at the first “budget” iPhone from Apple. When the new model finally arrived, overshadowed by the higher-end iPhone 5s, many were left disappointed by the official specifications sheet. While the iPhone 5s starts at Rs 53,500 in India, the relatively cheaper iPhone 5c will set you back Rs 41,900. And reviewers across the world were vocal about their thoughts on the device. 

Mashable’s Pete Pachal jokingly said that he could just “take the old iPhone 5 review, do a find and replace, and present it as the 5c review.” While the reviewer goes on to say that “everybody loved last year’s phone”, the important point to note here is that the 5c comes with most of the internals seen in last year’s model. The main difference here is that the new device gives users a variety of colours to choose from, including green, blue, yellow, red and white.

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The added variety is not necessarily a good thing, according to TechRadar’s John McCann, who said that, “The bright colours make the iPhone 5c look a bit childish”. The reviewer, while talking about the device, says that, “Our green review handset for example could be mistaken for a toy phone from a distance and it doesn’t exactly ooze the Apple quality we’re used to seeing when unboxing an iPhone.”

The plastic body of the 5c takes away from the premium Apple feel

Gizmodo’s Leslie Horn clearly says that “a fresh coat of paint only goes so far.” While talking about the design, the reviewer says that the slick plastic shell is a bit distracting at first and the tapered shell along the edges of the phone creates an annoying little gap where the user would ideally expect edge-to-edge smoothness. The biggest difference between last year’s iPhone and this model, according to her, has got nothing to do with the hardware, but with the new OS, iOS7. Marginal changes like a slightly better front camera and a bigger battery are not enough reasons to think about upgrade to this device if you already have an iPhone 5, according to the reviewer.

According to GSMArena, the iPhone 5c “is so keen on showing how young and fresh it is, that the traditional black is not among its five paint jobs.”  Wired says that the availability of iOS 7 on every iPhone since the 4 and the lack of features to outshine the 5s leaves the plastic design as the most remarkable aspect of the new model. While the reviewer acknowledges that the new iPhone is a good phone, “it sits in a funny place in Apple’s product range.” Given that the device comes with most of last year’s hardware, it does not makes sense for iPhone 5 users to upgrade to this particular model, and even 4s users could be happier picking up the top-of-the-range 5s as opposed to this one.  

Marginal improvements aren’t enough reason to consider this model

All told, it looks like experts aren’t too impressed by the plastic sheen and relatively lower price tag of the 5c. The most noteworthy points that were brought up were the revamped OS, which is available on other models as well. The plastic polycarbonate shell, while giving users more colours to choose from, reduces the premium feel that earlier iPhones have been associated with.

Earlier reports have suggested that the “budget” iPhone may be lagging behind the high-end iPhone 5s, which may have prompted Apple to cut down on the production of the device this quarter. In the Indian market too, the 5s’ resounding success was balanced by a lukewarm response to the 5c. Want to know more about the device? Check out our hands on and first impressions of the new iPhone.