14 DAY TRIAL // Not that there was any doubt Apple’s iPhone 5c would be an instant hit with whomever touches it, but now we have the confirmation too. Reporters from all over the world posting their iPhone 5c reviews are applauding Apple’s choice in materials and design.
Incrementing an already powerful smartphone, Apple this year swapped the aluminum shell of the iPhone 5 for a polycarbonate, unibody enclosure girded by a metal frame inside that fastens everything to the micron.
The result? A more colorful, more vivid, and universally appealing iPhone 5c. That’s the consensus among reviewers worldwide, as everyone seems to agree Apple has hit the jackpot yet again.
Take for instance Myriam Joire’s review (for Engadget), who reports, “We’re not going to lie. The iPhone 5c is gorgeous – we’d even argue that it’s the most beautiful iPhone since the 4 and 4s. It instantly makes the iPhone 5 and 5s look staid in comparison.”
“Sure, we prefer materials like aluminum and glass over plastic, and we appreciate the intricate craftsmanship that goes into building the iPhone 5 and 5s, but still, we can’t help it – the 5c just triggers some reptilian part of our brains that screams, ‘OMG, color!’,” writes Joire.
Apple pundit Jim Dalrymple over at the The Loop points to the sturdiness of the enclosure, noting, “There is absolutely no give to this phone at all. It doesn’t bend or buckle anywhere in the casing, which is what you want, obviously. It feels as solid as the 5s.”
“The iPhone 5c doesn’t actually feel like plastic. It’s strange when you first pick it up, but it almost feels like ceramic or a similar material that is glossy and hard.”
“The manufacturing process that Apple used to make this phone and the metal reinforcement it used in the plastic casing certainly worked on making this phone tough,” says Dalrymple.
David Pogue writing for The New York Times agrees with Dalrymple in that Apple seems to have reinvented plastic.
“Actually, ‘plastic’ isn’t quite fair. The 5C’s case is polycarbonate, lacquered like a glossy piano. Better yet, its back edges are curved for the first time since the iPhones of 2008. You can tell by touch which way it’s facing in your pocket,” he quips.
“It’s a terrific phone,” Pogue continues. “The price is right. It will sell like hot cakes; the new iPhones go on sale Friday. But just sheathing last year’s phone in shiny plastic isn’t a stunning advance.”