iPhone iPhone 5S or 5C

tubemonkey · 09-13-2014, 10:43 AM

My youngest son is a die hard Apple fan (iPhone, iPod, iPad). Where I went wrong, I have no idea; but that's another story

Anyway, he needs a new phone with a minimum of 32GB of storage to replace his aging 4S. He's not into having the latest tech, so a previous gen will work just fine for him. Besides, he absolutely hates the larger displays of the new 6's and prefers the 4" size.

A 32GB 5S can be had for $150 and a 32GB 5C for $30. Now for the burning question - is the 5S worth the extra $120 just to get the A7 processor?

Barcey · 09-13-2014, 11:08 AM

You should have bought Apple products and told him how great they are, then they wouldn't be cool. ;^)

I suspect that he's playing a lot of games so I'd say the A7 is worth it. There isn't that big of a jump between a 4s to a 5c so I'd question why even bother upgrading.

dordale · 09-13-2014, 11:41 AM

The 5s has a faster processor than the 5c as Barcey points out. Other differences include a little better camera, a fingerprint scanner, and a polished metal rather than a plastic shell.

One big difference between the 5s/5c and the 4s's is the fact that the 5's have LTE/4g technology for much faster internet access. The 4s are still 3g. (I know that AT&T was advertising the 4s's as having 4g technology, but it isn't actually LTE--and only a speeded up version of their 3g tech.)

If your son was happy with his 4s, I think he'd be very happy with a 5c and that a 5s might be overkill. But--if his uses would take advantage of the faster processor, then it may be worth the extra $ to get the 5s.

tubemonkey · 09-13-2014, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barcey

You should have bought Apple products and told him how great they are, then they wouldn't be cool. ;^)

I'd never be able to look myself in the mirror if I said something nice about Apple

Quote:

I suspect that he's playing a lot of games so I'd say the A7 is worth it. There isn't that big of a jump between a 4s to a 5c so I'd question why even bother upgrading.

He's not into gaming. He's into music and needs storage more than he does CPU. As to upgrading, his 4S battery is pretty much shot; so he needs a new phone.

Actually, there's a bigger jump from the 4S to the 5C than there is from the 5C to the 5S.

4S = A5 DC 800MHz CPU w/ 512MB RAM
5C = A6 DC 1.3GHz CPU w/ 1GB RAM
5S = A7 DC 1.3GHz CPU w/ 1GB RAM

tubemonkey · 09-13-2014, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dordale

The 5s has a faster processor than the 5c as Barcey points out. Other differences include a little better camera, a fingerprint scanner, and a polished metal rather than a plastic shell.

I knew the CPU was better, but wasn't sure about other features. He doesn't care about the FP scanner. As to metal vs plastic and color, he doesn't care. He puts his phones into OtterBox type cases so they're completely enclosed and you'd never know what color it was or what it was made from.

Quote:

One big difference between the 5s/5c and the 4s's is the fact that the 5's have LTE/4g technology for much faster internet access. The 4s are still 3g. (I know that AT&T was advertising the 4s's as having 4g technology, but it isn't actually LTE--and only a speeded up version of their 3g tech.)

We have Verizon in the Seattle metro area. I've never heard him complain about the speed. He'd probably welcome the LTE.

Quote:

If your son was happy with his 4s, I think he'd be very happy with a 5c and that a 5s might be overkill. But--if his uses would take advantage of the faster processor, then it may be worth the extra $ to get the 5s.

Like I told Barcey, he's not into gaming. Music, texting and Facebook are his primary uses; and he uses very little data. For videos, he uses his iPad mini 1.

tubemonkey · 09-13-2014, 12:49 PM

Barcey & dordale -- thanks for the helpful information. I wanted to see if there was a feature I overlooked that would justify the extra $120. But after reviewing what you two said, I think the 5C will probably serve him quite well.

Synamon · 09-13-2014, 12:49 PM

My husband likes the fingerprint scanner and the steps counter on his 5s, the 5c doesn't have either of these gimmicks and is fine for me. I haven't noticed any difference in the photos they take. The 5s might make it through one extra upgrade cycle, but it sounds like your son's phone won't last long enough for that to matter.

tubemonkey · 09-13-2014, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synamon

The 5s might make it through one extra upgrade cycle, but it sounds like your son's phone won't last long enough for that to matter.

He really uses his phones. Two years in and his batteries are nearly shot.

Thanks, that's another consideration - longevity of the phone itself.

Jessica Lares · 09-14-2014, 01:11 AM

I feel like the fingerprint scanner will be the first thing to crap out. It's springy, it feels cheap, and sometimes it takes two tries for it to recognize your finger at times.

My brother has the 5C. It's sturdy and will take a lot of blows to the ground if you don't drop it face first.

ilovejedd · 09-19-2014, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

A 32GB 5S can be had for $150 and a 32GB 5C for $30. Now for the burning question - is the 5S worth the extra $120 just to get the A7 processor?

Where the heck are you getting them for those prices?

jswinden · 09-19-2014, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Where the heck are you getting them for those prices?

That's probably two-year contract prices, so add a few hundred to the actual cost.

lovewisdom · 09-19-2014, 12:46 PM

When iPhone 6 came out, I see the conference, Apple said iPhone 6 is the best ever. This is also meant to admit iPhone 5 or 5s is worse and not good. Next year, you will see i7 is better, but 6 is bad. Funny circulation. Except deception, no one can understand this circulation. Otherwise, it means all are bad, but all are good. How bad is good or good is bad? Deception lets it possible.

tubemonkey · 09-19-2014, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Where the heck are you getting them for those prices?

Two-year Verizon contract.

tubemonkey · 09-19-2014, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jswinden

That's probably two-year contract prices, so add a few hundred to the actual cost.

Whether you get a subsidized phone or you bring in a fully paid phone, Verizon charges you the same amount for their service.

eschwartz · 09-19-2014, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovewisdom

When iPhone 6 came out, I see the conference, Apple said iPhone 6 is the best ever. This is also meant to admit iPhone 5 or 5s is worse and not good. Next year, you will see i7 is better, but 6 is bad. Funny circulation. Except deception, no one can understand this circulation. Otherwise, it means all are bad, but all are good. How bad is good or good is bad? Deception lets it possible.

"Each new device is even better than the previous one" != "The previous ones are bad".

Somehow, the vast majority of the planet understands this just fine.

Also, what does the i7 have anything to do with this?

09-13-2014, 10:43 AM	#1
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,858 Karma: 158733736 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	iPhone 5S or 5C My youngest son is a die hard Apple fan (iPhone, iPod, iPad). Where I went wrong, I have no idea; but that's another story Anyway, he needs a new phone with a minimum of 32GB of storage to replace his aging 4S. He's not into having the latest tech, so a previous gen will work just fine for him. Besides, he absolutely hates the larger displays of the new 6's and prefers the 4" size. A 32GB 5S can be had for $150 and a 32GB 5C for $30. Now for the burning question - is the 5S worth the extra $120 just to get the A7 processor?

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09-13-2014, 11:08 AM	#2
Barcey Wizard Posts: 1,531 Karma: 8059866 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Canada Device: Kobo H2O / Aura HD / Glo / iPad3	You should have bought Apple products and told him how great they are, then they wouldn't be cool. ;^) I suspect that he's playing a lot of games so I'd say the A7 is worth it. There isn't that big of a jump between a 4s to a 5c so I'd question why even bother upgrading.

09-13-2014, 11:41 AM	#3
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	The 5s has a faster processor than the 5c as Barcey points out. Other differences include a little better camera, a fingerprint scanner, and a polished metal rather than a plastic shell. One big difference between the 5s/5c and the 4s's is the fact that the 5's have LTE/4g technology for much faster internet access. The 4s are still 3g. (I know that AT&T was advertising the 4s's as having 4g technology, but it isn't actually LTE--and only a speeded up version of their 3g tech.) If your son was happy with his 4s, I think he'd be very happy with a 5c and that a 5s might be overkill. But--if his uses would take advantage of the faster processor, then it may be worth the extra $ to get the 5s.

09-13-2014, 12:49 PM	#6
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,858 Karma: 158733736 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	Barcey & dordale -- thanks for the helpful information. I wanted to see if there was a feature I overlooked that would justify the extra $120. But after reviewing what you two said, I think the 5C will probably serve him quite well.

09-13-2014, 12:49 PM	#7
Synamon Lunatic Posts: 1,691 Karma: 4386372 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Land of the Loonie Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch	My husband likes the fingerprint scanner and the steps counter on his 5s, the 5c doesn't have either of these gimmicks and is fine for me. I haven't noticed any difference in the photos they take. The 5s might make it through one extra upgrade cycle, but it sounds like your son's phone won't last long enough for that to matter.

09-14-2014, 01:11 AM	#9
Jessica Lares Wizard Posts: 2,240 Karma: 5759170 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Near Dallas, Texas, USA Device: iPad Mini, iPod Touch (5th gen)	I feel like the fingerprint scanner will be the first thing to crap out. It's springy, it feels cheap, and sometimes it takes two tries for it to recognize your finger at times. My brother has the 5C. It's sturdy and will take a lot of blows to the ground if you don't drop it face first.

09-19-2014, 12:46 PM	#12
lovewisdom Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 1010 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: Kindle DX, Kindle Touch, Sony DPTS1	When iPhone 6 came out, I see the conference, Apple said iPhone 6 is the best ever. This is also meant to admit iPhone 5 or 5s is worse and not good. Next year, you will see i7 is better, but 6 is bad. Funny circulation. Except deception, no one can understand this circulation. Otherwise, it means all are bad, but all are good. How bad is good or good is bad? Deception lets it possible.