iPhone 5C – first impression

The rumoured 'cheap' iPhone might be colourful but is really just a recycled iPhone 5 in a plastic case – and it's not cheap either.

Today is marked as a break through from a tradition for Apple – it unveiled not one, but two new iPhones, including the vibrantly colourful iPhone 5C. How does the iPhone 5C stack up to the competition and the iPhone 5S?

PRICE:  The iPhone 5C was rumoured to be a "cheap" iPhone, and while it is slightly cheaper than the iPhone 5S, starting at £469 for the iPhone 5C off-contract with 16GB of storage and topping £549 for 32GB of space, it still commands a premium price. The iPhone 5C will likely cost significantly less when bought directly through mobile phone operators on a lengthy contract, but compared with its competitors, Apple's most colourful iPhone is still a pricy offering.

CAMERA: Apple has included the 8-megapixel camera from the previous generation iPhone 5, which although it is significantly down on the numbers compared with its Android competitors, produces solid, if unspectacular images. The video-chat camera on the front of the iPhone 5C has been given a boost, with a 1.2-megapixel front-facing FaceTime HD camera featuring enhanced light sensitivity, which should make video calls much clearer and sharper.

FEATURES: Apple's main feature for the iPhone 5C is colour. For the first time since the iPhone 4, Apple has produced a phone with a seamless, smooth plastic back. The rear shell is available in five colours: green, yellow, blue, white and pink. The iPhone 5C also comes with special wallpaper that matches the chosen colour on the back of the device, and combines with a very colourful, newly redesigned iOS 7 – Apple's latest mobile operating system. Screen-wise, the iPhone 5C features Apple's high resolution, pin-sharp 4-inch retina display, which is starting to look a little on the small side compared with most of today's 5-inch-plus Android and Windows Phones. But in terms of quality it should be as top-notch as ever, making photos look good and on-screen text very clear and easy to read.

Apple has also given the iPhone 5C access to its digital voice-activated personal assistant, Siri, which has been available on flagship iPhones since the iPhone 4S. While not often terribly useful for everyday tasks, the novelty of asking your phone questions while being able to set reminders and send text messages via voice, could come in handy.

SPEED: For the iPhone 5C, Apple has essentially recycled parts from the iPhone 5 and put them in a vibrant new frame. The result is that Apple's new phone is just as fast as the iPhone 5 before it, equipped with the same A6 processor. That will make it significantly slower than Apple's new flagship, the iPhone 5S, which sports a new processor in the form of the Apple A7. Overall, the iPhone 5C should be more than fast and slick enough for most users, and will maintain that speed for at least another year. Compared with the competition, however, it is slow thanks to its previous-generation specifications.

BATTERY: The recycled parts from the iPhone 5 have been tweaked by Apple to squeeze out slightly more battery life for the iPhone 5C than the previous generation flagship. Apple rates its colourful iPhone has having 10 hours of talk time, and 10 hours of browsing time on Wi-Fi or LTE, with 250 hours of standby time. Real-world usage will, of course, vary.

CONCLUSION: The iPhone 5C certainly is colourful and forms a new approach for Apple, but when it comes down to it, it is just a recycled iPhone 5 in a plastic case. Whether that is necessarily a bad thing, is debateable. The iPhone 5 was a fantastic smartphone last year, and is still one of the best around, but people buying the iPhone 5C expecting to get a brand new, next-generation smartphone will be disappointed. Smartphones aren't all about numbers and specifications, however, as the experience of the phone is what counts the most and the iPhone 5C is undoubtedly going to be a slick experience.

In reality, how the iPhone 5C comes across will be down to how much it costs. With a starting price of £469 contract-free, the iPhone 5C is certainly not cheap, although bought with a mobile phone contract the price tag should be significantly lower. The iPhone 5S offers a lot more in terms of specifications and functionality, and being only £80 more, would be a better buy.