Last year Apple went where I never thought it would, with the iPad mini bringing the Apple tablet experience to a brave new budget world.

Now usurped by the new iPad Mini 2, the older tablet is still on sale at a wallet-friendly £249 for the basic version, with 16GB of storage on offer for the Wi-Fi version on Apple's site (although it can be had slightly cheaper if you shop around).

• Buy Apple iPad mini - 16 GB, WiFi, White, White at Currys for £249

You can also add 4G cellular, which brings the price up to £349. This entry-level model comes in a single 16GB capacity, while the iPad mini with Retina display goes up to 128GB, costing a whopping £659 for the top model which also includes 4G.

Then again, the first generation iPad mini isn't about top-end specs with a whopping price tag – it's about beating the likes of the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD in the budget stakes.

The two competitors have been getting plenty of column inches thanks to their super-cheap prices and the impressive specs on board. But with both offering only a 7-inch screen compared to Apple's 7.9-inch display, the Cupertino company is confident its device will win over budget-conscious consumers.

However, more frugal shoppers may not agree with this idea, as the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD cost quite a bit less. When faced with a choice between the three, they might opt for the familiar Amazon brand or the sheer power of the Nexus 7, with its impressive spec list and legions of Google apps.

That said, Apple fans need not worry too much when it comes to whether the iPad mini is a worthy addition to the iBrand. It comes with enough power and is Ive-inspired enough to make it a worthwhile addition to the range. This isn't a shrunken-down iPad, it's a whole new product all over again.

Be it the larger screen size, impressively low weight or alternative design compared to the competition, there's a lot to chew over when it comes to the iPad mini. But is it worth spending your hard-earned cash when a handful more will get you larger version of Apple's tablet? And how does it stack up next to the second-generation mini with its higher resolution display and faster hardware?

Features and design

The iPad mini exists because the market started to dictate its presence…but that doesn't mean Apple doesn't want to put its own spin on things.

To that end, the border has been reduced and the screen is larger at 7.9 inches relative to the dimensions of the original iPad. Additionally, the design is completely different to the likes of the Google Nexus 7. In fact the whole ethos has been created from the ground up, partly under the stewardship of Sir Jony Ive, according to Apple.

None of that really matters though. What is important is the fact that it's a superbly designed device that gives a measure of why it costs so much more than the likes of the Kindle Fire HD.

The aluminium chassis shares the same colouring as the iPhone 5S, with the darker black slate and white silver options both bringing a touch of class to proceedings.

At 308g it's twice the weight and then some of the iPhone 5S, but compared to other tablets on the market (and combined with the aluminium chassis) it feels lightweight in the hand.

The screen is something of a worry though – with the 1024x768 resolution in the expansive display, you only get a sharpness akin to the iPhone 3GS. While the display quality is better than that thanks to improved IPS LCD technology, it's still light years behind the Retina display on the bigger iPad Air and the second-generation mini.

If you own a modern iPad, you'll notice the difference straight away. But then if you have one of these, then you won't want an iPad mini.

The tablet will struggle to impress iPhone users, as it doesn't have the wow factor of Apple's smaller devices.

In a side-by-side test of the same movie running on the iPad mini, the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD, the iPad looked the least impressive (although the contrast ratio was certainly more than decent in my eyes).

Then there's the issue of holding the actual tablet. As Apple says, it's as light as a pad of legal paper, and there's definitely no risk of it causing wrist strain. However, the iPad mini doesn't really lend itself that well to any manner of grip.

The most comfortable and secure way to hold a tablet is to grip right around the back – something Apple thinks you can do easily according to its promotional materials.

Well, you're wrong there, Cupertino-gadget-people. It's just too far to stretch around with average-sized hands. Instead you're forced to hold it in the corner, covering part of the screen. It's good that Apple has chucked some technology in there to distinguish an intentional touch from an accidental one, but it's not the most comfortable way to use the device.

In landscape orientation using two hands, the iPad mini is a much nicer device to hold, with the aluminium covering giving it a nicely textured back. However, the aluminium covering similar to the iPhone 5 has led to another design problem: scratching.

The handsets have been getting criticism for exposing the silver metal below with minimal scratching. This started to happen within a day on the iPad mini – which is all the more confusing seeing as it doesn't live in the pocket with keys and coins.

It's something we hoped Apple would have changed in the manufacturing process, and means you'll need to keep an eye on how you look after the tablet or invest in a protective case immediately.

The top and bottom of the bezel are wide enough to comfortably rest your hands on, while web browsing and accelerometer-based gaming in landscape orientation is excellent.

The rest of the design is predictably ergonomic. The volume rocker keys are close but not too near to the mute switch on the top right-hand side.

This is near the power button, which is intuitively placed to be easy to hit when you want to reactivate the iPad mini… although many will just hit the home button to achieve the same thing.

The traditional Apple home key remains, although it's shrunken somewhat to fit into the smaller chassis. However, during testing I found it just as easy to hit, despite the dinkier dimensions.

It's interesting that Apple has popped the headphone jack at the top of the iPad mini, given it's put so much effort into repositioning it at the bottom of the iPhone 5S and 5C... but I do prefer it staying above the screen.

The speakers sit at the bottom of the iPad mini, flanking the Lightning connector, which offers faster speeds of data transfer and can be connected either way round. This is handy when you're charging before bed and can't be bothered to put the light on.

The speakers provide decent enough sound, but in landscape mode they create a distorted sense of audio because of their mono-directional firing.

The processor inside is Apple's last-generation A5 effort, which may worry some, but it's likely to be enough for most actions, coupled as it is with 512MB of RAM. It's still miles away from the raw grunt of the new Google Nexus 7 or the iPad Air with its A7 processor, but Apple reckons it helps it hit a sweet spot in terms of price.

Apple also has expertise in optimising iOS to run as well as possible on older hardware, and iOS 7.1 certainly restored a lot of the snappiness that had been lost with the move from iOS 6 to 7.

The iPad Mini's extremely whittled-down side bezels are much less conspicuous than the larger iPad's bezels, which always made it resemble a MacBook screen that had floated away from its keyboard. The Mini truly feels like a large iPod Touch, which is exactly what we used to call the iPad back in 2010. It's far more apt now.

Scott Stein/CNET

You probably won't think that, though, because the iPad Mini won't easily fit in your pocket, or even your jacket pocket. It's more of a purse, small bag, or large-coat-pocket device. It'll fit wherever you'd fit a softcover book.
The construction feels solid, stellar, fun to hold. The home button clicks crisply. It doesn't feel like a lower-priced product in your hands. It might be, in terms of form, the most addictive iOS product in existence. And it's perfectly sized for kid hands. It's far more suited for use in cars and traveling.

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But the Mini shouldn't be a surprising product. A device smaller than the iPad that can run apps? That's always existed. That's called the iPhone. The really impressive feat of the iPad Mini, the surprise, is that it seems to handle all the iPad's normal duties while being shrunken down. All except effortless onscreen typing, although it comes close.

Interface and Performance

Onto the iPad mini interface. iOS 7 was a complete redesign that ditched the gradient-heavy look that had been around since the introduction of the first iPhone.

While it was a bit of a shock at first, the general consensus is that it was a much-needed shake-up by Jony Ive who replaced the ousted Scot Forstall as interface designer.

• Buy Apple iPad mini - 16 GB, WiFi, White, White at Currys for £249

Gone are most of the shadows in favour of a much flatter design. Since iOS 7 runs on all recent iPads, iPhones and iPod touches (I'm currently testing version 7.1 here), it should be a familiar experience to anyone with an existing Apple device.

Holding the iPad mini in portrait mode is easy enough thanks to the weight. Prodding the icons on screen isn't too difficult, nor does it feel like you're going to push the tablet out of your hands and onto the floor.

The iOS interface is simplicity itself. Any users not familiar with Apple's mobile operating system will pick it up in no time. The icons are presented in a 4 by 5 layout, and unlike on the iPhone they rotate when you move the tablet into landscape format.

The ability to place icons in the bottom dock means you can have the apps you want on the home screen. Dragging and dropping said apps on top of one another allows you to create folders with ease, which you can rename to anything you want.

With iOS 7, Apple has greatly improved the number of controls you can access directly from the Home screen, and indeed from any screen.

To enter the app switcher, simply double-click on the Home button to see a Cover Flow-style view of all your app windows. Swiping left and right lets you see all the apps that are open but in a 'suspended' state, while tapping on one launches it.

Swiping on the screens themselves scrolls them normally, but swiping on the app icons moves them more quickly, which is great if you have lots of apps open that aren't currently in use. Force quitting apps is done in this view by swiping upwards on an app window, and you can use two fingers to quit two apps at once.

As iOS matured, there were increasingly loud grumblings about the fact that many commonly used controls were buried in subsections of the Settings app, with only volume, brightness and AirPlay available via quick controls. Thankfully Apple has addressed this with a new control overlay that you call up by swiping upwards from the bottom of the screen.

There are buttons here for volume and brightness, AirDrop and AirPlay, music or video playback, as well as shortcuts to the clock, timer and camera functions. Perhaps best of all, a row of five buttons in the centre provides quick on/off switches for Airplane mode, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb mode and rotation lock.

These were almost all available in iOS 6 but much more fiddly to get to, requiring drilling down into various different Settings menus. Do Not Disturb is a new, handy mode that stops all notifications except for any you choose specifically to allow.

The Lock screen will show the cover art of any music track that's playing and also gives you playback and volume controls as well as a shortcut to Camera mode. Handily, the Control Centre overlay can also be swiped in from the Lock screen.

Searching your iPad is done using Spotlight and this is revealed from any Home screen by swiping downwards form the centre of the screen with one finger.

It searches pretty much all the content on the device, though you can exclude certain things like Notes or Messages from searches in the Settings. If you search for something that isn't on the device you get an option to run the search on the web or Wikipedia.

However, Apple is still catering for the iPad owners with some handy gestures to make things easier to move around. Instead of double tapping the home button to switch apps, touching the screen with four fingers and swiping left and right will move you through the most recently-used apps, and pinching all digits together will return you to the home screen.

This is really helpful when using the tablet on the move, as it means you don't need to shuffle the palm around to hit the home button - and it's really cool too. It's an even more intuitive system on the iPad mini than the iPad 'proper', as it somehow fits the screen size better.

By default, iOS 7 does quite a lot of animation when you open and close apps, and has a slightly space-age "parallax" effect that uses the built-in gyroscope to move the wallpaper slightly to the left or right depending on how you tilt the device.

This isn't to everyone's taste: indeed some users reported it gave them motion sickness. Luckily it can be disabled by going into Settings > Accessibility and choosing Reduce Motion, where you will also find options to increase contrast and reduce transparency effects.

Disabling these settings lightens the processing load, so they are worth looking at if you're not particularly partial to zooming.

The Notification Centre, revealed by swiping down from the top of any Home screen, can show notifications from any supported apps and you can enable or disable these using the Settings app.

By default you'll see a Calendar view with a weather summary, but you can also see messages, emails, eBay notifications and much more here if you choose to switch them on.

Apple might be criticised for bringing older technology to the iPad mini, as the A5 chip with 512MB of RAM doesn't sound like a lot when you can buy the quad core Google Nexus 4 smartphone with 2GB of RAM for the same price as the mini, and with the same amount of storage too.

However, in practice it's really rather hard to fault Apple's interface performance when using the device in day to day use. It's definitely not got the grunt of the larger new iPad Air or even the iPad mini 2, but the performance of iOS 7.1 even on this older hardware is still perfectly acceptable.

The only real gripe, and it's one you'll hear time and again from me throughout this iPad mini review, is the fact that the screen is too low-res.

It simply saddens me to see menus we're used to on both iPads and iPhones not having the same sharpness as before... and we're certainly not used to seeing Apple take a step back in quality.

If you've never used a top end smartphone or tablet, this won't be an issue as the display is fine, and technically still HD in terms of pixel count. But the Retina display on the mini 2 is unquestionably superior and once you're used to Retina quality the lower resolution of the older screens is very noticeable.

Gripping, swiping, and typing: Thumbs and fingers
So, what about that smaller bezel? Holding it suddenly becomes a delicate-seeming proposition. I worried I'd accidentally start an app with my big palms, or turn a page by accident. That didn't happen to me. Apple has worked finger-rejection technology into the hardware and software of the iPad Mini that's context-dependent. All I know is that when reading books on the Kindle app or iBooks, I found holding on the side wasn't a problem. When I typed, the entire edge-to-edge surface became sensitive to my entire hand.

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In landscape mode, the longer and thicker top and bottom bezel come in handy: it offers more of a grip when viewing videos, and I found that it also helped make the iPad Mni comfier when playing games.
The tweener size of the Mini means you can hold it in portrait mode and thumb-type like on an iPhone or iPod. It works pretty well, for the most part. I was even able to thumb-type in landscape mode, with a little stretching. Typing more traditionally works better than I expected, although I became more of a finger hunt-and-pecker than a spread-finger typist. The 7.9-inch display certainly isn't as wide as the average laptop keyboard, and the virtual keys, while well-sized, require a bit of adjustment to use.
You can also hold the iPad Mini in one hand and thumb-swipe, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's not as intuitive as on an iPhone, although it could be fine for simple page-turning taps.

The screen: Retina-free
Your feelings about the iPad Mini's screen will all depend on how much time you've spent with Retina Displays or high-pixel-count devices. If you own a recent iPhone or the last iPad, you'll feel that this screen is blurry. Text isn't as sharp. The pixels per inch don't even match what's available on a Kindle Fire HD or Nook HD. The iPad Mini has a 1,024x768-pixel display, just like the iPad 2's, but writ smaller with a denser pixel count per inch. However, the smaller-screened Kindle Fire HD has a 1,280x800-pixel display. So does the Google Nexus 7. The Nook HD has an even higher-res display at 1,440x900 pixels.

The Nexus 7, iPad Mini, Nook HD, and Kindle Fire HD. Josh Miller/CNET

All three cost considerably less than the iPad Mini, and all three have much higher, denser pixel counts. The iPad Mini's 7.9-inch screen has more physical real estate in terms of square inches (let's just call it an 8-inch screen, because it very nearly is), but fewer pixels per inch. You're trading size for high-res crispness.
So, the iPad Mini not only has a lower-resolution screen than much of the competition, but it's probably the least impressive screen of Apple's 2012 stable of iOS devices. The iPod Touch, iPhone 5, and fourth-gen iPad all seem brighter, more vibrant, and far higher-definition.

Sarah Tew/CNET

However, if you've used an iPad 2, the text is crisper. It's readable, even with smaller fonts such as those used in e-mail. With games and videos, you won't notice quite as much because graphics and videos are often in constant motion. Even there, though, I could see a clear difference playing HD videos and a variety of games. The IPS display has excellent wide-angle viewing, and it's very bright. It may not be as good as a Retina Display, but it's every bit as good as the iPad 2's screen. I held both up side by side and found the colors and vibrancy to be similar, although the iPad Mini is less bright at its highest setting. In deeper, in-depth tests using CNET's TV-testing equipment, the iPad Mini's display was revealed to indeed be less bright at its highest setting, but also less color-accurate than the nearly-perfect Retina Displays on the iPhone 5 and third and fourth-gen iPads. When looking at photos or movies, you can definitely tell the difference side-by-side.
Even if, for all the incredible design that the iPad Mini has going for it otherwise, that screen feels like a comparative letdown, there's big ace in the iPad Mini's hole. A huge one, actually. It has to do with aspect ratio.
This 7.9-inch display isn't 16:9 like the iPhone 5 or most Android tablets. That means the screen width is wider, more like a page of a book. It's the same as on the iPad, but on this smaller screen, with the iPad Mini's shrunken-down side bezels like an iPod Touch, it feels extra-wide. Web pages fit more across the screen, allowing the text to be bigger. More importantly, digital magazines and illustrated books can be rendered without squishing down too much.
Apple's made a big deal of this, but let me tell you the real killer apps here: the future of digital publications. Textbooks. Basically, any layout-sensitive graphically intensive e-books. The iPad Mini doesn't squish that content down like what often happens to it on 16:10 7-inch screens. An iBooks version of DK Publishing's "Dinosaurs" looked wonderful and engaging. So did the kids' book/app "Bobo Explores Light."

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Maybe most impressively, nearly every larger iPad app I've thrown at it feels usable and comfortable at this smaller screen size. Board games with tiny buttons, media-editing apps, games with virtual control pads, and even using the onscreen virtual keyboard. It's book-size, but the apps feel largely the same.

iPad Mini as e-reader
You could be of two minds about this. Yes, the non-Retina Display means text that's less sharp. It feels like a miscalculation on a device so clearly targeted at reading. Yet, hold the iPad Mini back a foot and increase the font size, and you probably won't notice.

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The more booklike 4:3 aspect ratio and its more natural compatibility with PDF files, comics, magazines, and layout-sensitive graphic novels give the iPad Mini an edge over other 7-inch tablets. For pure text, the Mini may not be the best. For other media, it has its advantages, even without a Retina Display. I never found myself unable to enjoy a magazine or book, although I did find myself wishing the resolution were sharper (reading the "Dark Knight Returns" comic, in particular).

One big advantage of the iPad Mini with iOS: it's compatible with all the big services (Kindle, Nook, Google Books). It's the closest to a universal e-book reader.

Sarah Tew/CNET

iPad Mini as video player
That 4:3 aspect ratio has a drawback, of course, and that's video playing. Movies and HD TV shows will inevitably be more letterboxed than on a 16:9 tablet like the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. On a Retina Display iPad, you at least have enough pixels to make for sharp video viewing in the space provided. On a 1,024x768-pixel display, it means the letterboxed video has an even lower resolution.

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Most shows still look very watchable, no worse than on the iPad 2 (and a little better since the pixels are smaller), and there are plenty of apps and services that the iPad Mini is compatible with, from subscription-based streaming to cable accessory TV apps to video stores like iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand. The iPad Mini has the greatest flexibility for apps and services among competing tablets, which is its huge edge.

Two speakers tucked on either side of the Lightning connector on the bottom edge pump out decent volume for such a small device. They're good enough to listen to music and videos with. Two aluminum volume buttons on the right edge are flat like on the iPhone 5, but longer, and not tapered like the plastic iPad's volume button. They're easy to feel for and press.

Sarah Tew/CNET

iOS 6
For more on all the various features of iOS 6, read CNET editor Jason Parker's full review. Most the iOS 6 features you'd expect are here, including Siri, which is curiously absent from the equally well-equipped iPad 2. Apple's Passbook app, oddly, didn't make the cut, even though it's included on the iPod Touch.

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Of course, Apple's controversial Maps app is also present, with 3D Flyover and direction capabilities. I haven't been able to test whether turn-by-turn works on the LTE version.

Siri

Oh, hello Siri – what are you doing here? Given the iPad 2's processor is the same as in the iPad mini, surely it can't handle Siri? So however did it find its way onto this device? (Yes, I'm looking at you, Apple.)
But, there it is, and nicely incorporated too. The little pop-up window that gives access to the voice recognition is nicely unobtrusive. The accuracy is much improved over the first iteration of the software, and the range of functionality also enhanced.

With its ability to tell you how your football team is doing, what the weather's like in Paris and to open an app on command, the iPad mini has the same implementation as the iPhone when it comes to Siri…and therefore as much use.
There's no way you'll ask it to book an appointment for you, because a) it doesn't always work, and you'll wish you had just typed it in, and b) you're likely to be with someone, and the risk of failure and looking stupid in front of them is too high to try it.
The Google Now cards on Android are much better when it comes to information, as being told what's going on with your team is easier than having to ask for it. Both are different systems, but Siri is never going to gain mass appeal until it finally becomes almost unerringly accurate at recognising what you're saying.
I still like the little pop-up window, though, and you can now hold down the home button for as long as you need to speak to Siri which makes the process a little easier.


iPad Mini as camera
One improvement in the iPad Mini compared with the iPad 2 is its cameras. It has a 5-megapixel iSight rear-facing camera and a FaceTime HD front-facing camera, the same cameras that are on the third-gen iPad and later. The fifth-gen iPod Touch has a better camera, with more features and an LED flash. The Mini lacks app features such as HDR and Panorama, although other apps from the App Store have those functions.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The point is, the Mini's cameras are more than good enough for snapshots, 1080p video recording, and high-quality FaceTime calls. They're above average for budget-tablet cameras.

Photo taken with the Mini's back camera. My taste can be discussed later. Scott Stein/CNET

Holding the iPad Mini is an easier affair, so it's also feasible to use this device to take photos and video, something I've yet to see a normal friend of mine do with a larger iPad. It's not your next point-and-shoot, but it could do in a pinch. Photos taken with the Mini turned around are about as good as any iPad photo I've ever seen.

Smart Cover, gone mini
The iPad Mini even has its own little Smart Cover ($39) available in six colors, although the design is different from the larger version available for the 9.7-inch iPad. The all-polyurethane design doesn't have an aluminum latch, so it grips more softly to the Mini's side. The cover also has one fewer segment in its folding design.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The Smart Cover still folds up to be a stand or a keyboard riser, but it joins into a similar triangle with no fold-over. It's just strong enough to support the iPad Mini, working equally well for typing and for picture-stand use. And it feels a bit more fun on a smaller device.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Unfortunately, just like with the larger iPad, the Smart Cover doesn't protect the iPad Mini's back. People will be tempted to buy a full-body case or a back cover as well.

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In the box: Lightning and charger, no headphones
The included gear is -- as always -- limited when it comes to the iPad. The iPad Mini includes a Lightning cable and an AC adapter, which is actually the smaller version that comes with the iPhone 5. The two are cross-compatible. No larger AC brick is needed.
EarPods, Apple's newly designed headphones, are not included. Earbuds never came with any other iPad, either.

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The new Lightning connector, introduced with the iPhone 5, is easier to plug in and takes up less space, but most other gadgets use Micro-USB. Extra Lightning cables can add HDMI-out and camera/SD card slot input capabilities. If you have older 30-pin connectors you can use a separate adapter, although it's not guaranteed that it'll mean a fit with older accessories and devices.

Battery life
Apple claims 10 hours of battery life for the iPad Mini, 9 hours using LTE. That's equivalent to the claims for the larger fourth-gen iPad, and iPads in general going back to 2010.
Our battery test told an even better story: the iPad Mini held up through 12.1 hours of video playback, which is remarkable for such a small tablet. The Nexus 7, comparatively, only lasted 8.4 hours on the same test. Over a week of use the Mini seemed to last well more than a full day of use, and then some. After playing games, streaming videos, downloading large files, and using the tablet for everything I could think of, I had a hard time fully depleting its battery over the course of a single day. The new fourth-gen iPad lasted an hour longer at 13.1 hours, but you'd expect it to.

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Source

Engadget Apple iPad Mini Reviews (Critic Reviews 8.6/10, User Reviews 8.8/10)

Techradar Apple iPad Mini Reviews (4.5/5)

CNET Apple iPad Mini Reviews (CNET Editor's Rating 4/5, Average User Rating 3.5/5)

The Good The iPad Mini's ultrathin and light design is far more intimate and booklike than the larger iPad, and its cameras, storage capacities, optional LTE antenna, and general functionality offer a full iPad experience. The screen's dimensions elegantly display larger-format magazines and apps.

The Bad The iPad Mini costs too much, especially considering the lower resolution of its 7.9-inch non-Retina Display. The A5 processor isn't as robust as the one in the fourth-gen iPad and iPhone 5. Typing on the smaller screen is not quite as comfy.

The Bottom Line If you want the full, polished Apple tablet experience in a smaller package, the iPad Mini is worth the premium price. Otherwise, good alternatives are available for less money.

Official Website

Where to Buy

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The iPhone 5C is kinda, sorta, technically a new product -- colorful, cute, with a variety of interchangeable color cases much like the recently released Motorola Moto X -- but under the hood it's really an iPhone 5 with a new paint job, and a cheaper price: $99 on contract (or even less, if you shop around).
To be clear, we loved the iPhone 5 when it first hit in 2012. It met every one of our needs, kept up with the competition, and presented a sweet spot of features: fast LTE wireless, a larger 4-inch screen, plenty of performance tweaks, a faster processor, and a really great camera. All of those features are back with the 5C.
The only new additions to the 5C (versus the old 5) are iOS 7 coming preinstalled, new LTE antennas that work with more international carriers, a better low-light-sensitive front-facing FaceTime HD camera, and a slightly increased internal battery versus last year's model -- better on paper, but not on a magnitude that most people would appreciate.
What the iPhone 5C isn't is a radical "budget" iPhone. It's not the affordable contract-free prepaid device some dreamed of. Instead, it's an iPhone 5 with a candy-colored polycarbonate shell. If you want something more advanced under the hood, the iPhone 5S is what you're looking for; if you want a bigger screen, nearly any Android phone will be a better choice.

The polycarbonate exterior comes in a range of colourful options - green, yellow, pink, blue and white - and anyone who has owned an iPod will be well versed in these hues.

This is the first time we've seen the varied palette make it to the iPhone range however, prompting some mocking from Nokia who drew comparisons between the 5C and its fluorescent Lumia range - and to be fair there is a small similarity between it and the Lumia 625 front on.
The bright colours also make the iPhone 5C look a bit childish. 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.
However, look beyond that and the iPhone 5C does feel structurally sound in the hand, no doubt helped by the steel frame hidden under the polycarbonate exterior and we found we were far less concerned about it smashing.

The steel frame also doubles as the 5C's antenna, meaning there's no risk of signal dropping if you fancy holding this iPhone in your left hand.
While the likes of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5 are clad front and back in glass causing users to be wary at all times about the state of their smartphone, the iPhone 5C feels like it can be chucked into a bag without us having to worry about its condition when it comes to pulling it back out.
It's reassuring that the iPhone 5C feels like it is capable of taking a few knocks, because the slick, unibody plastic finish offers very little in the way of grip.

Apple does offer a range of equally colourful rubberised skins which you can slap onto your iPhone 5C to provide some much needed additional grip, but at £25 ($29, AU$39) a pop it's yet more money leaving your wallet - plus the odd hole design of these cases won't be to everyone's taste.
Of course third party accessory manufacturers will be falling over themselves to offer a multitude of cases, skins and other forms of protection for your iPhone 5C, so you'll be able to find cheaper alternatives out there.
At 124.4 x 59.2 x 8.97mm the iPhone 5C is slightly chunkier than the handset it's replacing, but considering the iPhone 5 was wafer thin the 5C certainly isn't overbearing in the hand and the added weight from a slightly larger battery means that it actually feels more substantial compared to the iPhone 5S.

The same minimalist attitude to buttons has been implemented on the iPhone 5C, with the famous home key the only navigational aid on the front of the device, while the power/lock resides at the top and the separated volume keys on the left.
Just above the volume keys is the small switch which is now synonymous with Apple's iDevice range, allowing you to quickly toggle silent/volume mode.
All the keys are easy enough to reach when holding the iPhone 5C in one hand, but thanks to the elongated nature of the device since Apple bumped the screen size up from 3.5 inches to 4 you need to stretch your fingers that extra bit to reach the power/lock button.

We'd much prefer this key to be located on the right hand side of the iPhone 5C, as it would make it that bit easier to access and avoids any awkward shuffling of the phone in the hand - but of course that would see Apple copying Samsung in terms of placement, and nobody wants to see any more accusations of copying coming along.
There's nothing else joining the power/lock key on top of the 5C after Apple relocated the headphone jack to the bottom with the iPhone 5 - a move which isn't to everyone's taste.
Joining the left aligned headphone jack on the base of the iPhone 5C is a centralised lightning port and a mono speaker to one side to help you blast your tunes at grannies on the bus or conduct a more civilised speakerphone conversation.

Now the right hand side hasn't been left completely alone on the 5C, with Apple choosing this surface as the location for the SIM card tray - but unlike most smartphones that take microSIMs these days, iPhones now rock the tiny nanoSIM technology.
This means you'll have to talk to your network about getting a nanoSIM for your shiny new iPhone 5C before you'll be able to use it - that is unless you're upgrading from an iPhone 5, but we'd suggest that's pretty much a waste of money.
If you're coming from a similarly priced Android handset you'll probably think the iPhone 5C feels a little on the small size, with its 4-inch display more at home at the budget end of the rival OS's line up.

While the screen size might not be anything special, the 1136 x 640 Retina display is present and correct on the iPhone 5C, meaning it has the same offering as both the iPhone 5 and 5S.
There are even more similarities with the iPhone 5, as you'll find the same A6 processor, 8MP rear camera, 1.9 MP front camera, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 in the 5C.
The iPhone 5C is 4G enabled of course, but more supports even more bands meaning it'll work even more networks around the world - Apple claims the 5C and the 5S support the widest range of 4G bands out of any smartphone currently on the market.
So what have we got so far then? Well, the iPhone 5C is a slightly overweight iPhone 5 with a plastic body, larger battery and a slightly lower price tag. If anything it looks to be a bit of a hard sell on paper - but with iOS 7 on board, there's a litany of places where it might it might excel.

What do you give up over the 5S?
This is the question everyone's going to ask: what am I missing out on between the iPhone 5C and 5S for that extra hundred dollars? For starters, the 5S has that crisp metal design. It also has a newer, faster A7 processor, a fingerprint-sensing Home button, an even better camera with faster autofocus, burst shooting, better low-light and antiblur features, and a Slow-Mo video recording mode that records at 120 frames per second at 720p. What's more, the 5S is capable of 64-bit computing, has better graphics, and has an M7 processor for enabling future built-in motion-tracking and health/fitness apps. And it's also available in a 64GB capacity, versus just 16GB or 32GB for the 5C.

CNET staff

A lot of those features are theoretical, or embedded so deeply the casual person wouldn't notice. The 5C and 5S have the same screen size and Retina resolution, and the same LTE antenna bands. Those are features most people will notice a lot more. The 5C, from an everyday boot-up, application-loading standpoint, feels similar to the 5S. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see the phones' speed begin to diverge as the months and years progress -- once more advanced apps begin to appear that are optimized for the more sophisticated hardware of the 5S.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Case and accessories
A new design means new cases: Apple's selling its own, at $29 each, in a variety of bright colors, made of the same polyurethane/microfiber material as the iPad Smart Covers and Smart Cases. The bright cases are attractive; they're punched with large holes, so the iPhone's colors and the case colors play off each other for color combinations. You can only imagine third-party case manufacturers are going to be all over this type of idea.

CNET staff

Apple's own cases are comfy, but oddly designed: the open holes expose some of the stamped FCC and model information on the back of the iPhone. Peeking at bits of text ruins a bit of the ultra-clean effect. Why not shift those holes higher up, or place the text elsewhere? It's nitpicky, but Apple's design usually prides itself on these sorts of details.

Display and speakers
The iPhone 5C's 4-inch, 1,136x640-pixel Retina Display seems every bit as bright and crisp as on the iPhone 5. But, it's also the same exact display: no extra pixel resolution, no added screen size. In a world of ever-larger smartphones, the iPhone 5C is more on its own now than it would have been in 2012. There's a lot of extra unused space above and below the screen.

CNET staff

That being said, Apple's iPhone 5 Retina Display remains one of the brightest and most color-accurate displays CNET's tested. It's an excellent display, and has very good 326 ppi pixel density. It could just be...well, a little bigger. There are 4.3- and 4.7-inch-display Android phones that don't feel honkingly large to hold, and perhaps show how Apple could have worked in a little extra screen.

CNET staff

A single speaker to the right of the Lightning port pumps out equivalently loud audio to the iPhone 5. Just like previous iPhones, it's possible to accidentally bottle up all noise by pressing a thumb to the speaker grille while playing a game or watching a movie.

Camera
The same iSight rear-facing 8-megapixel camera that was in the iPhone 5 is in the 5C. iOS 7 adds a few more extras, such as digital zoom when recording video. Both 1080p video recording, photos and panoramic pictures all look great, but the iPhone 5S camera is even more refined, and adds slow-motion recording and multiburst.

CNET staff

A front-facing FaceTime HD camera has been slightly improved, adding better light sensitivity. Dimly lit selfies in my apartment hallway came out better on the 5C.
Are there better cameras on phones? Absolutely. However, at this price range, the iPhone 5 still does a very, very good job.

Antenna and wireless connectivity
The iPhone 5C has dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, just like the iPhone 5, along with Bluetooth 4.0. Apple's AirDrop technology in iOS 7 allows for local file sharing, perhaps minimizing the omission of NFC in the iPhone, but it's worth noting that NFC still isn't in any Apple device. Both the iPhone 5C and 5S also lack faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which has been introduced in many products, including 2013 MacBook Airs and AirPort routers. Also, note that like the iPhone 5, the CDMA iPhone 5C (so, the Verizon and Sprint versions) do not support simultaneous voice and data.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and 3G support with 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• LTE support where carriers support it and CDMA support when sold by CDMA carriers
• 4" 16M-color LED-backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen of 640 x 1136px resolution
• 1.3 GHz dual-core Apple Swift CPU, PowerVR SGX543MP3 GPU, 1GB of LPDDR2 RAM, Apple A6 SoC
• iOS 7 with iCloud integration
• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and touch focus
• 1080p video recording at 30fps
• 1.2MP secondary front-facing camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Bluetooth 4.0 LE, AirDrop file transfer and sharing between iOS 7-running devices
• GPS with A-GPS connectivity; digital compass
• 16/32 GB storage options
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and a three-axis gyro sensor
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated secondary microphone
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Excellent audio output quality
• Apple Maps with free voice-guided navigation in 56 countries
• Voice recognition, Siri virtual assistant
• Supports HD Voice (with carrier support)
• FaceTime video calls over Wi-Fi and cellular
• Free iWorks office suite
• Free iMovie and iPhoto apps

Main disadvantages

• Slippery glossy plastics prone to scratches and fingerprints
• Thicker and heavier than the iPhone 5
• Proprietary connector
• No FM radio
• No stereo speakers, feeble loudspeaker
• No expandable storage
• Stuck with iTunes for loading content
• Mono audio recording in videos
• Non user-replaceable battery

The 7th iOS iteration brought a long overdue UI overhaul to the iPhone lineup, with Apple keen to demonstrate that the innovation well hasn't dried up. Flat, colorful and with a ton of new features, iOS 7 certainly puts the iPhone 5c in a better position in the smartphone race. Apple is also sweetening the pot even further by giving you the complete iWorks office package, the iMovie video editor and the powerful iPhoto app for free - content that otherwise costs more than $40.

Apple iPhone 5c live pictures
Pricing remains the elephant in the room regarding the iPhone 5c, as it slides in just $100/€100 below the iPhone 5s. That's as much as the iPhone 5 would've cost had it not been discontinued and we have yet to see if this is a change for the better or worse. On one hand you are getting a fresh new design instead of one that's been around for almost a year, but on the other, you are losing the premium metal body while still paying the same price.
The high asking price also sends the iPhone 5c right in the way of the current Android and Windows Phone top-dogs, pushing its (now one-year-old) internals to the limit to keep up. It's certainly a curious starting point and we are excited to see how the iPhone 5c race develops. The unboxing and hardware tour is right after the break.

iOS 7

As well as sporting an all new form factor the iPhone 5C also sees the arrival of Apple's latest edition of it mobile platform, dubbed iOS 7.

Announced back in June 2013 at WWDC, iOS 7 actually made its way onto the likes of the iPhone 5 and 4S a couple of days before the 5C went on sale, but along with the iPhone 5S they are the first handsets to actually ship with the new operating system.

iOS 7 is arguably the biggest overhaul Apple has given its mobile software since its inception in 2007, and in this post-Jobs era the design was left up to Jony Ive.
If anything iOS 7 suits the colourfully clad iPhone 5C more than the iPhone 5S which sports three rather muted shades of grey, more grey and gold - and when you fire up you're new 5C you'll note Apple has already set up a colour-matched background to tie the whole package together.
Of course we've already seen this colour trickery on Windows Phone devices where the live tiles of the homescreen are set to match the colour of the handset - and it's a nice touch which makes the hardware and software feel more connected.
Starting at the lockscreen and you'll immediately realise the iPhone 5C is running a new version of iOS, with the famous slide-to-unlocked bar replaced with a simple text prompt.
It's a far more understated approach and if you have a pin set up - there's no Touch ID fingerprint scan here - then the swipe will take you to a numeric keypad which demands your secret combination before allowing you access to the handset.

There's also a camera app quick launch option on the lock screen in the bottom right corner. Just place your finger on the camera icon and drag up to launch yourself straight into the redesigned application.
If you're coming from an Android handset you may be disappointed to find Apple hasn't implemented more quick launches on the lockscreen - you'll have to go through the unlock routine to access anything else.
Once you are past that stage you're taken to the homescreen which is still just the first page of your app list, with the same side scrolling motion required to flip through the pages.
Your standard options of dragging and dropping apps onto one another to create folders and the pull down notification bar persists, although with some slight updates.
The notification bar has been tweaked by Apple and now includes three tabs in the pull down panel; today, all and missed.

By default you're shown the "Today" tab, which displays the weather, reminders, any calendar entries for the day and stock information.
Scrolling down a bit more and there's also a bar which gives you a quick overview of what exciting events or meetings you have planned for the next day.
Tap "All" and you'll be able to view all your notifications from missed calls, text messages and emails to social media and app alerts - skipping across to "Missed" will just show you things such as missed calls or Facebook conversations you need to catch up on.
You can adjust what is displayed in the notification bar by diving into settings, so if you couldn't care less about stocks, or are getting irritated about how popular you are on Twitter you can turn off individual settings.
Something which is completely new on iOS 7 is the Control Center, accessed by swiping up from the bottom of the screen on the iPhone 5C.
This is a welcome addition to iOS as Control Center provides you with quick settings for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, airplane mode, do not disturb and rotation.

There's also a screen brightness bar, music controls, Air Drop shortcuts and quick launch icons for the torch (using the LED on the rear of the iPhone 5C), timer, calculator and camera apps.
You can access the Control Center while in any menu or application, making it a really useful feature to have if you quickly want to toggle something as you don't have to leave the page you're viewing.
Both the Notification Bar and Control Center can be accessed from the lock screen, although if you fear this will give too much control to outside users you can disable both - forcing a pin to be entered before being able to get to them.
We found iOS 6 ran seamlessly on the iPhone 5, which had the same processor as the iPhone 5C and iOS 7 is just as smooth here. Upgrade an iPhone 5 to iOS 7 and the on screen experience between the two will be almost impossible to tell apart.
The iPhone 5C may be seen as a cheaper version of the iPhone franchise, but Apple hasn't skimped on the internal grunt, giving you the same, high quality user experience you've come to expect from the firm.

Multi-tasking has been given an overhaul with iOS 7, and gone is the bar which appeared at the bottom of the display when you double tap the home button.
The double tap action now sees the screen you're viewing minimised to a thumbnail in the centre of the screen, and a horizontal list to the right of it made up of small panels of all the other apps running in the background.
The layout reminds us of the multitasking menu on HTC's Sense UI, and you can scrolling through the various applications, swiping up over thumbnails to close certain applications.
We're not overly keen on the new design as the interface does break things up when flicking between apps, where on the iPad you've got the great five finger swipe to move between open apps – could this have not been repeated on the iPhone?
Apple has continued to shy away from the calls of some for the introduction of widgets into the iOS ecosystem, and while a couple of app icons display live information - with the clock and calendar app sporting relevant data - the majority are static images.

The weather app suggests it's always sunny with a chance of cloud, while the compass icon things we're always facing North North West.
It would have been nice to see Apple make a few more of these icons smarter, as we're pretty sure it's up to the job and going by the slickness of the rest of the interface the processor could probably cope with it too.
We found that the 4-inch screen was always responsive to our various pokes and prods and the 1136 x 640 Retina display provides clean and crisp visuals with a 326ppi pixel density.
That does mean the screen on the iPhone 5C, on paper at least, doesn't match the similarly priced, top Android and Windows Phone devices.
It's not really an issue though as Apple's Retina technology still provides an excellent display which is more than good enough on the smaller 4-inch screen size.
The viewing angles are still good on the iPhone 5C and the display sits just under the glass, making it look like it's actually printed on the glass instead of residing beneath it.
Hold the iPhone 5C next to a smartphone sporting a full HD display though and you will notice it doesn't quite hit the same heights in terms of clarity, but in isolation you won't be disappointed.

Opinion on the new colour scheme for iOS 7 is still spilt, but the brighter, fresher look certainly makes it look more enticing on screen, catching your eye and actually pulling you into the operating system - where as iOS 6 had become rather mundane.
What we do find frustrating in iOS 7 and its previous iterations is the dependence it has on the settings menu, with various app controls all housed here instead of within the apps themselves.
It's annoying if you're in the Facebook app for example and want to adjust the notification settings, you have to exit the app and navigate to the setting menu instead.
iOS 7 is a great improvement on the previous version on Apple's interface and coupled with the colourful iPhone 5C it makes for a pleasing package.
It runs smoothly on the 5C and although some may take issue with the iOS 7 colour scheme, it's still easy to use with the addition of features such as the Control Center provide a huge benefit to the end user.

Battery life

We're not sure what size battery the iPhone 5C is hiding under that polycarbonate finish, but Apple assures us it's a bigger offering than the iPhone 5 - and we're inclined to agree.
In short we've been pretty impressed with the battery performance on the iPhone 5C, it only drops 3% to 4% overnight with various accounts syncing throughout the downtime and with medium levels of usage it comfortably saw out a day.

Overnight drain has haunted past iPhones, but it looks like Apple may have managed to resolve the issue with the 5C.
Apple reckons you'll be able to eek out 10 hours video playback on the iPhone 5C or 40 hours of audio, the same as the iPhone 5, but these are best case scenarios.
You'll still need to plug in and recharge overnight, but if you're just using the phone for calls, texts, emails and a bit of web browsing you won't be caught short.
Of course if you fancy turning brightness up to full whack and then fire up some power-intensive games you'll see that battery drain pretty quickly, but the iPhone 5C still performs better here than the 5.
We took the iPhone 5C for a spin as a sat nav - a process which usually drains phone batteries in no time at all, but the two hour journey saw a drop of 30%.
That's pretty good considering it was constantly rendering maps, keeping a GPS lock, churning out voice commands and still syncing our various accounts in the background without the screen switching off.

Hands On Gallery

Source
Engadget iPhone 5C Reviews (Critic Reviews 8.0/10, User Reviews 8.7/10)
GSM Arena iPhone 5C Reviews (Design 3.9/10, Features 4.0/10, Performance 4.2/10)
Techradar iPhone 5C Reviews (Design 4/5, Features 4/5, Performance 4.5/5, Usability 4/5, Value 3.5/5)
CNET iPhone 5C Reviews (CNET Editor's Rating 4/5, Average User Rating 2.5/5)

The Good The iPhone 5C is available for $99 or less on contract, and in five bright colors. Compared with the 2012 iPhone 5, it’s got more widely compatible global LTE coverage, an upgraded front-facing camera, and slightly better battery life.

The Bad This phone is 2012 tech dressed up in a brighter package for 2013; the four-inch Retina Display feels small compared with most Android phones.

The Bottom Line The iPhone 5C is a great $99 phone that basically replicates the well-reviewed iPhone 5 in a more colorful case.

Official Website

Where to Buy
Official Website
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