Nice. That case looks interesting and provides fun contrasts in colors. The hardware upgrades and the software ain't to shabby either. Can't wait to see these phones in person!
Seriously? You don't agree that it looks awful? I guess everybody truly does see things differently.
The white and blue phones look ok, but the rest are quite bad colours. Also, why the hell are these phones shiny? I think everybody in the whole god-damn world has by now realised that glossy plastic bad in EVERY way - it scratches easily, looks cheaper and doesn't feel as nice.
I like plastic phones, but they should feel like the Lumia 800, not a more-rigid Galaxy S1.
I'm normally the last person to call out a bias, I think Brian's smartphone writing is usually some of the most even handed (and certainly the most in depth out there)... But I find it funny that he called out Android OEMs over their polymer finishes yet didn't say anything about the glossy finish here.
Granted, I certainly haven't held a 5C, but based on looks and what I'd expect from a glossy finish I'd take a Lumia, One X (talking solely about chassis), or Moto X over this any day. SOME Android OEM are certainly behind the curve on this, namely Samsung and LG.
Forgot to add, I actually happen to like the look of the cases (and I'm 31) but I'd never use one... Those holes are gonna collect a ton of dust. Camera and volume holes alone usually leave a ring of crud and dust when you take the case off after having it in a pocket for a while (it just slips in no matter what, even over the side of the screen).
So plastic becomes polymer? :) It's a small thing but it really shows how pervasive the RDF is, imho. The phone looks nice, btw, and I'm happy to see that they are recognizing the value of multiple colors (well more than two, anyway).
Not really Zandros, look at his past reviews. HTC One review = mentions plastic as being bad, LG G2 review = glossy plastic is bad , S4 review= where's the sophisticated materials, Moto X review = plastic this and plastic that. Now with the 5C it's polycarbonate and feels great.
Well, that's his point - this plastic feels better than any of the previous.
May ancient iPhone 3G's back is scratched to hell, yet it still feels better in my hand than most (but not all) plastic Android phones. I don't know about the 5C, but I imagine it will be similar.
As for the color choice and the hole-y cases, they aren't my cup of tea (I greatly prefer "Space Gray",) but as the lower-end model, they're sure to be attractive to younger crowds. (We're likely going to get my daughter a new phone soon, and I have a feeling she'll want a 5C over a 5S. Although we're too cheap for that, we'll probably get her a used 4S or 5.)
Meh, the RDF is surely pervasive but polycarbonate became pretty common over a year ago when HTC and Nokia were touting it... And HTC hardly has much marketing muscle. That being said, glossy finish = yuck, regardless of how solid it feels.
Samsung's plastic is plasticky and cheap-feeling. Motorola's plastic seems of higher quality than the plastic used by some of the Korean handset makers. Apple's plastic is downright amazing and premium-feeling.
All those assertions without any proof or even an attempt to prove. What matters is your feelings.
Um, yeah? Not everyone WANTS a larger screen (or, for me, a physically larger phone.) I think the iPhone case size is just about perfect. Add .1 to .2 inches width at most. Sure, make the bezel smaller, and make the screen a full 16:9 to make it taller, that's all fine. But don't make the phone itself much wider than an iPhone. Even the HTC One is ever so slightly too wide to fit my hand comfortably - and I have larger-than-average hands. (Pissed me off, I liked the HTC One overall, but just doesn't fit my hand well.)
Definitely liking what I see here. Very Colorful options here with more then decent hardware and a few hardware specific upgrades from last years iPhone 5. I have a feeling it will do pretty well.
Wow, they're putting lots of efforts into producing those if you look at the videos. But the 5C is far too expensive for the offering. The 5S is a lot classier and offers much more beef for "just" a 100 bucks more. For a phone it's still far too expensive.
Whoa those new colors are either really ugly, or my monitor needs to be calibrated. The holey cases are especially terrible. All that's needed is a spilled paint pattern and Apple's brought the 90's back.
Anyone else find it odd that anandtech has criticized other phones in the past for being plastic but praise the 5c? Seems awfully biased to me. I will say that having a design like the iPhone where it cannot be opened makes it feel more solid than one with a removable back but that is a necessary compromise. I don't see mention of said compromise in this article. You get a more solid feeling device but you still have to wait at an Apple Store and pay $50 for a battery. Not to mention no sd slot.
This article is utterly ridiculous. It trashes cheap android phones, and praises the new iPhone 5c which is a 100% copy of lumia 620. Of course there no mention of it...
There are different kind of plastic my friend. The apple plastic is in a different league when it compares to the Samsung plastic. Speaking from a Note II owner.
While I understand that different plastics can have completely different look and feel, the plastic on 5C looks like your typical glossy slippery ones. I really hope that the in-hand feel is good.
By just looking at the picture, i will predict its the same feeling when you holding the old white Macbook, they are almost acrylic like, which i liked.
The HTC Windows Phone 8X had a polycarbonate (plastic) body. Here's what Brian had to say about that: "As I stated before my concluding thoughts about the HTC 8X are very positive. HTC really brought everything it had to offer with this device and it shows in person. The design and use of neon colors is striking, and the shape and material choices definitely make for a great in-hand feel." Also if you go to any of the articles by Brian or Anand about any of the Lumia phones and you will see high praise for the build quality despite being plastic. Polycarbonates encompass a huge amount of textures and quality and you cannot simply equivocate two polycarbonates just because they're both "plastic."
I don't understand the concern over build quality if you're just going to put a case on it anyway. If you ask me, the best solution is to make a phone as thin and light as possible even if it does flex slighly and then sell a specially designed case that you can use with the phone to make the it more rigid, maybe even with a metal chassis. It would satisfy both the people who want a thin and light phone and the people who are willing to sacrifice tin and light to have a rigid, more durable phone.
The 5C is nothing but shaving some cost off for Apple while passing none to the consumer. It just has the same 5 guts, in a fugly as sin shell with fugly as sin cases. The 5S, I'm fine with. Though I think 64 bit will be their next cuttoff line for support with iOS9 or something. Just like OSX, when 64 bit was introduced 32 bit processors were supported for a while, then dropped.
It looked like from the leaks (if im remembering right) that its not just a iPhone 5 in a plastic shell, but that the 5c and 5s share a new, similar logic board, which would imply at least some sort of development outside of the shell. Looking forward to the tear downs.
I agree with you. Especially on the cases, blech. The only polycarbonate phones I've really been impressed by (both in terms of appearance and build quality) are Nokia devices. Other than that, I generally prefer metal. For balancing weight and cost, aluminum tends to be the go-to metal. Unfortunetely it scratches easily... they need to give it a layer of Gorilla Glass. IIRC Asus did just that on a zenbook.
In terms of colors (other than polished metal), I've always been partial to black, though blue and white can look good too depending on the device. I'd take red if it's a fairly dark red.
It's not "Apple plastic" and "Samsung plastic". They're just different types of polys and different body designs. Samsung could use the exact same materials if they wanted to spend the money. Plus the 5C has a metal frame inside to add rigidity. Samsung could do that too.
The 9xx Lumias are a good example of a polycarbonate unibody that is excellent. Even the lower-end Lumias are pretty good, especially for the money. They're not using magical "Apple plastic" in them. :P
Nokia was making plastic phones with metal frames over 5 years ago, this isn't exactly breaking new ground. Apple's using a glossy finish too which IMO is less preferable than what HTC, Nokia, ASUS, and Moto have done lately (One X, VX, 8X, Lumias, Moto X, etc; also, they need to stop using X in model numbers).
Very clever Apple! $549 Sans contract for the "C" depicting colors one would assume, which cleverly undercuts the custom colored creation by you aka MOTO X, which is currently priced at $599 sans the standard state side Carrier shackled 2 year deal. While some may see the "C" as the MOTO X fighter including yours truly, I see this as a marketing opportunity for Goog and Motorola. Picture it, "The MOTO X, Made in America, by AMERICANS!" For me, that alone is worth the $50 and then some. Apple can keep their communist made phone and place it in a place lacking the Sun for lack of a better word. That last part would only be included in N.R.A. and other right leaning publications, but I think it would win the public over in a Southern heartbeat.
I'd been waiting to see what would happen when Apple went back to polycarb.... It's a shame it's glossy and going to look just as scratched as my old MacBook after 6 months, but it's better than aluminium that seems to dent and scratch just from looking at it funny.
To say none of the Android manufacturers have managed a plastic phone that 'feels' nice/sold is a bit disingenuous though - remember the HTC One X? I loved that phone. And it wasn't glossy. Admittedly mine is dead now, but it still LOOKS immaculate and feels bomb-proof. Lol.
I'd still take a Lumia running Android though. But I guess that's even more of a never going to happen thing now. Still, at least if the LG G2 translates into a Nexus 5 relatively unscathed, that looks like it should be nice hardware. And no more glass back! Yay! Although it does mean handing over more money to the bar stewards who made JBQ quit. But then, who's SoCs can I support? It's not like Nvidia or Samsung (worse, actually) are any better... Or Ti are competitive. At all.
Suddenly plastic became "quality" when an Apple phone is using it! What a sad joke...
It's thicker and heavier than the iPhone 5, 9mm vs. 7.6mm and 132g vs. 112g, it's not cheap either. Apple seems to have got it all wrong. I wonder does Anand thing the iPhone 5C is a cheap slippery mess?
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54 Comments
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Dman23 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Nice. That case looks interesting and provides fun contrasts in colors. The hardware upgrades and the software ain't to shabby either. Can't wait to see these phones in person!erikiksaz - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Hah if by interesting you mean ugly. They must have sourced their hole-poked case designer from Chinese eBay sellers.Desiderata - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Oh, you mean the same ones that you sourced brain cells from?althaz - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Seriously? You don't agree that it looks awful? I guess everybody truly does see things differently.The white and blue phones look ok, but the rest are quite bad colours. Also, why the hell are these phones shiny? I think everybody in the whole god-damn world has by now realised that glossy plastic bad in EVERY way - it scratches easily, looks cheaper and doesn't feel as nice.
I like plastic phones, but they should feel like the Lumia 800, not a more-rigid Galaxy S1.
Impulses - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
I'm normally the last person to call out a bias, I think Brian's smartphone writing is usually some of the most even handed (and certainly the most in depth out there)... But I find it funny that he called out Android OEMs over their polymer finishes yet didn't say anything about the glossy finish here.Granted, I certainly haven't held a 5C, but based on looks and what I'd expect from a glossy finish I'd take a Lumia, One X (talking solely about chassis), or Moto X over this any day. SOME Android OEM are certainly behind the curve on this, namely Samsung and LG.
Impulses - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
Forgot to add, I actually happen to like the look of the cases (and I'm 31) but I'd never use one... Those holes are gonna collect a ton of dust. Camera and volume holes alone usually leave a ring of crud and dust when you take the case off after having it in a pocket for a while (it just slips in no matter what, even over the side of the screen).tuxRoller - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
So plastic becomes polymer? :)It's a small thing but it really shows how pervasive the RDF is, imho.
The phone looks nice, btw, and I'm happy to see that they are recognizing the value of multiple colors (well more than two, anyway).
Zandros - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Despite his ranting in the podcasts, I believe Brian has been been calling plastic phones 'polymer' and/or 'polycarbonate' for a good while now. ;)Shlong - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Not really Zandros, look at his past reviews. HTC One review = mentions plastic as being bad, LG G2 review = glossy plastic is bad , S4 review= where's the sophisticated materials, Moto X review = plastic this and plastic that. Now with the 5C it's polycarbonate and feels great.CharonPDX - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Well, that's his point - this plastic feels better than any of the previous.May ancient iPhone 3G's back is scratched to hell, yet it still feels better in my hand than most (but not all) plastic Android phones. I don't know about the 5C, but I imagine it will be similar.
As for the color choice and the hole-y cases, they aren't my cup of tea (I greatly prefer "Space Gray",) but as the lower-end model, they're sure to be attractive to younger crowds. (We're likely going to get my daughter a new phone soon, and I have a feeling she'll want a 5C over a 5S. Although we're too cheap for that, we'll probably get her a used 4S or 5.)
Impulses - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
Meh, the RDF is surely pervasive but polycarbonate became pretty common over a year ago when HTC and Nokia were touting it... And HTC hardly has much marketing muscle. That being said, glossy finish = yuck, regardless of how solid it feels.tfouto - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
I cant understand how not a mention of lumias 620 phones are in this article. Pure joke...darwinosx - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Not as much of a joke as you saying that as if it had relevance.jimbo2779 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
If you don't think the 5C looks just like a 620 from the front then you are the joke.GrimR. - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
You're right, actually. It looks very much like the 620 from the side; it was my first thought too.But what did we expect honestly? This is Apple's worst idea in years.
tfouto - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
Relevance=ignore the fact this phone is 100% copy of lumia 620?I don't agree with it. If this fact is not relevant to you then clearly you are biased apple fanboy, who simply cannot see facts...
kyuu - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
The blue and white are okay, but the pastel green, red (more like salmon to my eye), and yellow (urine yellow?) are really not attractive at all, IMO.Those hole-y cases are especially heinous.
PC Perv - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Samsung's plastic is plasticky and cheap-feeling.Motorola's plastic seems of higher quality than the plastic used by some of the Korean handset makers.
Apple's plastic is downright amazing and premium-feeling.
All those assertions without any proof or even an attempt to prove. What matters is your feelings.
I feel for you.
nerd1 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
It's funny this 4 inch phone is actually HEAVIER than 5 inch galaxy s4. And it costs the same too.CharonPDX - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Um, yeah? Not everyone WANTS a larger screen (or, for me, a physically larger phone.) I think the iPhone case size is just about perfect. Add .1 to .2 inches width at most. Sure, make the bezel smaller, and make the screen a full 16:9 to make it taller, that's all fine. But don't make the phone itself much wider than an iPhone. Even the HTC One is ever so slightly too wide to fit my hand comfortably - and I have larger-than-average hands. (Pissed me off, I liked the HTC One overall, but just doesn't fit my hand well.)Impulses - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
I actually like the Moto X a lot largely due to it's compact nature compared to the One etc. But this is a highly subjective thing...Dman23 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Definitely liking what I see here. Very Colorful options here with more then decent hardware and a few hardware specific upgrades from last years iPhone 5. I have a feeling it will do pretty well.Daniel Egger - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Wow, they're putting lots of efforts into producing those if you look at the videos. But the 5C is far too expensive for the offering. The 5S is a lot classier and offers much more beef for "just" a 100 bucks more. For a phone it's still far too expensive.Hubb1e - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Whoa those new colors are either really ugly, or my monitor needs to be calibrated. The holey cases are especially terrible. All that's needed is a spilled paint pattern and Apple's brought the 90's back.ThomasS31 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Why there isn't a black one?The Von Matrices - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
That's exactly what I was thinking. It seems like an odd omission.xdrol - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Want something that doesn't look like a toy? Buy the 5S..zmatt - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Anyone else find it odd that anandtech has criticized other phones in the past for being plastic but praise the 5c? Seems awfully biased to me. I will say that having a design like the iPhone where it cannot be opened makes it feel more solid than one with a removable back but that is a necessary compromise. I don't see mention of said compromise in this article. You get a more solid feeling device but you still have to wait at an Apple Store and pay $50 for a battery. Not to mention no sd slot.jasonelmore - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
no wonder it's sturdy, look how thick that thing is. There's gotta be 10mm of unnecessary plastic.PC Perv - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Don't worry. Everyone finds it hilarious.The almighty Intel wants this site to sing choir of Apple so that Apple don't abandon Intel in the future. These folks are just puppets.
tfouto - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
This article is utterly ridiculous. It trashes cheap android phones, and praises the new iPhone 5c which is a 100% copy of lumia 620. Of course there no mention of it...yik3000 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
There are different kind of plastic my friend. The apple plastic is in a different league when it compares to the Samsung plastic. Speaking from a Note II owner.GauravDas - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
While I understand that different plastics can have completely different look and feel, the plastic on 5C looks like your typical glossy slippery ones. I really hope that the in-hand feel is good.yik3000 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
By just looking at the picture, i will predict its the same feeling when you holding the old white Macbook, they are almost acrylic like, which i liked.cmikeh2 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
The HTC Windows Phone 8X had a polycarbonate (plastic) body. Here's what Brian had to say about that: "As I stated before my concluding thoughts about the HTC 8X are very positive. HTC really brought everything it had to offer with this device and it shows in person. The design and use of neon colors is striking, and the shape and material choices definitely make for a great in-hand feel." Also if you go to any of the articles by Brian or Anand about any of the Lumia phones and you will see high praise for the build quality despite being plastic. Polycarbonates encompass a huge amount of textures and quality and you cannot simply equivocate two polycarbonates just because they're both "plastic."ioconnor - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
People still care about Apple?!Please move on to other non-apple subjects and leave Apples to wannabes.
jasonelmore - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
This phone is great but it's not cheap enough. Needs to be about $100 less, or 99cents with a 2 year contract.The Von Matrices - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
I don't understand the concern over build quality if you're just going to put a case on it anyway. If you ask me, the best solution is to make a phone as thin and light as possible even if it does flex slighly and then sell a specially designed case that you can use with the phone to make the it more rigid, maybe even with a metal chassis. It would satisfy both the people who want a thin and light phone and the people who are willing to sacrifice tin and light to have a rigid, more durable phone.kyuu - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Not everyone puts cases on their phone. I don't put one on mine (Lumia 920).Zok - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Reminds me of sour Jelly Bellies. :)tipoo - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
The 5C is nothing but shaving some cost off for Apple while passing none to the consumer. It just has the same 5 guts, in a fugly as sin shell with fugly as sin cases. The 5S, I'm fine with. Though I think 64 bit will be their next cuttoff line for support with iOS9 or something. Just like OSX, when 64 bit was introduced 32 bit processors were supported for a while, then dropped.Deelron - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
It looked like from the leaks (if im remembering right) that its not just a iPhone 5 in a plastic shell, but that the 5c and 5s share a new, similar logic board, which would imply at least some sort of development outside of the shell. Looking forward to the tear downs.Davidjan - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Looks great! But can't use this mini reader to add its storage: http://goo.gl/U6IyYthesavvymage - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
obviously not. Thats a given of any iOS device ever. Shouldnt even have to mention itAlexvrb - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
I agree with you. Especially on the cases, blech. The only polycarbonate phones I've really been impressed by (both in terms of appearance and build quality) are Nokia devices. Other than that, I generally prefer metal. For balancing weight and cost, aluminum tends to be the go-to metal. Unfortunetely it scratches easily... they need to give it a layer of Gorilla Glass. IIRC Asus did just that on a zenbook.In terms of colors (other than polished metal), I've always been partial to black, though blue and white can look good too depending on the device. I'd take red if it's a fairly dark red.
Alexvrb - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
It's not "Apple plastic" and "Samsung plastic". They're just different types of polys and different body designs. Samsung could use the exact same materials if they wanted to spend the money. Plus the 5C has a metal frame inside to add rigidity. Samsung could do that too.The 9xx Lumias are a good example of a polycarbonate unibody that is excellent. Even the lower-end Lumias are pretty good, especially for the money. They're not using magical "Apple plastic" in them. :P
Impulses - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
Nokia was making plastic phones with metal frames over 5 years ago, this isn't exactly breaking new ground. Apple's using a glossy finish too which IMO is less preferable than what HTC, Nokia, ASUS, and Moto have done lately (One X, VX, 8X, Lumias, Moto X, etc; also, they need to stop using X in model numbers).worldbfree4me - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
Very clever Apple! $549 Sans contract for the "C" depicting colors one would assume, which cleverly undercuts the custom colored creation by you aka MOTO X, which is currently priced at $599 sans the standard state side Carrier shackled 2 year deal. While some may see the "C" as the MOTO X fighter including yours truly, I see this as a marketing opportunity for Goog and Motorola. Picture it, "The MOTO X, Made in America, by AMERICANS!" For me, that alone is worth the $50 and then some. Apple can keep their communist made phone and place it in a place lacking the Sun for lack of a better word. That last part would only be included in N.R.A. and other right leaning publications, but I think it would win the public over in a Southern heartbeat.Azurael - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
I'd been waiting to see what would happen when Apple went back to polycarb.... It's a shame it's glossy and going to look just as scratched as my old MacBook after 6 months, but it's better than aluminium that seems to dent and scratch just from looking at it funny.To say none of the Android manufacturers have managed a plastic phone that 'feels' nice/sold is a bit disingenuous though - remember the HTC One X? I loved that phone. And it wasn't glossy. Admittedly mine is dead now, but it still LOOKS immaculate and feels bomb-proof. Lol.
I'd still take a Lumia running Android though. But I guess that's even more of a never going to happen thing now. Still, at least if the LG G2 translates into a Nexus 5 relatively unscathed, that looks like it should be nice hardware. And no more glass back! Yay! Although it does mean handing over more money to the bar stewards who made JBQ quit. But then, who's SoCs can I support? It's not like Nvidia or Samsung (worse, actually) are any better... Or Ti are competitive. At all.
damianrobertjones - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
and yet no mention on the HP Zbook at all......BMNify - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
This iphone 5C looks like a Lumia 620 copy.tfouto - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
100%mmarafie - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
Suddenly plastic became "quality" when an Apple phone is using it! What a sad joke...It's thicker and heavier than the iPhone 5, 9mm vs. 7.6mm and 132g vs. 112g, it's not cheap either. Apple seems to have got it all wrong. I wonder does Anand thing the iPhone 5C is a cheap slippery mess?
everex11 - Monday, September 16, 2013 - link
just as Melissa replied I am surprised that aperson can profit $4890 in 1 month on the internet. her comment is here......www.pick85.com/