The iPhone 5’s availability status in Kenya may no longer find a place in doubting souls but that doesn’t mean your little savings could afford one, it’s currently the most desired smart phone at least for Apple diehards. Apple products are typically pricier than close rivals and iPhone 5 is no exception; it’s something the company is adamant in maintaining without necessarily setting benchmarks on features in this category. It has a strong showing in theory but we’ve seen better android devices emerge at half its price; in fact, without a huge chunk of its loyal users, the increasing popularity and momentum its rivals enjoy could just trigger the much anticipated iPhone’s memorial and I’ll not hesitate offering my condolences. I like the iPhone 5, I’d be stupid not to, it’s a cool phone as many put it but I wouldn’t spend a huge portion of my hard-earned cash when I can get a better Samsung Galaxy Note II at almost half its price, it’s common sense.
After months of waiting since its initial release, I was curious when Orange Kenya posted on their facebook wall about the availability of
iPhone 5 in the country, it was a good gesture for Apple to keep their word but as I learnt later, it was rather astonishing that representatives in Orange Kenya shops that I visited had no idea, to them it was available in theory. Orange Kenya is slowly gaining momentum in its retail business, especially after they introduced
Orange San Francisco aka ZTE Blade in the country, the phone was awesome featuring a high-end display at a rock-bottom price but quickly sold out, it was discontinued ever since. The iPhone 5 offers a pleasantly new design featuring a slightly taller display and a thinner, lighter frame than its predecessor. The camera isn’t bad considering its 3megapixels bigger than that of iPhone 4S but there are hundreds of devices such as
Nokia 808 PureView with a better sensor.
The iPhone 4S didn’t have enough design tweaks to warrant a complete distinction from its predecessor, the design was more or less the same disappointing on-lookers; however, iPhone 5 underwent what you’d call a complete make-over introducing some intriguing features beyond a slightly larger display and a faster processor. Generally, this phone is a major improvement from its predecessor but that doesn’t mean everything on it is flawless, we’ve had major issues with Apple’s maps feature, it’s not something I use on a daily routine but I’d rather have correct maps just in case. I’ve seen hilarious jokes about Apple maps such as showing a highway leading to a water mass rather than town but that’s no longer an issue after Google released its maps app for iOS 6. I’d say those who consider maps an important feature to have
Samsung Galaxy S3 on their options.
iPhone 5 has one of the best screen resolutions that we’ve ever seen, at 640×1136 pixels which translates to 326ppi (pixels per inch), small text look sharper and browsing your photo gallery is a pleasant experience. Its IPS screen has an LED backlight meaning reproduction of true deep blacks is a breeze and the corning Gorilla glass won’t get scratches that easy. Lack of an SD card slot which’s typical on all iPhones as of today is rather disappointing, look at the
Samsung Galaxy S3 or
Samsung Galaxy Note II, beyond the internal storage; you have an option of expanding memory with a MicroSD card at an overall lesser price. Underneath is 1GB RAM and a 1.2GHz Dual core processor that’s just enough to handle most apps and multitask without noticing any lags; however, we expected a more powerful chipset, devices within its price range have 2GB RAM and Quad cores instead. It comes with the latest version iOS 6 installed, there are major improvements on iOS 6 such as smoother interface transitions and some minor flaws like Apple maps.
iPhone 5 Features/Specifications;- Operating System: iOS version 6 (iOS 6)
- Processor: 1.2GHz Dual-core, GPU: PowerVR SGX, Chipset: Apple 6
- Display: 4.0inch (640x1136p) (326ppi) IPS, LED backlight, 16m colors
- Camera: Pri: 8.0MP (3264X2448p) Sec: 1.2MP, Video: 1080p, LED flash
- Storage: No MicroSD card slot, 16/32/64 GB Internal storage, 1GB RAM
- Data:42Mbps DC-HSDPA, 21Mbps HDSPA, 5.76Mbps HSUPA, LTE
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, MicroUSB, WiFi, Hotspot
- Sensors: GPS with A-GPS, Proximity, Accelerometer, Compass,Gyro
- Other ft: Auto-focus, touch-focus, face detection, FaceTime over Wi-Fi
iPhone 5Price in Kenya: Starting from Kshs.80000 for 16GB, Kshs.90000 for 32GB (Orange Kenya Shops)
