Geek Girl Report: iReview – Hands On With The iPhone 5

Last Monday, I rushed home after the show and was pleasantly surprised to find my shiny new iPhone 5 waiting for me on my doorstep. Now that I've had a full week to test it out and break it in, I can safely say this is by far the best iPhone yet. At least, until the iPhone 6 comes out. But for now, here are my impressions of the new iPhone 5.

Shiny New Display

First things first, the iPhone 5 looks much different than it's previous versions. When compared side-by-side with my old 3GS, and even with the 4S, it's quite a bit taller and skinnier. But there is a reason for the "basketball player" build of the iPhone 5: the new 4-inch touch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. I found this difference was very noticeable when you're watching movies and videos on your phone. Aside form a bigger screen, the display itself is brighter and more colorful than any of the previous iPhone.  Now, I have experienced some odd re-sizing issues with some photos I took and transferred from my old iPhone, but overall, I'm a fan of the new display.

Spiffy Camera Functions

That sleek, shiny display also comes in handy when you're taking photos with your iPhone. And speaking of photos, there are several new photo features that you might find interesting. First of all, the new camera, like the rest of the phone, is much faster than before. Second, cool new features like panorama mode and the ability to flip the camera around and take pictures with the front of the phone are great new additions for the budding smartphone photographer.

Super-Fast Processor

One of my favorite things about the iPhone is how fast it is. Things that would take around 10 or 15 seconds on my old phone, like launching an app or a web page, loads up instantly on the iPhone 5. This is thanks in part to the new A6 processor built into the phone. The processor boasts to be twice as fast at the iPhone 4S, and I'm inclined to agree.

Smarter Siri

Now that I have the iPhone 5, I've finally gotten the chance to play around with Siri, and I am thoroughly impressed. Siri has gotten much smarter since her iPhone $S days and can now hunt down any number of things from sports scores to movie times. Also, the speech-to-text function is vastly improved. There are still a few hiccups with Siri, (I found out the hard way that you have to be very careful if you're asking for "directions.") but overall, she works like a dream. I've had a great deal of fun showing her off to my non-Apple friends.

So to wrap it all up, the iPhone 5 is by far the best Apple phone out yet. Those of you who do not yet have the iPhone or have an older version of the iPhone, this is the one you need to get your hands on.