The Unique Performance Of iPhone 5

The iPhone 5 is everything we wanted after the iPhone 4S, with a larger display, a faster processor and 4G capability. The redesigned look is snazzy, slim and incredibly light, but this smart phone is more about refining existing features than introducing jaw-dropping ones. A new, less helpful Maps app stops the iPhone 5 from achieving the four and a half stars that its predecessor mustered, but this is still a high-quality mobile that would make an excellent upgrade for people who own a two-year-old iPhone 4.

The iPhone 5 is thinner than the 4S, at an impressive 7.6mm thick. That might not sound like much, but compared to the iPhone 4S, there's a visible difference in thickness.

It has a tall baton-like design, which coupled with the thinner frame, makes this feel like an iPhone 4S that's had a run-in with a rolling pin. It's not significantly wider than the 4S but it's certainly longer. The steel bands around the phone's circumference carry over from its predecessor, but the new stretched-out look means more room for the display, which now measures 4 inches on the diagonal.

This marks the first time Apple has increased the size of the iPhone's screen from the previously standard 3.5 inches. While the difference is subtle, you'll quickly start to appreciate the extra real estate. As with the introduction of the retina display, you'll notice this new feature most when you look at an older iPhone, with the iPhone 4S and 4 starting to feel cramped by comparison.

The bigger panel means there's room for an extra row of icons on the iPhone 5's home screen and -- because it has a 16:9 aspect ratio -- you get fewer annoying black bars when you're watching movies on your mobile. Films shot in 21:9 will still play with black bars above and below the action, though as before, you can zoom in by double-tapping the screen.

The slight size bump when watching video is all well and good, but where you'll really appreciate the longer screen is with the Mail and Notes apps, or when browsing the web. Being able to see just a few more emails, or a bit more text lurking at the bottom of the display, makes a difference.

It's not life changing stuff, but in the Mail app, for example, with one line of preview text you can see six and a half messages on screen, compared with five and a third on the iPhone 4S. Small, handy improvements are the name of the game with the iPhone 5's design.

As well as ramping up the display size, Apple has bumped the iPhone's display resolution. The horizontal pixel count remains the same -- a healthy 640 pixels, but vertically you now get 1,136 of the blighters. Its pixel density is the same, at the retina display standard of 326 pixels per inch. That trumps the Samsung Galaxy S3, although that is much larger, at a mighty 4.8 inches.

The iPhone 5 is powered by iOS 6, the latest version of Apple's mobile OS. Alongside improvements for existing apps and services, iOS 6 brings a number of brand new features, not all of which are welcome changes.

The most significant change is to the Maps app. Apple has ditched Google, instead opting to create its own mapping service, which unfortunately is a step backwards that will likely frustrate those using iOS 6 -- especially in the UK.