Apple iPhone 5C review: Discontinued and no longer supported

Update: iOS 10.3.2 update stops iPhone 5C support

Got an iPhone 5C? You need to read this. Apple is no longer supporting its near four-year-old handset, with its latest iOS update – iOS 10.3.2 – not coming to the device. That’s bad news for iPhone 5C owners, but there’s reason behind Apple’s madness.

For starters, it’s pretty obvious that Apple is trying to give you a little nudge to upgrade from your ancient handset. The iPhone 7 is out, and it’s a decent phone, so now’s better than ever to take the jump. So long as you can afford it of course.

Most importantly, though, iOS 10.3.2 only supports Apple’s devices with a 64-bit infrastructure. Anything older than an iPhone 5S is all but dead in the water, as Apple’s earlier handsets all ran on a 32-bit architecture. This may have caused headaches within Apple’s software team whenever updates came about.

Regardless, you can read my original iPhone 5C review, below.

Apple iPhone 5C review

The iPhone 5C didn’t go down well with many, as it was Apple’s first colourful, but yet plastic phone to the market. Due to its high price, and low performance – many opted to buy an Android phone instead, such as the Moto G.

However, since its launch, where it was priced at £469, it can now be found refurbished between £80-130 through eBay or Amazon. This makes it a lot more affordable that the iPhone SE which costs £359. Continue reading for our original review (priced at £469).

Apple iPhone 5C review: Plastic fantastic

It’s important to note that the iPhone 5C is essentially, specs wise, an iPhone 5 in new clothing, making the handset three years old today. Of course the 5C looks different, with a plastic chassis. Before the phone launched and we got our hands on it, there were some questions as to whether plastic was the right choice. This being Apple, it’s fair to say that it has managed to make plastic feel premium.

A single moulded piece of polycarbonate attached to a reinforced cage means the iPhone 5C feels extremely tough and well made

For starters Apple has used a single piece of moulded polycarbonate. This means that the iPhone 5C looks incredibly well made with no gaps or joins in the case. Plastic can often feel a bit creaky, but Apple has attached the case to a steel frame inside, which means it feels exceptionally tough and durable. Finally, the company lacquered the outside, which will reduce scratching, although a case is still a good idea.

Moving to this design means that the iPhone 5C is slightly heavier than the iPhone 5, at 132g compared to 112g. It’s fair to say that this minor weight difference isn’t going to make any difference to anyone. Of course, moving to plastic, means that Apple can now work with a wider range of colours, with the iPhone 5C available in white, red, yellow, blue and green. No matter what your preference, there’s a colour out there that will suit you.

There’s a wide-enough range of colours that you’ll definitely find an iPhone 5C that you like the look of

Apple also sells a range of cases in the same colours, with holes cut out so you can see through to the iPhone’s original colour. This lets you mix and match your colours to get the effect you want, although we’re not massive fans of the new case and prefer a shell or something that protects the screen. However, we like the way that Apple pre-sets each iPhone 5C so that its screen backdrop matches the colour of the case. Admittedly we’ve seen the same from Nokia and Windows Phone, but it’s still a nice touch.

Apple iPhone 5C review: Screen

The screen is still one of the highlights of the iPhone 5C, as it uses the same 4in screen as used on the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S. With a resolution of 1,136×640 and a high pixel density of 326ppi, this Retina screen still looks fantastic and very sharp.

Yes, you can get larger Android handsets with more resolution, but the smaller screen here doesn’t really feel like a detriment to us. There’s still plenty of resolution for apps and web browsing, while the screen size means that the iPhone 5C slips easily into any pocket; the same can’t be said for some of the large-screen Android monsters we’ve seen.

Arguably more importantly, the iPhone 5C has a high-quality screen. Viewing angles are brilliant, contrast is excellent and colours look vibrant and rich thanks to the IPS panel. All-round, this was one of the best screens when it was first launched a year ago and remains on the best now.

It’s the same screen as on the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S, but that’s no bad thing

Apple iPhone 5C review: Performance

As with the iPhone 5, the iPhone 5C is powered by a 1.3GHz ARM-based Apple A6 processor and 1GB of RAM. This dual-core chip is still pretty nifty, though updates to iOS are bound to have taken their toll. That said, running the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark suite, the iPhone 5C completed the test in 714ms, so web browsing is still speedy enough for all but the most web-hungry users. For comparison the iPhone 5S completed SunSpider in just 416ms.

We also ran the 3D Mark Ice Storm benchmark, and the iPhone 5C scored a respectable 6017. We’ve seen faster phones (the iPhone 5S maxes out this one and won’t give a score), but it’s safe to say that for the vast majority of the games in the App Store, the iPhone 5C is fast enough to run them.

Battery life was one of the strong points of the iPhone 5, and it remains so here. In our video playback test, we managed an impressive 11h 39m, which is practically identical to the result from our iPhone 5. Apple’s managed to squeeze an extra couple of hours’ battery life into the 5S, but the 5C still lasts an impressive amount of time.

One area that has been upgraded is the iPhone 5C’s 4G chip. With the iPhone 5, it was limited to the number of networks it could work on, but the 5C supports a lot more bands. Its LTE band support of 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 20 means that this model will work on 4G on any network in the UK, including the 2,600MHz band. However, the supported bands also mean that the UK model is compatible with the majority of European networks and a good number in Asia, which will be useful when 4G roaming deals come into play. However, it’s still not compatible with the vast majority of North American networks, with the 850MHz U.S. Cellular network the notable exception.

Apple iPhone 5C review: iOS changes

When it first launched, the iPhone 5C came with iOS 7 pre-installed and was just as good at running the OS as the iPhone 5 – as you’d expect given the identical hardware. It delivers silky smooth animations and responds quickly to your touch.

iOS 8 added a selection of new features, including interactive notifications – meaning you can reply to a text message without having to leave the app you currently have open. Spotlight search now looks for external sources as well as what’s on your phone, and a new Health app acts as a hub for any compatible fitness apps, wearables or third party exercise apps.

You can read our full iOS 8 review for all the details, but the biggest change is Continuity, which lets you work seamlessly between an iPhone, iPad and OS X desktop. This is great if you have other Apple devices, as you can start emails on the move then finish them off once you get back to your desk, or automatically share links between an iPad and your phone. Even better, you can answer calls and send text messages from a MacBook. iOS 8 works well on the handset and is a good choice.

Now of course you could update the phone to the latest iOS 9. We haven’t had a chance to test this yet but it may push the handset too far. It’s not radically different from iOS 8 though and the new OS is being rolled out to the iPhone 4S as well so this isn’t the bottom of the barrel as far as Apple is concerned.

Apple iPhone 5C review: Camera

The iPhone 5c has the same 8-megapixel iSight camera from the iPhone 5. It’s not a bad camera, taking detailed shots in bright lighting conditions, although we think that the exposure on the 5S is better and it’s shots have a little bit more detail in them.

Compared side-by-side, the shots from the iPhone 5S (top) and iPhone 5C (bottom) are very similar, but the iPhone 5S has more detail and better exposure

When you get closer, you can clearly see that the iPhone 5S (top) has shots with more detail than produced by the iPhone 5C (bottom)

In low-light, performance starts to suffer a bit, with noise creeping into the picture. Our test shots showed that detail started to be lost; the iPhone 5S with its larger sensor fares much better in low light. Panorama mode is still deeply impressive, as the iPhone 5C will stitch together multiple photos as you pan the camera.

Video is still pretty impressive on the iPhone 5C, with the ability to shoot Full HD video. Again, video in bright lighting conditions looks the best, with plenty of detail in each shot. In darker conditions, detail starts to get lost and noise creeps in.

Apple iPhone 5C review: Conclusion

There’s no doubting that the iPhone 5C is a decent smartphone. It’s well-built, feels tough and has a great screen even by modern standards. It’s also smaller than most modern handsets, which many will prefer. It’s internal specification is now three years old though, so don’t expect it to soldier on much further, as further iOS releases will inevitably pass it by.

That said it’s only one-step down from the iPhone 5S and a new one of those will cost you £379. So if you’re looking to save around £200 or simply can’t afford the extra, a refurbished iPhone 5C with a warranty from eBay is a good buy. Though we’d still recommend buying the iPhone 5S if you can, as it really is a big step up over this handset in terms of speed and feel.

Our iPhone 5C review model was kindly provided by Three which sells all the current iPhone models.