I take frequent glances out of my window at the densely populated, small but efficient city to gather my thoughts.
These two words "small and efficient" describe the country very well but it's a real shame that I can't use them again to describe my iPhone, whilst struggling to hit the right keys on the touch screen keyboard.
What Am I Doing In Hong Kong?
I arrived four days ago after leaving my home city of Manchester behind for a week. Two reasons for visiting Hong Kong -
1. My girlfriend's Chinese family ties
2. An old friend of mine moved here a year ago
I've been planning this trip for many months and expected to rely rather heavily on my smartphone to aid me on journey. Route planning, navigation, camera and video recording, as well as social media for keeping in touch.
Replacement Phone Needed
Therefore, when my Sony Xperia Z1 began failing on me a few months back I instantly decided to take action and hunted for a replacement phone to use whilst Sony decided whether they want to repair or replace my Z1.
The iPhone 5 was my first choice because I've been working in an mobile phone and electronics store at the time and got to play around with iOS devices a lot, particularly the iPhone. I've also been meaning to give Apple tech a try. I'm on a 4G data plan as well so a cheaper iPhone 4 or 4s was not an option.
Wrong!
What a terrible mistake it was. From the word go, I had issues. I didn't even realise it was possible for a mobile phone to have so many common faults. Even my Nokia 8850 still works fine to this day. However, I guess some may argue that because the iPhone has so much more advanced features than the Nokia, there's more parts of it likely to fail.
I don't agree, the new features should be supported by technology that's built to last. Not fail all the time. Otherwise what is the point? My Nokia 8850 does the main things that a mobile phone is built to do - make and receive calls, send and receive text messages. There's also the added bonus of playing basic games of that time such as Snake. None of those functions have failed yet and the phone is over 15 years old.
Compare that to mobiles of our current time - what are the basic functions of a smart phone? Make and receive calls, send and receive text messages, connect to the internet through WiFi and cellular data. So is it fair to say that if a phone of the current time consistently fails on the basic functions of the current time, it should be label a crap phone?
I'm currently on my fourth iPhone 5 from CEX. The first one had cellular data connectivity issues. Yes you heard me right. I couldn't connect to the internet without using WiFi.
The second iPhone 5 that CEX gave me had severe battery issues. One minute it's at 50% and then the next it'll have dropped to 20% battery.
Off I go again to CEX to get another replacement. So this third one seemed fine - no issues with the battery, 4G connects fine and everything seemed great. Third time lucky? I think not!!
The proximity sensor was faulty. This is the little sensor that detects your face when you talk on the phone and disables the touch screen by blacking it out.
The good people at CEX were helpful and apologetic and gave me a fourth replacement with a larger memory capacity of 32gb from my original 16gb. Guess what... this iPhone 5 has also started to develop problems.
Please bear in mind that although these iPhones are second hand, they have all been Grade A (the best condition) ones. CEX uses a grading system with Grade A being the best.
I could rant on forever about faults and annoying aspects of my iPhone 5 but for the purpose of this post i'll just focus on the three main issues that pisses me off the most.
This is the most common problem amongst iPhone 5 owners. It's all over the net and everyone complains about their battery life on their iPhone 5. I mean come on Apple WTF??!! Not everything however, is rubbish with this phone though. Like for instance the camera - it's great. Even though it's not as high in Megapixels as my girlfriend's Xperia Z2, it still takes some stunning photos. And the thing I like most is the way it snaps a photo as soon I hit the shutter button. Unlike the Z2, Z1 and other Android devices that takes a split second for the focus to adjust before snapping.
But i'd rather be able to last longer taking the photos though. As we've been out all day every day admiring the streets and views of Hong Kong my iPhone's battery dies guaranteed around 3pm everyday - and that's after a full night of charging to 100%. Sometimes depending on usage, i'm getting extremely low even before lunch time.
Absolute crap!
I'm also not hammering the phone at full capacity all the time either. I followed all instructions available online to conserve battery life such as closing apps, turning off back ground refresh and many more. I even have my screen brightness at around 25%.
2. iTunes
I mean come on this is 2015. Restrictions should be a thing of the past. Why can't I just plug my iPhone into my laptop and do what I want to do just like all other smartphones? Transfer my MP3 files, use it as a mass storage device etc. I can't even move my music from my iPhone to my laptop without arsing around with various apps.
As I have a Microsoft Surface RT that I brought with me on my travels, I don't think iTunes is even available on the Windows App Store.
3. Over Heating
This issue is worryingly annoying. We were walking around yesterday in a shopping mall and I noticed heat in my pocket. Yup sure enough, it was the same pocket that carried my iPhone 5. The back case of the phone was heating up so bad that I had to turn it off as I thought I was going to melt.
Then when I turned it back on later the battery life dropped to 20% all of a sudden!! WTF!!!
Music through headphones and internal speakers is also a winner for someone like me who enjoys loudness!
Not to mention the sheer number of gadgets and accessories that are available on the market for iPhones. Even in Hong Kong my girlfriend has been struggling to find a simply protector case for her Xperia Z2. But for the iPhone, there is an accessories stall on every street corner!
But the most important factor of a smartphone is where the iPhone 5 becomes a total let down - reliability.
We rely so much on our phones these days that they've become a necessity. I could leave my flat one morning forgetting to bring my wallet and I could still survive as long as I have my phone. My banking app will allow me to withdraw money using my phone.
It's not just a communications device anymore. It's an organiser, entertainment device, wallet, business tool and much more.
Unreliability is unforgiving and all I think of right now is getting my Sony back.
The iPhone 5 was my first choice because I've been working in an mobile phone and electronics store at the time and got to play around with iOS devices a lot, particularly the iPhone. I've also been meaning to give Apple tech a try. I'm on a 4G data plan as well so a cheaper iPhone 4 or 4s was not an option.
Fault Infested Second Hand iPhone 5
Bear in mind this was only supposed to be a phone that I would use until my Sony was fixed or replaced so I decided to hunt down a decent second hand iPhone 5. I decided to buy the phone from CEX. Main reasons being that I already had some store credit with them after trading in a few games and gadgets before; and they give 1 year warranty on their phones. Makes sense right? I'll get the iPhone 5, it'll be a great little phone because Apple made it and CEX will cover me for any faults and I will have a hassle free time.Wrong!
What a terrible mistake it was. From the word go, I had issues. I didn't even realise it was possible for a mobile phone to have so many common faults. Even my Nokia 8850 still works fine to this day. However, I guess some may argue that because the iPhone has so much more advanced features than the Nokia, there's more parts of it likely to fail.
I don't agree, the new features should be supported by technology that's built to last. Not fail all the time. Otherwise what is the point? My Nokia 8850 does the main things that a mobile phone is built to do - make and receive calls, send and receive text messages. There's also the added bonus of playing basic games of that time such as Snake. None of those functions have failed yet and the phone is over 15 years old.
Compare that to mobiles of our current time - what are the basic functions of a smart phone? Make and receive calls, send and receive text messages, connect to the internet through WiFi and cellular data. So is it fair to say that if a phone of the current time consistently fails on the basic functions of the current time, it should be label a crap phone?
I'm currently on my fourth iPhone 5 from CEX. The first one had cellular data connectivity issues. Yes you heard me right. I couldn't connect to the internet without using WiFi.
The second iPhone 5 that CEX gave me had severe battery issues. One minute it's at 50% and then the next it'll have dropped to 20% battery.
Off I go again to CEX to get another replacement. So this third one seemed fine - no issues with the battery, 4G connects fine and everything seemed great. Third time lucky? I think not!!
The proximity sensor was faulty. This is the little sensor that detects your face when you talk on the phone and disables the touch screen by blacking it out.
The good people at CEX were helpful and apologetic and gave me a fourth replacement with a larger memory capacity of 32gb from my original 16gb. Guess what... this iPhone 5 has also started to develop problems.
Please bear in mind that although these iPhones are second hand, they have all been Grade A (the best condition) ones. CEX uses a grading system with Grade A being the best.
I could rant on forever about faults and annoying aspects of my iPhone 5 but for the purpose of this post i'll just focus on the three main issues that pisses me off the most.
Three Main Issues With My iPhone 5
1. Poor BatteryThis is the most common problem amongst iPhone 5 owners. It's all over the net and everyone complains about their battery life on their iPhone 5. I mean come on Apple WTF??!! Not everything however, is rubbish with this phone though. Like for instance the camera - it's great. Even though it's not as high in Megapixels as my girlfriend's Xperia Z2, it still takes some stunning photos. And the thing I like most is the way it snaps a photo as soon I hit the shutter button. Unlike the Z2, Z1 and other Android devices that takes a split second for the focus to adjust before snapping.
But i'd rather be able to last longer taking the photos though. As we've been out all day every day admiring the streets and views of Hong Kong my iPhone's battery dies guaranteed around 3pm everyday - and that's after a full night of charging to 100%. Sometimes depending on usage, i'm getting extremely low even before lunch time.
Absolute crap!
I'm also not hammering the phone at full capacity all the time either. I followed all instructions available online to conserve battery life such as closing apps, turning off back ground refresh and many more. I even have my screen brightness at around 25%.
2. iTunes
I mean come on this is 2015. Restrictions should be a thing of the past. Why can't I just plug my iPhone into my laptop and do what I want to do just like all other smartphones? Transfer my MP3 files, use it as a mass storage device etc. I can't even move my music from my iPhone to my laptop without arsing around with various apps.
As I have a Microsoft Surface RT that I brought with me on my travels, I don't think iTunes is even available on the Windows App Store.
3. Over Heating
This issue is worryingly annoying. We were walking around yesterday in a shopping mall and I noticed heat in my pocket. Yup sure enough, it was the same pocket that carried my iPhone 5. The back case of the phone was heating up so bad that I had to turn it off as I thought I was going to melt.
Then when I turned it back on later the battery life dropped to 20% all of a sudden!! WTF!!!
Conclusion
Don't get me wrong, the iPhone 5 can be a great phone. I love the handset design and size. It's simplicity totally wins me over. I detest the ugly home buttons on Samsung's Galaxy series phones and much prefer Apple's design.Music through headphones and internal speakers is also a winner for someone like me who enjoys loudness!
Not to mention the sheer number of gadgets and accessories that are available on the market for iPhones. Even in Hong Kong my girlfriend has been struggling to find a simply protector case for her Xperia Z2. But for the iPhone, there is an accessories stall on every street corner!
But the most important factor of a smartphone is where the iPhone 5 becomes a total let down - reliability.
We rely so much on our phones these days that they've become a necessity. I could leave my flat one morning forgetting to bring my wallet and I could still survive as long as I have my phone. My banking app will allow me to withdraw money using my phone.
It's not just a communications device anymore. It's an organiser, entertainment device, wallet, business tool and much more.
Unreliability is unforgiving and all I think of right now is getting my Sony back.
