Upgrading from 16GB 4S, should I go for 32GB 5S or 16GB 6?

By ftealucard, 2 April, 2015

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hello all
As the subject says, I will soon be upgrading from a 16GB 4S and both the 32GB 5S and 16GB 6 are the same price. Here is what I will be using the phone for mostly. Primarily KNFB reader, playing audio games, streaming audio/video as well as recording audio/video. I am thinking the 5S should probably be my choice because of the added space, smaller size and from what I have heard KNFB reader works quite well since I assume that's what it was mostly tested with before release.
I've gotten to see the 6 and I think it's pretty large but not that bad I suppose. The only thing that would change my mind is if the 6 has a huge increase in battery life over the 5S with brightness set to 0, screen curtain on, Bluetooth off and WiFi on.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

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Comments

By charles on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 23:14

Either phone will meet your needs. But, if you can afford it, the more storage space you can get, the better. I recently got a 128 gig iPhone 6.

By Michael Hansen on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 23:14

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Unless you're finding that 16GB of storage isn't enough for you right now, or you really want to expand your use of the device for storage-intensive stuff, I'd go for the iPhone 6.

Right now, the iPhone 5S is over 1.5 years old. Looking ahead to iOS 9 and beyond, the technology in the iPhone 6 is newer and, by extension, it should run iOS 9 faster than the iPhone 5S will.

In regards to battery life, the iPhone 6 is also said to have a bigger battery than the iPhone 5S.

In the end, it comes down to what you value most. If 16GB will work for you, I'd get the 6...it would just be a better long-term investment. If you really want more storage on a budget, then the 5S seems like the choice.

By Chris on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 23:14

Hi.

I would go for the iPhone 6. This will avoid falling into the planned obsolescence trap. THe 5s is still a good phone, but from what I can tell, iOS devices are only good for the first 3 major iOS versions they run. By the final or fourth version, these devices become too taxed and performance degrades. I don't know if this is intentional or not, but regardless I would get the 6. I still have the 5s, but may upgrade to the 6s when it comes out later this year. It's up to you.

By Travis Roth on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 23:14

As others have stated going with the newest hardware is the best idea for getting the most longevity of the device. I would suggest gettyour iPhone upgrade cycles to as closely align with Apple's release cycle as you can. This is an imperfect science because they don't announce the dates and availability can sometimes be a problem, but in general my goal is to upgrade to the newest available phone within 2-3 months of its release when I have determined I need a new phone. (I usually skip one-two phone generations.) What I am saying is right now, April, is not really an ideal time to be upgrading since its over halfway to the typical release of the next model. So unless your phone is dead and can't hold out until September/October, my recommendation is to hold out for iPhone Next.

By ftealucard on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 23:14

Hello all
Thanks for your feedback. I am definitely on a budget since I also have 3 others on my plan and they have the 16GB 5S. I have tons of old e-mail from the last 10 years that I am slowly going through on both phone and computer thus why I have 2GB of space left on my current 16GB 4S. I also have most of the choice of games text games plus unfortunately word, powerpoint and excel take up close to half a gig as well. So I think the 5S will be my choice since I will be able to fit all of my current apps/data as well as start to record youtube videos with out worrying about space. On my current plan, I could upgrade in a year if I choose. Size is also a factor, the smaller the better for me. That is why I am hoping the rumored iPhone 6S mini will be released.
To the commenter talking about running later versions of IOS, maybe the 5S will not be that bad down the road. The processor isn't that bad 1.3 dual core and the 1GB of ram should keep things running at a decent clip, let us hope anyway. I do agree with you that apple may be perhaps intentionally staggering performance of IOS on older phones. That is unfortunate because you'd think they would want as much of a leg up over android as possible and that should include somewhat optimizing IOS running on older phones. I also think that apple should've removed the 16GB models all together last year and used the 32GB as an advertisement to beat competitors. An iPhone user could get a 32GB phone for a 16GB price. Definitely would've perhaps converted over more android users.
Anyway enough of my ranting, thanks again everyone.

By Chris on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 23:14

Hi.

The 5s is still a good phone and will continue to be for another year or so. As for the processor, it may last longer since it is 64 bit. We will have to see though. It wouldn't surprise me if Apple is purposely slowing down older devices. Afterall, it's all about marketing and money, money, money!

So yeah, we will wait and see what happens with these new 64 bit devices. All I know is that these devices are the future, and the 32 bit devices should quietly go. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that is what I'm starting to think now that we have Alex and touch ID.

I'm curious though. Is the great legendary iPhone 6 really that much better than the 5s? I mean from what I can tell, it has a slightly higher clock speed of 1.4 ghz and still has a duel core processor.

By ftealucard on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 23:14

Hello again all
Regarding the 5S, I am excited to use the alex voice. Has anyone done testing regarding alex, compact voice Samantha and battery life? Does alex decrease it while in use? I assume it might since it is probably using some processing power more than Samantha would?
Thanks

By Justin on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 23:14

Hi.
I haven't noticed any significant battery drain on my 5S running alex. One thing that will improve your battery life significantly is getting a battery case for your phone. I recommend the Lenmar Meridian, found on amazon for like $50 or something like that. It works wonderfully, and I can tell how much battery is in the case based on the led on the power button. It changes from green, to blue to red based on the charge level. green is good to go, blue is still good, red and blinking means charge me now!! I think that it is essential to have one of these gems since I will use GPS or play processor intensive games on occasion..
But back to your topic, alex doesn't seem to be a significant power drain on my phone at all. The voice works great!