SAN FRANCISCO — With each passing iPhone launch, Apple seems to face growing criticism from consumers who have been pampered by a constant stream of new smartphones, each trying to squeeze in more features. High consumer expectations are somewhat valid — Apple launches just one new phone (well, now two) annually to cater to the whole market while manufacturers like Samsung churn out several a year to cover every segment of the market. Thanks to our smartphones going obsolete faster than ever, there’s plenty of demand for new devices. It’s easy for Apple to disappoint consumers as they aim for well-crafted packages offering a tightly-controlled experience, while eschewing the gimmicks. They might be the old guard of modern smartphones, but it’s still proving to be a Herculean challenge for competitors like Microsoft (with its recent acquisition of Nokia) and Samsung to beat Apple. WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT Let’s get the most obvious complaints on the iPhone 5s out of the way first: It hardly looks any different from the previous model (save for a new “gold” option), the screen is not any bigger, the battery life will not beat the hardy Nokia 3230 you owned a decade ago that could last for days without a recharge, you can’t use it to pay for your bus and MRT fares with just a tap, and it won’t emit laser beams to help heat up your kaya toast for breakfast. So what’s new that should matter to you? A fingerprint sensor, the first 64-bit processor in a smartphone, and a handful of new features for its camera. What’s impressed me most so far is the new fingerprint sensor, which Apple calls “Touch ID”. Fingerprint technology has been around for awhile and is utilised mostly in laptops but, in classic Apple fashion, the iPhone 5s manages to pull it off in a fast and seamless manner without making the process too complex for the user. Once you’ve registered your fingerprints, you can simply place your finger on the “Home” button and, in about a second, you can unlock your phone or buy apps or songs on the iTunes store. If you’re concerned about privacy, Apple claims it does not upload the data on your fingerprints. All the data is safely secured on a chip on the device itself and does not leave the smartphone. And no third-party apps have access to the data (yet). It’s not sexy technology that you can use to impress your date with but, once you get used to it, typing passwords or swiping a pattern on a touchscreen to unlock your phone seems clunky. It was such a natural thing to do that I kept trying to unlock my other smartphones with the same finger gesture. I would like to see the technology applied in more scenarios: It would certainly make payment for online purchases or banking much more convenient without the need for any numbered codes sent by SMS or generated by token devices. CAMERA POWERHOUSE Despite having a bigger image sensor, the iPhone 5s’ main camera retains the 8-megapixel resolution from its predecessor — this seems a little underwhelming if you compare it with the Samsung S4’s 13-megapixel camera or the whopping 41-megapixel (that’s not a typo) camera on the Nokia Lumia 1020. But, in reality, the camera performed admirably. I wrote this review while on holiday in Europe and the 5s pretty much replaced my dedicated point-and-shoot compact camera. Photos had good colour reproduction and the camera’s performance has improved substantially: Focusing is snappier and there was no lag when capturing photos, thanks to the phone’s much faster processor. I took a photo of a lake at night with some lights in the distance and, while it won’t beat a DSLR, the camera surprised me with its low-noise image. If you do need to rely on the flash, it has been improved as well to allow for more natural colour reproduction. What wowed me was the camera’s new ability to take smooth slow-motion videos at a decent high-definition resolution of 720p. Whether it’s just water gushing out of a fountain, or scaring pigeons away so they would take flight, this feature can make almost anything look instantly cinematic. Another bonus: You can also take (lower resolution) photos while you’re capturing video. A new burst mode lets you take 10 images per second by pressing down on the shutter button. I managed to take 999 photos in one go with nary a performance hit. It’s nifty for action shots or if you’d like to create the next animated gif that could go viral on the Internet. The camera’s better performance and image quality can also be attributed to a souped-up image processing engine. While you’re taking a panoramic photo, for example, the phone’s software calibrates and measures the exposure on-the-fly, so that it’s consistent throughout the resulting image. The result? No more dark or bright spots that plague such panoramic photos. PERFORMANCE PACKAGE The iPhone 5s is the first smartphone to include a 64-bit processor — dubbed the A7 — but what does that actually mean for you? In raw processing power, it’s twice as fast as the chip in the iPhone 5. Your apps will run faster but developers will have to tweak and update their apps to take full advantage of the chip’s resources. Naysayers might say you might not need the increased performance of the new processor — and they might be right. Unless it’s a graphics-intensive game or number-crunching app that needs serious horsepower, most apps will run just fine on the iPhone 5 and 5c with its A6 processor. The introduction of a 64-bit “desktop-class” processor in the mobile space is a watershed moment — mobile computers are closing the gap with their desktop brethren. You can already edit high-definition movies, render objects for 3D printing and play console quality games on an iPhone or iPad. These processor-intensive tasks will receive a speed boost with 64-bit processors. A new dedicated motion processor built into the device is sophisticated enough to know when you’re walking, running, or even driving. Apple’s Maps app, for example, can switch its turn-by-turn navigation from driving to walking directions if, you park and continue on foot. There aren’t many apps yet that support this new motion processor but it will only be a matter of time until developers cash in on it with new commuting or health and fitness apps. SHOULD YOU BUY IT? The lack of a radically new form factor kind of belies the newness of the iPhone 5s. Oh, there’s a metallic ring around the “Home” button that doubles up as a fingerprint sensor but, apart from that, it does not depart much from its predecessor despite all the improvements under-the-hood. It now comes in three finishes: Gold, silver and “space gray”. I was handed the gold version for this review and found the finishing subtle instead of being overly garish. Say what you will about this gold version but as the newest addition and the most premium-looking one of the bunch, I’m guessing it will be a very popular model. With the introduction of the 5c, the iPhone 5s is the high-end model in Apple’s two distinct lines of smartphones. Sooner or later, the snazzy new features on the 5s will be brought to all of Apple’s smartphones but if you want them now, you will have to pay a premium. Without a subscription plan, the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models cost S$988, S$1,148 and S$1,288, respectively. As always, Apple provides a finely-crafted and controlled experience when it comes to its smartphone platform — which makes for an easy-to-use experience. The company also includes free apps now that let you crunch spreadsheets, do word processing, create presentations and edit photos and movies. If you prefer a myriad number of customisation options, a less-controlled experience and much larger screens, you might be better off placing your bets in the strong Android camp.