With the recently released iPhone 6 and 6+, along with the usual slew of mixed reviews that leaves everyone disconcerted, I thought it only befitting to divert everyone’s attention to a lesser-known, but no less powerful relative… the iPhone 5C.
And perhaps this article has come rather timely, as rumors to discontinue iPhone 5C have surfaced.
I’ve been using the 5C for close to a year now, and while I’m often swept away by the specs and public hoo-ha of the ‘better’ phones in the market, I can’t help but find myself returning to this modest gadget.
Call me biased, or perhaps it’s that astoundingly sleek polycarbonate (plastic) backing that has me bewitched, but in any case – this iPhone deserves more love and attention, especially in what could possibly be its last days.
Here are my reasons why.
1) It’s made of plastic…more specifically, Polycarbonate.
As Peter Cohen from iMore wrote, ‘Polycarbornate is plastic, yes. But all plastic is not polycarbonate.’
Profound statement. And if you’re spending more than a minute pondering over it, it just means that it’s not the cheap plastic that you wrap your school textbooks with or carry your NTUC barang home in. Think lab safety goggles, spectacle lenses, bullet-proof windows, greenhouse enclosures… Point is, it’s not as cheap as it feels or sounds.
In fact, polycarbonate is tough, durable, heat and shatter-resistant.
But every material has its downside. For this, it’s the low scratch resistance. But… no worries! Man of the Tech Millennium, Steve Jobs, has got that covered. The Iphone 5c has been lacquer-coated, making it more scratch-resistant.
I can personally vouch for all these qualities. I have butter fingers. Within a week, I drop my phone at least 2-3 times. There are scratches, but minimal, and unnoticeable from far. And do note, that I do not have a case for my phone… (which I will touch on in a bit), so imagine what perfection my phone would be WITH a case!
2) This phone is so unique, no one wants to make a case for it.
I see it as a good thing.
And it’s going to be even more one-of-a-kind once it’s off the shelves.
3) People judge you by your phone. That’s when you’ll want to be carrying a 5C.
It comes in an assortment of candy colours! I’m talking Green, Blue, Yellow, Pink, White. (New age) guys and girls all get their pick.
Perfect phone if you don’t want to come across as uninteresting, pedestrian or just downright boring. In fact, you’ll be seen as the complete opposite!
Bonus – It should be a 6C – an additional 6th C for Conversation starter. In fact, this actually happened to me once when I was studying in the library (#truestory).
Want a date? Get an iPhone 5C.
4) Or maybe a 7C – 7th C for Cheap.
According to the Apple website (Singapore):
iPhone 6 Plus: S$1148 (16 GB)
iPhone 6: S$988 (16 GB)
iPhone 5S: S$848 (16 GB)
iPhone 5C: S$588 (16 GB)
Of course the prices will differ (and definitely be lower) when you purchase from our local telcos.
To give you a gauge, the iPhone 6 Plus is S$808 with a Combo 2 Singtel Plan (2GB local data). That’s a 35% price difference. So can you just imagine how cheap the iPhone 5C will be?!
5) It’s made of plastic, but it ain’t no Barbie Doll.
iPhone 5C is my maiden iPhone, so I have absolutely no idea how it stacks up against the iPhone 5, 5S, 6, 6+ etc etc, . And to be honest, I’m not particularly bothered about that. (You can check out all the specs here if you are interested.)
Living in a nation where competition is the key to growth, it pays to have a publicly-understood ‘lower-ranked’ something in your life. My 5C grounds me – softens my earthly desires and hankering for what the world thinks is the best, and gives me insight to what it means by ‘less is more’.
Wow, what life lessons you can learn from having an iPhone 5C.
Conclusion
I can’t argue that the 5C is better than the 6+, 6, 5S, Samsung Galaxy and the rest of its mobile friends. I admit point-blank that specs wise, 5C is no winner.
But it works great. I handle my stuff like a caveman, and it’s still working as good as new.
But all that said, there’s something about 5C that makes it…special.
It’s not a phone that you get just because you know you can’t own the ‘better’ ones.
You purchase it fully knowing what you will not get with it; you buy it because it is, quite simply, enough.
It’s really a pity that this gem of an iPhone might be going into extinction mode, so please, Apple fans, give it the recognition it deserves…before it’s too late.
