Is a $150 iPhone Worth It? #Helpful Post

Bet you didn't see this one coming.

Hey, guys, this is Austin and this is the iPhone 5s.

Not exactly the most cutting-edge of devices,

however, this is now a hundred and 50 dollars.

While some people are paying six, seven,

$800 for their brand-new iPhones,

you take just a little step back,

you can save a ton of cash and the reason is,

this is on a prepaid carrier.

So, there are actually multiple ways to get this for $150

and the cool thing is, you still have no contract,

so you own the phone outright.

And, as someone who used the 5s for a little while,

this is a lot of phone for $150.

This design has held up really well.

So, sure, the 5s is a couple years old, at this point.

However, it's still all aluminum, it's all glass,

you've got the chamfered edges.

It's a little bit of a small phone,

but this absolutely still holds up.

And, of course,

the most important underrated feature of the iPhone 5s is,

it stands up, unlike, you know, every other phone ever.

The box should look really familiar.

So here, we have our Apple paperwork and stickers.

You're gonna get the power adapter itself

with a Lightning cable

and you get the non-courage edition of the EarPods.

This might only cost $150,

but you're getting the exact same experience

from when this cost over $600.

The cool part about having an iPhone that's this inexpensive

is it's actually even cheaper than an iPod Touch,

so this is a great first device to give to a kid

who maybe is not ready for a smartphone.

However, when they are, throw a SIM card in here

and you've got a fully working smartphone.

This is still very much a modern iPhone,

so you have the Lightning connector,

you have Bluetooth 4.0 so it will work

with all the latest accessories like the Apple Watch.

Really, the only downgrade is that it has a headphone jack,

and, of course, there's no way

anyone would ever want a headphone jack

that's so ancient and useless, right?

This design really has held up well.

Even though it's a few years old,

Apple just released a few months ago the iPhone SE

and, design-wise, it's almost impossible to tell them apart.

To put things in perspective, another phone you can get

for around $150 is the Moto G4.

Now, this is not a bad phone, at all.

However, when you put it side-by-side with the 5s,

while it's a bigger phone, sure,

the plastic build just cannot hold up

with the really nice metal and glass, here.

Something cool about the 5s is

that, even a couple years later,

it is still fully up-to-date on iOS 10.

And, knowing Apple's track record, I wouldn't be surprised

to see this get updates for at least another couple years,

not something you can say

about all other budget smartphones.

Probably the biggest downside

of using the 5s in 2016 is the display.

Now, it's not exactly a bad screen.

We've got a four inch display

with a resolution of 1136 by 640.

The issue is, it's just small.

That's not to say that apps don't work on the 5s,

but everything is just tiny.

So, the keyboard is, well, it takes some getting used to,

especially if you used any kind

of reasonable-sized smartphone over the last couple years,

and apps tend to have a little bit more of a compact view.

It's not a deal breaker

and some people might, in fact, like the smaller size,

but it is definitely gonna take some getting used to

if you are coming from a larger phone.

There are also cool features like Touch ID.

Now, while fingerprint sensors have become very common

on the higher end of smartphones,

on the budget side, they're pretty rare.

And, while this is the first generation of Touch ID,

honestly, it's really hard to distinguish the difference

between this and what you would find on the iPhone 7.

And that really is one of the advantages

of buying an older flagship.

So, something like the Moto G4,

which is built with with a budget in mind,

has to make some sacrifices on the performance side,

on the build quality side,

whereas something like this was built to be

as high-end of a phone as you could get.

Sure, it's a couple years old at this point,

but it's really hard to tell.

This is, this is (sighs),

it's hard to get over the idea

that this is a $150 smartphone.

I am curious about the performance story, though.

So, when the 5s came out, it was hands-down

one of the fastest phones you could buy.

So, with a couple years' advantage

and a few more cores to work with, how does the G4 stack up?

- Oh!

- It didn't even win in multi-threaded.

Okay, so, I think that just settles it, right there.

The Moto G4, it's not a bad phone, it's not a slow phone,

but the 5s, it's just in a different league.

Gaming-wise, the 5s is no slouch.

So, even with the newer titles, such as Asphalt Xtreme,

not only are we getting a nice smooth frame rate,

but this still actually looks pretty decent,

although my driving skills are not so decent.

One thing I'm really curious about is camera performance.

So, when the 5s came out, it had a great camera.

However, the last few years have seen smartphone cameras,

especially on the budget end, get so much better.

This is pretty close.

So, I think the Moto G has the big advantage in detail,

so those 13 megapixels actually do

make a noticeable difference.

And, I also think it did

a little bit of a better job with the exposure

and especially the white balance, I think, is

much more realistic on the Moto.

The iPhone shot is definitely warmer, but I do think

that there is a little bit more depth of field.

Maybe it's got a bigger sensor?

I'm not totally sure, but this is very nice-looking shot.

For $150, the iPhone 5s is absolutely worth it.

Compared to any other budget phone in this category,

you're getting better build quality, more performance,

a great camera; there's a lot to like here.

Considering that this is the cheapest way

to get your hands on a brand-new iOS device,

there's a lot that you can do with it.

Maybe it's a gift, maybe you're going to upgrade Grandma

to an actual smartphone,

or you just want to give iOS a shot.

So, what do you guys think about this thing?

Definitely be sure to let me know in the comments below

and I will catch you in the next one.