I wonder when exactly smartphone brands started to compete over the materials used in their phones: if competitors use 7000 series aluminum, then I'll use stainless steel; if rivals opt for stainless steel, then I'll go for magnesium alloy or even titanium metal, and the back cover must feature ceramic glass or synthetic sapphire, always striving for the utmost luxury. As for plastic, this "cheap and abundant" material has long been stigmatized by extreme fans and online critics as a disgrace in the realm of smartphone materials.
But then again, does plastic really not deserve a place in high-end smartphones?
Of course it does.
In 2011, Nokia introduced the high-end N9 - featuring a full touchscreen interface without physical buttons and a design made of integrated polycarbonate material, it redefined the high-end value of "plastic" with its exceptional feel. Unfortunately, whether it was the N9, Lumia 800, 900, or subsequent Windows Phone models, they all faded away before polycarbonate could truly make its mark in the high-end market.
Fortunately, the N9 was not the only phone brand at that time daring to challenge the high-end market with polycarbonate. In 2013, Apple, for the first time in an iPhone launch event, unveiled two models of the same generation: one was the familiar iPhone 5s that pioneered the era of convenient fingerprint unlocking, while the other was the "high-end" iPhone 5c with a plastic shell.
Image Source: Lei Technology
Despite no hardware upgrades, the iPhone 5c, marked with a "clearance sale" implication, still maintains a high-end price of 4488 yuan, leading to the label of "low cost-performance ratio" since its release. Interestingly, while most consumers express dissatisfaction with the 5c's configuration, there is hardly any negative feedback on the polycarbonate shell of the iPhone 5c. Both the media and users have unanimously praised the feel of the 5c, believing that this feel lives up to the high-end positioning of the iPhone 5c.
So, what makes the plastic shell of the iPhone 5c special?
To answer this question, Lei rummaged through his belongings and found his beloved device from high school, arranging a nostalgic review for it. Let's take a look at this "high-end plastic device" from 10 years ago and see where its high-end features lie.
Software ecosystem has been sentenced to death
In fact, from a hardware perspective, the iPhone 5c is more of a shell-swapped version of the iPhone 5 than a "youth edition" of the iPhone 5s: the 5c and 5 share the same A6 processor, the same 32-bit architecture, the same 1GB LPDDR2 memory (compared to LPDDR3 in the 5s), an 8MP F2.4 camera (compared to 8MP F2.2 in the 5s), with the only difference being the change from the original aluminum sandwich structure to a polycarbonate wrap structure.
Image Source: Lei Technology
This brings us to the first issue in today's nostalgic review: Due to the A6 processor used in the iPhone 5c only supporting 32-bit applications, it can only go up to iOS 10.3.3 and cannot run the newer 12.5.7 update. Therefore, modern apps like WeChat (iOS 13), QQ (iOS 13), Weibo (iOS 11), and others' latest versions are no longer compatible with the iPhone 5c. Fortunately, the App Store provides a feature for automatically matching historical versions that are compatible with the current system version.
However, apps like WeChat and QQ perform server-side checks on the app version, prohibiting older app versions from connecting to the servers. Hence, using WeChat and QQ on the iPhone 5c is now an impossible task. Since WeChat and QQ cannot log in, we are unable to test games like Honor of Kings on the phone. Luckily, Weibo (11.3.3) and Alipay (10.2.15) can still be logged into, preserving some dignity for the iPhone 5c.
Image Source: Lei Technology
To visually demonstrate the performance of the iPhone 5c, Xiao Lei also downloaded the "latest" version of AnTuTu (8.4.4) that can run on the current iOS version. Due to the A6 chip not supporting newer graphics protocols like Metal OpenGL ES 3.1, the GPU score was zero, resulting in an overall score of 53,113 points, barely comparable to the "leftovers" of the iPhone 15 Pro Max benchmark.
Image Source: Lei Technology
A Vintage Camera with a Twist
Unlike its lackluster software support and weak performance, the camera of the iPhone 5c doesn't perform as poorly as one might expect in ample sunlight: Due to limitations in the optical quality of the lens, photos taken with the 5c camera exhibit significant distortion and loss of image quality at the edges, but still maintain decent sharpness in the center and surrounding areas. However, constrained by the HDR algorithm at the time, there are often synthetic color failures in the highlights of the image.
Image Source: Lei Technology
Additionally, at that time, the iPhone's sharpening in post-processing was relatively restrained. Despite the lack of resolution, the overall performance was still pleasing to the eye.
Image Source: Lei Technology
In addition to the camera functioning properly, most of the iCloud services provided by Apple can also be used normally on the iPhone 5c. For example, recently, Lei has been particularly fond of using the 5c to listen to music - this phone not only supports Apple Music but also features the highly advanced 3.5mm headphone jack.
Image Source: Lei Technology
Although this structure uses analog signals, when you turn the plug, you can hear the sound of electricity in the headphones. Considering that Android phones from the same period are now basically only used for "playing around," this "nostalgic ornament" not only provides emotional value but also has some practical value. Just from this perspective alone, the 5c has already won completely.
The high-end journey of plastic casing
Of course, for consumers at that time, factors like "performance" and "hardware performance" would definitely not be the reasons for choosing to buy the iPhone 5c. What really attracted us to spend the budget for two flagship Android phones on a "shell replacement" phone was the design and feel of the 5c.
Although Apple's choice of polycarbonate material as the body material was seen as a cost control measure at the time, Apple still brought an extraordinary feel to the 5c with high-end craftsmanship:
Image Source: Ray Technology
To achieve vibrant and uniform color effects, Apple subjected the back cover of the iPhone 5C to multiple coloring processes, making the colors appear more vivid and long-lasting. Additionally, a special glossy coating was applied to these colorful back covers, giving the phone not only a ceramic-like sheen but also enhancing the comfort of touch, providing the polycarbonate back cover with a "glazed" feel.
Image Source: Lei Technology
From the design details, it is easy to see that at that time, Apple was very willing to cater to market trends and user needs in product design. In a market environment where new phones are released every year but with little change in appearance, the color and material choices of the iPhone 5c undoubtedly provided consumers with new options. This design strategy successfully attracted a group of young users who pursue fashion and personalization at that time, making the iPhone 5c their entry point into the "Apple ecosystem."
A nostalgic and diverse mobile phone market
However, returning to the present, the design of the iPhone seems to have reached a certain degree of stagnation. In recent years, although Apple's phones have continued to advance in technology, such as improvements in screen, camera, and processor performance, the changes in shell design have been extremely limited. The new generation of iPhones looks very similar in appearance to the previous generations, and the color choices have become more conservative. While this strategy may be aimed at maintaining brand image stability and optimizing production efficiency, it has made the excitement of each new phone release much less than before.
The design concept of the iPhone 5c contrasts sharply with today's iPhone. It is not just a simple choice of a product but also an expression of culture and emotion. The current iPhone has not only lost the power to directly touch users' emotions but is even unwilling to "meticulously polish" product details.
Image Source: Ray Technology
Just as the iPhone 5c once attracted young users entering the Apple ecosystem for the first time, today's smartphone brands also need to consider how to meet consumers' pursuit of aesthetics and personalization through innovative design. Perhaps in the future, we may see more brands daring to break conventions: not only making breakthroughs in performance but also seeking differentiation in design, allowing each product to become a symbol of culture.
The colorful back cover of the iPhone 5c represents not only the art of color management and the possibilities of plastic materials but also a challenge to market homogeneity in design thinking. In today's increasingly globalized and digitized world, giving products unique cultural attributes and emotional value may be a new way to connect with global consumers. And this design philosophy is an indispensable part of future innovation.
