News & Reviews:   Apple iPhone 5S

After the various midnight launches last night, the Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are now officially available in Malaysia. Yesterday we did manage to handle both the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus and both feel as slim and premium as the previous iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The major difference here is that only the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have gold and rose gold colour options, the other smartphones, including the iPhone 5s only come in silver and space grey. Pricing remains the same despite the ringgit stabilizing somewhat at RM4.18 against 1 USD. This probably means we'll have to see a drop back to the previous RM3.5 or RM3.3 levels for Apple to reduce the pricing further. Regardless, you can get the latest and most expensive Apple iPhone now from the Apple Store Malaysia or check out our phone comparison tool for a plan which might suit your needs or budget.

Celcom's midnight grand launch for the Apple iPhone 6s and Apple iPhone 6s Plus has gone off with a bang with the first 6 to line up for the launch allowed to buy their smartphone of choice at just RM6.50. Featuring the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 5s, subscribers can get the smartphones by signing with FIRST by Celcom plans with the iPhone 6s from RM1058 and the iPhone 6s Plus from RM1478. In addition to the existing Internet and Celcom Wifi data, Celcom will also be offering 12GB of complimentary data at 1GB per month for the next 12 months. Subscribers can also trade-in their current Apple iPhones for discounts of up to RM1900. Currently, the Apple iPhone 6s with 16GB storage is going for RM3199, making this a fairly good deal, especially if you like Celcom's faster network. The official sale began at 12am on 16 October 2015 with special delivery by celebrities such as Ella, but those who want their new iPhone on a FIRST by Celcom plan should go check out the Blue Cube@Sunway Pyramid, Blue Cube Publika, Celcom Centre Taman Molek, Johor Bahru and Blue Cube Elit Avenue Bayan Baru, Penang or go online at www.bluecube.com.my. For more details check out the pics and table below or go to the Celcom site.

Celcom have announced that they will be offering the Apple iPhone 6s from RM1058 and the Apple iPhone 6s Plus from RM1478 on FIRST by Celcom plans for Malaysian subscribers. In addition to the existing Internet and Celcom Wifi data, Celcom will also be offering 12GB of complimentary data at 1GB per month for the next 12 months. That's not all, as customers can also trade-in their current devices for discounts of up to RM1900. Considering that even the iPhone 6s with 16GB storage is going for RM3199, this is a fairly good deal. The official sale will begin tonight at 12am on 16 October 2015, but those who want their new iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus or an iPhone 5s on a FIRST by Celcom plan should go check out the Blue Cube@Sunway Pyramid, Blue Cube Publika, Celcom Centre Taman Molek, Johor Bahru and Blue Cube Elit Avenue Bayan Baru, Penang starting from the same date. Here's what Celcom have to say about it but for more information check out the Celcom site.

“Celcom offers the fastest and widest-reaching 4G LTE network in all of Malaysia. Customers will love using their new iPhones on our network, enabling a great experience that will enhance their mobile needs.” Zalman Aefendy Zainal Abidin, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer, Celcom Axiata Berhad

The nearly bezel-free Huawei Ascend Mate 7 smartphone is the latest flagship smartphone from Huawei and it has just reached Malaysian shores. Thanks to Huawei Malaysia we were able to get some hands-on time with it. At first glance, it seems like the Ascend Mate7 has nearly no bezels for an edge-to-edge touchscreen experience with it's 6-inch full HD 1080p display. Unlike the previous flat and thin Ascend P7, the back feels more rounded, providing a more comfortable grip. Trying out the single-touch fingerprint sensor on the back, we found it to work fairly well, about as fast as the single-touch Touch ID fingerprint scanner on the Apple iPhone 5S and upwards. The overall look for the Ascend Mate7 is very premium with most of the body made up of a shiny aluminum alloy. Huawei Malaysia expect the standard 2GB RAM with 16GB storage version to arrive on 14 November 2014 for RM1799 but do check out our first look photos in this article.

Maxis are now offering the Sony Xperia Z3 with a trade-in offer up to RM950. Certain smartphones like the Apple iPhone 5S or Samsung Galaxy S5 will get this rebate but even if you bring in a no-name phone it will still get a trade-in value of RM200 (as long as it is still working). Granted, you will have to sign up for a Maxis One plan for 24 months but you'll be able to get the Xperia Z3 from RM1499 which is quite a drop from the retail value of RM2399. Check out the details in the table in this article.

Barely a few days after OPPO is supposedly working on a 4mm thin smartphone and rumours have come up that Vivo could be working on a 3.8mm thin smartphone too. This comes from two teaser images of what appears to be a metal-frame Vivo smartphone, which is then compared against an Apple iPhone 5 or iPhone 5S both of which measure 7.6mm thin. There is no news on what sort of tech specs or features such a thin device could pack, but it should be technically possible. Also no news about a Malaysia release date or pricing but with Vivo officially available in Malaysia it could just be a matter of time. As always, do take such rumours with a pinch of salt, but we can't help but ask; when is a thin smartphone too thin?

The folks at TechRax did a drop test for all of the Apple iPhone smartphones. This included a side drop and front facing drop for each iPhone onto a hard driveway, revealing that while most of the iPhones can take a beating from the side, nearly all of them smashed from the front. Granted, the front of the Apple iPhone 3G did not shatter but this was mainly due to luck as it dropped on the side first. While it doesn't seem to show any difference from beginning to end, it does show that if you're going to get any Apple iPhone, the first thing you should do is get a shock-proof casing around it quick because an accidental front drop will probably result in a shattered screen. Check it out for yourself in this article.

Right on time, Huawei Malaysia have launched their Huawei Honor 6 smartphone in Malaysia for RM999. Featuring Huawei's own octa-core Hi-Silicon Kirin 920 processor and other high-end tech specs like 3GB of RAM, a 5-inch full HD 1080p resolution display, 4G LTE Cat6, a 13MP rear camera with Sony IMX214 sensor and an aluminum metal casing, it should be available on 17 October 2014 at VMALL.my and Lelong.com. For now, you can still prebook it from 29 Spetember 2014 to 14 October 2014. We managed to get a little hands-on time with it and it certainly looks and feels a lot more premium than the price tag would suggest.

Another day, another revelation about the larger and thin Apple iPhone 6 Plus. Apparently, the iPhone 6 Plus has been bending simply from being in someone's front pants pocket. This initially came from several posts in the MacRumours forums with quite a few users showing images of their bent iPhone 6 Plus. The folks at Unbox Therapy took it a step further showing that you can actually permanently bend your iPhone 6 Plus with just your bare hands. While we don't think anyone will intentionally try to bend their iPhone 6 Plus smartphone it certainly means that you should not put this thin phablet in your pocket without some form of casing to protect it.

The Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have already arrived in the US and other select markets. While there are no Malaysia release dates or pricing details yet, many are expecting the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to reach us in November 2014, so we still have time to decide which Apple iPhone to get. Following the iPhone lineup in the US, we estimate that for Malaysia there will be the Apple iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. For this comparison we'll see which Apple iPhone you should get as we compare the Apple iPhone 6 vs the Apple iPhone 6 Plus vs the Apple iPhone 5S vs the Apple iPhone 5C. Check out our detailed analysis in this article.