Apple iPhone 5S (32GB) (Gold, Silver, B/W and Space Gray)

The iPhone 5S fulfils the pre-determined destiny of all Apple "S" devices - it's the one that's normally met by the baying crowd as "meh". At the start of this review someone asked what we though of the iPhone 5S in two words and we replied "same as". But the more we've played with it, the more we've used it, and the more it's clear that Apple has made vast improvements here, even if we are yet to see the full realisation of those improvements.In many ways Apple has released a phone for tomorrow rather than today. That's a hard sell, but it's also the exciting part. The Touch ID scanner is yet to be fully realised, as are the A7 and M7 processors and the 64-bit support. But the potential for that power is huge - it's got more grunt than its near competitors and that makes it extra exciting.But we do still have a shopping list of wants: we would like a bigger and higher resolution screen, there is still no NFC (even though we believe iBeacons will destroy the need for that) and the software, despite looking cleaner, doesn't really move the 5S on too far from where the iPhone 5 was (indeed, plant iOS 7 on your iPhone 5 and it's a similar experience). iCloud still needs to be overhauled to be more fluid, while the social aspects of the phone such as helping you join the dots in your contacts book still need to be addressed and improved.If you want a phone that just works, then the iPhone 5S is a very good place to start. Apple has made it look effortless which is no simple task, and in doing so - by making it look almost too easy - you can sometimes miss the beauty and power in your hand. It's stunning to use, there's stacks of power, it's without gimmicks and a nod to the future. It's these simple elements that make the iPhone 5S, for us, one of the best phones on the market. There's a lot to admire about that.