One Report Claims Apple's iPhone 5s Features Inferior Touch Displays
by Joe White
October 26, 2013
In a new report, the Finland-based OptoFidelity claims that Apple's iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c both feature touch displays which are inferior to that of Samsung's Galaxy S3. However, the report is not without a degree of controversy.
OptoFidelity's argument, then, is that both of Apple's new handsets feature inaccurate touch displays. This conclusion has been drawn after a few rounds of testing the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c using the OptoFidelity Touch Panel Performance Tester, "which compares the coordinates of touches by a robot with an artificial finger to coordinates from a touch device," MacRumors explains.
The website continues:
The test assigned a PASS/FAIL score when the actual touch position registered greater than ±1 mm off from the reported coordinates from the artificial finger, marking passes with green dots and fails with red dots. According to the test, both of Apple's iPhones demonstrated "extremely bad" performance near the edges and the top of the screen.This "extremely bad" performance is exhibited in the below image, which compares Apple's iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c against Samsung's Galaxy S3. However, there is a flaw in OptoFidelity's investigation. As MacRumors goes on to explain, the research fails to recognize that Apple's iDevices and its iOS are designed to be "touched" at different angles, in order to cater towards users who hold their iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in different ways. As such, given that the machine testing adopted by OptoFidelity simulates a finger recurrently approaching the iPhone from the same angle, it could be that "the discrepancies between screen accuracy between the iPhone 5s/5c and the Galaxy S3 may be intentional on Apple's part, in order to provide a better experience for users that are not holding their phones in static positions." On the other hand, OptoFidelity found Apple's iPhones to score points for touch latency and Web browser opening times. The iPhone 5s came in first place, followed by the iPhone 5c, and then the Galaxy S3. Below, we've included a video of the aforementioned OptoFidelity Touch Panel Performance Tester. Though Apple's iPhone 5s failed to take the No. 1 position in Consumer Reports' smartphone ratings, J.D. Power's smartphone satisfaction rankings once again declared Apple to be top dog (an accolade shared with Samsung), and recent benchmark tests have shown the iPhone 5s to perform well. The iPhone 5s did initially suffer from inaccurate location sensors, but this problem appears to have been fixed in iOS 7.0.3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_sxn1hZu78
If you can't see the above video, please click this link.
See also: Can You Access Apple's iCloud Keychain In Your Country?, U.S. Cellular To Offer iPad Air From Nov. 8, Regional Carriers To Follow, and Screens VNC Client Updated With Hot Corners Support And Other Improvements.
