Apple delivered a one-two punch with this year's iPhone announcement. The iPhone 5S is now king of the castle, but the iPhone 5C is replacing last year's iPhone 5 as the new 2nd tier device. So is it a worthy replacement?

Beautifully engineered; Elegant UI; Improved 4G support

Taking the iPhone 5c in context, that last entry in the "Cons" section above is a sticking point. During the Apple announcement heralding the new iPhones' arrival, we called the 5c an " iPhone 5 in a new casing ," and besides the minor exceptions noted above, that's proven fairly accurate.

Plastic casing won't age well; Screen size limits utility; Small embedded battery; nonexpandable storage; Insufficient innovation to justify new model name

Plastic casing won't age well; Screen size limits utility; Small embedded battery; nonexpandable storage; Insufficient innovation to justify new model name

The Apple iPhone 5C is a great device, with a decent spec, great build quality and a stigma of being the cheaper and inferior product. Which is true but also slightly unjust, the iPhone 5C is a totally different product.

Lightweight and compact; Nice mature OS with nice optimised apps; Fast feel throughout the entire OS; Great camera; Great sound quality

Battery life; Casing quite slippy; iOS 7 still lacks in certain areas

Apple's colourful iPhone 5c represents a new direction in strategy for the company's iPhone line and it's all about marketing. Where the arrival of a new iPhone previously resulted in selling last year's model at a lower price, the iPhone 5c is 2013's iPhone 5 .

Bright new colour variants; Good build quality; Upgraded front-facing camera

Glossy finish can be slippery to hold; No real new or notable features; Battery life could be better

The iPhone 5c is that "other" iPhone that launched on September 20, alongside the flagship iPhone 5s . While the higher end 5s might've garnered more attention among the press, the iPhone 5c may end up being the higher volume seller. Why? It's $99 on contract vs. $199 for the 5s in 16 gig capacity.

Attractive; excellent build quality; sharp and colorful display and all the comforts of iOS 7

A 4" display in 2013 seems so old fashioned; Last year's specs won't ignite as much enthusiasm, nor will it be as future proof as the iPhone 5s

Some people will look at the iPhone 5c and just see an iPhone 5 with a colorful plastic case and a price drop. It's not a device that's going to wow your friends like the iPhone 5s, with its fingerprint scanner and a new camera.

Solid construction; Plastic will weather most of your "uh oh" moments; Higher capacity battery; Better LTE support; Updated front-facing camera for better duck-face selfies

Year-old technology; For 0 more, the iPhone 5s brings the magic; Back of the phone feels a little too slick; Your favorite iPhone 5 case will not fit

The Apple iPhone 5 is gone for good, abandoned and replaced by the fresh iPhone 5c. Initial rumors erroneously suggested that the lowercase letter stands for cheap, but it turned out that the Cupertino-based giant had color on its mind instead.

Apple took the wind out of a lot of sails when it unveiled the iPhone 5c earlier this month. It's not that the device itself was disappointing - quite the contrary, in fact. Apple's new iPhone 5c is exactly what we were expecting it to be after months of rumors and leaked parts.

The Good Good "hand feel" - Tried and true iPhone 5 hardware - Slightly boosted battery over predecessor The Bad No significant improvements over iPhone 5 - $199 32GB version? Get the iPhone 5s instead For the last several years, with the introduction of a new iPhone, the replaced model or models...

Good "hand feel" - Tried and true iPhone 5 hardware - Slightly boosted battery over predecessor

No significant improvements over iPhone 5 - $199 32GB version? Get the iPhone 5s instead

Solid hardware, but the colourful iPhone 5c is still too expensive to be a low-cost option