MSN Tech | David Phelan

This is the most distinctive-looking iPhone yet and its glossy, smooth finish and eye-poppingly bright colours are spectacular.

phoneArena | John V

Quite simply, the iPhone 5c makes plastic phones look cool, since it's compact, has a solid construction, and it's available in a palette of colors.

TechCrunch | Darrell Etherington

...if you're in the market for a new smartphone, Apple's iPhone 5c should be right near the top of your list.

NotebookCheck | Florian Wimmer

Still, why should one buy this phone instead of an only slightly pricier iPhone 5s with an aluminum body and better performance? Next to a slight discount (which can feel like up to 50% with carrier subsidies in some countries), the main difference lies in the availability of various color choices

Mobile Syrup | Daniel Bader

If you're a parent buying a teen his or her first smartphone, I wouldn't be surprised to see the iPhone 5c at the top of the begging list, supplanting the iPod touch and right next to the Galaxy S4 mini. Apple's support ecosystem, with its Geniuses and AppleCare+, is still the best in the industry, and coupled with a stronger chassis, the iPhone 5c a compelling smartphone.

The Verge | Nilay Patel

You might have some issues with this first iteration of iOS 7, and you might wish you'd bought a different color in a few months, but everything else about the 5C succeeds in bringing Apple's message of care and quality to a new segment of the market.

pocketnow | Michael Fisher

If you're in the market for a less-expensive iOS handheld and you don't care whether it knows your fingerprint, should you consider the iPhone 5c? Absolutely. It offers a solid set of hardware features mated to some of the smartest, most reliable software we've ever used – all that, taken together, makes the iPhone 5c a pretty big win in our book.

Coolsmartphone | James Pearce

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. I think the issue will possibly be that people will just spend a little bit more money on their new iPhone and get the 5S instead and getting an improved camera and improved processors.

Australian PC World | Ross Catanzariti

Apple's new iPhone 5c isn't for everyone and doesn't really offer anything new aside from iOS 7. However, it remains a worthy upgrade for anyone with an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, or more importantly for Apple, anyone currently without an iPhone.

Macworld | Philip Michaels

The iPhone 5c offers enough new features at an attractive enough price to make it an affordable upgrade to anyone who still owns a iPhone 4 or 4s.

VentureBeat | John Koetsier

5S is a supermodel who will pierce your heart with her beauty and slice you in pieces with her sharp edges; 5C is the girl next door who will be true blue (or pink, or yellow) and fits into a McDonald's billfold, not just a Wolfgang Puck budget.

Expert Reviews | Andrew Unsworth

There's no doubting that the iPhone 5C is a decent smartphone. It's well-built, feels tough and has a great screen even by modern standards. It's also smaller than most modern handsets, which many will prefer.

TechRadar | John McCann

While it's still an iPhone, it's not much more than 2012's device shoved in a plastic case - although iOS 8 really helps the cause.

Trusted Reviews | Andrew Williams

The iPhone 5C is an interesting phone, but mostly because of the way it alters Apple's product strategy rather than because of anything the phone itself does. Aside from an improved front camera and the new plastic design, the iPhone 5C is similar to the iPhone 5. Very similar.

TechnoBuffalo | Brandon Russell

There's no denying the 5c is behind many top Android devices, but looking at it so narrowly completely ignores the fact that Apple has created a very wonderful experience. It offers many different colors to match a person's bright and bubbly personality, sturdy construction and one of the best examples of hardware/software synthesis out there.

Digital Versus | Florence Legrand

The Apple iPhone 5c is a good smartphone. It has a pleasant design that's nice to use and handle, an excellent screen and good general performances. However, it's hard to recommend this repainted iPhone 5 over the higher-end iPhone 5s which, although it has the same general design as the iPhone 5, has a more powerful set of specs and "only" sells for a bit more.

SlashGear | Vincent Nguyen

The power users should look to the iPhone 5s, but for the mass market, the iPhone 5c will open doors that only a colorful, playful device can.

Digital Trends | K. T. Bradford

The iPhone 5C is the iPhone 5 in plastic for $100 less, and that's not a bad thing. The polycarbonate colored cases look and feel a lot better than you'd guess.

The Boxed (UK) | Editorial Team

The iPhone 5C is a good phone, although nothing revolutionary or amazing either. Quality is solid, performance is fast and strong and the design is beautiful as always from Apple and now also very colourful.

International Business Times | Alistair Charlton

Renowned iPhone design and quality in a more playful and less serious body - just not the budget iPhone you were hoping for

IT PRO | Khidr Suleman

A slightly cheaper replacement for the iPhone 5, the 5C retains the performance of its predecessor and provides a choice of colours. But we still feel Apple has missed a trick by not making the price point more attractive.

The Inquirer | Carly Page

We think Apple could have done more to make the iPhone 5C more exciting though, whether that was to design it with a larger screen or a more impressive rear-facing camera. With the refreshed look, revamped software and slightly cheaper price, it's clear that the firm wants to bring a new audience to the iPhone.

NDTV Gadgets | Kunal Dua

While the iPhone 5c is a solid phone in its own right, with Apple choosing to release the 5s at the same time, comparisons between the two are inevitable, and that's where it becomes difficult to recommend the colourful iPhone over the flagship.

The Gadget Show

On its own merits, the iPhone 5c is a wonderful phone. If you're not fussed about large screens or the awesome tinkering-powers of Android, you'll love its cheery design, seamless software and plastic fantastic build. You'd really have to love its pastel colouring however to pick the iPhone 5c over the 5s, with the price difference spread over two years on most contracts.

V3 | Dan Worth

It's not really clear why Apple has made the 5C. It is a great phone, sure, and anyone who does buy one will not feel short changed. But we're not sure who will buy it.

Pocket-lint | Stuart Miles

As an upgrade to the iPhone 4S, the 5C is a perfect option, and it refreshes the iPhone 5 in a way that makes it a lot more fun than the iPhone 5 ever was.

Mobile Choice

The iPhone 5c is brilliantly bold with its bright and vibrant plastic shell, and packs many of the same specs as the original iPhone 5 at a lower cost. However, the iPhone 5s costs only a little extra, and offers a lot more.

Wired UK | Katie Collins

If you don't love the design of this phone, then you might be better off investing in an alternative Apple handset, particularly the 5s if you can stretch to it. If however you quite like the look of the 5c, you won't be at all let down by the powerful components and top-notch camera buried inside, as well as the refined user experience offered by iOS 7.

The Telegraph | Matt Warman

Its novelty, rather than new features, is the 5c's major selling point.

Know Your Mobile | Richard Goodwin

Yes, it is plastic. Yes, it doesn't have the same updated specs of the iPhone 5S. And, yes, it is basically the iPhone 5 encased in a new plastic unibody chassis. But none of these facts are necessarily a bad thing. The iPhone 5 was a great handset, and the iPhone 5C is too, even more so when you factor in its improved battery life and jazzy new outer-casing.

T3 | Luke Peters

The colourful exterior is a winner and iOS 7 is a fantastic update.

Stuff | Mark Payton

If you can overlook the cases, colours and marketing (and they're big ifs), the 5c's a powerful, smart package, with a great OS.

AnandTech | Anand Lal Shimpi

The iPhone 5c is a well built device. For all intents and purposes it is a perfect replacement for the iPhone 5. If you were planning on buying a cost reduced iPhone 5 once the 5s came out, the iPhone 5c should have no problems filling that role. Its performance, battery life and camera quality are all on par with the 5.

Engadget | Myriam Joire

It brings a breath of fresh air to the iPhone lineup and will appeal to consumers at an emotional level.

Phone Scoop | Eric M. Zeman

The Apple iPhone 5c is a solid performer, but it presents a bit of a conundrum to consumers. I wish the 5c offered slightly better call quality and battery life, but the wireless data performance is excellent. The camera does a great job at capturing accurate images that match the competition, but it loses the cool slow-motion feature of the 5s

ITProPortal | Sandra Vogel

The iPhone 5C isn't as exciting a handset as the 5S by any means. With the iPhone 5 now deleted, it is the replacement for that phone

PC Advisor | Chris Martin

It's too expensive for what is effectively an iPhone 5 in a plastic shell with minor changes in hardware.

CNET UK | Andrew Hoyle

Its colourful, pocket-friendly body and easy to use software makes the iPhone 5C a good choice for smart phone novices, but with only a small price gap between this and the considerably more powerful 5S, the 5C isn't the budget iPhone we hoped it would be.

PC Pro | Jonathan Bray

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

S21

The iPhone 5c is the cheapest way into the iPhone experience, but it still isn't cheap. It lacks the premium design of the more expensive models, and the 8GB of memory is very limiting. But if you want a compact iPhone and can't afford to pay more, this is the best you can get.