Amidst the avalanche of rumor and hype, the announcement of the iPhone 5 was bound to be a let down. But if tech enthusiasts were "bored" by what they heard (and the long Apple store lines suggests they got over it), reviewers have been positively excited.

Apple's first 4-inch smartphone packs a new iOS (version 6) inside a slimmer (7.6mm thick), lighter and longer housing. It packs 4G mobile networking, a new dual-band Wi-Fi radio and a faster A6 processor as well, so Web browsing and app use should zip along quicker. While the rear-facing camera sensor remains unchanged from the 4S (still 8-megapixel) the lens has been upgraded. The back-facing camera (the one for FaceTime video chats) has been boosted to 1.2-megapixels.

On the design front, the iPhone 5 trades the glass backing of the iPhone 4S for a metal casing that better resists scratches. It also, controversially, ditches the 30-pin dock connector that has been the standard on all iOS devices for years in favor of a new "Lightning" connector. If there was one item that stuck in reviewer's craw about the iPhone 5, it was the pain and expense of updating accessories or paying extra for adapters to enable existing iOS peripherals to work with the iPhone 5.