????By now, many are aware of that new record: 5 million iPhone 5s during its first week. For its part, Apple (AAPL) has done a good job marketing features like its meticulously machined thinner body and an even trimmer "Lightning" charging cord. But does it warrant all that early praise? We spent five days with it to parse through the hoopla and find out for ourselves.

????Some may call the iPhone 5's new design the latest example of evolution. That's because upon first -- and even second -- glance, it could be easily mistaken for the iPhone 4 or 4S. The differences are in the details. It's a sliver of a device that at 3.95 ounces, stands nearly 4.9 inches tall, 2.3 inches wide and .3 inches deep. That translates to being 18% thinner and 20% lighter when you hold it, but it's the lightness you'll notice immediately. On the back, much of that glass was swapped out for aluminum; two thin glass panes remain at the top and bottom.

????The largest design difference is of course, that screen. It's four inches instead of 3.5, the first for an iPhone, but certainly not the first for Android users already used to their devices swelling up to 4.5 -- or in some hybrid-type devices -- 5 inches. Viewed that way, the iPhone feels like it's playing catch-up. But new owners and those upgrading will welcome the increased screen real estate. They'll also appreciate the quality of the screen with better contrast.

????Behind the screen, there's a new custom-made A6 processor, 1 GB of RAM, an improved 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, and a tweaked 8 megapixel shooter that takes better dim shots. Apple was keen to point out at the unveiling the new A6 chip offers twice the speed of the previous model. For the most part, that speed boost is noticeable. Many apps, including the running app Nike+ (NKE), now load almost instantly, and switching between those apps flies. Twice as fast? We're not so sure about that. But it's extremely brisk.

????Chalk a good chunk of those speed gains up to the integration of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in the AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), and Sprint Nextel (S) models. Our review unit was a white 64GB Verizon version, which yielded impressive results in San Francisco on its own and as a mobile hotspot. On average, Fortune.com, for instance, loaded in 4 seconds on Verizon LTE here in the city's financial district; on AT&T 3G, it took 13 seconds. Obviously, results will vary from carrier to carrier and location to location.

????Because Verizon launched its 4G network earliest, its nationwide coverage remains the most thorough, with 371 markets, compared to AT&T's 65 and Sprint's 18 or so. (For a helpful coverage map, reference here.) Call quality was very good on our unit -- voices were sharper and sounded fuller-sounding than previous iPhones -- and we didn't experience dropped calls.