iPhone 6 and 6 Plus: In deep with Apple’s thinnest phones

Apple finally brings the big-screen love—with some strings attached.

Read the whole story

 

[vaporland]

Saw them today, not nearly as large in person as everyone made them out to be...

 

[LJ]

It really seems like the plus (which I call the iPhone 6") is the better of the two phones and while the iPhone 6 does an admirable job of maintaining a pretty small size, it sacrifices a lot of great features including ois and battery life.

I'm happy to see the iPhone 6". Even though I prefer Android to iOS, these phones fantastic and I'm glad people have more choice when it comes to reasonably screened phones.

 

[Marlor_AU]

I had a bit of hands-on time with the iPhone 6 (non-plus), and it's actually getting a bit on the large side for my tastes. I don't have the largest hands, so it was a real struggle to reach the top-left of the screen when operating it one-handed.

"Reachability" is meant to help in this regard, but in practice it's so awkward, you're simply better off juggling the phone and trying to stretch your thumb that last centimetre.

I'm really hoping that the next evolution in iPhone design is going to be the iPhone Nano, with the (perfect) form-factor that the iPhone 4/4S has.

 

[fargofallout]

Hey, shout out for the Boulevard glasses in the beer picture (not what I expected to come to this review for)(I live in Kansas City) - where are you taking these pictures that you have those sitting around?

 

[mjwildcat]

Never mind, I'm having reading comprehension problems. The review looks great so far. One of the many reasons I love Ars.

 

[lermajm9]

My wife got the 6. She reports that at her first meeting today, those with the 6+ were really surprised at how big their new phones were and how good her regular 6 looked. And then throughout the day, those that hadn't upgraded yet made fun of the giant 6+ by walking around the office talking on their iPads or books.

Edited to change "non-iPhone users" to "those that hadn't upgraded yet." They all have iPhones there; I think because IT wouldn't support android until just recently.

 

[kezeka]

Ended up buying a 6. It is noticeably larger in hand and pocket than the 5. I honestly feel the difference from 5 to 6 more than when I went from 4 to 5 two years ago. It is nice to have a bigger screen but I am not convinced it is worth it yet.

That said, the new power button location is still messing with me every time I turn on the phone! Years of being trained to reach for the top of my phone is going to take a while to get past. It is an undeniably better location for these new iPhones, though.

 

[Rachelhikes]

I tried the 6 today.

Too big for me, which I was pretty sure would be the case.

My hands are small and I couldn't get my fingers around it securely and reach my thumb across to the far side. I don't want to have to use two hands to hold my phone. Really, the most comfortable size for me was the 3.5" screen for the iPhone 4. The 4" screen of the iPhone 5 wasn't terribly comfortable, but one handed operation was still possible and the features were compelling.

The 4.7" screen of the iPhone 6 is just too much. Even the 128 Gig option (which I've wanted FOREVER) is not enough to tempt me to give up on one-handed use. Eventually, I guess, my iPhone 5S will die and I'll have to get a bigger phone (or be forced to one by apps that work like crap on a smaller screen) but I'm sure not looking forward to that day.

(I still dream of a 3.5" screen with modern internals and 128 Gig of storage. REALLY don't see that coming my way. Apple even went the other way with the 5S, eliminating the 64 Gig option.)

 

[Deleted member 174040]

vaporland[/url]":120o5k4b]Saw them today, not nearly as large in person as everyone made them out to be...

Someone had compiled a lot of complaints on Twitter from people saying they wanted a better phone, not a bigger phone. Obviously they were people who got the 6, and didn't follow the news too closely about the changes -- they just new a new iPhone had been released.

Point being: what's not to be big to one, may be unconscionably big to another.

 

[HungryCow]

That's interesting that for the 6 Plus they decided to have it display 2208x1242 and then shrink it down to 1080p. I wonder how much longer the battery could last without the extra GPU usage.

These both look like great phones though, thanks for the great review!

 

[JamesKPolkEsq]

Exactly the same battery life as the Nexus 5?

Ouch.

 

[killerhurtalot]

I waited in line for the iphone 6 (9 hour wait) and ended up getting 2 of the small 64gb iphone 6 on verizon network ones.

Basically my impression so far right now is that the ui is terribly designed for the larger screens for one handed operation... the standard back button on the top left is ALWAYS out of reach of my thumb (right handed) and I'm used to bigger phones too... (owned nexus 5 and galaxy note 3)

The wifi calling also has issues too on the t mobile network... (apparently the only one to support it right now) and it drops calls frequently :/

now the good news:

Way faster than the iphone 5, better camera, better screen, (the 4" screen was TINY... the bigger screen made a world of difference viewing videos and pictures...) and the design of the phone is better. It's probably the most solid feeling phone next to the HTC One M8.

 

[killerhurtalot]

JamesKPolkEsq[/url]":9oixc5ak]Exactly the same battery life as the Nexus 5?

Ouch.

The Nexus 5 has a good battery life though... unless the chrome bug starts up and eats through the battery in like 3 hours lol...

 

[Deleted member 174040]

kezeka[/url]":2dzghban]Ended up buying a 6.

I can't understand why those millions and millions of consumers went out and bought the phones without waiting for the awesomeness of Andrews review.

 

[kennedye]

For anyone who's on the fence about these two, if you're at all close to an Apple Store (or an AT&T/Verizon/T-Mobile store that has them on display) I really encourage you to go check them out in person to see how they feel in your hand; doing so changed my mind on the 6 Plus to the point where I'm seriously considering it to replace my 5.

 

[Marcos2247]

I think Apple should rewrite their iOS Human Interface Guidelines and tell developers to start putting navigation menus at the bottom. I have a large screen Android device and it's not that big of a deal, because I don't have to reach the upper left corner all the time.

Disappointing battery life, I have to say. They clock in right where you'd guess based on battery size. So no special Apple fairy dust and some vindictation for that crappy Java-based OS. Seems like it was just the lower resolution all along...

With Project Volta in Android L said to enhance battery life by about 10%, Android might end up being actually better in this regard mAh for mAh.

I've always thought I'd switch to iOS once Apple (inevitably) releases a big screen phone - since I dig the iPad and the MacBook Air - but this has given me enough pause to see what Google brings to Nexusland in a couple weeks.

 

[aexcorp]

The new and improved camera is definitely a cut above the other phone cameras. Kudos to Apple on that front, though as I've said before on these boards, the quality still lags behind a small mirrorless with a prime (my personal choice when going somewhere, anywhere).

Battery life on the other hand is not as impressive as I had expected. I guess I'll need to go hold them in my hands to really get a feel for how big they are compared with my Nexus 4, which to me is the perfect size.

I wonder how the next crop of Qualcomm et al CPUs and GPUs based on ARMv8 will hold up against the A8. Right now, it's clear that it destroys everything save the new gen of Atoms...

 

[Rosyna]

many iOS apps use labels in the top corners of windows for navigation, and those buttons are suddenly out of reach if both your hands aren't available.

You can swipe from left-to-right on the left edge of iOS Devices to go back (instead of hitting the back button at the top or bottom)

 

[thomsirveaux]

aexcorp[/url]":1g4xah7l]The new and improved camera is definitely a cut above the other phone cameras. Kudos to Apple on that front, though as I've said before on these boards, the quality still lags behind a small mirrorless with a prime (my personal choice when going somewhere, anywhere).

Battery life on the other hand is not as impressive as I had expected. I guess I'll need to go hold them in my hands to really get a feel for how big they are compared with my Nexus 4, which to me is the perfect size.

I wonder how the next crop of Qualcomm et al CPUs and GPUs based on ARMv8 will hold up against the A8. Right now, it's clear that it destroys everything save the new gen of Atoms...

Yeah like I mentioned in the review I was a little surprised about the results our test returned, because I definitely feel like the 6 Plus in particular is lasting forever. YMMV I guess.

 

[Acidicpack]

Rachelhikes[/url]":22byvnsw]I tried the 6 today.

Too big for me, which I was pretty sure would be the case.

My hands are small and I couldn't get my fingers around it securely and reach my thumb across to the far side. I don't want to have to use two hands to hold my phone. Really, the most comfortable size for me was the 3.5" screen for the iPhone 4. The 4" screen of the iPhone 5 wasn't terribly comfortable, but one handed operation was still possible and the features were compelling.

The 4.7" screen of the iPhone 6 is just too much. Even the 128 Gig option (which I've wanted FOREVER) is not enough to tempt me to give up on one-handed use. Eventually, I guess, my iPhone 5S will die and I'll have to get a bigger phone (or be forced to one by apps that work like crap on a smaller screen) but I'm sure not looking forward to that day.

(I still dream of a 3.5" screen with modern internals and 128 Gig of storage. REALLY don't see that coming my way. Apple even went the other way with the 5S, eliminating the 64 Gig option.)

Hey Rachelhikes

I'm not sure if you have ever given Android a try but the HTC One Mini 2 is a great phone. My wife is in the same boat as you and has really small hands and really has trouble with the larger phones. I picked her up this phone after her iPhone 4 kicked the can and she loves it. Here is a link with some of the Specs http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_one_mini_2-6345.php. Hope this helps!

PS

Here is the Samsung Galazy S5 mini. I'm not a huge Samsung fan but this phone looks similar to the new iPhone 6. http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s5_mini-6252.php Its about as big as the HTC which as others have said is just a tad bit smaller than the iPhone 6 but it may end up fitting your hand just right.

 

[pkirvan]

thomsirveaux[/url]":5q8fn91q]Yeah like I mentioned in the review I was a little surprised about the results our test returned, because I definitely feel like the 6 Plus in particular is lasting forever. YMMV I guess.

Please justify why your tests show the 5S beating the 6 in battery life, while Anand and others clearly show that is not the case at all. Did someone mislabel their data?

Don't get me wrong, I love Ars reviews, but you have never learned how to do a fair and representative battery test. It's only in the last year that you even started standardizing screen brightness. Maybe just link to other sites for battery life rather than reinvent the wheel?

 

[Deleted member 174040]

Andrew quoted one of Caesars twitter quotes about the size of the iPhone 6+, but left another, perhaps more important one out:

I know I was all jokey – jokey before, but I am now loving this iPhone 6+

 

[loombot]

Props to Jersey City!

 

[omf]

I'm going to be holding on to my 5S for a while, it seems. Ideally, I would've loved the 5S form-factor with the benefits of a lighter/thinner body.

Given the changes introduced in iOS8, I doubt Apple has any plans on going back to the smaller screen sizes. The best hope may be that it's able to trim the bezel down on the iPhone 6 to bring it a bit closer to the overall 5S size.

 

[Marcos2247]

Acidicpack[/url]"nutqahv]I'm not sure if you have ever given Android a try but the HTC One Mini 2 is a great phone.

It probably is, but it's also almost the exact same size as the iPhone 6, except it's much fatter. So really not helping people who find the 6 too big.

 

[Deleted member 174040]

JamesKPolkEsq[/url]":1urof637]Exactly the same battery life as the Nexus 5?

Anandtech:

As one can see, it seems that Apple has managed to do something quite incredible with battery life. Normally an 1810 mAh battery with 3.82V nominal voltage would be quite a poor performer, but the iPhone 6 is a step above just about every other Android smartphone on the market.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8559/ipho ... ry-results

Mark my words -- in the same way they produced the long desired big screened phone (or phones) this year, they'll produce an endurance phone model in the future. People want it, and it makes too much sense not to do it.

Also see Panzerinos realworld Disney test.

 

[ronamadeo]

OMG that Geekbench throttling test. I want.

 

[ltcommander.data]

Rosyna[/url]":lpgj8bcu]

many iOS apps use labels in the top corners of windows for navigation, and those buttons are suddenly out of reach if both your hands aren't available.

You can swipe from left-to-right on the left edge of iOS Devices to go back (instead of hitting the back button at the top or bottom)

Not all apps support this yet though. I think just like Apple quickly mandated new submissions to the App Store support the 4" display after the iPhone 5 was released they should quickly mandate the swipe back gesture to improve usability on the bigger iPhone 6/6 Plus screens.

 

[thomsirveaux]

pkirvan[/url]":1xmnoi47]

thomsirveaux[/url]":1xmnoi47]Yeah like I mentioned in the review I was a little surprised about the results our test returned, because I definitely feel like the 6 Plus in particular is lasting forever. YMMV I guess.

Please justify why your tests show the 5S beating the 6 in battery life, while Anand and others clearly show that is not the case at all. Did someone mislabel their data?

Don't get me wrong, I love Ars reviews, but you have never learned how to do a fair and representative battery test. It's only in the last year that you even started standardizing screen brightness. Maybe just link to other sites for battery life rather than reinvent the wheel?

Well, we won't be doing that last thing. But the short answer is I know our current test is limited and we're working on better ones, I just keep getting sidetracked by other stuff.

 

[DemBones79]

Rosyna[/url]":1bm0ut7h]

many iOS apps use labels in the top corners of windows for navigation, and those buttons are suddenly out of reach if both your hands aren't available.

You can swipe from left-to-right on the left edge of iOS Devices to go back (instead of hitting the back button at the top or bottom)

Only in those applications that support it, though. The official Facebook app is one of those weird ones that sort of supports it, but not completely. I constantly try to swipe back in it and it does nothing. It's possible my swipe is too sloppy or something and it reads a small vertical movement so it ignores it. But I don't have this problem in Reeder, Safari, and a handful of other apps. <shrug>

Edit: Beaten to the punch by ltcommander.data

 

[thomsirveaux]

fargofallout[/url]":3ew48g6q]Hey, shout out for the Boulevard glasses in the beer picture (not what I expected to come to this review for)(I live in Kansas City) - where are you taking these pictures that you have those sitting around?

I was at a brewpub in Philly over the weekend for a friend's birthday, lately when I'm crunching on reviews over the weekend I try to use social outings as an excuse to do camera testing. Fun stuff when you have seven smartphones crammed into your pockets.

 

[Deleted member 174040]

Interesting stuff from the review:

we're perfectly happy with the density of phones like the original Moto X or the iPhone 5S, and we suspect most regular people won't notice a difference day-to-day. Brightness, contrast, viewing angles, color, and even things like light bleed will be more noticeable than additional density improvements

This makes a certain amount of sense, but it runs counter to the way marketers market their devices and the way spec-heads, as some tech enthusiasts are, like to think of their devices.

 

[nickf]

ronamadeo[/url]":3nmd2lw6]OMG that Geekbench throttling test. I want.

I'm impressed by the 100 ns precision on the abscissa.

 

[carlisimo]

I tried out the iPhone6 and I've concluded it's too big for me. When I'm standing in the subway I need to hold onto something with one hand in order to stay up, and in my other hand I'll use a pretty firm grip on the phone; sitting it on my fingers isn't good enough. With a 4.7" screen I can't reach the enter button on the keyboard - the lower right corner of the screen is a problem for me (I'm right handed). Software could fix that by pushing the sides of the keyboard in, but hasn't yet. Maybe that's what side bezels were for.

I may just buy a 5S and hope something changes in the next two years. I'd only really miss the camera upgrade and the more comfortable curved sides.

 

[Rosyna]

ltcommander.data[/url]":2gp0dw2r]

Rosyna[/url]":2gp0dw2r]

many iOS apps use labels in the top corners of windows for navigation, and those buttons are suddenly out of reach if both your hands aren't available.

You can swipe from left-to-right on the left edge of iOS Devices to go back (instead of hitting the back button at the top or bottom)

Not all apps support this yet though. I think just like Apple quickly mandated new submissions to the App Store support the 4" display after the iPhone 5 was released they should quickly mandate the swipe back gesture to improve usability on the bigger iPhone 6/6 Plus screens.

Supporting swipe to back should be mandated by the HIG if you have a back button, I agree.

Also, can you file bugs on non-conformant apps with their developers?

 

[ltcommander.data]

omf[/url]":1cjacfu7]I'm going to be holding on to my 5S for a while, it seems. Ideally, I would've loved the 5S form-factor with the benefits of a lighter/thinner body.

Given the changes introduced in iOS8, I doubt Apple has any plans on going back to the smaller screen sizes. The best hope may be that it's able to trim the bezel down on the iPhone 6 to bring it a bit closer to the overall 5S size.

I think it was John Gruber that reported a conversation with iPhone designers who explained they built prototypes of all sizes between 4" and 6" in 0.1" increments before selecting the 4.7" and 5.5". There are definitely many iOS users who want bigger screens, but I'm certain Apple is cognizant that many of their iOS users to date actually like smaller phones rather than just putting up with them because Apple hasn't offered anything else up to now. By selecting a discretely larger 4.7" for the iPhone 6 rather than a more transitional size like 4.5" makes me think that Apple is deliberately leaving room below 4.7" for a smaller model depending on demand. 4", 4.7", and 5.5" models for next year's "s" refresh would certainly be a very well rounded lineup without excess overlap.

EDIT: And a 4" iPhone 6s with the current rounded design should make the phone feel smaller which would satisfy those users who feel even the 4" design was too big and preferred the 3.5" screen.