Apple iPhone 6 Plus review: A super-sized phone delivers with a stellar display and long battery life

In 2014, Apple forked its iPhone product wrinkle, simultaneously introducing the future genesis of its flagship model — the iPhone 6 — and debuting its super-sized sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 is an especial telephone in closely every way but for its middling battery life. The iPhone 6 Plus is besides impressive ; larger and thinner than other iPhone models, and with the capacity for far more survival on a single charge than most comparably-sized and smaller competitors. As bang-up a call as it is, the iPhone 6 Plus is n’t for everybody. Its defining characteristic is its size, which occupies a dainty center grind between the 4-inch iPhone 5S and the 7.9-inch iPad Mini. While the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is well more portable, the 6 Plus will hit the odoriferous blot for those who want a bigger display on their smartphone ( and prefer io to Android ). And remember : a 5.5-inch screen may feel gigantic at first, but it may end up feeling equitable mighty in no fourth dimension .

Design

Befitting its nickname, the 6 Plus is on the big side, measuring 6.22 inches high by 3.06 inches across-the-board ( 158mm by 78mm ). At 6.07 ounces ( 172 grams ) it ‘s equitable a touch lighter than the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 but perceptibly flimsy — just 7.1mm in thickness, compared with the Note 4 ‘s 8.5mm.

Apple iPhone 6 Plus Apple iPhone 6 LG G3 Samsung Galaxy Note 4
US base price (with 2-year agreement) $299 $199 $199 $299
UK base price (unlocked) £619 £539 £360 £450
Australia base price (unlocked) AU$999 AU$869 AU$630 AU$837
Display size/resolution 5.5-inch 1,920×1,080 IPS (401ppi) 4.7-inch 1,344×750 IPS (326 ppi) 5.5-inch Quad HD 2,560×1,440 IPS (538 ppi) 5.7-inch 2,560×1,440 Super AMOLED (515 ppi)
Processor 1.38GHz Apple A8 (64-bit) 1.39GHz Apple A8 (64-bit) 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon (Krait 400) 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805
RAM 1GB 1GB 3GB 3GB
Internal storage 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB 32GB 32GB
Expandable storage No No Yes (microSD) Yes (microSD)
Networking 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
Operating system iOS 8 iOS 8 Android 4.4.2 Android 4.4

Dimensions digression, the iPhone 6 Plus feels better in the hand than the Note. Like former iPhones, it ‘s made of flat aluminum, but where harsh lines and chamfered edges give the iPhone 5 a arrant, industrial feel, the iPhone 6 Plus nestles more well in your hand preferably than cutting into it. iphone6design.jpg Watch this: A close look : iPhone 6, 6 Plus design 01:36 That noted, the polish supreme headquarters allied powers europe — complete with glass that blends into the polish edges — provides a less classifiable appearance. That curved field glass will be familiar to owners of Nokia Lumia devices, and the gusset lines of formative on the second are evocative of the HTC One. Though the iPhone 6 Plus looks and feels bang-up, it lacks the alone style of its harbinger. CNET Owners of earlier model iPhones will need to adjust to unlike button locations ; the iPhone 6 Plus ‘s power/lock push button is located on the right side – a good thing, given how far one would need to reach if it were placed on the lead. The volume buttons, wide and flat quite than rung, are located on the left directly beneath the ring/silent toggle switch. The 3.5mm earphone jack sits at the buttocks, as it does with the 5S, next to eight holes that allow sound from the ( amazingly herculean ) inner speaker to escape. then, of course, there ‘s the home push button, battlefront and focus on below the display, featuring Touch ID functionality, which allows you to unlock the phone quickly with a fingermark. While this feature is no long arsenic novel as it was when it debuted, Touch ID remains quicker and more authentic than the fingerprint signal detection capabilities we ‘ve seen on other smartphones. And with io 8, you can use fingerprint access for a wide assortment of apps beyond the lock screen and iTunes Store. CNET

‘Reachability’

To avoid any unfortunate thumb-straining incidents, Apple provides the “ Reachability ” feature : two quick taps on the Home button slide any content at the top of the display — app icons, Safari ‘s URL bar, whatever else is up there — down to the bottom. ( That ‘s a double tap rather than a double crusade — the latter of which opens up the app switching screen, as it does on earlier versions of io. ) Though it ‘s handy in theory, we did not find it particularly utilitarian in practice. For exemplar, if you want to open a booklet of icons on the peak of the display, a double-tap brings that folder down. Tap on the booklet and it opens, but then slides back up to the top again. You need to double-tap on the Home release again to bring it down a second clock so that you can select an picture within. It ‘s just excessively much solicit to be of regular practice, even for those with short ovolo, though it could be handy if you ‘re standing on a bus or train and need your early bridge player to hang on. CNET

Landscape mode

Another software fine-tune exclusive to the Plus is a particular layout for some apps when the telephone is held sideways in landscape mode. Mail and Messages give you an iPad-like opinion, with a list of messages on the left and their content on the correct. iphone6features.jpg Watch this: iPhone 6 and 6 Plus features, compared 02:31

Pocketability

The size of your hands, and your ability to reach the corners of the device, will play a large part in determining whether the 6 Plus is a good suit for you. Another deciding gene will be whether it fits into your pockets. Unless your pants are of the cargo variety, you ‘re credibly going to want the iPhone 6 Plus in a back pocket when you ‘re out and about. For phablet newbies this can take some getting used to. sol, besides, will remembering to take it out of that back pouch before sitting down. In the interest of amply comprehensive examination testing I sat on the 6 Plus numerous times and it registered nary a whine nor a crack. hush, I would n’t advise doing thus regularly, if alone for your position ‘s sake .

Camera

The iPhone 6 Plus features an 8-megapixel rear shot with optical picture stabilization. In our test we found the Plus systematically shot with a slower shutter speed than the iPhone 6, so far delivered images that were barely as sharp. Longer exposures mean lower ISO and perceptibly less image noise, plus better color. The iPhone 6 Plus ‘s camera besides offers video recording stabilization, and though it ‘s a digital impression, the results are quite impressive. I shot multiple video recording free-handed, even while moving, and the footage is smooth, without any of the distortion you sometimes see from other digital stabilization technologies. The call features real-time autofocus while filming, excessively, so you wo n’t have to tap-tap-tap on the screen to follow the action. The phone captures video recording at 1080p, at either 60 or 30 frames per second gear, and slow-motion video at up to 240fps. CNET The front-facing camera lacks stabilization capabilities but offers an f2.2 aperture, allowing more ignite to hit the detector than on former models, which translates to better selfies in dark conditions. Perfect for public house crawl. iphone6cameras.jpg Watch this: Apple iPhone 6 vs. 6 Plus camera comparison 01:59

Performance and battery life

The iPhone 6 Plus is very alert and reactive in daily use. Both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are equipped with the A8 processor, though curiously the Geekbench benchmark reported it running slightly slower on the 6 Plus — 1.35GHz versus 1.39GHz. otherwise, benchmark results are very comparable between the two, and systematically 10 to 20 percentage faster than the previous-generation iPhone. The iPhone 6 Plus delivered a solid 13 hours and 16 minutes in our battery summation test. It backed that up with impressive real-world operation, easily and repeatedly making it through a full day of heavy practice — featuring constant Web surf, bet on, video stream and GPS navigation — and frequently last well into a second gear day before needing a charge. In terms of processing power, the Apple iPhone Plus 6 delivers competent performance. comparative benchmarks appear downstairs ; as always, they should be taken with a grain of salt .

3DMark Ice Storm — Unlimited

LG G3

16,187

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

16,257

Apple iPhone 6

17,374

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

17,565

Samsung Galaxy S5

18,305

Notes: longer bars indicate better performance

Geekbench 3

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

684

2,100

LG G3

906

2,344

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

1,619

2,881

Apple iPhone 6

1,627

2,924

Samsung Galaxy S5

949

2,934

  • Single-core
  • Multi-core

Notes: longer bars indicate better performance

Linpack multithread average

LG G3

611.111

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

730.159

Samsung Galaxy S5

869.416

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

1,358.20

Apple iPhone 6

1,378.20

Notes: (in MFLOPS — longer bars indicate better performance)

SunSpider 1.0.2

LG G3

946.6

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

896.7

Samsung Galaxy S5

769.2

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

381.9

Apple iPhone 6

345.2

Notes: (in milliseconds — shorter bars indicate better performance)
Sarah Tew/CNET

Display

The iPhone 6 Plus ‘s battery life is specially impressive in fall of the phone ‘s large, bright 5.5-inch IPS LCD. It ‘s easily viewable in bright sunlight and is n’t lacking for line, even if you ‘re viewing at an odd slant. The 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution makes it ideal for watching 1080p message. When you come across the odd app that has n’t been optimized for such a big display, the telephone ‘s integrated scaler enlarges it to fit the screen. It works well enough, but may result in some bleary textbook and images. We do wish the 6 Plus offered native support for iPad apps as it does for apps designed for smaller iPhones ; you ‘d think that scaling apps from a 7.9-inch display down to 5.5 inches would be no more complicate than scaling up from 3.5 inches. CNET

Versus the Galaxy Note 4

And how does the iPhone 6 Plus fare specifically against its strongest competition on the Android side, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 ? Overall, it ‘s a very close call. In general, the iPhone 6 Plus is more attractive, feels better in your hand, and gets slenderly better battery animation. The Galaxy Note 4 offers a more durable construction and offers superior productiveness and serviceability. Those are the broad strokes — and do n’t take OS preferences into bill, which may be dealkillers for many, one way or the other. We offer a more comprehensive comparison in our in-depth feature about what it ‘s like to live with these two phones .

Conclusion

The iPhone 6 Plus is not for everybody. Depending on your preference, size may be its foreman asset or drawback ; either way, it will likely be the overriding factor for those deciding between the 6 and 6 Plus. The bombastic screen justifies the bounty price, specially when it besides comes with superior battery life and a terrific camera. The iPhone 6 Plus may not be the most aesthetically distinctive phablet on the grocery store, nor the most feature-packed, but it is the most potent iPhone yet, and a serious rival in this segment of the smartphone market .

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