Apple iPhone 6S Plus review: Bigger is (mostly) better

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I do n’t normally like truly big phones. I want phones that can fit in my hand. But last year I switched from an iPhone 6 to 6 Plus, to see what difference it made it my life. Its advantages turned out to be actually utilitarian : a bigger battery, a larger blind with higher resolution. And I realized, when I switched back to an iPhone 6, that ocular persona stabilization made a deviation, besides … sometimes. I missed the sure, clean pictures in low sparkle that the Plus gave in a pinch in darkened press rooms during exist events. ( For better or worse, that ‘s the classify of station where I need good smartphone photography in a emergency. )

And yes, I came to love the Plus for its pro-type features, and even for its near-tablet spirit. For television, and games. But as a normal call, its size never seemed sincerely comfortable to me. merely like final year, the new iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 6S are about alike except for a few winder advantages on the larger model. The Plus gets you a 5.5-inch display rather of the 4.7-inch one of the iPhone 6S. And while the Plus ‘s camera detector and resolution is identical to that on the smaller iPhone, it adds ocular double stabilization, which can deliver more blur-free photos in certain light conditions ( specially if you ‘re zooming ). Unlike last year ‘s Plus, that stabilization works when shooting video recording, besides. And you get a bigger battery that lasts just a bite long. It costs more, but its perks are worth it if you ‘re a mission-critical exploiter of your phone camera. But oh, that size. I ‘d credibly use a Plus over a 6S. But for most people, I distillery think the smaller 6S is the manner to go. iPhone 6S future to 6S Plus. It ‘s bigger . Sarah Tew/CNET

What do I mean by ‘too big’?

For some people, the Plus might not be excessively bad at all. But for many others I ‘ve talked to, it is. There ‘s nothing wrong with a 5.5-inch blind, but the 6S Plus — like the 6 Plus before it — seats that screen into a telephone that has a larger top and bottom bezel than many big-screened Android phones. end solution : it ‘s wider and longer than alike 5.5-inch competitors, albeit flimsy. See the photograph below for comparison, next to the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and last year ‘s Nexus 6. The notice 5 is a bantam bit less across-the-board and tall, but has a larger 5.7-inch screen. The thick and ever-so-slightly wide Nexus 6 has a 5.9-inch screen. Left to right : Samsung Galaxy Note 5, iPhone 6S Plus and Google Nexus 6 . Sarah Tew/CNET The width and length normally make more of a dispute to me, and my pants. I have pretty boastfully jeans, and my pockets accommodate the Plus fine. other people I know do n’t have that fortune. The Plus still does n’t fit well in one hand, either. I find myself using a little finger tucked underneath. You do get a 5.5-inch 1,920×1,080 resolution display alternatively of the 4.7-inch 1,334×750-resolution screen of the iPhone 6S, which matters largely for photos, videos, and Web browse. You can fit a bit more of everything on screen at once, adenine long as apps take advantage ( many do, some still have n’t upgraded ). Watch this: 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S : A exploiter ‘s scout 02:07

Super-powered with 3D Touch and better speed

For more on what the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus offer, read my unharmed iPhone 6S review. Know that the new A9 processor and double the RAM ( 2GB ) from stopping point year ‘s iPhones means faster-feeling arrangement speed, and apps that load better when you swap between them. And the extra perk up of always-on Siri means that, specially for drivers, hands-free operation works even the telephone ‘s not plugged in. 3D Touch has likely, but takes getting used to . Andrew Hoyle/CNET 3D Touch is the promise of a whole new type of interaction with the touch screen ; this earphone has a pressure-sensitive expose that does different things when you press in with your finger. Everything from pop-out menu to previews of Web links before you open them, and a growing library of apps and games that are starting to make the most of this technical school. It can measure a unharmed image of blackmail gradients, which means this could be used for sketching and artwork apps in particular. On a larger-screened tablet-type earphone, that could get very interesting. At the moment, however, 3D touch is more subtle additions and electric potential than anything dazzling or world-changing. It ‘s decidedly worth keeping an eye on, however, because io is bound to transform to take advantage of it down the road. enlarge picture drop leaves, shot on 6S Plus rear television camera . Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Cameras: A reason to upgrade for serious users

I ‘m about to show you an extreme case of why ocular picture stabilization matters. I took a photograph in the nearly-dark CNET personal computer lab using the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. Using the 6S : blow up image Dark lab, life-size photograph, 6S . Scott Stein/CNET 6S Plus : elaborate Image

Same dark lab, 6S Plus . Scott Stein/CNET As you can see, these photos are reasonably like. To a fooling center, not much is different. But ! then I digital-zoomed all the way in on our begrimed test keyboard and snapped a photograph. On the 6S : elaborate image Digital soar at soap : bleary keyboard ( 6S ) . Scott Stein/CNET On the 6S Plus : enlarge effigy 6S Plus, full digital rapid climb : far less blur . Scott Stein/CNET That ‘s the difference. At maximum soar in these conditions, no telephone will take great photos. But the Plus handled the adversity better and offered a more blur-free picture. In a emergency, this matters. And when you blow astir larger photos, that detail will show up. Apple besides included ocular effigy stabilization for video this year, and that might matter even more. It truly does reduce jitters. here ‘s a comparison between 6S and 6S Plus we cursorily shot here outside the agency : watch the video recording below. Watch this: How iPhone 6S Plus brace video compares to the iPhone 6S 01:04 If you ‘re shooting videos of your kids, do you need this ? not if you ‘re sitting however, and not in a batch of everyday instances. But if you ‘re trying to shoot a great video for professional purposes, I ‘d say it matters a fortune. Make certain you check out these photos taken with the 6S Plus by CNET ‘s Andrew Hoyle for lots of examples of selfies, low-light and outdoor conditions showing what to expect out of the camera .

Battery life: Better than the smaller iPhone

I ‘d like the iPhone 6S to have the battery of the 6S Plus. Over a unconstipated day of use, the Plus got me enough juice then I did n’t panic. It ‘s an all-day have. On the iPhone 6S, towards the end of the day, you ‘ll need to consider power-saving or recharge. Our battery run quiz, which uses a video recording loop played bet on on the call in airplane manner, lasted 11 hours, 54 minutes. The iPhone 6S ( non-Plus ) lasted 10 hours, 30 minutes. That does n’t sound like a huge difference, but in casual, real-life use it amounted to a last-through-the-day have, versus a need-to-recharge one. however, last year ‘s iPhone 6 Plus running io 8 run for longer on that same barrage test : 13.3 hours. And there are enough of larger-screened phones packing larger batteries that end longer than this. The Plus is the longer-life iPhone, but like the smaller 6S, it could calm do better. It ‘s enough to matter to me — but then again, it means you ‘re carrying a bigger earphone. What I truly want is the smaller 6S to have this better battery life sentence, and for the larger Plus to last even longer .

A note on different processors in the iPhone 6S

It turns out that this year ‘s iPhone 6S A9 central processing unit has been sourced out to two different manufacturers, meaning your iPhone 6S ( or 6S Plus ) could either have one or the other. According to Apple, battery operation between the two variants ( TSMC and Samsung ) only varies by around 2 to 3 percentage. Others online are reporting varying performance differences. We are doing our own test with iPhones containing both types of chips, and will update this when we have authoritative answers. Our review iPhones had processors made by TSMC. then far we have n’t seen anything worry, but will alert you if we do … and update this review. The Plus feels great in landscape mood . Josh Miller/CNET

Plus is a better travel companion I do n’t think the Plus can replace a real pill, even an iPad Mini. But it comes close in a lot of instances, particularly for reading, e-mail, videos and games. In landscape modality, the Plus is a pretty arrant travel screen, and videos and games shine. The excess bezel on the top and bottom become pretty estimable hand-grips, besides. Yes, it ‘s good enough that you credibly wo n’t need anything else on a long train ride or flight. That proposition remains the same as last class ‘s Plus, but it bears mentioning if you ‘re considering a leap from regular-sized iPhone to Plus-land .

Some apps still don’t take advantage

It ‘s about a class since Apple introduced a Plus-sized iPhone, and I still find a distribute of apps that never bothered to optimize for its larger-screened, higher-resolution 5.5-inch screen. Some still do n’t allow for landscape modality or clever semi-split-screen functions, either, like you see in some of Apple ‘s core apps like Mail. alternatively of pushing for alone features, a lot of apps seem to settle for more insidious upgrades. Does that make the Plus less desirable ? I do n’t think sol. The Plus is truly about that extra size and solution for Web crop, reading, games and videos/photos. I ‘d love to see more Plus-optimized apps, but I do n’t know if they ‘ll emerge at the rate I ‘d like, or make the Plus feel more like an iPad. The Plus actually is very much a sibling of the smaller 6S. Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Conclusion: If only this phone were a bit smaller

You ‘re paying up for the Plus, and if you consider what it offers, the $ 100 increase — £80-90 in the UK, AU $ 150 in Australia — at every storehouse capacitance versus the 6S is n’t excessive. ( As with the smaller iPhone, skip the entry-level 16GB model, and pay up for at least the 64GB version. ) But it besides means a more expensive iPhone, and I inactive say that most people do n’t need its supernumerary perks. Its speed and performance, except for battery, are largely the like as its smaller sibling. If the Plus shaved its bezels down and got barely a bit smaller and more hand-friendly, possibly this would be the ultimate telephone for me. I actually do want an iPhone somewhere in between the 6S and 6S Plus — possibly a 5- or 5.2-inch screen, but very small of anything else to get in the way. Could it happen ? I hope then, in the iPhone 7, which should get a redesign body.

Or, if the dimensions of the Plus shrunk down a bit to accommodate that large screen in a slenderly smaller frame. It could happen, particularly if the home release were removed ( or shifted ). If you ‘re a good iPhone exploiter or person who relies on their call camera for work, you should get the Plus. If you can live with its size. even a year late, I ‘m not wholly certain I can. But I envy its advantages .