Apple’s First Phablet: Hit or Miss?
Let’s get the “major issue” out of the way first. After two weeks with the iPhone 6 Plus, we’re happy to report that it doesn’t bend as easy as some people think, hehe. We’ve used it without a case in our front pocket, threw it inside a tight bag, and we even sat on it while it was on our back pocket. There’s no bending whatsoever. It will probably only bend if you forcefully and intentionally push and pull the sides.
Anyway, now that we have the bending stuff out of the way, let’s jump into the review! For starters let’s do a quick overview again of the specs.
(By the way, if you haven’t seen it yet, click here to read our iPhone 6 Review.)
iPhone 6 Plus Spec Sheet
- Apple A8 1.4GHz dual-core Cyclone processor
- Quad-core PowerVR GX6450 GPU
- 1GB RAM
- 16GB/64GB/128GB Internal Storage
- 5.5-inches IPS LCD, 1920×1080 pixels, 401 pixels per inch
- 8.0-megapixels rear-facing camera with dual-tone flash
- Can record video 1080p @ 60 fps and 720p @ 240 fps
- 1.2-megapixels front-facing camera
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, 3G, HSPA+, LTE
- GPS with aGPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, Apple Pay (Powered by NFC)
- Fingerprint sensor
- iOS 8
- 2915mAh battery
As we mentioned in our unboxing, don’t let the “dual-core”, 1GB RAM, and 8.0MP stats let you think that this is an inferior phone. The iPhone 6 Plus is a wickedly fast, smooth, and near-flawless device and specs are barely the tip of the iceberg. Read on. 🙂
(Click here to read our iPhone 6 Plus Unboxing post.)
Hardware: Best Used with Two Hands
The iPhone 6 Plus is Apple’s first attempt at a phablet. True to form, they preserved all the design elements and philosophy of the iPhone 6. The device is still elegantly crafted and feels and looks premium. The rounded corners, tapered display edges, the solid aluminum back, and the iconic Touch ID/Home button are still here… the only difference being they’re now “supersized”.
So the question now is this — is a big iPhone a good iPhone? Everything taken into consideration we can definitely say “yes”. Heck we daresay that the iPhone 6 Plus is actually the real upgrade from the iPhone 5S and not the iPhone 6 (more on this later).
We started to fully appreciate and enjoy the iPhone 6 Plus when we ditched the idea that we could still use this with one hand. The moment we accepted that the easier and more natural it felt. Texting actually was more efficient and faster since we had two fingers gliding across the display versus just one.
It’s also better for two hands because if you try to just use it with one hand you will most likely drop it. The curved edges and the metallic back aren’t great for gripping. That said we feel that it is absolutely imperative that you get the iPhone 6 Plus a case. This addresses three major things: the grip, the not-so-scratch-and-ding resistant aluminum back, and the so-called bending issue. Get a case and those three worries are gone.
There are only a few cases out in the market today but the best we’ve seen so far is that leather back case made by Apple. It still manages to preserve the form factor of the iPhone 6 Plus without adding too much heft or bulk. It also looks amazing (the leather is high quality stuff).
If you don’t mind using a phone with both hands, give the iPhone 6 Plus a go. If you really want a phone that you can easily use and manage with just one hand though this is totally out of the question already. Using it with two hands is a small price to play though with all the benefits that you get with the massive 5.5-inch display.
ERMYGOWD… that DISPLAY!
Among all the phones we’ve ever tested, we felt that the iPhone 6 Plus has the best display EVER. Everything from the design of the glass to the color balance and resolution of the screen was just mind blowing. It wasn’t too warm like what we usually got with Samsung’s Super AMOLED technology. It also wasn’t too dull like what we usually get with Sony or LG. The iPhone 6 Plus is just right — perfectly balanced.
Having a bigger display enhances the entire smartphone experience. Let’s face it guys: we don’t just text or call on our smartphones. We watch videos, listen to music, browse the web, read articles, and browse sites. All of those activities are much, much, much better with a bigger display and that’s exactly what you get with the iPhone 6 Plus. No more squinting and endless pinch-to-zoom. You get the content almost like you’re getting it on an iPad Mini.
Gaming, watching movies, reading comics, and more. All of them a far better experience thanks to the iPhone 6 Plus’ 5.5-inch crazy good display.
iOS 8 Phablet Style: Polished But Not Yet There
Apple tried to improve the iOS 8 experience on a bigger screen with the iPhone 6 Plus. They made a couple of landscape view only features and even some commands that will bring down the icons nearer to the TouchID/Home button for easier access. However no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn’t get around to using the iPhone 6 Plus in landscape mode. We also couldn’t get used to the other stuff that would have made our lives easier. At the end of the day we used the iPhone 6 Plus mostly on portrait and we only switched to landscape when we watched videos.
As for the landscape keyboard? Too clunky. Not really easy to use unless you spend time getting used to them. As for us we just felt it was so unnatural.
Lastly, note though that some apps like Mail and Calendar give you different views when on landscape. Like what we said though we never really used them much that way (still preferred portrait).
Performance: Flawless Victory
When it came to performance and user experience, the iPhone 6 Plus delivered. We rarely and barely felt any lag or slow downs despite the higher resolution and more pixels being pushed up to the display. The iPhone 6 Plus was just as fast and smooth as the iPhone 6 which is just awesome for all the phablet fans out there.
We tried gaming, multi-tasking, multi-app switching, and video editing. Everything was buttery smooth. Apple really takes the cake when it comes to stuff like this!
Battery Life: Monstrous!
And now we come to one of the best things about the iPhone 6 Plus: monstrous battery life. This is the iPhone that doesn’t need a power bank to get you through the day! The 2900mAh battery is more than enough even if you’re a heavy user. Maybe it can be short if you’re on LTE all day and you play games like crazy for hours. However in usual day-to-day the iPhone 6 Plus lasted us well into the following morning.
So yeah, no more wall socket hugging with the iPhone 6 Plus. 🙂
Camera: Best Camera on a Phablet Yet
Another defining feature? The camera. OMG the camera. The iPhone 6 Plus’ camera is so easy to use and the picture quality is always consistently good! We were using it as our main phone during a recent trip to Singapore. Check out some of the photos below.
Here’s a shot taken with the front-facing camera:
The image stabilization, bigger view finder (thanks to the bigger display), and the improved optics just makes the iPhone 6 Plus’ camera truly one of the killer apps on this bad boy. It’s our favorite camera on any mobile device (tablet or smartphone) to date.
Editor’s Note: By the way, please check back in a few hours for the slow motion video that we captured. It’s just taking a while to upload (our Internet is intermittent).
Verdict: It’s the Phablet Apple Fans Have Been Waiting For
Given the amazing display, the crazy good battery life, and the best-in-class camera, we feel that the iPhone 6 Plus is the best iPhone yet. It’s actually the real upgrade from the iPhone 5S and it offers a better experience compared to the iPhone 6 (if you can get around the idea of using both your hands to operate a phone, hehe).
The iPhone 6 Plus also will make you sell your iPad. You just won’t use the tablet anymore since the 5.5-inch display is big enough for your to thoroughly enjoy web browsing and other media consumption activities to the point that you won’t look for the iPad anymore.
So who should buy this? Apple fans who’ve been jealous of the Galaxy Note or those who don’t want to carry multiple devices with them… this is it. Having the iPhone 6 Plus will free up so much bag/hand space since you won’t need to carry your iPad with you anymore and you probably also won’t need a big powerbank as well.
If you want one, please do check out Kimstore. Click the link to visit their site.
You might have missed this:
iPhone 6 Review: Bigger, Much Better, and Improved Battery Life
iPhone 6 Plus Unboxing: Does it Really Bend?
