iPhone 6 Plus : Bigger Than Bigger May Be Better or Bendier

This is the first time Apple has gone this big with a phone, usually pinging their traditional theories that the phone needs to be designed for one handed use. The iPhone 6 Plus has been the preferred of the two (6 and 6 Plus) by buyers worldwide, simply because those who were using large Android phones could switch to a similarly large iPhone 6 Plus.

The iPhone 6 Plus on paper is the better bet, a full HD screen, bigger battery, larger display, optical image stabilization and landscape mode etc.  However that all changes when you first hold the phone and the immediate reaction is “wow its huge”. Does it make a big difference, to the way we use smartphones and is the iPhone 6 plus actually a better phone? Let’s find out!

Overview

The iPhone 6 Plus is the largest phone Apple has ever built, but there is good reason that they did it now, when people wanted it more than ever. The bendgate phenomenon has actually added to the existing hype of the iPhone 6 Plus, making people more aware of the existence of the phone. The idea behind the bendgate died as soon as it emerged simply because it didn’t affect users as much. The phone is essentially a bigger brother of the iPhone 6, but Apple may have done the right things to leverage the bigger size.

Build Quality and Hardware

The iPhone 6 Plus is built on a single rounded piece of aluminum, this not only makes the phone look good but adds a good resistance to damage. The phone however is not as strengthened on the smaller phones, hence bendgate exists. No but it’s not as easy as it looks, the phone does not bend as easily as it appears to on screen, and only under certain circumstances. It is an issue and if you are worried about that happening, you should skip the rest.

Hardware wise you get a bumped up Dual Core 1.4 GHz Apple A8 chipset with the Quad Core Graphics, same 1 GB of RAM as the little brother and a M8 motion co-processor that also ties into the health app on iOS 8. The battery is a large non-removable 2915 mAh, and you get the three storage options, 16GB , 64Gb and 128 GB.

The front has a massive 5.5 inch with a 1920 x 1080p resolution which feels a little more fulfilling than the resolution on the iPhone 6 although you get the retina display at 401 ppi. Even though its massive in size it is only 7.1 mm thick, making it exceptionally sleek and pocketable.

Here is how it stacks up with other big boys !

Performance

The iPhone 6 Plus is no underdog when it comes to performance, and just because it is running relatively low spec’d hardware doesn’t mean that this guy doesn’t pack a punch. Apple has managed to make it work, they own the architecture and the hardware and have optimized the OS to run zippy smooth on hardware which in Android terms would be lame and notoriously dated, props to Apple for this.

Everything from playing games, to multitasking to going about your day, works well on the iPhone. Some of the Apps have been designed to leverage the large screen size of the iPhone 6 Plus improving the overall experience by a lot.

Camera

This is a big mention, and no not because Apple added a might big sensor but because two amazing things happen with the iPhone 6 Plus. First the video is absolutely stunning with the optical image stabilization, you can walk about and get almost steadicam like shots on your iPhone. The phone also shoots brilliant 720p 240fps slow mo that looks absolutely stunning in low light or otherwise.

Images are sharper and there is definitely less hunting thanks to the on-sensor phase detection that has good and accurate focus capabilities. This overall improvement in focus results in sharper images and better results. The camera on the iPhone has been best in class, the new improved sensor and image processing will only carry that into the next year.

The large screen on the iPhone 6 Plus makes for a good viewfinder for the camera, and especially in video mode it comes in handy to pick and select your focus points. The fact that you can adjust the brightness on the fly will be appreciated by a lot of people, you can also lock in your points before you click a picture or shoot a video.

Phone Networks and Battery Life

The one thing that you immediately notice is the battery life of the iPhone 6 Plus, it will practically last you a day and a half. Even more if you are a light user. The networks are sustained and solid through areas with weak reception. Mostly in areas that we would notice weak reception with the iPhone 5 and 5s we saw great network reception with the iPhone 6 Plus, better than the iPhone 6 even.

Battery will last you 6+ hours with talk time on LTE networks and 7+ hours on 3G networks, with a switch to 2G we saw upwards of 8 hours which is impressive. The biggest drain on the battery is the display, so if you have less screen on time, then you get more talk time, and vice versa.

iOS 8

[pullquote_left]Apple’s biggest strength is the lack of weakness in iOS[/pullquote_left]

Apple’s biggest strength is the lack of weakness in iOS. Despite a few initial bugs on iOS 8, the next versions have been tweaked and work as flawlessly as any other iOS release ever. There is no denying that iOS is the best if not one of the best mobile operating systems, and also one of the reasons that iPhones have seen success through the years.

Apple has taken iOS 8 and moulded it well for the iPhone 6 Plus, and it works great. The iPhone 6 Plus essentially behaves like a mini-iPad, so you get landscape mode on the desktop as well as some essential apps like messaging and mail. Apple’s reachability with the use of the touch-id sensor makes a lot of sense on this gigantic phone. Third parties can leverage the large size of the display to their advantage and we have yet to see unique use case scenarios. However, Apple has updated the dev kit to make this work well.

Conclusion

Apple has made a big iPhone and there is no denying it, infact people said the same thing about the iPad when it was first released, and it went on to become the most selling tablet ever. Apple has given the market what they needed, a large size iPhone option. While the 4.7 inch iPhone may be the right size for most people, the iPhone 6 Plus, is just that big boy of a phone which comes with its perks. The large battery life will be a boon to any iPhone user of the past as, chargers will become a thing of the past. Those with a camera fetish will love the slow-mo capability that looks as juicy as the apple being sliced in slow motion. The optical image stabilization, large viewfinder for the display, and excellent use of the large screen to show landscape options truly adds to the already awesome iPhone experience.

For those looking for a little extra, the Note 4 rival launches the same day as the iPhone 6 Plus in India, so take a healthy pick.

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GOOD THINGS

• Excellent Battery
• Solid Networks
• Wow Camera
• Slo-Mo video at 240 fps

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BAD THINGS

• It Bends!
• Seriously, it bends!

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