iPhone 6 Plus, our full analysis
iPhone 6 Plus
The best
- Battery
- Design
- Performance
- Screen brightness in outdoor
- LTE 4G Cat 6
The worst
- High price
- No microSD expansion
- NFC only for Apple Pay
- Very improved sound
Specifications
Operating system 8 IOS
Size 5.5 inch
Resolution 1920 x 1080
Cameras 8.0/1.2 mpx
Capacity 2915 mAh
Internal memory 128 GB
Video analysis
A bit of history
It was "the right size" to a mobile device, according to the company. A size that has not evolved until five years later, in 2012, with the release of the iPhone 5. Pulling logic, if 3.5 inch was "the right size" a Smartphone, you should not have changed. But it has done so.
Apple seems to have set aside, at least in terms of the iPhone is concerned, that phrase attributed to Jobs: "most of the time people don't know what they want until you teach it". Now, new models are adapted to what people--its users, mainly - demand. The case of the screen size is one of the clearest examples.
Thus, with the iPhone 5, 5 c and 5S became the 4 inch screen, that still left unhappy to some users, already accustomed to using Android phones nearby at that time to the 5-inch screen.
With the generation that we met last month put solution to the problem. We have an iPhone 6 4.7 inch that a server, as I said in the pre-analysis video that we recorded on 26 September, and here I leave if you want to see about both models, seems the perfect size for a smartphone. More or less of course.
In addition, Apple has decided to join the trend of the big screens, the 'phablets', a term which I never liked. But that's another fight. The Apple appears to be closer to the taste of the consumer, who now does seem to know what he wants, after 7 years using smartphones.
I have to say that we have taken in stride this iPhone 6 Plus analysis, among other things to try to somehow reduce the prejudices with which this test we articulately. When it was announced the iPhone 6 Plus in the first thing we thought was in the Asian market, where these phablets are his biggest fans.
After almost three weeks using it daily, my impression of him has given a nearly 180 ° turn. I was surprised, especially the ease to get used to its large screen size and, above all, its battery life, the other traditional workhorse of the Apple iPhone.
Is this iPhone 6 Plus is much more than we thought initially. We will check it.
Design
In addition to the increase in size, the big change in this new generation of iPhone is design based on curves. More iPad, less iPhone, we could say.
The edges are rounded, something that at first glance may surprise, accustomed to the latest models and their straight lines (except the 5 c), but that makes sense if we think of the strange thing that would have been a smartphone of this size with edges straight and flat, especially when grab it. IPhone 6 Plus, just like the iPhone 6, being manufactured in anodized aluminium and glass curved, and the two combined to perfection.
Hard to explain, but enough to do this test, if you have the opportunity to: with your eyes closed, surrounded with the fingertip terminal, from front to rear, and you will see it is difficult - not impossible, to clear - differentiate where the screen ends and begins where the aluminum casing.
That is due to the slight curvature of the glass that protects the screen, in its part close to the edges of the same, and is one of the details of the design of this iPhone 6 Plus that we most liked. Also the iPhone 6, clear, and it is that in terms of design, almost everything you say iPhone 6 Plus is worth for the iPhone 6 except, of course is, when we talk about size.
Before you start analyzing the minutiae of this iPhone 6 Plusdesign, here you have a view in 3D so you can follow this analysis viewing point by point every paragraph of which we speak. You can turn it and zoom in / out zoom to pleasure to check every nuance.
We will not extend too much, because 6 Plus iPhone design is exactly the same as that of his younger brother, the iPhone 6, that our colleague Iván Muñoz already analyzed for you last week. So let's go to the grain.
The first thing that draws attention is the new position of the power button, which goes from his usual place at the top of the iPhone to the right side. Something normal, considering that with the increasing size of the screen would be pretty uncomfortable to have to extend the hand to unlock the terminal.
In fact, in this iPhone 6 Plus is almost impossible, unless you have hands of basketball player.
Also are new bands that we observe in the rear cascarsa of the iPhone, rubber, moreover, which has not pleased too to many users of Apple, to cut 'visually', say, on the other hand neat device design.
It must be taken into account, that Yes, that is a mandatory resource, as are these bands which separate the housing aluminium mobile antennas, to avoid problems of coverage, something that already was a big problem in early models of iPhone.
As you can see in the picture, the camera stands out for the first time slightly on the back cover, rather than from Apple justify as part of the design, but that almost certainly is because you have failed to reduce the thickness of the lens, as if they have other brands (Sony, for example).
To be protected with Sapphire Crystal, Apple ensures that there will be no problem in terms of durability. In these two weeks, and after long trot, the truth is that the glass of the camera remains intact, as new, but will have to check their strength with the passage of time.
Next the camera we find the new Flash True Tone, with rounded instead of elongated, as well as a microphone for the cancellation of noise during calls. On the side, the volume buttons are elongated, as they were in the 5 c, in contrast to what came to be common in other models of the brand.
Also similar to the iPhone 5 c is the arrangement of elements on the lower edge of the iPhone 6 Plus, with a single speaker, something that at this point seems rather disappointing. While it is true that it has improved - and much - power that it can be achieved, the sound is still cute and pretty poor quality for a phone of this size and this price range.
In addition, a fairly common problem on many smartphones is perpetuated with this design: to grasp the horizontal terminal to, for example, to see a video on YouTube, it is quite likely that we plugging unintentionally speaker and force ourselves to take the phone in an unnatural manner. This, on a smartphone of 5.5 inches and a spectacular display to enjoy multimedia contents, we feel a very important bug.
Photo Gallery iPhone 6 Plus
You thought that we were going to finish the section on design not to mention the BendGate? Tempted I've been, but we have to talk about for the umpteenth time it. Is folded the iPhone 6 Plus? Clear that Yes, as other many smartphones aluminum. Is folded under normal use? Isn't it. At least after 2 weeks with it in your pocket, and not having anything care - by the way, clear - it does not present any suspicious symptoms.
For more information, here's the incident had by our partners in Germany when they published their evidence concerning the BendGate. We follow to ours, which is this analysis of the iPhone 6 Plus.
Screen: bigger and better than
I said at the beginning of this analysis, which initially did not convince me this iPhone screen size 6 Plus. You know, that big donkey, walk or not to walk. It turns out that the donkey does not walk, run.
While the increase of the iPhone 6 is limited to just enough to keep the ppp 326 pixel density that already had the previous models, this iPhone 6 Plus Apple finally makes the leap to Full HD.
Something which, on the other hand, it was necessary. With a screen of 5.5 inch can not keep a lower resolution without back stay over your competitors. The 6 Plus get so 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and a density of 401ppp, still far from the QHD display from Samsung Galaxy Note 4, for example, but in one more than acceptable range.
Apart from the resolution, what is striking is the brightness of the screen, which is much higher than in previous models. Here the difference is noticeable, especially in exteriors, where now we can see the screen clearly, and even with the Sun affecting front it will be able to use the smartphone and read in it without any problem.
Test of contrast / color fidelity test
In terms of brightness, iPhone 6 Plus reaches the 507 cd/m2, well ahead of all his rivals. For you to have some context, the Samsung Galaxy S5 reaches in the same tests, 1794:1 contrast - the SuperAMOLED screen as we have already said - but only 379 cd/m2 brightness.
As for the colors, Apple says that it covers the full spectrum sRGB, but in our tests the real value is 98.3%, which is fine. Following the comparison, S5 Galaxy reached 95% fidelity in his day.
The viewing angle is also excellent, thanks to what Apple calls "Dual Domain Pixels", which consists in organizing pixels V - something that has not invented Apple, on the other hand - shaped, as well as having a new polarizer and encouraging as well as the approach to the top glass screen.
The general feeling is that we we have a big screen, with an excellent luster, who has finally managed to solve the problem of viewing outdoors.
Hardware and performance
Making Apple has worked with processes of 20 nanometer - against the 28 Nm of the previous A7 - which means that inside we find up to 2,000 million transistors, almost double that of the previous generation. All in a smaller SoC, which leaves room to Apple to be able to evolve towards a possible A8x.
Next to him is the remake coprocessor movement M8, responsible for collecting data, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope and now also as a novelty, also a barometer of recording altitude data. Thus free from work to the main processor so that it can devote all their efforts to other tasks.
On paper, and in broad terms, these data are not anything surprising and dwarf compared the specifications of the great Giants Android, handled long with four to eight processor cores, higher clock speeds and a quantity of RAM memory which in rare instances lower the 2 GB.
Despite its apparent weakness on the paper, the overall performance of this iPhone 6 Plus in field tests has been excellent with a dichotomy between hardware and software that works perfectly.
The iPhone 6 Plus moves with astounding fluidity, both through their menus when handled by applications and games of last generation demanding, or surf the net. Touch IDresponse, has also been improved more fast and precise in the 5S iPhone.
IOS multitasking management is still outstanding which makes that today to not be perceived as necessary an increase in RAM. For now, the only time he is perceived as insufficient RAM remain when you open multiple tabs in Safari, which must be recharged again returning to open.
These sensations are also substantiated by performance benchmarks, both those based on Javascript - that measure the performance of the CPU-, as in those who evaluated also the performance of the graphics processor or GPU.
In the following table you can meet the scores obtained by the Apple iPhone 6 Plus in different tests during its analysis.
| Benchmark/feature | Apple iPhone 6 Plus |
|---|---|
| Kraken | 4.563 ms |
| SunSpider 1.0.2 | 356 ms |
| 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited | 17.914 |
| Geekbench 3 | 1,628 / 2922 |
| Basemark OS II | 1.395 |
| 3 GFXbench T-Rex | 2.293 (40.9fps) |
- Kraken and Sunspider: JavaScript-based, they are ideal to measure the single CPU performance.
- 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited: graphics performance
- Geekbench 3: processor speed
- Basemark OS II: similar to Antutu or Geekbench, but cross-platform.
- GFXbench: graphics performance
On the iPhone 6 Plus the result in multicore almost doubles the result obtained with single-core (1.633/2.928), something logical since it has two. However, Android devices do not meet never this premise. You can corroborate it the following comparative table, where you can also see that the result is virtually the same on the iPhone 6 4.7 inch:
| Model | Geekbench 3 |
|---|---|
| Apple iPhone 6 | 1,633 / 2.928 |
| Apple iPhone 6 Plus | 1,628 / 2922 |
| Samsung Galaxy S5 | 898 / 2.749 |
| HTC One M8 | 979 / 2.858 |
| Sony Xperia Z3 | 940 / 2.509 |
| LG G3 | 951 / 2.453 |
| Xiaomi Mi4 | 1,011 / 2.814 |
A significant fact that it calls into question the criticism received by Apple ridiculing its 'limited' hardware, cataloging it's outdated and old-fashioned before even of its launch.
Software: iOS 8 Tomb
As we've already talked about iOS 8 by active and passive, we will focus on some characteristics of this iPhone 6 Plus – some also shared with the iPhone 6-.Increasing size of the display on both models, and up to 5.5 inches in the case of the 6 Plus, allows that iOS 8 now can show a row over icons on screen, up to 28, while retaining the option to continue showing the 24 traditional icons divided into 5 rows by using the 'View Zoom' option which enlarges the size of the icons.
The result can be useful for people with vision problems, but fails to convince us.
In addition, to facilitate access without the need of force the thumb or move the hand has been enabled a new feature called 'Reachability' which is accessed playing - that not striking-, twice followed by the Start button, and not making anything other than download the four rows of icons above to hide the two lower zone.
In principle it seems more useful, especially if you need to use the phone with one hand. The reality is that, and despite the fact that I've tried, I just always using both hands to go back between menus or reach the top of the screen.
A side effect of the change of resolution on the screens of the new iPhone, is the period of adaptation in applications that will be occurring gradually over the next few weeks. It is not something new, we already went through the same process when the iPhone 5 was released.
At the moment those applications that have not been adapted can still be used although either samples bands black, or they are very large and distorted. Cuts of image and the blinking in the PPP still not updated to the new formats are also common.
In the case of the iPhone 6 Plus the effect is even more unpleasant, although we have already seen many apps update in these last two weeks, and we hope that the missing matching batteries soon. The case of WhatsApp is the most pressing: I am being blind to the lack of definition in chats.
Another peculiar feature of 6 Plus iPhone, and in this if it differs from his younger brother, is that we can use it in landscape mode, as we would with an iPad. In principle not convinced me this option, but I have to admit that every time I use it more so, especially in certain apps that are already adapted to do so.
The latest remarkable novelty is the inclusion of NFC, but will only serve to Apple Pay, a payment service that is only available in the United States and that there is no official release date in any other country, so we're not going to dwell on it. Here's more information about Apple Pay.
Camera with EOI
Our colleague Miguel Martínez already published nearly two weeks ago a complete comparison of Chamber between the previous and the new models of iPhone. In particular, comparing the iPhone 4S, 5 c, 5S, 6 and 6 Plus.
In the section of this analysis of the iPhone 6 Plus we will devote to summarize the most important of such comparative, focusing on the new models. But before, we will briefly describe the characteristics of our 6 Plus iPhone's camera.
We have a 8 megapixel camera iSight. In principle, the same camera already riding backward, if we only look at megapixels, which is a mistake. It is an error because although keep the resolution, we have what Apple called "Focus Pixels", i.e. a different way of managing the autofocus. Now, instead of doing so by contrast, we do this by phases - phase detection in English-.
With this we can send more information to the software that manages the camera and is able to focus faster. Improved autofocus, which by itself has always been one of the great strengths of Apple smartphones face competition.
We also have 1.5U pixels and an aperture of f2.2, usual in this kind of devices, as well as a better control of the exhibition, with which we can 'light' or 'darken' scene from own iPhone screen, simply by dragging your finger up or down. It has also improved the recognition of faces.
That Yes, perhaps the camera of this star iPhone 6 Plus be your optical image stabilizer, exclusive to this model. Does not have the iPhone 6 of 4.7 inch, something that has pissed off enough to lovers of small screens - including myself, as I have already said before.
You notice the difference? Yes, but not as much as it might seem, and only in certain outlets with specific conditions. If noticed, and, during the video recording. Instead of relying on digital optical stabilizer - software - to reduce the effect of our trembling hands, with the iPhone 6 Plus we get a smooth and without shaking video recording, but do not have a steel pulse.
Speaking of recording video, you can count with 6 Plus iPhone returns slow, this time to 240 fps, which produces some high quality videos and very striking. It is a pity that the effect is lost when you export the video, what so you can see what we have had to record own iPhone playing the video that we had previously filmed.
Normal video recording is performed in Full HD 1080 p 60 fps and, which is great, if it was not because we do not have any option to--at least in the default Apple camera app - for quality control which we want to record. It seems silly, but if you want to record, for example, at 720 p, because we do not need more, we do not have that option and is somewhat frustrating.
We may also use one of the novelties of iOS 8, videos time-lapse recording, that all said, there are cool. Here is an example:
In the test of 6 iPhone camera and iPhone 6 Plus you can see a list of images with examples of photographs taken in the most varied situations: light day, backlight, night, inside, etc...
If a conclusion can be drawn from the comparative 6 iPhone camera and iPhone 6 Plus is enhanced more than evident in the level of detail in the images obtained, especially in conditions of low light and a greater brightness in images captured by the iPhone 6 Plus.
Light day
In optimal lighting conditions, evolution followed by all phones from the iPhone 4S is almost imperceptible, at least as far as image definition refers.As we said last week, one of the main differences is the white balance that has evolved to more cold and tones close to reality with the passage of time.
With two models of iPhone 6 in our possession we can also say that the speed of approach of both terminals has increased slightly, being a bit faster in the 5.5 inch model. "Here come into play the ' Focus Pixels" that we talked about before.
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
Detail day light
These images have been taken in full light of the Sun, without the presence of clouds that soften the light, as you can see at first glance.Warns an real evolution in the treatment of the funds, with their high lights and shadows, where the new iPhone gets a level of detail and much greater clarity that allows us to appreciate the colors of the image, as a whole, in a way much closer to reality. Remember that, if you want, you can see the full comparison with 5 models here.
Focusing on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus iPhone, this type of photography allows to warn that extra brightness to the Apple phablet permeates all photographs, something truly useful when capturing images in unfavorable light conditions, as we will see later.
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
Backlight
These outlets, made to backlight, shows improvements in sensor integrated in the different models of iPhone, which allow to notice details in high-contrast lighting situations, with reflections in the lens perfectly.Striking the balanced that turn the lights and the colors on the new device, which can differentiate the elements located at the bottom of the image, in addition to always uncomfortable burning heaven reduces the light intensity without problems.
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
Detail backlight
Of course, if we talk about complicated and adverse situations for a camera, the backlight is one of the most difficult aspects of control, especially if we try to capture details in such circumstances.These photographs are a good example of more appreciable difference between the images captured by 6 iPhone and iPhone 6 Plus, and also quite separated from the previous models of the phone, especially when it comes to capture the colors of the elements in the foreground.
Also perceived a decrease in brightness of the light source, which we can always control with different levels of exposure that allows you to set the camera of the iPhone.
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
Night
If you are looking for one change more than appreciable in the Chambers of these phones, have reached the indicated type of photography. Apple has already announced in the past that they would alter the iPhone 6 software algorithm to achieve capture better photographs in adverse lighting situations, trying to eliminate most of the noise.Perhaps the iPhone 6 Plus is the one that generates best pictures in dark environments, although the upsell benefit of luminosity that presents Mobile also causes, at the same time, a greater presence of noise.
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
Detail night photography
The following list of photographs does nothing other than confirm the more than acceptable improvement in the sensor 6 Plus iPhone camera that allows to generate a much more clear and sharp images. Also exemplifies perfectly the change of camera white balance, avoiding the warm tones to achieve tones that are faithful to reality and cold.To achieve the same brightness presenting the iPhone 6 Plus, which works better in adverse conditions, the iPhone 6 4.7 '' raises the ISO values, which in turn generates more noise in the image.
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 PLUS
HDR
The native application of the iPhone camera is not exactly one which presents more configuration options and modes. In fact, beyond applying filters in real time (which appeared with iOS 7), single mode in the phone beyond the automatic mode is mode H DR.Sincerely, and as a result of the variation in levels of exposure to capture images, HDR mode it does not a drastic photographs improvement, beyond allowing reduce high lights of heaven or slightly lighten the shadows. With each new model, the mode has improved with dropper, allowing to generate images with greater definition in all areas of contrasts.
iPhone 6 without and with HDR
iPhone 6 Plus without and with HDR
Portrait
When it comes to capturing people, skin tones are brighter and more faithful to what you could find in real life, in the photographs of the iPhone 6.Perhaps this is one of the types of photography, besides in the night images, in which are better appreciated the differences between different models of the brand cameras. Apple has improved its local tone mapping algorithm for better exposure and a greater contrast.
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
Inside
Pictures taken indoors back to show that "plus" of light presenting the iPhone 6 Plus (pun intended) that generates less contrasty but slightly better illuminated images.In your hand (and eye) is deciding what type of image is more adjusts to your ideal of quality: if images of the iPhone 6 of 4.7 inches, with a greater presence of contrasts, or the 6 Plus, most likely to illuminate dark spaces.
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
iPhone 6 Plus
Moving object
Talking clear and direct: If you want to capture moments full of movement, of the type of entertainment or sports scenes, and unless you have a great lighting, a vile mo will not be your best ally in this enterprise.The inability to control the shutter on the iPhone - unless you use a third-party app, as VSOCam - prevents freezing objects in motion to catch without blurs. Logically, closer is the object, more difficult it will be get it clearly.
However, this does not mean that Apple not been implemented improvements both in the approach and in the stabilization of the camera, something that in its own way also assists in obtaining this type of pictures.
As an example, the following images of the Parrot Jumping Sumo we tested ago.
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
Conclusion of camera
As a conclusion, we can say emphatically that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus iPhone are able to improve a camera sensor already on its pretty good. If you still do not trust, take a look at the comparison of complete Chamber of our colleague Miguel Martínez.As already mentioned in the previous paragraphs, optical stabilizer present on the iPhone 6 Plus enables capture slightly sharper images and increase the speed of approach, as well as add a little extra brightness.
On the contrary, iPhone 6 4.7 "generates more contrasty images that the of his older brother, and with greater presence of noise, but very similar in terms of quality and level of detail.
Here are more photos taken with the iPhone 6 Plus, so you can see for yourself the level of detail that you can get with the new Apple iPhone.
Photo Gallery made with iPhone 6 Plus images
A decent autonomy, finally
One of the major workhorses of Apple has always been the autonomy of its iPhone, that is, its battery life. With the iPhone 6 still practically equal, but if there is a point that you should go for this iPhone 6 Plus is its autonomy.
First of all, a small confession: since a year ago come using as personal phone an iPhone 5 c, in addition to the dozens of terminals that pass constantly through our writing. In the case of the 5 c, the battery lasted a day and a half using normal/reduced, newly released. The last few months, however, endure the full day became mission impossible.
That hope was put in what Apple was able to squeeze out the batteries of their new models, although never achieving in mAh rivals Android or Windows Phone, it is a closed ecosystem managing better the consumption of the operating system.
As I say, on the iPhone 6 don't notice a difference, but that feels, and much, the 6 Plus iPhone and its 2915 mAh. Using an exhaustive (benchmarks, test camera, games, applications, messaging, YouTube, etc) we endure all day long without any problems.
The best, however, is that with a normal, day to day, it is able to withstand even around 36 h. This means that I have been charging the phone one of every two nights over the past two weeks, which for an iPhone is a complete revolution.
As a curiosity, in laboratory tests have seen that the 6 Plus iPhone is smartphone offering more autonomy in terms of navigation 4 G refers (with brightness to the maximum).
Conclusions
I started this two week trial with many doubts about the iPhone 6 Plus. I am not supporter of more than 5-inch screens, which, of itself, was already a significant bias. However, I've tried enough terminals of this size as to get an idea of the process of adapting which one you need to feel comfortable with your smartphone.
In the case of the iPhone 6 Plus, I can say with total confidence that in two weeks I'm more than accustomed to his size and that I would not change it for his little brother. And is that although the 4.7 inch seem me a perfect size for a smartphone, now that I've used not ever sacrifice the extra battery that provides the iPhone 6 Plus.
The decision is therefore clear, between one and the other: iPhone 6 for convenience, iPhone 6 battery Plus. It's simple. Both are fantastic terminals that it is difficult to put any glue that is not, of course, always: price, too high for many pockets.
The 16 GB version costs € 799, increasing €100 more each time that it increases the storage: 64 GB and €999 €899 of 128 GB. Apple, for now, not to cross the barrier of €1000.
Our assessment
- Design 9 9/10
- Screen 9 9/10
- Hardware 10 10/10
- Software 9 9/10
- Camera 9 9/10
- Battery 9 9/10
- Connectivity 10 10/10
- Quality/price 7 7/10
Extracted from the website: ComputerHoy.com
