iPhone 6 and 6 Plus review: Stellar updates for Apple's smartphones

SINGAPORE - When Apple officially announced the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on Sept 9, I had to launch the Weather app on my smartphone to check if hell had indeed, frozen over.

Apple has finally caved in to consumer demand with the larger screens on its latest iPhones. Fanboys of rival smartphone platforms (I’m referring to you, “fandroids”) may decry Apple’s latest iteration as an exercise in copycat-incrementalism, but the move finally quashes one of the few advantages its rivals have had for a while.

For the purpose of this review, I’ll touch on only four aspects of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus that I think may sway or dissuade consumers in Singapore.

DESIGN

Despite sporting a different form factor, with smooth edges and a curved body made of anodised aluminium and stainless steel, both smartphones are unmistakably part of the iPhone legacy thanks to Apple's consistent design language.

The iPhone 6 is 6.9mm thin, while its bigger brother is a wee bit thicker at 7.1mm. These are the thinnest smartphones Apple has ever made so far and their svelteness is certainly welcome. Despite the bigger screens, the phones don’t feel unwieldy in the hand and their curves provide a slimming feel.

I’m not a fan of the stark lines on the back of the device because it detracts from the almost seamless enclosure. But it’s a moot point because, in everyday use, most of us will adorn the back with a protective cover anyway.

The iPhone 6 and its larger counterpart come in three finishes: Silver, Gold and Space Gray. I find the Space Gray option particularly fetching, with the black bezel making it look like a sleek black slate of onyx.

Lacking the shiny, chamfered edges of its predecessor, one wonders if the model with the gold finish will be as popular this time round.

PERFORMANCE

Both new iPhones now sport a newer “A8” 64-bit processor from Apple. No details have been revealed about the A8's clock-speed. An apple-to-apple comparison of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus' performance with smartphones from the likes of Samsung or Microsoft is also difficult as the A8 runs a different operating system and cross-platform apps or games that push the performance of processors are scarce.

However, I found that it hardly lagged as I played graphics-intensive games or viewed high-resolution videos. The devices were competent at loading image- or animation-heavy websites as well. Just like the iPhone 5s, I’ve yet to encounter an app or game that pushes the processor to its limits.

The iPhones also include a dedicated motion processor that tracks your physical activities without taking a hit on battery life. The motion processor has been improved with a barometer that can measure altitude – it can, for instance, now measure the elevation of your running route or how many stairs you’ve climbed.

The power-efficient A8 processor and the larger batteries have improved the battery life considerably. Normal usage of the devices, which included image and video capture and playback, surfing on Wi-Fi and 4G, gameplay and a healthy amount of instant messaging yielded slightly more than 1.5 days of battery life. With a fully-charged phone, I hardly needed to lug an external battery charger or worry about running out of juice before I returned home.

DISPLAY

The bigger displays are arguably the most compelling new features on these iPhones. The 4.7-inch LCD display on the iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch on the 6 Plus are brighter and offer a much wider viewing angle during a side-by-side comparison with their predecessor.

It’s worth noting that the iPhone 6 Plus crams more pixels on its display, offering a higher resolution along with its bigger screen. The difference becomes apparent when you view videos captured at 60 frames per second on these devices. It’s like looking through a window in real life - the display on the Plus is that good.

There is, however, a compromise with the bigger display of the 6 Plus. One-handed usage was literally a stretch. I could reach and tap the bottom corners of the display with my thumb but had to balance its back precariously with the rest of my fingers instead of having the assurance of a solid grip.

Apple has thoughtfully included a new feature called Reachability, which vertically glides the onscreen interface within reach as you double-tap on the Home button. However, in actual usage, this seemed much more effective in use on the smaller iPhone 6, rather than the 6 Plus.

CAMERA

The main cameras on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are nothing short of amazing, considering their unimproved resolution of 8-megapixels. You no longer need a point-and-shoot camera.

Despite having the same resolution as its predecessor, Apple’s water-tight integration of software and hardware produces the best photos and videos I’ve seen yet on a smartphone. Photos sport more accurate colours and better exposure. There is also less digital noise in photos taken in low-light environments.

There’s also a built-in timelapse feature available for both front and back cameras and the ability to take higher-resolution panoramic photos at 43-megapixels.

A new and fast focusing method used in DSLRs has been baked into these iPhones. You barely need to tap on the screen to direct the focus on the camera as it automatically and instantly does so when you point it at a subject.

The super-fast focus even works during video capture: In previous models, you had to constantly tap on the screen to focus as you changed subjects but now the camera constantly keeps your subjects in focus without any user input needed.

Both phones include image stabilisation that aids in low-light photography and super-smooth video.

Without getting too technical, the 6 Plus has a slight edge in image and video stabilisation because its camera is also equipped with optical image stabilisation. This means that it constantly adjusts itself physically at a very high rate to make up for your movements. The iPhone 6’s camera only does so digitally.

There are now options to capture video at a life-like frame-rate of 60 frames per second.

Slow-motion videos can now be captured at up to 240 frames-per-second. When you capture a fast-moving bicycle or car at such a slow speed, you can actually see the individual spokes or rims on their wheels.

Selfie-lovers, Apple has not forsaken you. The 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera has a “burst-selfie” mode that lets you take a burst of snapshots simply by keeping your finger on the capture button.

A “high-dynamic range” feature also evens out the exposure in an image, so faces and backgrounds are evenly-lit and exposed.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have a thoroughly impressive repertoire of camera features and both are excellent at capturing good quality photos and videos. But it doesn’t stop there - a nifty upcoming feature in Apple’s new mobile operating system even lets you use a filter from photo apps like Instagram or VSCO (Update: extensions from VSCO are not in their latest release - which includes a couple of cool manual controls for the camera - and will eventually be in a future update) without leaving the camera app.

Apple is really pushing the envelope with mobile photography on its latest iPhones.

CONCLUSION

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are compelling upgrades simply because of their larger displays - if you are on a smaller iPhone, you wouldn’t want to go back once you’ve experienced more screen real estate.

The larger iPhone 6 Plus has a slight edge if you’re really into mobile photography or videography. If you’re a heavy consumer of movies or games, its higher-resolution display and slightly longer battery life will serve you well too.

If you don’t care much for big screens, the iPhone 6 packs the same innards in a compact form factor that you can comfortably use single-handedly.

To users who are thinking of switching platforms and comparing specifications: it’s not simply a numbers game. With Apple’s tighter control on software and hardware, it can tweak performance to its advantage. Other smartphones may sport faster processors or better features on paper but your mileage may vary in actual use. Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 8, is also arguably more fluid and elegant, and is chock-full of new features that put it on par with the latest mobile operating systems.

Prices for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus start at S$988 and can go up as high as S$1,448 if you purchase one without a mobile subscription contract. Both models of the iPhone are available from all three major telcos in Singapore from Sept 19 but it’s worth noting that telcos have chosen this opportunity to increase their monthly subscription rates (check out their rates here) as consumers reach the end of their subscription contracts.