iPhone 6 Plus Review: Six Months Later

Apple’s latest iPhones are its fastest-selling smartphones to date — and there’s a great reason for that. They’re not only substantially bigger than all of their predecessors; they’re also better in almost every way. After using an iPhone 6 Plus for the past six months, I still think it’s one of the best smartphones money can buy.

But just like any other smartphone, the 6 Plus isn’t without its flaws. In this review, I’ll describe how I’ve lived with those, and why the 6 Plus continues to be the smartphone I carry most of the time.

Design

While Steve Jobs may have hated the idea of super-sized smartphones, Apple had no choice but to make the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus much bigger. Users were fast switching to larger Android devices, and this was the only way to break that trend. And we’re glad it finally did.

There’s no denying the 6 Plus takes some getting used to — especially if you’re upgrading from an older iPhone. I was using an HTC One M8 with a 5-inch screen before I got mine, and yet it still felt huge when I first pulled it out of its box and slipped it into my pocket.

It only takes a couple of days to adjust to its size, however, and you soon start to appreciate that 5.5-inch Retina HD display. But as gorgeous as the 6 Plus is, the vast majority will want to keep theirs in a sturdy case most of the time.

This is an incredibly slippy phone, thanks to its slim and sleek aluminum form factor — and that makes it incredibly easy to drop — especially at 172 grams, which is almost 50 grams heavier than the iPhone 6, and exactly 60 grams heavier than the iPhone 5s.

I dropped my 6 Plus after two days of using it. I was pulling it out of my pocket to answer a call and it slipped right out of my fingers onto the floor. Fortunately, I was in a carpeted room and there was no damage, but I’ve been using a case almost every day ever since.

The case also eliminates one of my biggest complaints about the 6 Plus — and the iPhone 6, for that matter — which is its protruding camera. I understand why it had to stick out, and that a thinner camera module wouldn’t have been as good. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

I’m also not keen on its big bezels.

Rival smartphone makers like LG have managed to make 5.5-inch smartphones that are much more compact than the 6 Plus by reducing the bezels around the display as much as possible. The 6 Plus is bigger than the G3 in almost every way (except thickness), and only slightly narrower than the Galaxy Note 4, which has a larger 5.7-inch display.

I have no complaints about the rest of the 6 Plus’s design, though. Even with the gorgeous Galaxy S6 on the way, I still think the 6 Plus is the prettiest smartphone on the market right now — for lots of reasons.

At just 7.1mm, it’s crazy thin. It has beautifully rounded edges that wrap around to seamlessly meet its rounded display as if the two were all one piece. And if you do use it without a case, it’ll nestle comfortably in your palm like the old iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS.

For a while many of us expected the iPhone 6 to look exactly like the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s, but with a larger display — and that’s exactly what I hoped it would be. After all, they were incredibly attractive devices.

But I don’t think their sharp edges would have suited a device as big as the 6 Plus.

Display

The Retina HD display on the 6 Plus is the biggest and sharpest smartphone display Apple has made to date, and it’s absolutely stunning. Of course, it doesn’t have as many pixels as the Quad HD displays we’re seeing on other devices these days, but that doesn’t matter.

The 6 Plus has the best 1080p smartphone display I’ve ever used, and over past few years, I’ve used a lot, having owned devices from HTC, LG, Samsung, Motorola, and OnePlus. It’s incredibly bright and vibrant, and it has excellent color accuracy, which makes everything from playing games to watching movies a real treat.

Because that Retina HD display is laminated, it is impressively thin. When you put your finger against the glass, it almost feels like you’re touching the actual LCD panel — like there’s nothing between you and the pixels. Bright icons almost look like they’re popping out of the screen.

This also means the 6 Plus is great outdoors; you can snap photos and videos, read text messages and emails, and more under the sun and you’ll have no problem seeing any of it.

Don’t listen to those who criticize Apple for not giving the 6 Plus a Quad HD display, then, because it doesn’t need one. It’s perfectly good without one.

When I first began using the 6 Plus, it replaced my iPad almost entirely. I found its 5.5-inch display to be ideal for reading, playing games, browsing the web, and even catching up on my favorite TV shows. Six months on, that hasn’t changed much.

I still use my 6 Plus for tasks I used to use an iPad for. If I’m sat watching TV and I want to browse the web or check Twitter, the screen in my pocket is now big enough for those tasks, whereas the 4-inch iPhone 5s was just too small, and I ended up reaching for my iPad instead.

One of the great things about the 6 Plus’s display is that developers are taking advantage of its size with optimized landscape views. In Apple’s own Mail and Messages apps, for instance, you get to see your inbox while you’re reading a message.

Little things like this make the 6 Plus even better for being productive when you’re on the go.

There is one, albeit minor, downside to the 6 Plus’s display, however: even after six months on the market, there are still lots of iOS apps that aren’t yet optimized for it, which means they’re blown up and look strangely out of proportion.

Most iOS developers have been working to fix this, and you’ll find all of the big names are on top of it. But it is still a problem with a number of apps.

Performance

The specifications packed into the 6 Plus make it more than just a phone. It’s powered by Apple’s new A8 processor — its second chip built on desktop-class 64-bit architecture — and no matter what you throw at it, it’ll take it all in its stride.

Not only is general performance incredibly smooth, but the 6 Plus loads apps in a snap.

Take the camera, for example — which is one of the things you need to be fast; it’s ready to take a picture within 2 seconds of tapping its icon, which means you can grab your shot — or several of them using burst mode — before you miss the action.

The 6 Plus also plays the latest high-end games and streams HD video without so much as a stutter, and apps that are now optimized for its A8 chip tend to be noticeably snappier on the 6 Plus than they are on the iPhone 5s. Premium games also look better.

The 6 Plus also boots up several seconds faster than its predecessors, and loads apps and games slightly quicker. However, the difference in performance isn’t that significant unless you play a lot of high-end games.

Common apps like Twitter, Facebook, Messages, and even Camera usually load just as fast on the iPhone 5s as they do on the 6 Plus. With that said, if you’re only interested in performance, and the bigger screens and better cameras aren’t important, you probably don’t need to upgrade yet.

In comparison with the Galaxy Note 4, the 6 Plus tends to be smoother and snappier overall, which I blame on Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface, which is notoriously sluggish.

Once the Note 4 has booted apps and games, it has no problems running them on its quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor. But initial loading times for things like games and the camera app are slower than the 6 Plus, as is switching between apps and even getting around the OS.

I’ve also found connectivity and networking to be excellent on the 6 Plus. I can’t remember the last time I had a dropped call, and my 6 Plus is capable of reaching roughly the same Wi-Fi speeds — if not greater — than my Mac and a Galaxy Note 4 on my home network.

You may run into some issues when multitasking, however. While the 6 Plus can switch apps quickly, you may notice that they often need to be reloaded before you can use them. A similar thing happens when you switch between multiple tabs in Safari or Chrome.

That’s not the processor’s fault; that’s because the 6 Plus — just like the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5s — has just 1GB of RAM.

iOS has long been great at managing just 1GB of RAM, and for years, it hasn’t been too much of a problem. But with iOS software advancing all the time, it is now noticeable — at least for heavy users.

Apple did provide 2GB of RAM with the iPad Air 2, however, so perhaps the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will get a RAM upgrade later this year.

Battery Life

When the new iPhones launched last September, I pre-ordered both. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted, so I thought I’d try them for a week each and return the one I didn’t want. More than anything else, it was battery life that made me decide the 6 Plus was my favorite.

My 6 Plus never dies on me before the end of the day — no matter how much I use it. That’s not an exaggeration. Even if I’m addicted to a game and play it a lot, or watch a lot of Netflix or YouTube, I can get at least a day’s use out of it.

If I don’t use it heavily, I’ll get more than a day. In fact, I often charge my 6 Plus every other night, rather than every night like previous iPhones — or the many Androids I’ve used.

When it’s in standby, the 6 Plus uses hardly any power. I tend to have Do Not Disturb turn on automatically from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m., so I don’t get any notifications through the night, but it rarely uses my than 1 or 2 percent battery while I’m sleeping.

Camera

Apple has long been producing terrific smartphone cameras, and it only gets better with the 6 Plus. The Cupertino company decided to stick with an 8-megapixel sensor again this year, but it has made improvements to it again that make it one of the best smartphone cameras on the market.

I’ve used — for at least two weeks — almost every flagship device released in 2014 (with the exception of those running Windows Phone), including the HTC One M8, the Galaxy S5 and Note 4, the Motorola Moto X, the OnePlus One, and the LG G3. Not one of them takes pictures as good as the 6 Plus.

Photos taken on the iPhone are incredibly clear and crisp, and they boast beautiful colors without being over-saturated. 1080p video looks just as good, and it’s smoother than ever thanks to optical image stabilization.

I’ve included some sample shots taken on the 6 Plus in the gallery below, which show what it’s capable of in different situations. Bear in mind that none of these have been edited, but they have been resized.

It’s not just the photos themselves that are great; it’s the software, too. I can snap a photo on my iPhone in a few seconds, and thanks to its fast shutter speed, I can capture moving objects with good results. Other phones don’t allow me to do that.

iOS 8’s Extensions means that editing photos is also much-improved, with the ability to apply effects from third-party apps right inside the built-in Photos app. Here’s a few more samples that have been edited.

The camera is one of the things I miss most about my iPhone when I switch over to Android. I love Android itself, but I take a lot of pictures with my phone, and they never look as good when I’m not using an iPhone.

Touch ID

The other thing I miss when I switch is Touch ID. It makes securing your iPhone so much easier, and with the 6 Plus, it’s more reliable than ever. When Touch ID made its debut last year, I had to reset my fingerprint every few months because it would stop recognizing it.

But with my 6 Plus, I’m still using the same one I set up back in September. There’s no good reason not to use Touch ID now — especially now that is supports third-party apps, too.

Bendgate

It’s impossible to talk about the 6 Plus these days without mentioning “bendgate” — it’s the first thing non-iPhone users ask about when they notice you’re using a 6 Plus. But I haven’t had any bending issues with my device in six months.

While I do keep it in a case most of the time, there have been plenty of days when I’ve used it without one — and kept the device in the front pocket of my jeans. And yet, it’s still as flat today as it was when I bought it. So long as you don’t sit on it, you will be fine.

I’ve also read reports about iPhone 6 and 6 Plus displays scratching easily, and again, I’ve not experience this problem at all.

I’ve never used a screen protector on my 6 Plus — or my iPhone 5 and 5s, either, in fact — and I don’t have a single scratch on the glass. Apple uses super strong Gorilla Glass, so unless you intend to scratch it, you shouldn’t have any issues.

Of course, if you’re worried, you can always apply a screen protector, which can be picked up on eBay these days for less than a dollar.

Verdict

For a short time, I felt like I was missing out when I used an iPhone. The tiny, 4-inch display on the iPhone 5s became more and more frustrating, and for about six months before the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus made their debut, I used Android exclusively.

But that’s no longer the case. I almost always use my 6 Plus now unless I’m reviewing another device, and when I do, I feel like I’m using one of the best smartphones money can buy. It has it all — great looks, excellent software, and terrific specifications.

After six months of use, I have no reservations about recommending this device to anybody; you just cannot be disappointed by it. And if you’re an ex-iPhone user who switched for a bigger display, it’s time to switch back.

iPad Air 2 specs review

Well, the iPad Air 2 pre-orders are currently ongoing and Apple is about to start shipping the first units by the end of this week. The slate certainly raised some eyebrows when Cupertinians announced it to be the world's thinnest tablet, yet still carrying a hardware bump that makes it the fastest iPad to date.

So, is the iPad Air 2's hardware upgrade that much better over the original iPad Air? Let's check it out.

Design

As far as design language goes – there is very little difference between the new tablet and its predecessor. The device continues to follow Apple's unibody construction, keeping a simple, clean, and elegant appearance, with materials that just look high-end. The entire front of the device is, as always, covered by glass, which rounds off at the ends and seamlessly binds with the aluminum that makes up the rest of the tablet's body. The back is flat, with the camera positioned in the top-left corner, the iPad logo at the bottom, and Apple's illustrious logo stamped right in the middle.

There are a couple of small differences between the new slate and its predecessor that can be seen upon first inspecting the device. For one – the volume mute (or rotation lock) toggle switch that used to sit right above the volume buttons is gone – not a terrible thing, as the Control Center that was introduced with iOS 7 already gives the user quick access to the functions of the hardware toggle, making it nigh redundant. The second small change is, of course, the home button at the front of the device. Gone is the slightly concave, round button with a signature square inside, for it has now been replaced by Apple's own Touch ID fingerprint sensor – the very same that was introduced with the iPhone 5s, and many wondered why it didn't make its way to the first iPad Air.

Display

There are no surprises, when in comes to the display of the new iPad Air 2. The screen keeps the same 9.7” display size that the iPads have been toting since the first model, employs the same 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution, and delivers a 264 ppi pixel density, which will all look pretty familiar to anyone who has used iPad 3 or above.

Now, if we delve just a bit deeper than size and pixels, the glass of the screen has seen a change. In order for Apple to make the iPad Air 2 so thin, it had to cut spaces anywhere and everywhere. Thus, the touchscreen production technology was re-done – instead of having separate layers for the LCD, touch sensor, and cover glass, Apple now employs a complex in-cell technology, which binds all 3 layers together to fit them in a thinner piece of glass.

What this should mean to the user is that, due to the less amount of layers standing between the LCD and the outside world, the on-screen image will be even brighter, more vivid, and have better viewing angles. The same tech is assumed to be used in the creation of the iPhone 6 screens and the praise the handsets are getting for their picture quality is pretty explanatory.

Processor and Memory

The iPad Air 2 will be powered by a new A8X chip. Still a 64-bit architecture, of course, the successor of the A7 in the original Air is at least two times faster, according to Apple, yet power-efficient enough to maintain the 10-hour battery life that iPads are known for.

Recently published Geekbench tests of the new tablet show that the A8X is actually a triple-core processor – quite an unusual setup – with each core clocked at 1.5 GHz. As far as speed goes – in the single-core test, the A8X showed only about 25% better performance, compared to the A7. However, in the multi-core test, the new CPU truly shined, scoring 4,477 where the old one only got 2,644 points. Of course, Apple-promised hardware performances are usually possible in very specific scenarios. None the less, even if the

As far as memory goes – Apple has finally bumped the RAM of its flagship tablet to 2 GB. Many techies were not exactly pleased with Cupertinians' stubbornness to touch the memory of their flagship devices and this upgrade has been a long time coming. Now, iOS has never had trouble running smoothly on iDevices with 1 GB of RAM, however, what the increase should mean to you is that the new tablet will be better capable of maintaining multiple apps and should suspend them on rarer occasions, which, in turn, means faster task-switching, without waiting for the app to "un-freeze" itself.. Also, it is probably safe to assume that Apple upgraded the RAM in order to have the device better prepared for whatever games the developers may throw at it, now that the Metal API is here to allow “console-grade” graphics.

Camera

It's hard to imagine anyone ever reaching for their tablet, when they want to take a photo, yet sometimes – it's either an only option, due to lack of another device, or the fastest and easiest one, due to logistics. Apple acknowledged that and gave the iPad Air 2's camera its respective bump. The old 5 MP snapper has been replaced with an 8 MP iSight camera, capable of shooting pictures in a 3264×2448 resolution, with a still rather average aperture of F2.4.

The A8X SoC lends a hand in taking better pictures with an apple-designed image signal processor, which helps better the face detection, reduces noise and grain, and enhances image editing options.

The camera app's features consist of manual exposure control, burst mode, HDR, timer, up to 1080p video with stereo sound, 120 fps slow-motion capture, time lapse, and panoramic modes.

The front-facing snapper's resolution is still kept at the modest 1.2 megapixels, though, Apple bumped the aperture up to F2.2 to help you get seen when video chatting in low lighting conditions. 

Battery

Following their own style to the T, Cupertinians did not dabble in numbers and diagnostics, therefore – did not reveal any details about the battery. All we know about it at this stage is that it should provide the very same battery life that we are used to expect from an iPad; namely – no less than 10 hours of normal usage.

Expectations

So, is the iPad Air 2 a good choice for someone, looking at the premium market? We'd say certainly – Apple's line of tablets has always been presented by great performers, and no small part of that is due to the company's iOS - an operating system for Apple's mobile devices, developed with its own hardware in mind. However, software aside, the new A8X has proven itself in the Geekbench arena, outscoring the pretty powerful in its own right Nexus 9, while the (finally) upgraded RAM will keep multitaskers happy.

Is it worth upgrading to the 2, if you have the original iPad Air? Probably not, unless you are a demanding power user. The tablet did receive a couple of respectable upgrades, true, however – nothing in the iPad Air 2's spec sheet is groundbreaking, or impressive to the point for it to require you to throw away the still adequate 12-month old flagship.

Apple iPhone 6 review

Looking at specs alone, it’s a miracle Apple sells any iPhones.

Wave after wave of Samsungs, Sonys, LGs and HTCs have surfed on to shelves and into our hearts, each toting a bigger screen than last year’s model.

Not only that but these Androids have got bigger and better in every other way too. BIGGER cameras! FASTER processors! LONGER-lasting batteries! 

Meanwhile Apple has stubbornly refused to enter the smartphone arms race, hopping from a 3.5in screen to the 4in iPhone 5 and staying there for the 5s. Until now.

Enter the iPhone 6 with its 4.7in screen, A8 brain, iOS 8, NFC and bigger battery. Finally, Apple has an iPhone to compete on specs. And industrial design. And apps. And ecosystem.

It promises to be the best iPhone ever. So let’s find out if the reality lives up to the dream.

MAKEOVER TIME

Predicting Apple can be a risky business, but so far it’s followed a regular approach to design updates: we've had them every two years from the iPhone 3G onwards.

So, after last year’s iPhone 5s, we expected to get something wholly different this time around. And different is what we got.

Obviously the increased screen size is the main change, but it's far from the only visual difference. Like the HTC One (M8), the iPhone 6 has all-metal back with curved edges front and back rather than the flat, 90-degree edges on the 5s. The result is a phone that’s super-smooth in the hand with the joins between glossy screen and matte back almost unnoticable as you hold it.

And you’ll want to hold it – it feels amazing.

The curves make it superbly comfortable in use despite its increased size, while its thin profile also helps; it’s just 6.9mm thick, so substantially skinnier than the 7.5mm 5s. 

On the downside, the camera lens does now protrude from the phone’s case, which may not please everyone, while the distinctive light-coloured lines on the back at top and bottom won't be to all tastes either. The latter, at least, are present for practical as well as aesthetic reasons: with a metal-backed phone it’s hard to scoot the signal in and out, and the flush rubberised lines sort this. Certainly call quality on the iPhone 6 is strong and reliable. 

Overall, it's a beautifully built bit of kit. Where the Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G3 have to make do with plastic shells - albeit metal-style plastic in the case of the latter - the iPhone 6 feels wholly premium. Only the M8 really runs it close, and that's a far bigger handset. Every iPhone since the 4 has been a thing of beauty, and the 6 is no exception.

A SCREEN DREAM?

The iPhone 6's headline feature is its 4.7in display. And with good reason: Apple had only ever upped its screen size once before, and that from 3.5in to 4in. But let's not get carried away here - by anyone else's standards, 4.7in is not a huge screen. The Sony Xperia Z3 Compact - note the word 'Compact' - is only a smidgeon smaller at 4.6in. Compared to the Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3 and Sony Xperia Z3, the iPhone remains a pixie in a land of Android ogres.

For many people, 4.7in will be the ideal size: big enough to offer a better viewing and gaming experience, without being so big that you can't use it properly. Of course none of that matters if the quality isn't there too.

Fortunately, it is. 

The iPhone 6 is no match in screen resolution terms when compared to the G3 (534 pixels per inch) and Galaxy S5 (432ppi). Apple’s screen has just 326ppi, the same as the iPhone 5s. But stats aren’t the whole story and one glance at the iPhone 6 confirms this.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 has arguably the best screen on the market: rich, vibrant and unbelievably detailed, although the LG G3 runs it very close thanks to the extra pixels on its 2K display. And the iPhone 6 deserves to sit in that exalted company.

It’s lower-resolution than its rivals, but more than dense enough to look glorious. It also lacks the occasionally over-saturated look of the S5; the Samsung display, though unequivocally beautiful, can still tend to the garish. As far as the LG goes, those extra pixels only really make themselves known when you’re reading the tiniest of writing. 

However we'd be lying if we said that we hadn't hoped for more. The 6 Plus has a full HD 1080p screen, as does almost every one of the iPhone 6's main rivals. While the 6's display is easily one of the best 720p efforts we've used, the differences between it and a full HD screen are visible if you look for them.

However, for day-to-day use, there’s a limit to what you can see - or at least to what matters. And in those terms, the iPhone 6 is as good as its keenest rivals. Plus, it’s just right there: the display seems so pressed up against the glass it’s like you’re making direct contact with the pixels.

CAMERA TWEAKS

As the millions of sepia-toned hipster-food-photos posted hourly to Instagram prove, the camera is one of the most important things on any phone. So you might have expected Apple to want to match the 16MP sensor of the Galaxy S5 or the 20.7MP on Sony’s Xperia Z2 and Z3. But no, it’s stuck with eight megapixels. Eight.

Fortunately for Apple, the combination of a good lens, advanced image processing and sublimely simple camera controls in previous iPhones has served it very well. Plus, there's more to a good camera than lots of pixels - after all, the HTC One (M8) takes great shots with a mere 4MP sensor.

Part of the M8's success is that although it uses fewer pixels, they're individually bigger than those on most rivals at around 2 microns. The iPhone can’t match that, but at 1.5 microns, the Apple pixels are bigger than those on the Samsung Galaxy S5 (1.12 microns).

Anyway, that's the specs out of the way, let's get back to the real world...

Innovations this time around include Focus Pixels. These are called phase detection pixels by other manufacturers and a couple of rival handsets share this feature, notably the Galaxy S5. Phase detection is faster than the more commonly used contrast detection and means nippier autofocus - which in turn should mean snappier snaps with greater sharpness. Last year’s iPhone 5s took pictures with no discernible delay anyway, but the iPhone 6 sure is fast. Quality-wise, there's not a huge amount of difference from the 5s - which means it's still one of the best out there.

Where Apple’s camera is consistently better than rivals is in its superbly simple ease of use. No white balance to adjust, no extra granular controls to fiddle with. Now, though, you can deliberately over- or under-expose shots. But don't fret that this'll be an unwelcome distraction from the point-and- shoot ethos. In fact, it’s wholly intuitive: press on the screen until the yellow exposure box appears. Next to it is a little sun icon with a line through it. As you draw your finger up and down it shows you how dark or light the final pic will be. Easy as pie.

Video recording is also improved, with HD filming at 60 frames per second and enhanced slo-mo (now double the frame rate of 240 per second). But there’s no 4K video as found on some rivals. Apple’s skill has rarely been to be first, so we're not exactly surprised as its absence. Still, it would have been a nice thing to have. Quality-wise, footage is smooth and looks striking.

iPhone 6 tech specs

Screen: 4.7in 720x1334 IPS LCD (326ppi)
Processor: 1.4GHz Apple A8 processor
RAM: (unspecified)
OS: iOS 8
Storage: 16/64/128GB
Battery: (unspecified)
Camera: 8MP 1080p@60fps, 720p@240fps rear, 1.2MP 720p front
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC (Apple Pay only), 3G/4G
Dimensions: 138x67x6.9mm
Weight: 129g

MORE POWER

Performance is always a tricky thing to judge on iPhones. Look at the stats alone and most high-end Androids leave it in the dust. But use one, and it'll often feel like the fastest thing since Usain Bolt's sliced bread. The iPhone 6 is no different.

The new iPhone has an improved processor, namely the A8, and whizzes through tasks without the slightest of pauses. The previous A7 was shockingly fast thanks in part to the new 64-bit architecture that arrived on that chip, and that's obviously retained here. And while the new model doesn’t feel any faster, it has more pixels to move around and is probably doing more in the background to boot. 

There’s also a new motion co-processor, the M8, not to be confused with HTC’s flagship. The co-processor now measures altitude thanks to a built-in barometer, so it can monitor when you are climbing or descending stairs. Health apps will make much of this and Apple’s own Health app has a dashboard to record your steps, cycling and more, made possible by the new hardware.

A BIGGER BATTERY

Fact: most smartphones have terrible battery life. Just try leaving home in the morning without having charged up overnight. And the more you use your phone, the more quickly the battery drains. 

It's a recipe for disaster, and one from which previous iPhones have hardly been immune. The iPhone 5s lasted a Standard Smartphone Day (SSD) - by which we mean you could just about get away with only having to charging it nightly, so long as you didn't really hammer it during the day. Otherwise, you'll have wanted that spare charger at work.

Happily, the iPhone 6 just goes on and on. In regular use, the phone performed for a full day and well into a second – a leap forward compared to the iPhone 5s. Additionally, iOS 8 gives you handy warnings about apps which are constantly making data connections, so you can turn the beggars off.

We'll be doing a full battery run-down test soon, at which point we'll compare it to flagship Androids such as the LG G3, but for now we'll just say that it lasts longer than any other iPhone.

FEATURES

The new hardware is faster and more powerful, some of it to service the bigger screen and updated iOS 8 operating software. Eventually, it will lead to more sparkly games, faster and more powerful apps. Already, Apple has added its own Health app, of which more below.

Sadly, some of the newest, spangliest of features on the iPhone can’t be reviewed yet in the UK. One of the most striking is Apple Pay, which uses a combo of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and a newly arrived NFC chip in the phone to turn the handset into a contactless credit card. Demonstrations we saw last week in Cupertino were certainly seamless and speedy, so assuming Apple is able to do the deals with UK banks and credit card companies that it’s done in the States, this could be a very big deal.

Of course, Android phones have had similar features for some time. EE customers have the Cash On Tap app on various phones, including the S5, which turns the phone into a virtual Oyster card, for instance. But NFC hasn’t really taken off yet. Apple Pay could change this.

Other phones have fingerprint sensors, too, but the Apple model is superb not least because it’s effort-free. By resting your thumb or finger on the home button as you would to wake the phone, the Touch ID feature is invoked. The Samsung Galaxy S5 by contrast requires a swiping movement to make it work - definitely a little less intuitive.

Similarly, there's VoLTE - that’s Voice over LTE - which promises to deliver voice calls through 4G data; handy if your 2G signal is weak at home, say. It needs both handsets to be on VoLTE and for networks to play ball. EE is involved but the service hasn’t been rolled out yet. The feature is partly made possible by a faster LTE chip which can deliver up to 150Mbps downloads, when the networks can match this.

IOS 8

The iPhone 6 arrives running Apple's new iOS 8, available from today on all iPhones from the 4s onwards in addition to various iPads and iPod touch models

It looks mostly like last year’s radically restyled iOS 7, but if 7 was all about design changes, 8 is all about openness, customisation and communication. 

There are immediate benefits to apps such as Messages, which will now let you easily send voice files, photos and videos at the touch of a button in the text area. And below that you'll find the all-new predictive keyboard, which aims to guess which word you’re about to type before you’ve keyed in the first letter. This is splendid and works well. Third-party companies such as the excellent Swiftkey are also now able to produce their own keyboards for the iPhone – something Apple hadn’t permitted until now.

Bigger improvements still include Handoff, which enables you to start tapping an email out on your iPhone keyboard and then carry it on seamlessly on a Mac using the latest Yosemite software. This also means that when a phone call comes in you can answer it on your Mac or on another Apple device – handy if your phone is snuggling on the windowsill where the mobile phone signal is strongest while you’re ensconced next to the TV in the other room. We weren't able to test these features, as Yosemite is still in beta release mode, but we'll update this review as soon as we're able.

Most importantly of all, there’s the new Health app, which allows other apps to contribute to the fitness monitoring that Health collates. This is another feature that’s in its early stages and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens if you have multiple fitness devices which report different step counts, for example. Apple stresses that each app only takes part if you give it permission.

Still, the basic app looks pretty neat, with the restrained, classy styling you’d expect, though Samsung's S Health app looks spiffy, too and both are outclassed by the LifeLog software on Sony’s phones.

And finally there’s iCloud Drive, which brings Apple up to date with the document-sharing capabilities other platforms already boast. Just as with iCloud, which syncs your contacts, calendars and more across multiple devices, iCloud Drive saves documents across all of your Apple gadgets and on icloud.com.

VERDICT

In order to really judge the iPhone 6 you first have to consider what it's not.

It's not a mega-screened wannabe phablet. It's not a 2K-display-packing pixel king. It's not the most powerful phone ever, it's not the most megapixelly phone ever, it's not even the longest-lastingest phone ever. The best Androids still beat it on all these counts.

But that's just specs. What it is, is the best iPhone ever.

It's a real looker, with an amazingly slim and deeply attractive build. It feels lovely in the hand, despite the extra size. It has the best screen of any iPhone - big enough to be useful, with gorgeous colours. It's the most powerful iPhone ever, even if in use all you'll know is that it feels very fast. It has the best battery of any iPhone ever, lasting well into a second day. And it also packs some of Apple's biggest software innovations in years, although we'll have to wait for the likes of Apple Pay to make their way over here.

The iPhone 5s, for all its qualities, didn't do enough to put Apple back on top. It just lagged too far behind its Android rivals in key areas. 

But the iPhone 6, with its combination of fresh new form factor, the upcoming links to desktop via Yosemite and the promise of Apple Pay, might just do the trick.

The iPhone 6 is here with a larger display and a super-thin profile

Almost exactly 365 days after Apple removed the veil masking its now ex-flagship, the iPhone 5s, the company has, like clockwork, just announced its successor -- the iPhone 6. In many ways the new iPhone serves as a reminder that change is inevitable, even for a seemingly monolithic company like Apple.

Indeed, the iPhone 6 opens up a new page in Apple's relatively short history of building smartphones. Perhaps most notably, the Cupertino-based giant is changing its ways in both the hardware and software categories, with a larger-than-ever flagship, and a more open, developer-friendly iOS 8. And while we're certain that, in due time, the industry as a whole will dissect the new iPhone and its updated software in a leave-no-stone-unturned type fashion, right now is the time to focus on the basic building blocks of the latest iPhone.

Design and Display

Ladies and gentlemen -- the rumors were true, and the dummies were real. The iPhone 6 branches out from the existing Apple design language, and though the elements that make up the entirety of its construction are not altogether new, the latest iPhone is its own thing. In fact, if you take a step back, you'll realize that this is the second major redesign of the iPhone family -- the first one being the transition from the rounded, pill-shaped iPhones before the iPhone 4, which, in turn, introduced a more rectangular narrative. 

So what does the above mean? We've found that a good (and factually-correct) way to think about the iPhone 6's design is to envision a mash-up between various iPod Touch and iPad mini motifs. That alone will give you a mental picture that will likely be closer to the real thing than apart. Of course, when thinking about the new iPhone, it's also important to remember that we're now talking about a significantly larger device, with a 4.7-inch screen. But while the width, height and weight of the device shot up (138.1 x 67 mm, 129 g / 5.44 x 2.64 in, 4.55 oz), thickness shrunk down to 6.9 mm (0.27 in), making for a very thin phone overall.

Going back to the display, the 4.7-inch IPS panel has a pixel resolution of 750 x 1334, giving it a pixel density of 326 ppi, in line with Apple's "retina display" philosophy and equal to what the iPhone 5s has going on. According to the company, the screen can crank its brightness to up to 500 nits, and sports an oleophobic coating that will keep the nastiest of fingerprint smudges away.

The silicon inside

The GPU of the iPhone 6 is 84 times faster than the one on the original iPhone, while processing power has shot up more than 50 times With the iPhone 6, Apple is making clear its ambition to continue designing its own CPUs, and the new quad-core A8 system-on-chip is as much a proof as one would need. In reality, the home-grown A8 is the third custom-designed Apple chip based on ARM architecture, but only the second based on ARMv8, signifying that we're again looking at 64-bit silicon. What's new here includes a smaller, 20-nm chipset with 2 billion transistors, all the while being 13% smaller than the A7 silicon on the iPhone 5s. Perhaps most importantly, however, the new chip's two cores will be 25% faster and its GPU will perform 50% better in comparison with the iPhone 6's predecessor. The new SoC also comes with support for over 20 LTE bands, which is more than any other phone right now. What's more, the iPhone 6 will also support LTE roaming, Voice Over LTE, and Wi-Fi calling. Speaking of Wi-Fi, Apple is moving to the 802.11ac standard, promising up to three times faster speeds when connected to a wireless network.  More power and features are, of course, only one side to the coin – efficiency is becoming increasingly important. While Apple is yet to reveal the exact capacity of the batter of the iPhone 6, the company did say that the new iPhone will offer up to 4 hours extra in 3G talk time, 10 more hours of audio listening, and 1 extra hour of video playback over the iPhone 5s. An improved iSight camera As we ourselves suspected, Apple is once again refusing to be dragged into an arms-race in terms of camera megapixels, so the iPhone 6 will stick to an 8-megapixel rear camera with a True Tone flash. The unit has 1.5µm pixels, and its five-element lens' aperture sits at f/2.2. Apple also claims that, because the iPhone 6's camera makes use of phase focus, the time needed for the unit to focus will be cut in half. The Cupertino-based company also revealed that the improved snapper can shoot slow-moes in 720p resolution at the whopping 240 frames per second in case you feel like 120 frames just weren't enough. Unfortunately, the unit on board won't have an OIS gizmo (Optical Image Stabilization) as was rumored, and will instead use a software implementation (digital image stabilization) to compensate for hand shake during video capture. As for the camera at the front, we're looking at a "new" FaceTime HD (720p) camera with an "all-new" sensor with f/2.2 lens. According to Apple, the new config will allow the camera to collect 81% more light for brighter selfies. Apple Pay: wireless payments thanks to NFC One of the biggest reveals Apple had in store for its presentation was the announcement of the company's Apple Pay service. The new feature will, together with PassBook, attempt to dismantle the status-quo, and try and usher us all into a new era of digital payments.  The way Apple Pay works is simple – the iPhone 6 has an NFC chip, supposedly nestled at the top of the phone, which will allow you to pay at a gigantic number of retail locations, including Starbucks, Subway, McDonalds, Macy's, Bloomingdales, Staples, Whole Food Market, and Disney and Apple stores. To achieve that, Apple has also partnered with Visa, Amex, MasterCard, and American Express, the combination of which processes over 80% of all transactions made in the States. Of course, other than promoting Apple Pay as an easier-to-use alternative to the traditional routine of whipping your credit card, the Cupertino-based giant claims that its service is far more secure, and essentially makes it impossible for fraudsters to... well, rob you. The way that works is that instead of simply stockpiling on your credit card info and then share it with merchants when transactions occur, Apple Pay will instead generate one-time-only, dynamic security tokens. In other words, as soon as a transaction is complete, even if someone was to somehow get their hands on said token, it'll be less than useless for them. iOS 8, now prime time-ready

Unlike iOS 7, which was mostly a design-centric update, iOS 8 will instead focus on functionality additions and keep the visuals of its predecessor. Indeed, Apple is changing quite a few things up, and is actually opening up its traditionally sealed-off platform. Let's talk specifics.

The notification bar is now more functional than ever

Perhaps one of the major improvements in iOS 8 concerns the notification bar. For example, in iOS 8, you'll be able to 'action' those right on the spot, meaning that you can simply swipe on a new notifications and perform a number of actions, like reply to a text message or like a new Facebook post. Best of all, the ability to directly interact with notifications won't be limited to the notification bar -- you can action stuff right from the lockscreen.

Perhaps as importantly, Apple is finally adding widget support in iOS 8, though these will be housed within the Today tab in the bar itself, and not on the homescreen (à la Android). During its presentation at the WWDC back in June, Apple demo'd a few possibilities for widgets, including ones for keeping track of game scores or even bid on items on eBay in real time. Obviously, more apps will follow suit, so the sky is the limit.

Apple is opening up

The Cupertino-based company has also taken steps to improve the software keyboard (which it now calls QuickType) on iOS 8, but that's actually not the surprising part at all. The unexpected part was that, despite the seemingly non-trivial tweaks QuickType got, Apple is actually opening access to the keyboard component in iOS for the first time in history. This means that third-party developers will now be able to create custom keyboards for people that are, for whatever reason, unhappy with Apple's implementation. 

For those unwilling to move away from the company's familiar layout, there's some good news. First and foremost, the built-in keyboard will now offer predictive next word suggestions, kind of alike to most Android keyboards on the market right now. Where Apple's solution may win out, however, is the promise that QuickType will eventually learn enough about your contacts and start differentiating between formal and informal contacts and change the entire predictive vocabulary set to better fit your needs. What that means in practice is simple: As soon as QuickType is certain that John or Jenny are your best pals, and Mark is your boss, it'll automatically cycle between a formal and informal vocabulary.

On a different, but related to the theme note, Apple is also, surprisingly, opening up access to the Touch ID fingerprint sensors for third-party developers for use in their apps. Once again, all the biometric information will be physically stored on the chip inside the iPhone 6, and even though apps can now make use of Touch ID, they still won't have access to your fingerprint. 

The improved Siri and the new Health app

Also receiving some much-needed love is Siri, Apple's virtual assistant. The improved Siri will now recognize songs, make iTunes purchases, and even control smart household gadgets that make use of the new HomeKit API. What's more, Siri now understands nearly two dozen additional languages, and can be summoned by simply saying "Hey, Siri!", though it remains to be seen if that iPhone 6 will allow for this when not inside the Siri interface and off the charger.

Price and release date

The 16GB version of the iPhone 6 will cost $199 on a 2-year contract, while the 64GB and 128GB versions will go for $299 and $399, respectively. You read that right -- Apple will replace the 32GB slot with a 64GB version, and is also making a 128GB model available for the first time.

Pre-orders start September 12th and units will start shipping out of Apple's warehouses a week later, on September 19th. The first batch of iPhone 6s will sell in the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. By the end of 2014, some 115 countries worldwide will have access to the iPhone 6.

iOS 7 review

The changes to Apple's iOS software became apparent as I drove to the headquarters of the company's rival, Google. As I navigated using Apple's mapping app, I noticed one of my favorite attributes was missing: the directions for each next turn presented in green boxes that resemble highway signs.

Many of the changes in Apple's operating system for mobile devices are cosmetic. Gone are three-dimensional icons that mimic real-world counterparts, such as a magazine rack for the Newsstand app. They are replaced by larger, two-dimensional icons sporting abstract designs and pastel colors. Apple also extended that new look to many of its apps. In Maps, the green boxes are replaced with solid white across the top.

It didn't take long to realize that deeper down, the new iOS 7 software is the same as the one I've come to know.

The new software does have several functional improvements, but those take time to stumble upon. The good news is that even if you never discover them, you can still use your device the way you did before. The free update is available starting Wednesday.

I'm covering the features specific to Apple's new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in a separate review. This one is about whether it makes sense to upgrade to iOS 7 on your existing iPhone or iPad.

The biggest functional change is the use of swipes instead of taps to access key functions. You can already swipe up from the bottom right side of the screen to quickly access the camera when your phone is locked. With iOS 7, you can also swipe up for the Control Center, which contains frequently used settings and apps. That's available whether or not the phone is locked.

Swipe down from the top of the screen to get recent notifications and the day's highlights, including the weather, appointments, reminders and stock quotes. Swipe down from the center of any home screen for a search box. From many apps, you can swipe from the left or the right instead of tapping the left and right buttons.

The Control Center is the most useful of the functional improvements.

From there, you can turn Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off. Before, you had to find those switches in the settings. That would have come in handy for my flight to Silicon Valley last week for Apple's event introducing the new phones and software. Likewise, a Do Not Disturb feature is easier to access. It lets you silence incoming calls and messages, though you can make exceptions for certain numbers or for those calling repeatedly, in case there is a true emergency.

The Control Center also lets you easily control music playback and adjust the screen's brightness. It gives you quick access to a flashlight feature, the clock, a calculator and camera. My only complaint: You can't pick the apps featured and replace the calculator, for instance, with Facebook or Gmail.

I found the left and right swipes useful primarily within certain apps. In the Safari browser, I use it to return to the previous page. In Mail, I return to the list of messages after reading one. Again, these are all things I could do before with taps rather than swipes, but sometimes the swipe feels more natural.

The new software also makes it easier to manage multiple apps at once. Double click on the home button to see all open apps, each represented by a large image showing the app's content rather than just an icon, as was the case before. Close an app by swiping the image up. In the past, you had to hold down an icon and hit the minus button.

The Siri voice assistant is better, too. She sounds less robotic than she once did and can adopt a male voice. Siri is able to handle a greater range of commands, including adjusting settings and returning recent calls.

The most useful change is the ability to edit voice commands. I asked Siri how the Nets did, but she heard me as Mets. Instead of having to repeat the phrase over and over until Siri got it right, I simply hit "tap to edit." Then again, maybe she's smarter than me: The Mets are in season, while the Nets don't start the regular season until Oct. 30.

Specific apps that come with iOS are also improved, including these

The Maps app offers voice navigation for walking directions, though it still lacks biking and transit directions, as Google offers. The background of maps now dims at night so the screen light doesn't distract drivers.

Safari makes it easier to switch between open Web pages. Before, you got one page at a time and had to scroll through all to get to the last one. Now, all the open pages are presented like upright dominos, so that you can jump right away to one in the back.

The Camera offers eight filters to tweak photos the way you would on Instagram. But with Camera, you see what your filtered photo would look like before snapping. You can now take square photos, perfect for Instagram. In addition, photos you take are automatically grouped by trip and other attributes, so they'll be easier to find and share later.

The App Store offers suggestions based on your current location. I get an app for the American Museum of Natural History in New York when I'm a few blocks away, and apps for food delivery near my apartment in another neighborhood, where people with small kitchens don't cook.

A new iTunes Radio service offers free Internet radio stations, with buttons to easily buy songs you like on iTunes. I got my fill of 80s music with a Hits of the '80s station. I can create new stations based on songs or artists I hear, and I can move a slider between hits and discovery, the latter for more obscure tunes. Sad to say, few of the 80s songs were obscure, but that's a reflection of my listening habits and not the software. Unless you pay for the $25-a-year iTunes Match service, you'll get about four ads an hour.

Although I dismissed many of the changes as cosmetic, a few of them improve functionality. Gone are those familiar bars showing cellular signal strength. You see five dots instead. The idea is to create more space for actual content. In many apps, including Maps and Safari, menus automatically disappear until you need them again, again to leave more space for content.

These are all nice touches that make upgrading well worth it, especially for something free. You don't necessarily need a new phone.