Aug 09, 2016 01:39 PM
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Apple finally gave the iPhone a much-needed rethink, and the result is a product that is more like its competition than ever before, but also stands out just as well, if not better, in a seriously overcrowded market.
The big talking point is its screen size - months of leaks told us nearly everything we needed to know long before the actual launch happened - but there's also plenty more to explore. As always, Apple has managed to deliver more power, better aesthetics, improved cameras, and all-new software.
The iPhone 6 shares a lot with its larger sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus(Review| Photos), which we reviewed a little while ago. They're obviously designed to look similar, but Apple has also made sure they're very similar to use. The iPhone 6 is still just as much of a premium device as ever; not a lower-end version of a new flagship. A lot of what we've said in that exhaustive review of the 6 Plus will apply to the iPhone 6 as well.
Apple's unique position lets it control and tightly integrate the hardware and software experiences of its products. We see all of this and more in this year's new iPhones.
Look and feel := Gone are the flat edges and sharp angles of the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 6 feels smooth and slick, with a lovely dark glass front that looks like a pool of ink. The glass is raised above its rim and is curved at the edges so that it meets the metal in a smooth curve. It seems as though the glass could shatter very easily if this phone is dropped and lands on a corner, which is just one of many reasons to invest in a case of some sort.
Another good reason is that the rear of the iPhone 6 is one of the least attractive designs we've ever seen coming out of Apple. The plastic antenna lines intersecting the metal body are just too prominent. There's a bunch of regulatory text and logos which we wish could have been less prominent, and then of course there's the infamous camera bulge. The little nubbin really does stick out prominently, and we couldn't help fidgeting with it when holding the iPhone 6 in our hands.
Specifications := The iPhone 6 uses Apple's new A8 processor, designed in-house but based on the industry-standard ARM architecture. There's a separate co-processor called the M8 for sensor input, which helps save battery life by allowing the A8 to go to sleep while physical activity is constantly detected and processed in the background.
The screen is of course larger than those on the iPhone 5 generation models but still a lot smaller than the one on the iPhone 6 Plus. The resolution isn't a huge bump up from that of the iPhone 5 series, and the pixel density is exactly the same. We liked the crisp, bright display on the 6 Plus, and while the one on the iPhone 6 is just as good in terms of quality, it doesn't feel very exciting. Competitors have long surpassed Apple in terms of resolution, and the difference between some of the current Android flagships and the iPhone 6 is definitely noticeable, if ultimately unimportant.
There's 1GB of RAM which seems stingy compared to Android devices today, though we didn't find this to be much of a problem on the iPhone 6 Plus when we reviewed it. The fact that storage is not expandable is a constant frustration for us - iPhones are already expensive and it just hurts to have to pay a ridiculous amount over and above the starting price just to have enough space to actually use these devices to their full potential.
The relatively new high-speed Wi-Fi ac standard is supported, as is Bluetooth 4.0. LTE is supported on the Indian 2300MHz band and NFC is new to this iPhone generation, but only works with Apple Pay which isn't available outside the USA yet.
