It’s been a while since we last saw an iPhone that has a totally new design, that same block factor, one piece of screen design language has been used on so many phones that we know of today. This year, Apple announced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, both with new but the same design language, but one with a 4.7-inch display and the other a larger 5.5-inch display. The new iPhones have shifted away from the iPhone 4’s design language and introduced a design that many could start to follow for the next couple of years. The iPhone 6 has been with us for two weeks, we’ve enjoyed and loved every bit of it, we weren’t worried about #bendgate in our review period, as a matter of fact, the iPhone 6 has been a solid device that we’ve ever expect from Apple.
Apple iPhone 6 Video Review
Apple iPhone 6 Hardware Specifications
Processor: Apple A8 1.3GHz 64-bit Dual-Core with M8 co-motion processor
RAM/ROM: 1GB/up to 128GB flash
Display: 4.7″ 1334 x 750 IPS TFT
Camera: 8MP iSight f/2.2 (Main), 1.2MP FaceTime HD f/2.2 (Front)
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, BT 4.0 LE, NFC (only for Apple Pay)
Networks: TD-LTE/FDD-LTE/DC-HSPA+/GSM
Battery: 1810 mAh
New design – rounded corners and a smoother textured surface
Similar to the previous iPhone line ups, Apple has chosen to use an aluminum unibody construction on the iPhone 6. The first thing that you’ll notice when picking up the phone is that how light and slim it is for a 4.7-inch device, of course this was before we experienced the Oppo R5 back a few days. The iPhone 6 feels extremely solid to hold and some of our friends have complained the smooth textured surface on the back this time which makes the phone slippery to hold. At 6.9mm, the phone feels extremely sleek and it’s amazing to see how Apple have managed that design mastery on the iPhone 6.
Some may feel that the iPhone 6 doesn’t have the attractive look previous iPhones used to have, however in my very own humble perspective point of view, the Space Grey iPhone 6 looks very discrete and professional, lay the phone on a flat surface with the screen turned off, it’s dark and black glass reflects that elegance everyone will love
Of course, with every iPhone purchase, you are surely to get a case to protect the phone because the phone’s material obviously isn’t scratch resistant. For my case, I’ve got the VIVA Sabio Flex Grafito casing which acts extremely well as a business card holder and kickstand for viewing videos, it can be purchased for RM109 from most Apple authorized resellers nationwide.
iOS 8 – Reliable and Snappy, Handoff works extremely well
iOS is probably the most reliable smartphone operating system that I’ve ever used, despite having an entire visual overhaul since iOS 7, many still complained the home screen for still being rows and rows of apps. I personally owned an iPhone 4 back a few years and have been an Android smartphone user after that, this time on the iPhone 6 I just find that I’m in love with the operating system once again.
The iPhone’s 4.7-inch display has a lot to do with it, it simply makes iOS look better and what you are going to experience on the phone is the smoothness and reliability of the software, every gesture that you perform on the display responses precisely. Thanks to the slim bezels of the display, one handed operation is still manageable if you have large fingers, trust us, you will never want to go back to a smaller iPhone again after using the iPhone 6.
If your fingers can’t reach the top menu of an app, there’s a Reachability feature that lets you bring them down by double tapping on the home button, the feature is enabled by default and if you need to find that option, head on to Accessibility in the Settings app.
iOS 8 looks visually the same like iOS 7, it introduces Apple Pay, Healthkit, Handoff and some other features that we won’t usually care about using in real life. While Apple Pay isn’t available here and Healthkit merely acts as a fitness tracker which most other phones are able to do so, Handoff is a groundbreaking feature on iOS 8.
If you happen to have invested into Apple’s ecosystem, such has having a Mac and iPad, you will enjoy making phone calls and selling iMessages over the other devices when they are connected within the same WiFi network. Handoff works extremely well in my tests, when my iPhone is laying around somewhere in the house and I happen to be using my iPad on the couch, I’ll still be able to receive my phone calls from my iPad and my callers haven’t reported issues like cracking sound which could be expected over a wireless connection. Handoff only works over WiFi networks and it makes sense for Apple to implement things like this, since having it worked over a cellular won’t give you the reliability that it needs to have.
Touch ID still works great on the iPhone 6 and you can still use it to unlock your phone or purchase apps in the app store. With a bigger 4.7-inch display, this is a feature you can’t miss to use on the iPhone 6 to make life simpler.
On iOS 8, you also get to have notification widgets that lets you do some awesome stuff such as checking in a place on Swarm or viewing your stock portfolio, more apps are starting to support the feature so we really look forward to that.
Apple’s soft keyboard has also been improved with prediction feature, while it supports third party keyboards like SwiftKey and Touchpal, we sometimes still prefer Apple’s own keyboard as some keyboards may not work well on apps, switching to another keyboard is also a very weird experience, I still prefer the Android way though.
Gaming on the iPhone 6 is another great feature that is worth mentioning, with the Metal framework on iOS 8 and the Apple A8 64-bit processor, you will start finding graphics demanding games being more realistic and able to show some effects that don’t usually appear when you’re on iOS 7 or using iPhones with older A6 processors and below. We recommend you to try out Asphalt 8, one of the most graphical demanding games on mobile platforms and you will start seeing some realistic crash effects and raindrops on your phone’s display. One great thing to note as well, the iPhone 6 stays warm when it gets fully loaded, impressive for such a thin device.
iOS 8 and iPhone 6 works extremely well, though the software doesn’t introduce much goodies for a bigger screen, it has already proved so much potential for future iPhone releases, and we continue to look forward on that aspect.
All new iSight Camera – one of the best smartphone cameras
Over the years, we’ve seen superior cameras like Nokia’s Pureview, HTC’s Ultrapixel and Sony’s Exmor for Mobile. The iPhone 6’s camera is the same 8 Megapixel f/2.2 camera that we’ve come to know of from the iPhone 5S, Apple has also mentioned that the camera module on the iPhone 6 is a much improved one from its predecessor and we believed it, focus and shutter speeds are really fast, the iPhone 6 takes awesome pictures in both outdoor and low light shots, check out some of the image samples down below.
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While most Android flagships today support 4K video recording, the iPhone 6 still maintains video recording at 1080p resolution which is still great, video and sound recording quality is good. While the iPhone 6 doesn’t have optical image stabilization, taking videos with it isn’t really shaky at all. View the video down below to believe it.
A 1.2 Megapixel front facing camera may sound disappointing for selfie lovers, but if you merely want to take them for social media uploads, the iPhone 6’s improved f/2.2 FaceTime HD camera still takes pretty good selfies with very minimal noise and sharp details.
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Acceptable battery life and awesome network quality
Samsung used to teased iPhone users as wall huggers for its small battery capacity and poor battery life. I personally haven’t used an iPhone since the iPhone 4 so I can’t comment on battery lives of previous devices. On the iPhone 6, I would have to call its battery life acceptable if I were to compare with Android devices that I’ve previously reviewed, with some light to medium weight usage I could get the iPhone 6 through a day of usage but when I start becoming a heavy texting guy that day, the phone can barely last me half a day before needing a charge. Fortunately, the iPhone 6 charges extremely fast when I hook it up to a 2A power bank that I’ve always brought along, the phone takes approximately 90 minutes to fully charge from 0%.
iPhones have always been impressive on having great voice quality over phone calls, and the iPhone 6 continues to have that benefit, my callers have been reporting superb clarity on my voice and I haven’t faced any call drops over the Maxis network.
The iPhone 6 is a reliably beautiful smartphone from Apple
Apple has made one of the most wonderful products that have changed the industry, the iPhone 6 unfortunately isn’t a game changing product this time, but it introduces what Android users have always wanted on an iPhone – a bigger display. What really matters this time is the reliable software and that beautiful hardware, by introducing a larger display on the iPhone, Apple has made sure that its software is able to play well with the hardware, all thanks to the sleek form factor and the Apple A8 processor, the iPhone 6 fits well into my hands and iOS 8 is beautiful and reliable on it.
The iPhone 6 will start retailing in Malaysia on November 6 from RM2,399 for the 16GB model, RM2,749 for the 64GB model, and RM3,149 for the 128GB model.
The Good:
+ Beautiful and solid build quality
+ Retina HD display is bright with natural colors
+ Apple A8 processor shows potential in gaming
+ Touch ID works extremely well
+ Handoff on iOS 8 is kickass
+ Main and front cameras take brilliant looking pictures
+ Excellent wireless performance
The Not So Good:
– Battery life still isn’t impressive
– Limited features on iOS 8 for huge screen devices
– Phone can be slippery to hold
Based on the score card above, we give the iPhone 6 a score rating of 8.6/10.
