I was quite pleased with Apple’s decision to go with a 4.7-inch screen with the iPhone 6 last year and ordered one almost immediately. Apple also introduced the iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5-inch display targeted towards people that prefer a phablet. Having played with the Samsung Galaxy Note series and other larger phones, I knew that the larger sized screen was not for me. And yet, here I am, using the iPhone 6 Plus as my primary phone a year later.
So what made me switch? Well, there are three key difference between the regular and plus models. First and the most obvious is the larger screen with a higher resolution. It makes watching videos and playing games more fun. It also makes the two-handed typing experience much better. That being said, the iPhone 6 Plus requires both hands to operate. The bumps on my iPhone are proof that using it with one hand one can be hazardous to your health. But the larger screen isn’t the reason I switched.
The second difference is the presence of Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) on the camera which helps prevent shaky videos and possibly blurry images. Having used the regular iPhone 6 for about two months, I can definitely say that the camera on the iPhone 6 Plus takes better pictures and videos. While OIS was a strong reason in my consideration to switch to the iPhone 6 Plus, it wasn’t the primary reason.
What did make me switch was the horrendous battery life on the iPhone 6. During the two months I was using the iPhone 6, more often than not, I’d end up with a dead battery by 6PM. At first I thought I might have gotten a bad unit because I remember my iPhone 5S lasting longer. But that was not the case. I replaced the first unit and the second iPhone 6 was equally bad.
I need my phone to last me until the night.
Thus I switched to the iPhone 6 Plus and while the size and weight of the device still feels uncomfortable, the battery easily lasts a day or more. Now with the announcement of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, I am tempted to go back to the smaller iPhone. Why do you ask?
Well, I passed the iPhone 6 to my wife and with iOS updates, the battery life on it has gotten considerably better. It usually lasts her until bedtime although there is a day or two each fortnight when she needs to charge it in the middle of the day. I could live with that.
Apple has also improved the camera in the new set of iPhones, moving to 12 Megapixels and a new sensor. My guess is that that iPhone 6S should take better pictures- possibly as good as the current iPhone 6 Plus. Yes, the new iPhone 6S Plus might take better pictures but I’ll be sold as long as the 6S can produce results comparable to the previous generation of Plus.
Finally, with 3D Touch, the new pair of iPhones is heavier than the previous generation. The table below compares to the two models.
| iPhone 6 | 129 grams |
| iPhone 6S | 143 grams |
| iPhone 6 Plus | 172 grams |
| iPhone 6S Plus | 192 grams |
I’d much rather move to a lighter phone than a heavier one. My iPhone 6 Plus already has a few bumps and I imagine a heavier device would be more accident prone- at least in my hands. So now that I’ve decided which size to go for, the next challenge is the colour. And no, Rose Gold is not for me.
