The "phablet-sized" iPhone 6 Plus stretches the limits of smart-phone portability, though the phone's excellent 5.5-inch, high-definition (1080p) display is a great showcase for multimedia and makes document details harder to miss. The 6 Plus's display earned high marks for color accuracy and contrast, and it's also easy to see in bright light. The 16:9 aspect ratio makes it better for viewing wide-screen video and game content. In addition to its larger, higher-resolution display, the 6 Plus beats its predecessors with significantly better battery life, enhanced messaging capabilities and smart tweaks to its interface. Despite the 6 Plus's palm-prying width, its slim design and smooth, rounded edges, reminiscent of earlier iPhones, make this model relatively comfortable to hold. To facilitate one-handed operation on this taller, wider iPhone, Apple added a Reachability mode. Lightly double-tapping the home button slides the phone desktop down to the middle of the screen, bringing the top apps and controls closer to your thumb. But you'll still need to use both hands to operate this phone. The large display also makes e-mails and messages easier to view, and the more-ergonomic keyboard includes predictive text. When you turn the phone on its side, to its landscape orientation, the desktop reorients so that icons and controls maintain their right-side-up alignment. When you're using the e-mail app in landscape mode, the screen splits to show a list of e-mails on the left, and previews of individual e-mails on the right. Of course, Android phones have been doing this for some time, and some add the option of adjusting the size of the windows. Another landscape-mode benefit: In this mode, the keyboard adds keys for punctuation, text editing, a keyboard-hide button, and more. While these keys are a nice touch, a row of number keys would have been even more useful-especially for the many people who frequently include numbers and websites in their messages. Another nice touch would have been something akin to the mouse-like text selection that's included on other phones. Another iPhone first: It comes with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps preinstalled, allowing you to create and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and more, out of the box. These apps come in handy when you're working on the go. Battery life-a traditional weak spot for iPhones-is significantly better on this model as well, including 17 hours of talk time.
The iPhone 6 has a fingerprint reader in the Home button that lets you safely and quickly unlock the phone's screen or authorize an iTunes purchase with just a light press of your finger. We found it worked well. This phone also supports Apple Pay, which combines the security of Touch ID fingerprint reader with NFC (near-field communication), a short-range wireless communication technology that could ultimately allow you to pay by phone at the register. A Health app supports a dashboard for health and fitness data, allowing you to manage health and fitness. The phone's 8-megapixel camera is among the best in our Ratings. It took very-good-quality pictures and 1080p video in our tests. It also did an excellent job under low-light conditions. Its optical image stabilizer improves your chances of taking better handheld photos under low-light conditions. Siri, the voice-activated assistant, can access more apps than before, and delivers more meaningful search results. The colorful icons make it a little easier to find some often-used apps. And you can access the Control Center with a swipe up from the bottom of the screen, which presents the user with key controls such as Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, as well as access to the flashlight, calculator, and more. You can even resume playback of the current song in the media player. Double-press the Home button to see preview screens of recent open apps. Tap any one of them, and you can jump to that app. To close an app, just flick its view toward the top of the screen. But there isn't a way to close all of them at once, a convenience found with other operating systems. You can access the Notification Center with a swipe down from the top of the screen which takes you to new messages, upcoming appointments, and other items that need your attention, even when your screen is locked.
The iPhone's multi-touch screen provides superb multimedia functionality, programmable shortcuts, and access to most controls. The phone's desktop gives a choice of two views: Standard view, which allows you squeeze six rows of app icons (vs. five on the iPhone 5 models), or Zoom mode, which makes the app icons appear larger. The iPhone has a convenient home button for closing or backing out of apps, checking app status, launching universal search, and returning to the home screen. Its multi-touch screen lets you zoom in and out of photos or Web pages using two fingers (for instance, your thumb and index finger). Built-in sensors include an accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and a barometer. They can estimate your steps, distance, and elevation to track your position, say on a set of stairs. They can also enhance the phone's performance as a game controller by causing the display to react when you tilt the phone in any direction.
The Siri personal digital assistant understands context, allowing you to speak naturally when you ask it questions. It helps you make calls, send text messages or e-mail, schedule meetings and reminders, make notes, search the Internet, find local businesses, get directions, and more. You can also get answers and information just by asking. Siri can also launch and interact with Facebook, Twitter and other apps and games on command. It also has in-depth knowledge of sports, movies, and restaurants, promising to make more meaningful recommendations. The App Store offers a plethora of applications in a host of categories such as business, entertainment, games, productivity, and utilities. You can also create folders to help organize your apps. Searches are another iPhone strength. Just start typing a name or word on its virtual keyboard, and the iPhone will check your contacts, e-mail, applications, and music for that term, and list them for quick access. This iPhone supports a "4G" LTE network (some models HSPA+ too), allowing fast streaming, downloading, and uploading of high-definition videos and other large files. The fast network also facilitates better Web browsing experiences and video conferencing capability. The Wi-Fi connection provides another way to access the Web, e-mail, and other Internet-based content, without using your data plan allowance.
MESSAGING: The virtual keyboard was very easy to use. Excellent e-mail readability and attachment capabilities. This phone allows you to create and edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets out of the box, which can come in handy when working on the go. iMessage lets you send and receive free, unlimited text, images, and more among iOS devices and features delivery and read receipts. This phone allows you to create your own custom preset messages for your individual special situations or frequent use. When connected to Windows or Macintosh computers, this phone can appear on the computer to transfer images from your phone.
PHONE: We tested this phone under a variety of conditions to simulate environments ranging from the quiet indoors to noisy roadsides. We found voice quality was good when talking and listening. Talk time was an ample 17 hours. This phone has a very good mixture of controls and features for making and taking calls. Excellent keypad readability under different lighting conditions, even bright light. Its voice command allows you to conveniently dial numbers from your phone book by speaking the name, without the usual training. You can also dial numbers by pronouncing the digits. It has Bluetooth for wireless hands-free voice communication. Some models can simultaneously be on a phone call and an Internet-based connection over the cellular network. Can be used internationally. But auto answer doesn't work with headset.
MULTIMEDIA: The 8-megapixel camera is among the best we've seen in a phone. It has a very short shutter lag and produced very-good-quality pictures when photos were taken under well-lighted conditions. It also did an excellent job under low-light conditions. Its optical image stabilizer improves your chances of taking better handheld photos under low-light conditions. Camera has a flash, autofocus, face detection, and can record HD video. The camera's built-in flash can also help improve your chances of taking better pictures under low-light conditions. A tap-to-focus feature lets you override the autofocus by tapping on any subject on the screen. The camera took very good 1080p video at 30fps, on par with what you'd get with the better pocket camcorders. The camera can record at 60 frames per second at 1080p which can produce smoother video, but the quality at 30 fps is better, particularly in low light. You can also record in slow motion. This model has difficulty focusing in low light conditions to varying degrees when shooting video. You can capture pictures at the same time you're shooting a video by simply tapping the camera icon. The front-facing 1.2-megapixel camera allows easy self-portraits, and can support video chats. It can also record at 720p.
The iPhone has the one of best MP3 player we've seen in a phone, with a unique interface that lets you flip through your song collection. It has an equalizer, a volume limiter that can be pass-code protected, and can download content directly from iTunes. The music player has the capabilities and controls of a typical stand-alone MP3 players, including music shuffle and repeat controls, and options for sorting music by album, artist, etc. We found the EarPod delivers good overall sound quality, with a neutral character. This model also supports Bluetooth stereo headsets, and can download music over the phone network.
The iPhone provides GPS navigation capability with spoken turn-by-turn directions and automatic re-routing. The Apple Maps app is relatively streamlined, providing basic navigation guidance and limited travel information. This free solution routes effectively, providing clear guidance, including voice and on-screen directions, and great point-of-interest integration. It does lack common features found with dashtop devices and leading paid apps, such as reality view, lane assistance, exit guide, and multi-destination routing. The display for next-turn information (shown on a highway-sign graphic) is easy to read at a glance, and it compensates for a map design that is harder to interpret than that on Android. We like the estimated time of arrival, remaining distance, and travel time countdown, although the text is small, this is a greater aid for a passenger than the driver. Overall, in our experience, Apple impressed us with the graphic presentation for the navigation interface, results, signage, and points of interest pages. Another Maps feature, called Flyover, lets you view the structures and streets of several large cities in 3D from multiple angles. We have found instances of melting images in 3D mode, but more often than not, we found rather intriguing 3D representations that bring a map to life. The reality is, this is a novelty feature, not a component of navigation.
The iPhone can act as a mobile hotspot for Wi-Fi-enabled devices. It also supports Wi-Fi calling. Apple's Air Drop lets you wirelessly share photos, videos, and more with other compatible devices. It has 16, or 64GB of built-in memory. Its memory capacity is beneficial for storing music, videos, pictures, and other types of files. But to replace the battery, you must take your phone to an Apple store or mail it away, which could leave you without a phone for several days.
