iPhone 6 Review and Unboxing

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While you’re going to have to wait a few months if you had your eye on an Apple (AAPL) Watch, the other announcement from the latest Apple event — the two hottest smartphones in the world (at least for the moment) — are now shipping. Apple started offering the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on September 19.

iPhone 6 Introduction
Source: Photo by Brad Moon

I pre-ordered an iPhone 6 so there was no lining up for me on Friday and the new, bigger Apple smartphone was at my door in time to spend the weekend putting it through its paces.

Was it worth the wait?

Read my iPhone 6 review to see how Apple’s new flagship compares to previous iPhones and competitors from Google’s (GOOG) Android camp.

iPhone 6 Review: Unboxing

I was anxious all day on Friday. Every time the dogs barked, I was expecting a UPS (UPS) truck, but finally at around 4pm the iPhone 6 arrived.

iPhone 6 review unboxing
Source: Photo by Brad Moon

As usual, Apple’s packaging is classy and compact — and with the iPhone 6, even more understated than usual. Rather than a color photo of the new smartphone on the white box, the lid was embossed with the image of the new, bigger device.

Once I fired it up, the display came to life, and even though it’s not Full HD like many other smartphones in this class (according to Apple’s iPhone specs the 4.7-inch model’s Retina HD works out to 1334 x 750 pixels), it was still one of the better ones I’ve seen this year. It’s sharp, bright and has excellent contrast.

In terms of speed, camera performance and iOS 8, everything was as expected. That is to say, it was a solid improvement over last year’s model and last year’s operating system. The sole exception was Apple’s Health app — which was pulled from the iOS 8 download (although it remains pre-installed on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus).

We won’t learn if Health lives up to its promise until a HealthKit bug is addressed in a coming update.

iPhone 6 Review: The Perfect Size, But I’m Not Sold on the Design

Of course the big news about the iPhone 6 is its size.

iPone 6 review bigger size
Source: Photo by Brad Moon

Apple was the last holdout in the move to make smartphone screens bigger, and the iPhone 6 is its restrained response. At 4.7-inches, it’s significantly larger than last year’s iPhone 5s, but still smaller than leading Android smartphones like the 5.1-inch Samsung (SSNLF) Galaxy S5 or 5-inch HTC One M8 (reviewed here). The photo on the right shows the iPhone 6 beside an iPhone 5s and iPhone 4s.

If you want even bigger, Apple is also selling the super-sized iPhone 6 Plus, a 5.5-inch phablet.

I found the iPhone 6 to be the perfect size. Big enough that its virtual keyboard doesn’t feel like a toy, text is legible and a reasonable number of apps can fit onscreen, but still compact enough to hold and use with one hand.

However, the design failed to wow me.

I’m a fan of the angular, machined aluminum and glass approach Apple took with the iPhone 4 and 5 series. Those phones looked different, radiated premium quality and had a reassuring heft to them.

The iPhone 6 is the thinnest iPhone yet, and Apple abandoned the look it has used for the past four years, choosing instead to go with a rounded case.

I’m not a huge fan of the new look at this point. The iPhone 6 feels so light and thin that it seems much more fragile than previous generations. It probably isn’t (even though that rumored Sapphire Glass cover never made it in), but it just feels more breakable.

The rounded edges also make it an awful lot easier to drop.

And visually, to me the iPhone 6 looks as much like a generic Android device as it does an Apple product — at least from a distance. The fit and finish are impeccable, but to me this version has lost some of its wow factor. Maybe it will just take time to get used to it, but I still prefer the look and feel of my old iPhone 4S, glass back and all (although I’d never go back to the smaller screen).

Many people disagree with me, of course. For example, Forbes’ Gordon Kelly writes in his iPhone 6 review that its design is a return to the iPhone’s roots and should be celebrated.

This is the first time in five years that I broke down and bought a protective case for an iPhone. Covering the iPhone 6 up with a chunk of plastic and leather doesn’t seem like the shame it did with previous models, and at the same time, this phone feels like it needs both the protection and the grip assist.

iPhone 6 Review: Specs

These iPhone specs are based on the review model (64GB iPhone 6 in Space Gray).

iPhone 6 review box
Source: Photo by Brad Moon
  • 4.7-inch IPS Retina HD display at 1334 x 750 pixels (326 ppi)
  • Corning (GLW) Gorilla Glass 3
  • Apple A8 processor with M8 motion coprocessor
  • 8 MP iSight camera with f/2.2 aperture, image stabilization and focus pixels*
  • Touch ID fingerprint sensor
  • Apple Pay support
  • LTE, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
  • Voice over LTE and Wi-Fi Calling support
  • Barometer, three-axis gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor
  • Battery rated at up to 14 hours talk, 10 hours Internet use
  • Runs iOS 8
  • Starts at $199 on two-year contract ($299 for the 64 GB iPhone 6 review version)

*Note: iPhone 6 Plus camera specs differ, with optical image stabilization standard instead of software stabilization

iPhone 6 Review: Conclusion

There’s a lot to like about the new iPhone 6, and I think Apple has a big hit on its hands. Given the lines at Apple stores over the weekend and the pre-order and launch numbers, it seems likely that the iPhone 6 is going to stop the iOS slide in market share and might even gain some of it back.

iPhone 6 review Conclusion
Source: Photo by Brad Moon

Even though I’m not entirely enthralled with the look and feel of the new Apple smartphone, a lot of people feel differently. Whether you like the new look or prefer the chunkier iPhone 4 and 5 series, there’s no disputing the fact that Apple remains the industry leader when it comes to fit and finish — the iPhone 6 is no exception.

Similarly, no one is likely to complain about performance or the quality of that high contrast IPS display. And even though Apple stuck with an 8MP camera, advanced technology like focus pixels means the iPhone 6 continues to punch seriously above its weight when it comes to snapping photos.

As for battery life, I’ve been getting a bit better than a day on a charge, but that’s with heavy use and playing with the camera a lot more than normal.

While I have yet to get my hands on an iPhone 6 Plus, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 seems like size the iPhone should have been all along. Not too big, not too small, just right. It’s a worthy upgrade for existing iPhone users and big enough that it might convince some Android users to jump ship.

As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Brad Moon has been writing for InvestorPlace.com since 2012. He also writes about stocks for Kiplinger and has been a senior contributor focusing on consumer technology for Forbes since 2015.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2014/09/iphone-6-review-aapl/.

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