iPhone 6/6+ First Impressions

Deep Thought

I was amazed how only after a couple of weeks using the 6, just how small the 5 looks....

Sad Professor

Deep Thought wrote: »

I was amazed how only after a couple of weeks using the 6, just how small the 5 looks....

Is one-handed use getting easier?

Sad Professor

Sad Professor wrote: »

Is one-handed use getting easier?

I'm only two days using it and I'm already getting pretty comfortable one handed. Reaching the top corners does take a bit of getting used to alright but moving the lock button was definitely a good move.

Hopefully more of the apps will soon start getting optimized. I got the update for chrome last night and its so much nicer and shows the sharpness of the screen when the app is optimized for the screen size.

Gumbo

Sad Professor wrote: »

Is one-handed use getting easier?

yes deffo.

DubDJ

So just got my iPhone 6 this morning. Went for the 64GB Space Grey model. The box is very much the usual thing except for the strange blank front this year.

Two things to note is I've small hands and can be extremely OCD about things The 6 is definately bigger, and I can straight away notice the difference. It's not a small size gap for me personally. There was never any choice for me when both iPhones launched, I was always going for the 6 as the Plus was just way too big and you'd have to have a real need for that sized screen. It wasn't one handed or transport friendly enough for me.

First thing I noticed, which always stands out as one of Apples biggest selling points was the screen. It's gorgeous and it looks too good to be real, it reminds me of one of those concepts you'd see online, it's really vibrant and there's a noticeable lack of glare compared to my previous iPhone 5. The build of the phone is definately one of the most fragile feeling iPhones, but it's well built and seemless. I think the fact that it's so light makes it feel like it could break. It's very slippery too, but using a rubberised matte case so its not an issue.

iOS runs really great so far, it's smooth and noticeably faster than the 5 and my iPad Air. It's my first go with Touch ID and I'm really liking it, worked so far 99% of the time so no complaints. One thing is the battery has been dropping steadily and I'm going to wait a few days after a few charges before I start worrying. I'd imagine it's down to the greater amount of use compared to normal usage and setting up things etc. I'm hoping to have a better battery life after a few days but for now it's nothing to go by.

The camera on it is a huge upgrade from anything i've used from Apple in the past, it's smooth and fluid and much better for lowlight performance. Haven't had a chance to test it out fully as the weather is dreadful outside I'd definately use it a lot more now though especially with the improved performance for indoor use.

Overall really happy with the phone, apps still look great and I've Display Zoom enabled so I can still have a mirror or my iPad Have had no crashes so far and it's really nice to have that extra space for certain things. I can see the balance of iPhone/iPad use moving towards the iPhone more now with the extra screen space. Going to enjoy testing things out over the next few days and see how big of an update it actually is.

squonk

Good review DubDJ!

DubDJ

squonk wrote: »

Good review DubDJ!

Thanks, just glad to finally be able to write one

shamelessidiot

DubDJ wrote: »

So just got my iPhone 6 this morning. Went for the 64GB Space Grey model. The box is very much the usual thing except for the strange blank front this year.

Two things to note is I've small hands and can be extremely OCD about things The 6 is definately bigger, and I can straight away notice the difference. It's not a small size gap for me personally. There was never any choice for me when both iPhones launched, I was always going for the 6 as the Plus was just way too big and you'd have to have a real need for that sized screen. It wasn't one handed or transport friendly enough for me.

First thing I noticed, which always stands out as one of Apples biggest selling points was the screen. It's gorgeous and it looks too good to be real, it reminds me of one of those concepts you'd see online, it's really vibrant and there's a noticeable lack of glare compared to my previous iPhone 5. The build of the phone is definately one of the most fragile feeling iPhones, but it's well built and seemless. I think the fact that it's so light makes it feel like it could break. It's very slippery too, but using a rubberised matte case so its not an issue.

iOS runs really great so far, it's smooth and noticeably faster than the 5 and my iPad Air. It's my first go with Touch ID and I'm really liking it, worked so far 99% of the time so no complaints. One thing is the battery has been dropping steadily and I'm going to wait a few days after a few charges before I start worrying. I'd imagine it's down to the greater amount of use compared to normal usage and setting up things etc. I'm hoping to have a better battery life after a few days but for now it's nothing to go by.

The camera on it is a huge upgrade from anything i've used from Apple in the past, it's smooth and fluid and much better for lowlight performance. Haven't had a chance to test it out fully as the weather is dreadful outside I'd definately use it a lot more now though especially with the improved performance for indoor use.

Overall really happy with the phone, apps still look great and I've Display Zoom enabled so I can still have a mirror or my iPad Have had no crashes so far and it's really nice to have that extra space for certain things. I can see the balance of iPhone/iPad use moving towards the iPhone more now with the extra screen space. Going to enjoy testing things out over the next few days and see how big of an update it actually is.

Seems like battery might be an 'issue' with these, within the time my iPhone 5 dropped 15%, the iPhone 6 had dropped almost double. Also seems to take noticeably longer to charge, was looking at it last night and it seemed like it was going at around 1% per minute from flat, my 5 charges fully in about 30 minutes. Going to give it a few cycles of charging to 100 from 0, hope that sorts things out. I can squeeze two and a half days out of my 5 with light usage, hope similar is achievable on the 6. One thing I do love is the slo-mo 240fps capturing, great addition to have and actually seems quite useful.

efb

Usage:
Safari 34% (blame boards)
Twitter 25%
Facebook 18%
Home & Lock Screen 7%

efb

Slow mo is awesome just recorded my hand moving!

efb

I disabled location settings years ago it's a big drain

AndyBoBandy

shamelessidiot wrote: »

Seems like battery might be an 'issue' with these, within the time my iPhone 5 dropped 15%, the iPhone 6 had dropped almost double. Also seems to take noticeably longer to charge, was looking at it last night and it seemed like it was going at around 1% per minute from flat, my 5 charges fully in about 30 minutes. Going to give it a few cycles of charging to 100 from 0, hope that sorts things out. I can squeeze two and a half days out of my 5 with light usage, hope similar is achievable on the 6. One thing I do love is the slo-mo 240fps capturing, great addition to have and actually seems quite useful.

What are you using to charge them?
a faster charge is not great for overall battery life.
I always try to charge as slow as possible, it's less strain on the battery

Also, since getting the 6, every charge so far has been from 0%-1% up to 100% via an iMac, and I'll continue to do that for as long as I can.
full cycles are also good for a battery in it's early life.

I've been finding the battery life excellent. I took it off charge yesterday at midday (100%), and now at 7:18am in the morning, it's currently at 84%, (4-5 calls, little bit of Facebook, few messages & emails)

lee_baby_simms

Andybobandy wrote: »

Also, since getting the 6, every charge so far has been from 0%-1% up to 100% via an iMac, and I'll continue to do that for as long as I can.
full cycles are also good for a battery in it's early life.

I don't think thats the case - You might be thinking of nickel based batteries that had whats known as a memory effect.

Lithium-ion batteries, used in smartphones, have no memory effect and lose stability when constantly let drop to low level. Always keeping it above 30% is best.

AndyBoBandy

lee_baby_simms wrote: »

I don't think thats the case - You might be thinking of nickel based batteries that had whats known as a memory effect.

Lithium-ion batteries, used in smartphones, have no memory effect and lose stability when constantly let drop to low level. Always keeping it above 30% is best.

I stand corrected.

mad muffin

lee_baby_simms wrote: »

I don't think thats the case - You might be thinking of nickel based batteries that had whats known as a memory effect.

Lithium-ion batteries, used in smartphones, have no memory effect and lose stability when constantly let drop to low level. Always keeping it above 30% is best.

Yep. Apple says as much



https://www.apple.com/batteries/why-lithium-ion/

https://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/

How are everyone's iPhones after three weeks? I presume they are all bent?

Getting used to the larger size now. I was hoping more apps would have been updated for the increase resolution by now.

DubDJ

shamelessidiot wrote: »

Seems like battery might be an 'issue' with these, within the time my iPhone 5 dropped 15%, the iPhone 6 had dropped almost double. Also seems to take noticeably longer to charge, was looking at it last night and it seemed like it was going at around 1% per minute from flat, my 5 charges fully in about 30 minutes. Going to give it a few cycles of charging to 100 from 0, hope that sorts things out. I can squeeze two and a half days out of my 5 with light usage, hope similar is achievable on the 6. One thing I do love is the slo-mo 240fps capturing, great addition to have and actually seems quite useful.

How are you charging your iPhone 5 that quick? :eek: I've the 5 myself and battery life has worsened since iOS 8. I don't think there'll be a problem with the 6 for battery, I think it just takes a few days for it to settle. It's dropped 3% overnight, which was the same as my 5 used to when it was new. Now my 5 loses almost 10% so it's lookimg normal battery wise. I noticed one app had used over one third of battery life yesterday during setup because it was running background activities. I think that accounted for the huge decrease.

mad muffin

DubDJ wrote: »

How are you charging your iPhone 5 that quick? :eek: I've the 5 myself and battery life has worsened since iOS 8. I don't think there'll be a problem with the 6 for battery, I think it just takes a few days for it to settle. It's dropped 3% overnight, which was the same as my 5 used to when it was new. Now my 5 loses almost 10% so it's lookimg normal battery wise. I noticed one app had used over one third of battery life yesterday during setup because it was running background activities. I think that accounted for the huge decrease.

They aren't it's, not possible. Only the 6 and Plus have fast charging.

Eire Go Brach

So far I am loving my iPhone 6. The speed is a huge leap over my 3 year old 4s. I never realised how annoying that was. Facebook took ages to load up. I actually thought it was the app


Although Is anyone else struggling with the sleep/wake button?

I had an impulse buy and bought an Otter box symmetery. I have never bought cases. Prefer just screen protectors. But with a 20 month old amazing little person. I decided I needed one. Thing is, I find it hard to use the sleep/wake button. I keep changing the volume.
It's easier with no case. But still takes getting used to.

DubDJ

Have the iPhone 6 running over 24 hours now and I'm noticing a huge improvement over my iPhone 5 battery wise. As always the battery was dropping fast at first but now I'm at 51% with 15 hours standby and 3hrs 30 mins usage. Been using it a lot today too, with heavy use i'd definitely last a day. If I didn't use it too much I'd personally get two. I'd imagine the 6 Plus would give me double that. Imagine how better it could of been if they kept the camera flush with the body and added battery.

Overall really happy with it, the screen is the standout feature for me. It just looks amazing.

Dades

Eire Go Brach wrote: »

Although Is anyone else struggling with the sleep/wake button?

Yes.

I still find the side position a pain in the arse. Having it on the opposite side to another multifunctional button is a big mistake, imo. "Yay I'm taking a picture!" CLICK "Oh, I just turned my phone off. Again". No doubt I'm holding it wrong.

I'm hoping iOS 8.1 will move it back to the top.

tigershould

DubDJ wrote: »

I've the 5 myself and battery life has worsened since iOS 8.

fyi - iphone 5 replacement program

https://www.apple.com/support/iphone5-battery/

mad muffin

Dades wrote: »

Yes.

I still find the side position a pain in the arse. Having it on the opposite side to another multifunctional button is a big mistake, imo. "Yay I'm taking a picture!" CLICK "Oh, I just turned my phone off. Again". No doubt I'm holding it wrong.

I'm hoping iOS 8.1 will move back to the top.

You see, if you press the power and volume button at the same time, the volume button registers instead of the power button.

Just take photos using the volume button

DubDJ

tigershould wrote: »

fyi - iphone 5 replacement program

https://www.apple.com/support/iphone5-battery/

Yeah I'm not eligible it's just normal battery drop and iOS 8 has made it drop a lot quicker. Nothing major but it's definitely taken a hit.

squonk

My 6 arrived at lunchtime so I've just had time to set it up and so some initial playing with it. First impression is that they've broken one of the real magical things about the iPhone, the fact that you could very comfortably use it with one hand. Now the screen is too wide and my thumb won't really make it over to the A key without great effort. More often than not it falls onto the World key so I end up changing built in keyboard.

I'd expect this kind of crap from an Android phone where everyone was so fixated on the cool new tech that they forgot to make it all work properly but I expect far more from Apple. Even on my 5 the custom keyboard switching was proving to be a pain but now when it's happening by accident when I'm trying to type, it's even worse.

I can't see myself really getting used to this as I can't honestly see my thumb growing any more at my age! From what I see you need to balance the phone more on your fingers to make one-handed work. That just makes everything more unstable as well. Reachability is rubbish. You can't use the keyboard in that mode. That's one place you'd actually want it.

I had a feeling I didn't want a bigger iPhone and now I know. Sadly though I can't just hang onto my 5 indefinitely.

Just because you'll need a flatbed truck going round with you to hold the Galaxy S15 doesn't mean that Apple need to follow this stupid trend also. I really come away thinking that they did the usual things Apple do well i.e. making the phone thinner and more pleasant to hold and integrating new technology in a meaningful way, but as regards the size, I really do feel they just made the phone bigger for the sake of making it bigger.

On the plus side, the screen quality is fantastic! I don't think I've ever owned a device with quite the same high screen quality.

Gumbo

squonk wrote: »

My 6 arrived at lunchtime so I've just had time to set it up and so some initial playing with it. First impression is that they've broken one of the real magical things about the iPhone, the fact that you could very comfortably use it with one hand. Now the screen is too wide and my thumb won't really make it over to the A key without great effort. More often than not it falls onto the World key so I end up changing built in keyboard.

I'd expect this kind of crap from an Android phone where everyone was so fixated on the cool new tech that they forgot to make it all work properly but I expect far more from Apple. Even on my 5 the custom keyboard switching was proving to be a pain but now when it's happening by accident when I'm trying to type, it's even worse.

I can't see myself really getting used to this as I can't honestly see my thumb growing any more at my age! From what I see you need to balance the phone more on your fingers to make one-handed work. That just makes everything more unstable as well. Reachability is rubbish. You can't use the keyboard in that mode. That's one place you'd actually want it.

I had a feeling I didn't want a bigger iPhone and now I know. Sadly though I can't just hang onto my 5 indefinitely.

Just because you'll need a flatbed truck going round with you to hold the Galaxy S15 doesn't mean that Apple need to follow this stupid trend also. I really come away thinking that they did the usual things Apple do well i.e. making the phone thinner and more pleasant to hold and integrating new technology in a meaningful way, but as regards the size, I really do feel they just made the phone bigger for the sake of making it bigger.

On the plus side, the screen quality is fantastic! I don't think I've ever owned a device with quite the same high screen quality.

After a months use, ive gotten used to mine, but there has to be a limit on screen size. I couldn't handle anything bigger than the 6, its already borderline for me.

Dades

squonk, you sounds like the screen size came as a surprise to you!

There's loads of 4.7" screens on the market already you could have tested out prior to buying. They hardly "broke" a phone you didn't have to buy?

Loomis

Dades wrote: »

squonk, you sounds like the screen size came as a surprise to you!

There's loads of 4.7" screens on the market already you could have tested out prior to buying. They hardly "broke" a phone you didn't have to buy?

In fairness, I take his point about ease of use and Reachability. Phone (6, 64GB) arrived on Wednesday after an absolute shambles with Three, so I haven't used mine much yet. Hope to over the weekend. But so far, I have noticed the size being an issue. Not as bad as squonk finds it, but it's definitely noticeable.

I'm not especially tall, but have relatively large hands and find it a little more awkward to reach the top corners. I can still reach them by shifting the phone slightly in my hand but, as I say, it is little awkward. I find the phone a bit slippery so potentially risk dropping it by doing this. I normally type with two hands so that's grand, but when I'm reading and browsing round an app I tend to use one hand. Reachability sounds like a neat trick, but it adds two extra taps for a user when one worked before, so I could see that getting very annoying depending on the app you're using.
I knew the phone would be bigger and accepted I'd likely have to adapt to using it as larger phones have never appealed to me. The 6+ was never gonna happen for me.

The screen is immaculate. The curved edges make swiping back handier than on my 5, so that will help avoid the reachability issue mentioned above to a degree - not all apps have it implemented which is a bit annoying. Only thing I'm thinking is, after sticking a case on it, will that ruin that effect?

I thought about not getting a case but feel like I need one. The phone is gorgeous and feels great so would prefer not having to cover it up, but there's the perception it's fragile; maybe because it's so thin? A case will add peace of mind, reduce the slip factor, and help flush the camera. They'll likely win out over the point above about ruining the nice edge factor if that is the case.

Contrary to the size issue above, the extra real estate is pretty nice. Everything just shines on the screen; photos and videos look amazing. Same wow-factor I experienced when I got a MacBook Pro Retina; comparing to a laptop, everything just pops.

First time using Touch ID and find it so handy, when I remember it. :P

Haven't used the camera yet so looking forward to taking some pictures over the weekend and maybe try the slow-mo feature people are raving about.

So far, pretty happy with it given the apprehension of going to a larger phone. It's typically Apple; gorgeous to look at, hold, and use.

FourFourRED

Dades wrote: »

squonk, you sounds like the screen size came as a surprise to you!

There's loads of 4.7" screens on the market already you could have tested out prior to buying. They hardly "broke" a phone you didn't have to buy?

In fairness most 4.7" screen sized phones have a smaller footprint in the hand and could probably be managed a bit easier. Moto G for example.

blacknight83

hey guys just picked up a iphone 6 today when applying screen protector I noticed towards the top left (beside volume rocker) the screen appears to click and pushes in slightly .. will be bringing back to exchange straight away. I searched YouTube and on apple forums this does appear to be a common fault .. has anyone on here had same issue ?

I hadn't noticed but stated pushing the screen now when reading your post and it makes a slight sound, you would barely notice it. I wouldn't be surprised if all the phones did it, wouldn't bother me anyway.