Iphone 6 -Review 2

Apple Watch

Okay, it's not really a key feature, as the Watch is basically just another screen for a device that's already a bit smaller than what's on the market.

• Apple Watch review

But the iPhone 6 was the first device to actively tie in with the Apple Watch, and with the launch of iOS 8.2 you've had the Watch app on your phone whether you like it or not.

At least U2 didn't come around to your house to announce that one.

The Apple Watch isn't cheap though, as prices range from $350 (£299, AU$499) for the entry-level Sport model to $17,000 (£13,500, AU$24,000) for the top-tier 18-karat gold editions.

• All you could want to know about the Apple Watch

The Watch also really needs to be paired with the iPhone 6 or later for the best experience, with the GPS added into the mix when running, as it's not present on the wrist-dweller.

The Apple Watch isn't an essential accessory, but if you're desperate for a smartwatch it shouldn't disappoint. It's stylish, and it gives you easier access to your notifications – if you're a compulsive smartphone-checker it could help rid you of your addiction.

The M7 co-processor didn't really seem to do a lot in the iPhone 5S, but in the iPhone 6 things seem to be stepped up somewhat.

Developers have started making better use of the functionality this low-power sensor-watcher brings. Nike, for instance, uses it to generate its Fuel Points now that its own Fuelband wearable is dead).

On top of that, the Health app makes good use of the additional data: with the added barometer on board the iPhone 6, the app will show you how many flights of stairs you've climbed along with the boring info of how many steps you've taken that day.

The Health App itself is rather confusing, as you need to set the dashboard up with the information you want to see in graph form (for instance, distance and steps climbed) rather than it appear on start-up.

When you go to select new items to display from the list there are seemingly hundreds, with things like 'Vitamin B' intake looking really interesting; in reality though they're useless without external sensors.

In truth, it's with the iPhone 6S that Apple really took its M co-processor to the next useful level, fitting it onto the SoC so that it could save power on core tracking tasks and also remain 'always-on'. This enables it to do things like listen out for Hey Siri commands even when not plugged in. But the iPhone 6's M8 is otherwise useful when actively using the phone.

Touch ID / Apple Pay

According to Apple's literature, Touch ID has been unchanged as a technology in the iPhone 6 from the previous model. My initial feeling was that it definitely feels better and more accurate than on the iPhone 5S, as I had barely any mis-reads where with the older phone a good 25% were failing.

It seems as if Apple has at least improved the software here. Again, though, it's with the iPhone 6S that Apple has truly made meaningful internal progress, with new Touch ID hardware and software algorithms helping the system take a noticeable step forward in terms of responsiveness and accuracy.

Still, Touch ID on the iPhone 6 remains one of the best biometric sensors around, despite rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Nexus 5X having caught up since its release. With the commerce angle added, it's one of the best inventions on any smartphone.

Apple Pay puts Touch ID to even better use on the iPhone 6 than on its predecessor, and the mobile payments system is up and running across a number of US and European financial institutions.

More importantly, if you're a charge-happy consumer, it works with the three major credit card companies – Visa, Mastercard and American Express – and millions of point-of-sale retailers throughout the US and Europe. In January 2016 it was revealed that the total number of retailers supporting Apple Pay had passed the two million mark.

Walgreens, Subway and McDonald's were some of the early big-hitters to get onboard (with loads of others now joining the party, including even vending machines), while holdouts like Walmart and CVS have balked at iPhone-linked payments.

Apple Pay has since launched in the UK, with American Express, First Direct, HSBC, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, NationWide, MBNA, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Ulster all among the financial institutions supporting it; Barclays was the only major bank to hang back, and it's joining soon.

Apple's official partner stores include Lidl, M&S, Post Office, Liberty, McDonalds, Boots, Costa, Waitrose, M&S Simply Food, Pret, BP, Subway, Wagamama, Spar, KFC, Nando's, New Look, Starbucks, Dune and JD Sports, and more are being added all the time.

The thing Apple isn't being clear about is that you can use Apple Pay with any contactless terminal, no matter what shop you're in. It's a strange one, but you can learn how to set it up here.

Despite this frustrating, consumer-unfriendly adoption resistance, everything else about the Apple Pay feature is easy, from scanning cards with the rear camera to authenticating payments with Touch ID.

• Apple Pay review

In fact, the only problem I encountered using Apple Pay was cashiers knowing what it was. Asking to order a McDonald's "Apple Pie with Apple Pay" drew some confused looks on day one.

Apple Pay is an extension of Passbook, so waving the iPhone 6 over a store's NFC terminal automatically fetches your lead credit card, and from there it requires your fingerprint to put the transaction through.

The combination of NFC and Touch ID could eliminate all-too-common card reading errors, credit card skimmer vulnerabilities and lost or stolen debit cards.

This is a BIG draw for Apple, as Apple Pay is much more vertically integrated than most rival contactless payment systems, and therefore simpler to use.

Samsung launched Samsung Pay with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S6, of course, but it's not as widespread as Apple Pay. What's more, the South Korean company simply doesn't hold the same level of cachet or sway with western companies as Apple, so it's going to be hard for it to make inroads, despite Samsung Pay actually sporting the more innovative and flexible payment technology.

Further out, there's also talk that the NFC chip in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, used to enable the payments, could be extended further to enable you to pair the phone with Bluetooth speakers, etc, like on Android phones... but for now, it's payment only.

Better keyboard

This should really be in the 'Essentials' part of the review, but I wanted to mention it here as it's fixed one of the biggest problems I have with the iPhone in general.

The iPhone 5S and its predecessors are awful for messaging. Whether it's the tiny display, the cramped and inaccurate keyboard or the way it keeps shutting down if you accidentally press above the top row, it makes me want to throw the phone out of a window.

iCloud Drive, Continuity and Family Sharing

A bit of a catch-all here, but it's worth noting that the new cloud-based features of iOS 8 (and which are still present in iOS 9) work really nicely on the iPhone 6. The ability to share files from a drive, the handover between Mac and iPhone and the way you can now have the entire family locked into one account is a real nice touch.

The latter particularly impresses me, as although it's not perfect in terms of being able to offer different credit card information (which would be ace if you've got a house that has more than one adult with money, but you don't want to allow everyone to use your card) the fact is even non-families can benefit from being part of the same network.

Today's media is widely shared with those we trust, and being able to have close friends as part of a family network feels like a real step forward.

iOS 9 added the welcome option to add a standalone iCloud Drive app to the home screen, which provides quick access to all the files you have stored in Apple's cloud service. It's made iCloud feel like a far more tangible, front-and-centre service on mobile, falling more in line with how it operates on OS X.

And while iCloud Drive feels a little too similar to Google's iteration in many ways, the integration is great and the fact that large files will live there as a link to anyone (thus negating Dropbox in many ways, and more seamlessly than ever) means the iPhone 6 feels like a very smart phone indeed.

OH I GET IT. Smart phone. Smartphone!

The interface of the iPhone 6, despite launching with iOS 8 and subsequently shifting to iOS 9, is still very familiar for anyone who's used a smaller iPhone or an iPad over the last several years. With the iPhone 6 you've actually got another option to make the view bigger (or zoomed in) in order to service those that perhaps don't have the best vision, and don't want to squint at the larger screen.

iOS 8 also added some very clever UI tweaks here and there, such as the ability to save contacts (with info like phone numbers from the signature) directly from the email app.

Then there's the 'Reachability' option. Double tapping on the home key without pressing it in will make the screen drop down around two-fifths, enabling you to easily press anything at the top of the screen. It's a slightly messy way of doing things, and despite trying my utmost I could rarely remember to activate it.

Still, at least Apple is showing that it's still a bit disgruntled at being forced to bring a larger phone to the masses, and is trying to mitigate the problem.

One of the most impressive features introduced by iOS 8 was the ability to swipe back and forth through the OS to get through apps and pages on the web. It's not a new feature for the average smartphone user at all – it's got some elements of BB10 (in terms of swiping to get to new menus), and there are more than a few nods to Android in there as well.

But that's not a bad thing in my mind. As long as a method isn't patented, then the more you can do to add a feature in to make a user's experience smoother, the better.

It's not a completely useful system, as the swipe doesn't work as a complete back key. To be perfect, I'd have liked to see a swipe backwards on the first screen of an app or web page as a method of getting back to the home screen.

It's things like that which embed the action into muscle memory, rather than being able to do something when you remember it's possible. However, it did severely limit the need to press the back button in the bottom left-hand corner (admittedly an improvement over iOS 8's top left corner), which is a plus.

While iOS 8 introduced all of these new features and more, it's no longer the most current version of Apple's mobile OS. In news that will neither shock nor surprise you, the iPhone 6 now ships with (or can be upgraded to) iOS 9.

This adds the all-new News app, imbues Siri with scary levels of intuition and even upgrades Apple Maps with public transport directions. It's also now easier to tell whether or not you're typing in caps, and app download sizes have also been given a trim through a feature called 'App Thinning', saving valuable storage space (especially useful if you opt for the wholly inadequate 16GB model).

In fact, iOS 9 itself has received a few updates of its own, many of which benefit the iPhone 6 as much as any of Apple's newer devices. For example, iOS 9.1 added more than 150 emojis to the keyboard, which has the potential to make your messaging that bit more expressive/obnoxious. Let's hear it for the taco. Anyone?

The big addition in iOS 9.2, meanwhile, has been Mail Drop. This previously Mac-only feature enables you to send large files through email, making it possible to share them without having to send them to Dropbox (or some other cloud storage solution) first. It's very well integrated too, so iOS will simply offer you the option of using it any time you try to send a particularly large file.

The latest version to land on the iPhone 6 though is iOS 9.3 which brings with it relatively minor updates to various stock Apple apps and a new feature in Night Shift. This new function is tasked with increasing color temperature as you near bedtime, making the the display warmer and helping you sleep better - or so Apple claims.

• iOS 9 release date, news and features

• Quick contact access and Siri

  Another change relates to the quick access to key contacts. In iOS 8, a 'recent contacts' bubble gallery was added at the top of the multitasking menu, which as is still accessed through a double press of the home button.
  From iOS 9, however, this was added to the new Spotlight Search screen, which is accessed by swiping right from the first home screen. In practice, this grants more space to the multitasking menu, making it easier to dip in and check out details from another app. It also makes sense to lump all of Siri's constantly shifting suggestions in one section.
  However, I dislike features that try and choose these things for you. I'd rather be able to hard-code contacts there, as unpredictability in new features can be infuriating.
  As such I didn't really use this feature that often – but if you remember to swipe right to get to the most used people, then hopefully over time it will populate correctly for you and you'll end up using it instinctively.
  Going back to Siri, Apple's personal assistant is now proactive, being able to make suggestions of its own, such as appointments you might want to add to your calendar.

  Interactive notifications

  The other big thing that Apple introduced with iOS 8 and improved in iOS 9 is the interactive notifications and widgets for the main drag-down menu that pervades throughout the app.
  The interactive part is, again, nothing new, as it's something that's been part of other phones (for example, the LG G3 and G4) for a number of years. However, it's a very slick and unobtrusive system here, with a small banner appearing at the top of the screen.
  Replying to a message instantly is cool, and something that really does bring an element of joy and usability to the system. Other apps can use this method of alert too, but not to the same effect. For instance, Mail coming in will show up in the same banner, but you can only organise the message rather than reply there and then.
  I appreciate that emails are generally longer, but there should be the option to fire off a quick missive if the situation calls for it.
  The widgets in the Notifications drop-down are pretty cool, particularly now that third-party app developers are incorporating them as standard.
  There are now more options available in the notifications bar to make a quick tap all you need to do things on the fly. It's one of those things that when you notice it for the first time, it's really useful, but quickly becomes commoditised.
• The rest of the interface is much as expected for an iPhone - and that's a good thing in the eyes of most users. However, I will say that the touchscreen on the iPhone 6 isn't as good as the competition – it doesn't feel as responsive as the Project Butter / Project Svelte (and subsequent evolutions) that Android has been adding into the backend of its platform.
  The problem manifests itself when swiping laterally through apps, and the internet browser doesn't always have that super smooth reaction that I've come to expect from a modern smartphone.
  I'm being really picky here, as it's not a nuisance, but at the same time it's perceptible compared to the competition, although nothing out of the ordinary for your average Apple user.
  Maybe it's down to the lower 1GB of RAM Apple has packed in – the 2GB iPhone 6S is one of the most fluid phones around, after all. But although it's slight, those hopping between Android and iOS might pick up on the lag.
  The better news is the crashes that plagued the early iOS 7 devices seem to be pretty much cleared up with the iPhone 6 on iOS 9 – I only noticed Spotify giving up the ghost during my setup, as well as one Facebook crash where before Safari was falling apart all over the place.
  Dropbox did hate downloading large files when you moved the phone, but that feels like more of a bug with iOS 8 compatibility than an endemic failure. It all seems to be running well in iOS 9.2.1.
  These things are often software-related, of course, but ultimately the iPhone 6 seems more stable out of the box than its predecessor.
  The rest of the iPhone 6 interface is simplicity itself. I'm never going to be happy with the way many apps still have their personal settings only available in the general Settings app, but at least more are starting to let you edit functionality from within the app itself.
  The iPhone 6 interface is clear, clean and as you'd expect. I still think there's more to be done with the Notifications area, but at least it's less complicated than before. Splitting it into two still feels wrong, and the calendar / traffic / summary info seems more power user than standard Apple buyer.
  The Control Center at the bottom of any screen is richer than before too, and still gives access to the key areas, including music control from anywhere within the phone.
• Is it the perfect interface for customisation? No, and many people are starting to want more from their smartphone, which is why Android phones are proving so popular.
  But it's still got the core simplicity that Apple has prided itself upon for years, and that's still going to be a massive draw, especially for those that feel like 'they know where they are' with iPhones.

  Performance

  Providing the power behind the scenes on the iPhone 6 is a 1.39GHz dual-core A8 processor with 64-bit architecture and 1GB of RAM.
  The iPhone 6 seems to be a little bit slicker than the iPhone 6 Plus when it comes to chugging away under the finger, although when looking at the Geekbench 3 scores we can see it's almost identical (average score of 2905 vs 2911 for the 6 Plus).
  This puts it below 2015's crop of flagship smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9, but right with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and below the One M8 – although HTC admitted to slightly gaming the results with a special 'high power mode'.
  In short, despite the dual-core processor, Apple seems to have eked out enough power to make the iPhone 6 a strong enough contender day to day, but if you want more power there's always the newer iPhone 6S now. Its processor is a good 40% faster than the iPhone 6's, and you can feel the extra snappiness in general usage.
• The iPhone 6's stamina promised to be a lot better than that of the iPhone 5S, as it comes with a 25% longer lasting battery and, according to Apple's literature, the A8 processor at the heart of things is a much more efficient engine, drawing 50% less power than the A7 iteration in the last iPhone.
  The good news is battery life in the iPhone 6 is definitely an improvement on what came before, offering a much more stable experience even if you're not doing much with the phone, which was one of my major gripes with the iPhone 5S.
  There's a notion that what Apple offered with that device was 'good enough', according to the owners I spoke to, but all wished that something could be done to make it better.
• When informed that 2014's crop of Android phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8, were capable of lasting well over a day even on harder usage, most realised that Apple needed to do something to improve the time they could keep away from a charger.
  Well, at least that's happened with the iPhone 6. When it first launched, in average use – by which I mean email being fetched at intervals, the screen at medium brightness, recording a few minutes' worth of video, snapping seven photos, and an hour or two spent listening to offline tracks on Spotify – I managed to go 13 hours with the battery only dropping to 33%.
  From then I played Real Racing 3 for 15 minutes and lost 10% of the battery life, which showed that it's very easy to slip through power when playing graphically intensive games.
  Returning to an iPhone 6 handset that's been in use for more than a year, I was pleased to find that its stamina remained pretty decent – after 12 hours of light usage it had dropped to just 46%. Of course, iPhones have always been extremely good at not being used much – they truly sip the power when in standby, with the screen powered down.
  As was the case earlier in its life, playing 3D games really hit this 'mature' iPhone 6's battery where it hurts. Playing 10 minutes of Freeblade – the graphically-rich shooter Apple used to show off the iPhone 6S at launch – sapped around 15% of the battery's charge.
  Another persistent issue: try and do anything like downloading music (which needs the screen to stay on, as apps like Spotify can't manage downloading in the background) and the battery will just fall away, meaning you'll be back to playing the charger hunt game.
  It should be noted that this is generally a problem with most smartphones; however, some are more adept at it than others (the fact Android phones can download in the background, for instance, is a great boon).
  It's also worth noting that Apple added a Low Power Mode with iOS 9. Flipping this on manually (you'll also be granted the option when power hits 20%) reduces things like mail fetch and background app refresh frequency, as well as automatic downloads and iOS's flashier visual effects.
  In truth, this is a feature Apple should really have added some time ago. Still, we're glad it's finally here for those times when you're caught away from a wall socket.
  Our techradar battery test did show something slightly worrying, and likely down to the increased pixel count: where the iPhone 5S lost 16% from a looped 90-minute Full HD video, the iPhone 6 lost 26%, with the iPhone 6 Plus dropping a similar 27%. Apple's extra pixel management clearly isn't as good as it could be, so anything with the screen on is going to be an issue.
  After a few months' use I found that the battery wasn't as robust as in other phones, with the iPhone 6 starting to show a worrying tendency to juice down to about 20% at home time. It could have been due to heavier apps being plugged in – running apps seem to want to spend time in the background eating battery – but it's not something I've seen on comparable handsets.
  More recently, I put the iPhone 6 through its paces on the aforementioned techradar battery test once again, and found that the average remaining figure had dropped to 67% – quite a deterioration from launch.
  In summary though, the battery life of the iPhone 6 is still something I'd call more than adequate, which isn't a compliment I'd pay previous versions of this phone.
  That said, given the lower-res screen and improvement in battery size, I was hoping for something a little more efficient, especially as the iPhone 6 can't quite compete with other phones on the market at the moment.
  It's not miles behind, but there's still some work to be done by Apple for theiPhone 7 (the iPhone 6S offers pretty much the same performance from a slightly smaller battery). And especially given that the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6S Plus are so much better at lasting with the screen off (thanks to the much larger power pack), this is going to lead to a tricky decision for prospective buyers.
• As noted above, the camera on the iPhone 6 is an 8MP affair, but with some key upgrades to make it into a more useable device day to day.
  The main element is the addition of 'Focus Pixels', which Apple believes will give faster autofocus and improved clarity to your shots.
  Faster autofocus is something that's been used to great effect on the LG G4 and the Samsung Galaxy S6, promising to get more of the picture in focus first time out.
  The G4 uses frickin' laser beams to manage the task, so Apple's got a pretty lofty goal here. However, the iPhone 6 was been found by DxO Labs to be one of the best cameras of its generation, and I instantly found it to be a superior device for general photography compared to contemporary devices like the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.
  We've seen better camera performance since, of course – and not just from the 12MP iPhone 6S and cheaper iPhone SE. A better option might be the Galaxy S6, which launched after the iPhone 6 and still has one of the best snappers around.
  The rear camera is very similar to that found on the iPhone 5S, it has to be said, although given that was one of the better snappers out there this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
  • Want to get more out of the iPhone 6 camera? We've got so many tips and tricks for you, we can't even get our heads around it.
  The Focus Pixels seemed to help somewhat with getting the clearer picture, but I didn't notice any big jump in functionality compared to the iPhone 5S in that respect. Saying that, I never really thought the 5S was slow to focus, so it's perhaps an issue that didn't need solving urgently.
• One extra element Apple has added in is the ability to change the exposure of the photo manually. Simply slide your finger up and down the screen to brighten or darken the shot – well, in theory.
  In my testing this seemed to be slightly iffy in terms of registering my desired level accurately - you need to swipe up and down a number of times to really change the level (which could be a good thing in some users' minds, as it allows a fine degree of control) but too often the swiping led to changing the mode from photo to video or other option.
• However, the simplicity of the iPhone's camera mode is still very much in effect: the f/2.2 aperture of the sensor is indeed rather good in terms of capturing colour. HDR mode is set to auto by default, but only really pops in when outside with bright sunlight cascading all around. For the most part, it won't fire sadly.
  The rest of the interface is largely the same: autofocus and autoexposure can be set with a long press, and the only other modes are timer, flash and the use of filters which show how the photo will look in real time,
  The front-facing camera, again as noted, is a big improvement for those that like a good self-portrait. The brightness is higher, the camera is an HD option with built in HDR, and essentially it's now really good for taking photos or video calling a loved one from afar.
• The other benefit here is that now iMessage accepts short videos (as Apple attempts to topple WhatsApp) the improved video capability of the front is more useful than ever before.
  I'm a big fan of the Slo-Mo feature on any smartphone, and by Apple increasing it to 240 frames per second you can now get some VERY slow and smooth shots.
  This is a really good feature if you've ever wanted to see something almost imperceptible to the human eye – by which I mean finding out how stupid your pet looks when shaking its head at high speed.
  Other things, like running style, golf swing or how you sneeze are fun reasons to use the function, and while it's nothing groundbreaking, it's a slick and easy to use interface. Why you'd want to go back down to 120fps is beyond me, but the option to change it back is there with a tag in the bottom corner.
  The video recording function on the iPhone 6 – which now encompasses 1080p at 60fps – is very clear and almost too real. This is actually great for home movies, giving the sense that you're there, but not so great if you're a budding movie producer with no money wanting to use the iPhone to make your next movie.
  I will say this about Focus Pixels in the video – Apple was making a big song and dance about how you don't need to refocus video when moving the camera about.
  This is partly true, but mostly if you've got a really clear and bright scene with well-defined distances. Going into close-up, for instance, didn't seem to yield much in the way of a decent shot, with the fuzzy bits still needing to be corrected by a tap.