The iPhone 6 Plus is the largest Apple smartphone ever to hit the market. Among its main competitors, the company was practically the last to develop its own phablet model (from the English phone "phone" and tablet "tablet"). It was assumed that these devices will expand the scope of the phone, since they are close to the functionality of tablets. To achieve this goal, the phone needed a powerful internal filling and a wide display. The creators of the iPhone 6 Plus mainly worked on these areas.
IPhone 6 Plus Specifications
This model has the following parameters:
- Apple A8 SoC @ 1.4 GHz (2 cores, 64-bit ARMv8-A architecture)
- Apple M8 motion coprocessor (includes accelerometer, gyroscope and compass)
- GPU PowerVR GX6650 or GX6450
- RAM 1 GB
- Flash memory 16/64/128 GB
- Support for microSD memory cards is missing
- Operating system iOS 8.0
- Touch display IPS, 5.5 ″, 1920 × 1080 (401 ppi), capacitive, multitouch
- 8 megapixel cameras with a pixel size of 1.5 microns, optical stabilization and aperture of ƒ / 2.2 (shooting Full HD video at 30 or 60 fps) and 1.2 megapixels with an aperture of ƒ / 2.2 (shooting video - 720p)
- Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n / ac (2.4 and 5 GHz)
- Communication: GSM, CDMA, 3G, EVDO, HSPA +, LTE
- Bluetooth 4.0
- 3.5mm headphone / microphone jack, Lightning
- Li-polymer battery 2915 mAh (estimated)
- GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, support for iBeacon positioning technology
- Compass
- Dimensions 158 × 78 × 7.1 mm
- Weight 172 g
It does not differ very much from the previous model, which is easy to see from the table below.
| Apple iPhone 6 Plus | Apple iPhone 6 | |
|
Screen |
4.7 ″, IPS, 1334 × 750, 326 ppi | |
|
SoC (processor) |
Apple A8 @ 1.4 GHz (2 cores, 64-bit ARMv8-A architecture) | |
|
GPU |
PowerVR GX6650 or GX6450 * | PowerVR GX6650 or GX6450 * |
|
Flash memory |
16/64/128 GB | 16/64/128 GB |
|
Connectors |
Lightning dock connector, 3.5mm headphone jack | |
|
Memory card support |
No | No |
|
RAM |
1 GB | 1 GB |
|
Cameras |
rear (8 MP; 1080p video shooting) and front (1.2 MP; 720p video shooting and transmission) | |
|
LTE support |
there is | there is |
|
Battery capacity (mAh) |
2915* | 1810* |
|
Operating system |
Apple iOS 8 | Apple iOS 8 |
|
Dimensions (mm) ** |
158 × 78 × 7.1 | 138 × 67 × 6.9 |
|
Weight (g) |
172 | 129 |
Contents of delivery
The standard set supplied with the purchase of this device includes:
- Telephone
- Charger with USB cable (5V, 1A)
- Instructions
- SIM card clip
- Wired stereo headset
IPhone 6 Plus performance
When the new model hit the market, it became Apple's flagship in the phablet segment. But many competitors already had their own samples of such devices. The main rival of the iPhone 6 Plus on the market was the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone, with which the new Apple was compared in numerous articles and video reviews. At that time, in many technical characteristics, functionality and performance, the newly released smartphone was inferior to the Galaxy Note 4. True, loyal fans of the company are more inclined to compare Apple products with each other than with the products of its competitors. From this point of view, the phablet was an undeniable achievement and was enthusiastically received by users.
The increase in productivity was achieved in the new smartphone using various technical means, namely:
- A system that monitors the temperature and frequency of the processor, which ensures high performance even if the phone gets hot;
- Increased chip speed;
- Better workmanship in the new Apple A8 processor.
As for the rest, the characteristics of the processor remained practically unchanged, which might seem strange if the device was positioned as a "small tablet". The A8 remains a dual-core processor, with a simple coprocessor added to it to perform less important tasks, thus reducing energy costs. When using standard applications and simple programs, the phone works fast enough, nothing freezes. But games on this model, a smartphone and heavy programs can "slow down".
Similar problems to some extent in the first months of the existence of a smartphone could be associated with the incompleteness of the operating system iOS 8. In newer versions of iOS, there are fewer freezes. Unfortunately, while application developers do not actively interact with this operating system. Not all programs can run on Apple products, as the creators of many of them do not adapt them to the company's operating system.
The RAM also did not increase in comparison with the previous model (its volume is 1 GB, for most competitors at the time of the release of the device it started from 3 GB). As a result, the 6th generation of Apple smartphones was not always ready for complex functions, although it became more convenient for use as a regular iPhone, as its predecessors were. In addition, this is the first generation of smartphones that support the Apple Pay contactless payment system.
IPhone 6 Plus screen specifications
Most of the innovations in the new iPhone concerned the display. Screen size is one of the main characteristics of the iPhone 6 Plus that has caught the attention of buyers. Sales in the early days were record-breaking.
Externally, the iPhone 6 Plus looks almost the same compared to the latest iPhone 5S model, except for the size and rounded corners. In the case design of both smartphones, the differences are minimal. The phone still looked very restrained, strict and stylish at the same time.
A parameter such as thickness has slightly increased (during the presentation of the device, they tried to smooth it out with the help of lighting, which caused a small scandal). The diagonal of the iPhone 6 Plus was 5.5 inches, which was a record for Apple (the iPhone 6 released with it also had a larger screen size compared to the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5 to 4.7 inches).
The dimensions of the device, in addition to the positive aspects, also had disadvantages: for example, it became not very convenient to use the smartphone with one hand due to the smooth surface and large display size. In part, this problem was solved by the fact that when you double-click quickly, the display seemed to slide down so that you could reach the functions and applications located at the top. In addition to the display diagonal, the following screen characteristics that distinguish the iPhone 6 Plus can be distinguished:
- RetinaHD display resolution - 1920 x 1080. This parameter has not undergone any significant changes, and some of Apple's competitors, phablets differed in higher screen resolutions.
- Display brightness - up to 500 cd / m2.
- Viewing angles - under any tilt and lighting, the image is well read, remains bright and clear.
In general, there are practically no complaints about the characteristics of the display for the new smartphone. To use the phone for any purpose, this screen resolution should be sufficient so that the user does not feel discomfort when reading, watching videos and images.
Other characteristics
Among the advantages of the phablet, one can also note a good battery, which is enough for a whole day of active use. If you use your phone sparingly, it may be sufficient to fully charge the battery once every two days.
The camera of the smartphone also caused some dissatisfaction among users, since with the already rather large dimensions of the device, it protrudes slightly above the body. In everyday use, this is not too noticeable. There are no fundamental differences from previous generations in its technical characteristics. A new feature is the optical image stabilization function.
It made it possible to compensate for the effect of hand shake when photographing. With the help of optical stabilization, the picture is clear. The camera module supports the ability to shoot 1080p video at 30 and 60 frames per second. There are several shooting modes, including slow motion. When photographing in normal mode, the autotune works quite well.
If you are thinking whether it is worth buying an iPhone 6 Plus despite the fact that there are later models of iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 6S, first decide on the purpose of using the device. We can say that if there are no increased requirements for the performance and power of the smartphone, then if you wish, you can take advantage of the relatively low price. Subsequent versions differ favorably in that they practically do not "slow down" when working with complex applications and programs and are much more functional.
✅ Buy iPhone 6 Plus original
You can find many detailed reviews and comparisons of these devices on the Internet, showing them in action. You can familiarize yourself with them before making a choice.
Comparison with competitors
The main competitors of this device are the creations of Samsung (Galaxy Note 4) and Huawei (Ascend Mate 7). So that you have an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the devices.
| Apple iPhone 6 Plus | Samsung Galaxy Note 4 | Huawei Ascend Mate 7 | |
|
Screen |
5.5 ″, IPS, 1920 × 1080, 401 ppi | 5.7 ″, Super AMOLED, 2560 × 1440, 515 ppi | 6 ″, IPS, 1920 × 1080, 367 ppi |
|
SoC (processor) |
Apple A8 @ 1.4 GHz (2 cores, 64-bit ARMv8-A architecture) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 @ 2.7 GHz (4 Cores, Krait 450) or Samsung Exynos 5433 (4 cores 1.9 GHz Cortex-A57 and 4 cores 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53) |
HiSilicon Kirin 925 (4x Cortex-A15 @ 1.7GHz + 4x Cortex-A7 + i3) |
|
GPU |
PowerVR GX6650 or GX6450 * | Adreno 420 / Mali-T760 | Mali-T628 MP4 |
|
Flash memory |
16/64/128 GB | 32 GB | 16 GB |
|
Connectors |
Lightning dock connector, 3.5mm headphone jack | Micro-USB (with OTG and MHL 3.0 support), 3.5mm headphone jack | |
|
Memory card support |
No | microSD (up to 128GB) | microSD (up to 128GB) |
|
RAM |
1 GB | 3 GB | 2 GB |
|
Cameras |
rear with optical stabilization (8 MP; 1080p video shooting) and front (1.2 MP; 720p video shooting and transmission) | rear with optical stabilization (16 MP; 4K video shooting) and front (3.7 MP; 1080p video shooting and transmission) | rear (13 MP; 1080p video shooting), front (5 MP; 1080p video shooting and transmission) |
|
LTE support |
there is | there is | there is |
|
Battery capacity (mAh) |
2915* | 3220 | 4100 |
|
Operating system |
Apple iOS 8 | Google Android 4.4 KitKat | Google Android 4.4 KitKat |
|
Dimensions (mm) ** |
158 × 78 × 7.1 | 154 × 79 × 8.5 | 157 × 81 × 7.9 |
|
Weight (g) |
172 | 176 | 185 |
IPhone 6 Plus review - specifications, photos
On the night of September 24-25, the launch of sales of new smartphones Apple iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 6 Plus on the Russian market. A bright event organized by Beeline came to our attention. A bright show and pleasant surprises were organized for guests and first buyers. But behind all this tinsel are the main characters - the new Apple smartphones, and we’ll talk about exactly one thing today.
Video review Apple iPhone 6 Plus
Apple products are known for their conservatism, from model to model, key design features as a whole remain recognizable and unchanged, any even minor changes in the arrangement of elements or dimensions are widely discussed. This is not surprising, initially a large portion of competent marketing was laid in the first generation of both smartphones and tablets, the convenience and usefulness of all elements and functionality was clearly and intelligibly explained to potential buyers.
But time passes, more and more new models came out, progress did not stand still. And in fact, for a long time, the attitude to the display diagonal remained adamant. The compact diagonal was positioned as an advantage and concern for the user, amid the active growth in the popularity of phablets based on Google Android.
Steve Jobs, an Apple icon, has repeatedly stated that enlarging the screen is not Apple's way. But you must admit that it is difficult to deny and stay out of the changes in the market situation. The manufacturer chose a cross between 6 "phablets and 5" flagships. Although it must be admitted that the popularity of such smartphones depends directly on additional functionality and, of course, software. An example of a successful approach is the Samsung Galaxy Note. Here, the branded stylus for the 4th generation is brought to the ideal (Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review is scheduled for September 30).
Apple went the other way, in fact, the user is not offered any additional accessories or special modes. But even here, immediately after the official specifications were announced, there was a wave of criticism regarding the dimensions of the case, the case cannot boast of being compact against the background of other 5.5-inch solutions, the same Huawei Ascend Mate 7 with 6 inches seemed smaller. This is due to the large framework, and here it is difficult to understand what the manufacturer was guided by; during the presentation, this point was not explained. Sony and Samsung use this framework to implement water resistance, nothing like that.
Apple iPhone 6 Plus availability
The cost of Apple iPhone 6 has not changed compared to last year's prices, but with a big caveat, this is only relevant for the United States, here the younger version will cost $ 649 without a contract. We should take into account the increase in the exchange rate, the cost starts with a price tag of 31,990 rubles.
Apple iPhone 6 Plus will cost 36,990 rubles and more. I am glad that Russia has entered the first wave of sales.
Equipment
The smartphone comes in a compact white package. The packaging design has become simpler and more concise. The technical characteristics are shown on the lower edge.
Includes: Lightning cable, charger, EarPods, Apple logo stickers, documentation, and an i-clip.
Appearance
Watching the release of Apple smartphones, we can note the presence of a 2-year design life cycle. In Apple iPhone 6 Plus, the design of the case has become closer in spirit to that which is now used in the iPad.
There are plastic inserts for antennas, here you can visually find fault with the design, you could have made it more interesting. In fact, the previous flagship looks neater and more harmonious.
The smartphone is housed in a one-piece aluminum body with minimal thickness and rounded edges.
It fits well in the hand, due to smooth transitions to the side edge. And at the same time it does not slip out of hands. But Apple iPhone 6 Plus will no longer be able to be carried in your pocket due to the high body height, and it is fraught with bending of the body, there are plenty of such cases and videos on the network, apparently, this will be a sore for this smartphone.
There are no differences in design of elements and colors between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the proportions are also similar. But users now really have an alternative and a choice.
Now to the innovations: the smartphone has got a new flash. This is an LED solution with TrueTone, it consists of two elements, the combination of white and amber colors gives high-quality night shots.
Mechanical buttons have retained their familiar shape, but have become more elongated. On the side is the volume rocker, but the lock button has been moved from the top end to the right side. In fact, not the best solution, it is still difficult to work with a smartphone with one hand, but users have added headaches with accidentally pressing a button in their pocket.
Another solution is the protruding camera peephole.
The mechanical home button combines the TouchID fingerprint scanner.
The quality of workmanship is at a high level. The metal is rough, giving the Apple iPhone 6 Plus an expensive look.
There are no backlashes and creaks of parts.
Display
A miracle happened, the Apple iPhone 6 Plus became the first smartphone in the lineup with Full HD resolution. In fact, with this step, the manufacturer also solves the problem of a shortage of matrices, such a pixel density is well mastered in the production of Android smartphones.
It was not without marketing, this screen was named Retina HD Display, the pixel density increased from 326 ppi to 401 ppi. It would have been interesting a year ago, but now even budget smartphones have Full HD, such a pixel density is not surprising. Under the name Retina, this flaw can be completely hidden, or at least not focused on it.
The color rendition is close to the standard with a bias in cold tones, a high margin of brightness (490 cd / m2), the picture looks gorgeous. The available anti-glare makes it possible to work comfortably with a smartphone even in direct sunlight. The viewing angles are maximum.
Filling
Apple iPhone 6 Plus received the new Apple A8 processor with a frequency of 1.4 GHz. This 64-bit solution provides an adequate level of performance. As before, the focus is on architecture, not core count. The performance gain for graphics is 50% and 25% for calculations.
The processor responsible for movement has also been updated, this is the M8, it tracks user movements, location and network conditions without affecting the resources of the main processor. Work has been done using GPS, now the coordinates are tracked in the background. The question of RAM remained controversial, as before, it is limited to 1 GB. So far, the manufacturer manages to solve this issue by optimizing resources, but early users note rare brakes when launching games and crashing applications.
The smartphone has got an NFC chip, but it's too early to rejoice, this is a solution cut down in functionality, it is used only for the Apple Pay payment system. In Russia, it will be useless for a long time.
Autonomy
In terms of autonomy, the situation here is better than that of the Apple iPhone 6, the smartphone received a 2915 mAh battery. By adding an energy efficient chip and system optimization, you can get long battery life. With an average load, the Apple iPhone 6 Plus can work for about 10-12 hours.Software
Installed iOS 8, the same system is available on previous flagships. We examined it in detail during the iPhone 6 test and in a separate review on the system itself. I will only note that the iPhone 6 Plus screen fits two more icon strips.
It remains to wait for the developers to update their applications for the new screen resolution. So far, basically, only standard programs have been worked out.
Camera
According to rumors, a lot was said about the new camera module, in the end the manufacturer decided to keep the 8 megapixel camera, which has been in operation for 4 years. The manufacturer has not yet decided to participate in the megapixel race.
The iSight camera received a new focusing system, here it is not contrast, but phase. Now getting a blurry shot has become more difficult. The iPhone 6 Plus also has optical stabilization.
In fact, the camera turned out to be quite ordinary, one should not expect a wow effect from it. There is noise in poor lighting conditions. Still, the manufacturer should reconsider the attitude to the resolution of the matrix, a higher resolution gives a margin for improving the quality of frames, by combining pixels and the possibility of increasing frames (relevant for social networks and instagram).
Against the background of the general improvement of "selfies" - "selfies", the front camera has not changed either, it is a 1.2 Mp module. Against the background of competitors with a high aperture ratio and viewing angle, it looks sluggish.
Results for Apple iPhone 6 Plus
Apple iPhone 6 Plus turned out to be interesting, but with that wave of rumors and crazy ideas, somehow boring and mundane in terms of innovations. This is the first experience of the company in creating phablets, the manufacturer balancing on the verge of display size and the ability to work with one hand. Here this is realized due to the rounded corners and low thickness. There are no complaints about the quality of the display, its brightness and color reproduction. And the camera, if we ignore the idea of night photography, shoots perfectly. And, of course, the new Apple iOS 8. But it's hard to deny the obvious disadvantages, thick bezels around the display, overall dimensions are larger than those of competitors, low resolution for video and photography, controversial plastic antennas, a small amount of RAM and a stripped-down NFC chip.Which one to choose between the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus? We cannot give an unequivocal answer, we recommend that you independently test these models in the salon, the Beeline salon provides this opportunity to its customers, but we thank the operator for the prompt access to new products.
IPhone 6 Plus Smartphone - Review
CPU: Apple A8: ARMv8 A32 / A64; 1.4 GHz; Apple M8 coprocessor
Display: 5.5 ", 1920x1080, Retina HD, IPS, oleophobic coating, anti-reflective filter, tempered glass, 401 PPI
RAM: 1 GB
Flash memory: 16/64/128 GB
SIM: nanoSIM
Memory card: No
Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, DC-HSPA + (84 Mbps) 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz, LTE Cat. 4 (support for Russian frequencies)
Wireless connection: 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, 2.4 / 5 GHz, BT 4.0, NFC (Apple Pay only)
Camera: 8 Mpix (3264x2448), autofocus, dual diode flash, optical stabilization
Front-camera: 1.2 Mpix (1280x960)
Ports: Lightning, 3.5mm headset out
GPS: GPS (aGPS), GLONASS
Battery: non-removable, 2915 mAh
Waterproof: No
Sensors: illumination, proximity, accelerometer / gyroscope, digital compass, barometer, fingerprint sensor
Dimensions: 158x78x7.1 mm
The weight: 129 g
Body colors: dark gray, gold and silver
Price in Moscow: about 48 thousand rubles for the 64 GB version What are we seeing here? As expected, everything is fine with the display: the size is suitable, the resolution is exactly what you need, and the iPhone has never failed with the screen quality. RAM is small, only 1 GB. (Android flagships usually have 2-3 GB.) Considering the traditional lack of support for a memory card (well, how can a user be allowed to poke something outside into an iPhone, how? !!), the proposed range of built-in memory looks somewhat strange: 16/64 / 128. And where, excuse me, is 32 GB? Here the 32/64/128 line would look more logical. And even more logical - 16/32/64. Nevertheless, in this case, the 32 GB volume, the most popular in terms of price and quality ratio, is not present at all. (I would take the 32 GB version for myself.) Oddly enough, the SIM card still remained nanoSIM, and I was already expecting that for the iPhone 6 they would come up with some kind of picoSim, which must be inserted there under a microscope. The battery capacity is 2915 mAh. Well, in general, decent, but nothing more. For such a display, I would like to be somewhere around 3200. However, Apple, given the tight bundle of hardware and software development, has always been good with power consumption, so you need to test it - let's test it, don't worry. We will not talk about the price for now - the price looks very high, but in this case we are talking about the price in Russia, the beginning of sales and a sharp drop in the ruble. However, in the States, the 64 GB version costs $ 840, and this price also looks overpriced - just when compared with similar Android flagships. (In Europe, the 6 Plus 64 GB model cost me 899 euros, which is even more expensive than in Russia.) But enough fiction, let's see how it all looks and works. Contents of delivery In pursuit of minimalism, Apple has achieved perfection. Now they do not write anything on the front of the box, there is just a slight hint there is the silhouette of the iPhone 6 Plus - they say, they themselves have to guess.
But on the other hand, the end of the box still says iPhone - which is what it is. What kind of iPhone is unclear, but still, an iPhone, and not a vegetable cutter, is already good. 
Included: smartphone, power adapter (1A), Lightning-USB cable, EarPods stereo headset, instructions, paper clip for removing the SIM card insert. 
Appearance and features
Compared to the iPhone 5S, the appearance has not undergone any special changes, except that the aluminum ends have become a little thicker. Well, and, accordingly, the size of the diagonal of the display has noticeably increased - by as much as 1.5 ". (But we remember that there is also a version of the iPhone 6, which has a display of 4.7".) The ends of the display glass are slightly rounded - it looks good, but it creates some problems, which I will write about below. 
The body is made of aluminum, on the back cover you can see special plastic inserts - there are antennas under them. The camera peephole is raised literally a millimeter above the surface of the back cover - Apple has already been thoroughly smiled for this. Although I think these claims are stupid: such an arrangement of the camera does not interfere with anything, and, besides, the android flagships have a bulging camera, in my opinion, for all models, and no one chmuried them for this: no one simply paid any attention. The camera lens is protected by a sapphire crystal. 
The power button has migrated from the top to the right - and this is a very correct decision, because on small iPhones it was not very convenient to press it, and even at this size, the side location of the power button is optimal. Under the power button is an insert for a SIM card. On the left side there is a sound on / off button, sound control buttons. 
At the bottom, like the previous model, there is a headset jack, microphone, Lightning port and speaker. 
Well, here is our hero next to Huawei Ascend Mate 7 and LG G3. 
The build quality here, as usual, is excellent: the materials are very high quality, all the parts are adjusted so that there can be no complaints about the assembly. However, I was surprised by one design feature of this model. The fact is that these strongly rounded ends of the case and glass, as well as the thickness of a really very thin case, play a strange joke with the smartphone: it has become very, as they say, clumsy. Taking the smartphone off the table with one hand is a real problem: fingers slip, so you have to make a lot of effort to grab the phone and pick it up. Here, for example, is a photo of the iPhone 6 Plus and Huawei Ascend Mate 7. Do you see that Huawei is slightly raised above the table (besides, it has a slightly thicker body)? Its back cover is specially made slightly convex, so taking it off the table with one hand is no problem. The new iPhone is tightly pressed against the table, it is thin and with strongly rounded ends: when you try to take it, you get the feeling that you are trying to grab a remnant. 
This effect is also manifested when you hold the iPhone in your hand: it still tries to slip out and it really bothered me. When I shared these observations with friends who bought the same iPhones, they said in unison that I was exaggerating and showed iPhones in cases or bumpers: of course, in this case, there are no problems. But I don’t use covers or bumpers: firstly, I don’t like it, and secondly, the smartphone is often used as a navigator, and with covers and bumpers it cannot really be inserted into the cradle. Yes, covers and bumpers solve the problem, but I don't really understand what is the point of fighting for the thickness of the phone, so that later you still have to use bumpers. Well, a couple of words about the sensational bending of an iPhone in a jeans pocket. The body of the smartphone is made of aluminum. If you try to bend this body or sit on it with a very thick (and even very thin) ass, then the body will really bend. In the same way, the aluminum case of any smartphone - the same Huawei Ascend Mate 7 - will bend. Therefore, this claim can be answered very simply: try not to sit on it with a fat ass. And thin too. That's all. Display
An excellent quality IPS display with all the necessary features: tempered glass, oleophobic coating, anti-reflective coating. The viewing angles are excellent, the brightness margin is very good: in normal daylight, I set it to about 40%. I set the same value for automatic adjustment - in an iPhone, traditionally automatic adjustment of the screen brightness works much better than in Android (there, however, a lot depends on the specific manufacturer: for some it is ugly, for others it is tolerable; but to work quite well - I have not met yet). In direct sunlight, the display behaves very decently: it retains good brightness and contrast, it is quite possible to use a smartphone. The resolution here is the most common, one might say - standard for modern smartphones - FullHD, that is, 1920 x 1080 pixels. (Although Apple calls this resolution the proud term Retina HD.) By the way, the LG G3 has a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels, although it did not suit him for the future, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has 2560x1440 pixels, although this resolution looks very even with it. great, and the battery with it, in general, is quite alive. Now for an interesting point about real resolutions and rendering. In the settings, the iPhone 6 Plus offers to choose a standard view of icons and text and an enlarged one.
In fact, the enlarged view is not much different and gives little, but here a very interesting point is that in the standard form the screen screenshots have a resolution of 2208x1242, and in the enlarged view - 1125x2001. But the size of standard applications for iPhone, as you know, is 1136x640. And the current screen resolution is 1920x1080. So what happens? The system takes an application with a resolution of 1136x640, upscales it to 2208x1242 (or 1125x2001 - depending on the selected mode), and then downscales it to 1920x1080? But this, excuse me, is slightly across Zazhopinsk? Apple itself, of course, traditionally does not give any comments. Experts who have learned to guess with apple peels over the years have come up with different assumptions. Some believe that Apple was originally going to make this smartphone a resolution of 2208x1242. And when it was decided to install 1920x1080, we decided not to alter the software so as not to get up twice: they say, the iPhone 7z will have 2208x1242, then we will simply remove the downscale and will not sweat it. Other experts attribute this to the peculiarities of the iOS user interface, the need to preserve aspect ratios, and so on. In fact, ordinary users do not really care what is being rendered, upscaled and downscaled where. Does the display look good? They look great. Works fine? In principle, everything works quite normally and quickly, and some small glitches that slip in certain applications due to these flights to the Moon through Mars will not be noticed by ordinary users at all. Smartphone operation Here iOS 8.1 is installed, about the features of which detailed articles have already been published. Therefore, I will not tire myself and you with a detailed listing of the capabilities of each application (we have an overview of the smartphone, not the platform itself), so let's look at the software from the top of the apple tree. Actually, version 8.0 was installed in the smartphone "out of the box", but when turning on and configuring, the system offered to install version 8.1, which I did. (Let me remind you that there was also an intermediate version 8.0.1, after the installation of which numerous glitches began: some phones could not make calls, Touch ID stopped working - in general, this was not the case under Jobs.) Also, the system immediately offered to install the now free applications : Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie, iTunes U and GarageBand, which is what I did. Basic desktop with applications.
Second desktop.
Add-ons folder.
Interestingly, desktops now have landscape mode - it looks something like this. 
In the notification area - current notifications ("Today" tab) and all recent notifications ("Notifications" tab).
Bottom panel with quick settings and switches.
Since many iPhone users like to work with the phone with one hand, and on the iPhone 6 Plus it is corny not to reach the top of the screen with one hand, Apple came up with the following thing: a double tap on the sensor (not to be confused with a double tap) moves the top of the screen down.
When you double-click, as before, a list of recently launched applications is displayed (and here you can close the desired program), there are also icons of recent contacts at the top: when you click on any of them, the icons of his phones and the icon for sending a message are displayed.
App Store searches now show so-called "popular searches". To whom and why they can be useful - I still do not understand. Especially fun is that after some query after getting the results, my substring is not saved in the search, it is zeroed out - and I again display these "popular queries", which I absolutely do not need. (Tell me, did "dumb ways" and "bum" help you a lot?)
By the way, the search bar for such a display looks very small. It is understandable that they could not adjust it to the given screen size, but nonetheless.
But in landscape mode, additional keys were added, so there is now a comma in the Russian alphabetic layout. Hooray. 
In the eight, Apple has already allowed the addition of third-party keyboards. True, since it was originally strictly prohibited, the current permission was made more "for show", and Checkmark had fun over this for a long time: I found only two applications that support Russian and swype, tried to install them - after which I realized that more or less They can work only in the mode when at least one standard keyboard (for example, English) is installed, and switching the language leads to switching the keyboard - and there you can type whatever you want. On the next call, everything is the same: first the standard one, but you can switch to the alternative. If it's not through one place - you can safely throw an iPhone at me. Telephone I tested the phone app. The subscribers could be heard normally, I also could be heard well. But when talking on the street with a noticeable wind, the subscribers complained that the interference greatly interfered with the conversation. I don't know if there is some kind of special filter for a noisy environment or not: even if there is, it doesn't seem to work very well. By default, when the subscriber called, the iPhone displayed just such a tiny icon, although a photo of a normal size was installed in the contacts ... However, if you re-assign a large photo right on the phone, it will show it in full screen. So I have fun for my 1024 contacts, hurray!
For any photo, there are good (for a smartphone) editing options: cropping, effects, adjusting brightness, contrast, and so on.
Very useful Do Not Disturb mode.
Touch ID (finger scanner) settings. When using Touch ID, you must first set a password so that you can always unlock your phone if the fingerprint does not work. Next, you register one or more fingerprints, after which the fingerprint can be used to unlock the iPhone, confirm purchases in the store.
Touch ID works - great and practically without interruptions, it is very convenient to use. Camera The camera interface is traditionally minimalistic. Photo, video, panorama, a couple of effects for video, selection of effects for photos, switching cameras (from rear to front and vice versa), shooting delay, HDR on / off and flash mode. Focusing (but not shooting) at the touch of a finger works. if you put your finger on and hold, the exposure and focus are locked.
Now about the shooting process itself. How does the camera of virtually any smartphone work normally? Point the camera at the frame you need, assuming that the camera should focus strictly in the center, press the button: the camera focuses in the center and takes a picture. If you want to specify a different focus point (for smartphones that allow this), then touch your finger at the desired point - the smartphone will point and take pictures (or simply point, like an iPhone). Here the camera, as it were, is in the center focusing mode all the time (if you are not touching the display with your finger). When there is a sharp transition from the foreground to the general, a focus icon appears in the center of the camera. If you move the camera to an object that is not too far from the previous focus point, then the iPhone seems to focus there, but in fact this does not always happen. As a result, even when shooting in good lighting conditions, you get such shots. 
Or like that. Note, a clear sunny day, the smartphone should be directed to the center - well, where? 
Then I jabbed my finger at the screen - now, it sighted normally. 
It was a little annoying: I had to poke my finger at the screen on almost every frame to be sure that the smartphone would hover normally. However, I will note that this did not always happen, the percentage of rejects was small, but nevertheless. In addition, after several cases, I already began to constantly mark the focusing points with my finger. Here's how this smartphone shoots. All photos are clickable, open in a size of 1920x1080. EXIF in large images is preserved. Photos were not processed in any way, except for resize. 
Here, for some reason, the exposure definition "floated" - the frame is clearly overexposed. Although the conditions seem to be quite simple. 
Panorama.
This frame was taken at a shutter speed of 1/15 - mind you, there is no blur, the stabilizer works efficiently. 
Here, in general, 1/4 of a second - and also no blurring. And there was very, very little light. And the quality was excellent, because with that shutter speed it was possible to use a low ISO. 
Square at night. 
Night shot, and even from a smartphone - in my opinion, just brilliance. 
A couple of demonstrations of how the camera shoots video. In general, with the exception of some strangeness with focusing, the camera, in my opinion, is almost in the top five. The quality is very good, rarely makes mistakes, on filming in poor conditions it simply shows wonders, thanks to the perfectly working stabilizer (so that the smartphone shoots for 1/4 of a second without shaking - this does not happen) and competent setting of the parameters (the camera tries to keep ISO as low as possible so that the picture is not "noisy"). Well, the video also shoots perfectly, and, apparently, the stabilizer works there too: there is no shake, usual for smartphones. Performance
With your permission, I will not give the numbers in the parrots that AnTuTu or any other parrot meters lead. Because I don't see any point in them. The smartphone is powerful and fast. However, during the operation, I observed some unpleasant short-term freezes of some applications, but I am ready to write off this on the dampness of the iOS 8 operating system, which, as it was released with noticeable glitches, has not been brought to mind so far. But they will, I think, will not go anywhere. Battery life
First, pure tests as such. Internet... The brightness is set to 40% without auto-light, all wireless connections are on, the page is reloaded in the browser every 30 seconds. 13 hours 40 minutes - gorgeous. Video... The brightness is 40% without auto-backlight, the "on the plane" mode, the TV-resolution video is spinning in the player in a loop. 14 hours 45 minutes. Fine. Now, purely for practice. In normal use (not too active, but not "lying on the table all day, dozing") the battery lasts for two days. In active mode (travel, constant use) - about one and a half. But this is also very good, because the same LG G3 in a similar mode could die in the middle of the first day. But the Huawei Ascend Mate 7, which has worse home autonomy tests, still lived for two days in travel mode, that is, it showed greater autonomy. But in general, it can be said that the iPhone 6 Plus has a good battery life. Observations at work and conclusions
Of the glitches during the testing period, I noticed only the above-described occasional short-term freezes of some applications. For example, you open a browser, and it does not respond to any touches for several seconds. Then it checks out and begins to react. However, this happened quite rarely and is clearly connected with the "dampness" of the firmware. Of course, one could not fail to mention the sharp instantaneous heating of the device, leading to the combustion of tables, chairs and ottomans, if such heating took place. And he, fortunately, had no place: even under heavy load, the back cover of the iPhone heated up very slightly - unlike, by the way, the iPhone 5S model. What are the conclusions? The telephone, in my opinion, turned out to be quite decent. It does not look like an overgrown in brotherly narrow truzels: iOS 8 looks quite normal on it, and only a few narrow lines of text input remind that the system was nevertheless developed for slightly different display sizes. From what I really didn’t like was, as I said, the "slippery remnant" design form: this was really annoying. But with a bumper or a cover it is instantly treated. I also do not like some of the features of iOS as such, but this is completely not surprising for a person who has been eating the android freeman for three years and now absolutely cannot stand the Ios slingshots, restrictions and demonic spawn called iTunes. But if we abstract from all this and imagine that I lived on the iPhone 5S before, then I would take the iPhone 6 Plus without hesitation! A very decent machine turned out. Of course, not "WOW", as they sometimes had before, but definitely worthy. The regiment of shovels has arrived - now in the Yabloko camp. And what, I'm glad for them - they will finally be able to look at the Internet world with wide-open eyes, and not through a keyhole. We continue to study Apple smartphones. After testing the iPhone 6, it's time to tackle the most intriguing new product: the iPhone 6 Plus. If Apple released the iPhone 6 alone, it would still be a sensation thanks to its enlarged screen. But Apple decided to use all the artillery and strike at the flank of Android tablets, previously ignored by the Cupertino company.
In general, it turned out to be a curious situation: before Apple acted as a trendsetter, and competitors have already followed the beaten track. Let's recall the release of the first iPhone itself, the emergence of iOS and the app store, then the transition to the Retina display in the iPhone 4 (for competitors it was then something unthinkable, but immediately after that everyone started the race for screen resolution) ... From iPhone 6 Plus the picture is the opposite: the world has been actively using tablet phones for two years now, and Samsung was the founder of the trend. All this time, Apple fans mockingly called tablet phones "shovels" and repeated Jobs's words that the iPhone screen is ideal for one-handed use, unlike the Galaxy Note and similar devices. And now Apple suddenly releases a tablet phone!
Video review
To get started, we suggest watching our video review of the iPhone 6 Plus smartphone:
Now let's take a look at the characteristics of the iPhone 6 Plus.
IPhone 6 Plus Specifications
- Apple A8 SoC @ 1.4 GHz (2 cores, 64-bit ARMv8-A architecture)
- Apple M8 motion coprocessor (includes accelerometer, gyroscope and compass)
- GPU PowerVR GX6650 or GX6450 (presumably)
- RAM 1 GB
- Flash memory 16/64/128 GB
- Support for microSD memory cards is missing
- Operating system iOS 8.0
- Touch display IPS, 5.5 ″, 1920 × 1080 (401 ppi), capacitive, multitouch
- 8 megapixel cameras with a pixel size of 1.5 microns, optical stabilization and aperture of ƒ / 2.2 (shooting Full HD video at 30 or 60 fps) and 1.2 megapixels with an aperture of ƒ / 2.2 (shooting video - 720p)
- Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n / ac (2.4 and 5 GHz)
- Communication: GSM, CDMA, 3G, EVDO, HSPA +, LTE
- Bluetooth 4.0
- 3.5mm headphone / microphone jack, Lightning
- Li-polymer battery 2915 mAh (estimated)
- GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, support for iBeacon positioning technology
- Compass
- Dimensions 158 × 78 × 7.1 mm
- Weight 172 g
As you can see, they differ from the iPhone 6 minimally: the iPhone 6 Plus is larger, heavier, slightly thicker, has a more capacious battery and optical stabilization of the camera. This is in addition to the main difference - the screen.
However, it is equally interesting to compare the characteristics of the iPhone 6 Plus with Android-tablet phones. Here you can pick up many options, but our choice fell on the newest devices: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (obviously, this will be the main competitor to the iPhone 6 Plus) and Huawei Ascend Mate 7.
| Apple iPhone 6 Plus | Apple iPhone 6 | Samsung Galaxy Note 4 | Huawei Ascend Mate 7 | |
| Screen | 5.5 ″, IPS, 1920 × 1080, 401 ppi | 4.7 ″, IPS, 1334 × 750, 326 ppi | 5.7 ″, Super AMOLED, 2560 × 1440, 515 ppi | 6 ″, IPS, 1920 × 1080, 367 ppi |
| SoC (processor) | Apple A8 @ 1.4 GHz (2 cores, 64-bit ARMv8-A architecture) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 @ 2.7 GHz (4 Cores, Krait 450) or Samsung Exynos 5433 (4 cores 1.9 GHz Cortex-A57 and 4 cores 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53) |
HiSilicon Kirin 925 (4x Cortex-A15 @ 1.7GHz + 4x Cortex-A7 + i3) | |
| GPU | PowerVR GX6650 or GX6450 * | PowerVR GX6650 or GX6450 * | Adreno 420 / Mali-T760 | Mali-T628 MP4 |
| Flash memory | 16/64/128 GB | 16/64/128 GB | 32 GB | 16 GB |
| Connectors | Lightning dock connector, 3.5mm headphone jack | Micro-USB (with OTG and MHL 3.0 support), 3.5mm headphone jack | ||
| Memory card support | No | No | microSD (up to 128GB) | microSD (up to 128GB) |
| RAM | 1 GB | 1 GB | 3 GB | 2 GB |
| Cameras | rear with optical stabilization (8 MP; 1080p video shooting) and front (1.2 MP; 720p video shooting and transmission) | rear (8 MP; 1080p video shooting) and front (1.2 MP; 720p video shooting and transmission) | rear with optical stabilization (16 MP; 4K video shooting) and front (3.7 MP; 1080p video shooting and transmission) | rear (13 MP; 1080p video shooting), front (5 MP; 1080p video shooting and transmission) |
| LTE support | there is | there is | there is | there is |
| Battery capacity (mAh) | 2915* | 1810* | 3220 | 4100 |
| Operating system | Apple iOS 8 | Apple iOS 8 | Google Android 4.4 KitKat | Google Android 4.4 KitKat |
| Dimensions (mm) ** | 158 × 78 × 7.1 | 138 × 67 × 6.9 | 154 × 79 × 8.5 | 157 × 81 × 7.9 |
| Weight (g) | 172 | 129 | 176 | 185 |
* - presumably
** - according to the official data of the manufacturers
And again, as with the iPhone 6, we see that flagship Android devices outperform Apple's product in performance. True, the iPhone 6 Plus is slightly thinner and lighter than both competitors, and it has more maximum internal memory (up to 128 GB!). But, say, in the case of Android, the most profitable volume is just 32 GB, like the Note 4, since this is more than enough for programs, and for everything else you can buy a 128 GB microSD card, which will cost 3 thousand 4 rubles.
But - everything will be put in place by a face-to-face acquaintance with the iPhone 6 Plus.
Equipment
Like the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus is sold in a white box, the top surface of which is completely white, that is, without a picture, but the contours of the smartphone protrude slightly (they seem to be squeezed out from the inside).
The package is traditional. Note that the charger here delivers a current of 1 A (5 V), like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s, and not 2.1 A, like the iPad mini Retina. This means the iPhone 6 Plus will take significantly longer to charge than other Apple smartphones.
Design
The first emotion when you take the iPhone 6 Plus in your hand: "How big it is!" Very unusual, especially after the tiny (as it turned out now) iPhone 5s. However, compared to the iPhone 6 too. The photo below clearly shows the ratio of the sizes of the two "sixes".
It is difficult to fit an Apple tablet into a jeans pocket, and in jeans with shallow pockets, it will bulge. In any case, carrying such a thing in your pockets is not very convenient, and in a holster, too. So for men, the only option is an inner jacket pocket, but women with the iPhone 6 Plus won't have any problems: it will fit into any, even the most compact women's handbag and almost any clutch, but at the same time it is thin and light enough (relative to other devices of similar size).
In the hand, the iPhone 6 Plus is quite comfortable, despite its size. The rounded edges, similar to what we saw in the iPhone 6, fit nicely into the palm of your hand. With a standard grip, you can reach the volume buttons with your index finger, but you can't switch the lock lever without intercepting.
Likewise with the "Power" and "Home" buttons. Either you hold the device so as to reach the Power button, or so as to reach the Home button. In general, when using a smartphone, you will have to shift it in your hand on a regular basis. That's a size fee, and the iPhone 6 doesn't have that problem. That is, from the point of view of using a smartphone as a smartphone, not a tablet, the iPhone 6 is better.
The materials, color and location of the connectors of the iPhone 6 Plus are identical to those of the iPhone 6. So we will not dwell on this, but note that the presence of only one speaker (for playing music and sounds) is especially disappointing here. Still, it's one thing - a medium-sized smartphone, and another thing - a tablet-phone, which is supposed to be used, among other things, for watching movies.
Let's note one more detail that we did not focus on in the review of the iPhone 6. The camera eye is protected by sapphire glass, which should reduce the likelihood of damage to the lens. Before the announcement of the new iPhones, there were rumors about the possibility of using sapphire glass to protect screens. But in the end, the screens are protected by Gorilla Glass, as before, but the camera still received a sapphire glass.
This is very important, because, as in the case of the iPhone 6, the camera peephole protrudes from the body here.
Overall, the design of the iPhone 6 Plus is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the tablet phone is thin and quite light for a completely metal device. He looks good, but he cannot be said to be admired. Like the iPhone 6, the glass on the screen is rounded at the edges, which makes a very pleasant impression. True, the bezels around the screen on the 6 Plus are still slightly wider. And, of course, one-handed use, which Apple was so proud of, talking about previous models, is now impossible. But judging by the sales of tablet phones from other manufacturers, this is not such a big drawback for users.
When it comes to the iPhone 6 Plus' foldable body scandal, here's what we would say. Firstly, with the presence of strength and lack of intelligence, almost any object with the dimensions of the iPhone 6 Plus can be slightly bent. And if someone put an iPhone 6 Plus in the back pocket of their jeans and sat on it all day, then it's not surprising that the case curved, because aluminum is a fairly flexible metal. It is much more surprising that the smartphone continued to work after that. In the case of any other device, the theoretical possibility of bending it would not even be news, and the person who complained about it would be told "the fool himself." But the hype surrounding the release of new iPhones is fertile ground for scandals, sucked from the finger. So if you don't want your new iPhone 6 Plus to bend, just don't sit on it or flex on purpose. And don't put light bulbs in your mouth :)
But every cloud has a silver lining: trying to extinguish the scandal that has flared up and show that the accusations are groundless, Apple allowed the Western press to enter the holy of holies - a laboratory where new iPhones are tested, including for mechanical deformations. In the footsteps of the excursion, Verge published with very interesting photos, where you can see the whole process.
Screen
Alexey Kudryavtsev
The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the turned off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, in the center - iPhone 6 Plus, on the right - iPhone 6, then they can be distinguished by their size):
The screen on the iPhone 6 Plus is noticeably darker (photo brightness 98 versus 108 on the Nexus 7). Note that the reflection of bright objects on the iPhone 6 Plus screen has a pronounced brownish halo that is more elongated across the screen. This will somewhat disappoint the fair sex, since using the phone screen as a mirror when correcting makeup will no longer be so handy. The doubling of reflected objects in the iPhone 6 Plus screen is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically: between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS type screen - One Glass Solution). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (such as glass / air) with strongly differing refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked outer glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, no worse than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much easier, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass.
With manual brightness control and when displaying a white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value in the center of the screen was 540 cd / m² (recall that for the iPhone 6 we got 590 cd / m²), the minimum was 4.6 cd / m². The maximum brightness is very high and, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors will be excellent. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable value. In the presence of automatic brightness control by the light sensor (located above the slot of the front speaker). In automatic mode, when the ambient light conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. If this mode is simply turned on, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 4.6 cd / m² (a bit dark, even just reading the text is annoying), in an office illuminated with artificial light (about 400 lux) sets it to 90-135 cd / m² (suitable), in a very bright environment (corresponds to bright daylight outdoors, but no direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or slightly more) increases to 500 cd / m² (not maximum, but sufficient). In the case of medium illumination, the steady-state brightness of the screen is lower or higher, depending on whether the external illumination has increased or decreased before (that is, there is a pronounced hysteresis). As a result, the automatic brightness control function works more or less adequately. Also, after turning on the auto brightness function, you can move the brightness slider, which will make some adjustments, but, as practice has shown, it is better not to interfere. At any brightness level, there is practically no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering either.
This smartphone uses an IPS-type matrix. The micrographs show the typical IPS subpixel structure:
For comparison, you can see the gallery of photomicrographs of screens used in mobile technology.
Traditionally for iPhone, a lot of dust particles are found in the layer of filler glue between the outer glass and the matrix:
The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large gaze deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without tint inversion. For comparison, here are the photos in which the screens of the iPhone 6 Plus and Nexus 7 are displayed the same images, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to about 200 cd / m2 (across the white field across the entire screen), and the color balance on the camera was forcibly switched to 6500 K . White field perpendicular to the screens:
Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And the test picture:
Color reproduction is good and colors are saturated on all three screens. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:
It can be seen that the colors did not change much on both screens, and the contrast remained at a high level. And white box:
The brightness at the angle of the screens decreased (at least 4 times, based on the difference in exposure), but in the case of the iPhone 6 Plus, the drop in brightness is less. The black field, when deviated along the diagonal, is lightened weakly and acquires a purple tint. The photos below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is about the same!):
And from a different angle:
Note that the Nexus 7's blacks are lower in these two photos. When viewed from a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is excellent:
The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) for the screen on the IPS matrix is very high - about 1160: 1 (although lower than the declared "standard" 1300: 1). The response time for the transition black-white-black is 20 ms (10 ms on + 10 ms off). The transition between gray tones of 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes 31 ms in total. The gamma curve, plotted using 32 points at equal intervals in terms of the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.18, which is practically equal to the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates minimally from the power dependence:
Of course, there is no dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image.
From a practical point of view, the color gamut is equal to sRGB:
The spectra show that the matrix filters mix the components together to a moderate extent:
As a result, the colors visually have a natural saturation. The balance of shades on the gray scale is very good, since the color temperature is not much higher than the standard 6500 K. The deviation from the spectrum of the absolute black body (ΔE) is less than 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, ΔE and color temperature change little from shade to shade, this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of the color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)
Let's summarize. The screen has a very high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. It is also permissible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works more or less adequately. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, no flicker and no air gap in the layers of the screen, excellent uniformity of the black field, high stability of black to deviation from perpendicular to the screen plane, ideal gamma curve, high contrast, sRGB color gamut and good color balance ... In general, the quality of the screen is very, very high.
OS and software
Camera
Anton Soloviev
iPhone 6 Plus has two cameras, similar in resolution to those of the iPhone 6, 5, and 5s. The only difference between the rear camera of the iPhone 6 Plus and the iPhone 6 is optical image stabilization. We tested the rear camera on the iPhone 6 Plus in detail and found out how effective OIS is.
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The foliage is well worked and some traces of noise can be seen in the shadows. |
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Sharpening on wires and not weak noises in the shadows - everything is like the iPhone 6. |
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In the upper part of the frame and in the distant shots, the foliage is worked out so-so, but the sharpness is generally good. |
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The foliage merges slightly towards the left. |
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It seems that the camera works out the shadows a little better than the 6th model, although the difference is well within the margin of error. |
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In this case, the camera copes well with noise, but worse with the sky. |
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However, there are no significant differences from 6. |
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Good sharpness almost over the entire frame. |
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And again, a picture in which the rough work of the noise control is perfectly visible. |
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The camera copes well with macro photography. |
The main question, which, perhaps, is asked by many - how does the 6 Plus camera differ from 6. We will try to answer it.
The main and only difference, according to the manufacturer, is optical stabilization. In fact, from the outside, the 6 Plus camera module seems larger than that of the 6, but it’s hard to believe that a mechanical stabilizer could be “crammed” into such dimensions, although anything is possible. The work of the stabilizer has its own side effects, which, however, are quite obvious. It seems that the camera 6, unlike the 6 Plus, is much more stable than usual and the camera of the iPhones stood out. When shooting with a tripod, the 6 Plus often smears when focusing. But when shooting with shaky hands, the 6 Plus camera hits more often and makes mistakes with focus less often. All this can be attributed to the work of the stabilizer, although it is difficult to say for sure whether it is there, since there is no significant difference in the pictures. But the fact is that when shooting with a tripod, it is more often wrong with the focus of the 6 Plus, and when shooting handheld - 6. As for getting a sharper image when shaking, then here it is also impossible to say that the 6 Plus copes better.
No matter how they convince us of the novelty of the camera, it is hard to believe in it. By eye, the camera modules are the same not only in the 6 Plus and 6, but also in the iPhone 5s, 5c and 5. We don't have the last two before our eyes, but we can easily evaluate the rest from the graph.
It's funny that the only noticeable change in EXIF images is the focal length, which is now 29mm equivalent. But the iPhone 5s had 30mm? The fact of the matter is that it was, but with the OS update, it also became 29 mm. This once again allows us to state that it is not the camera that has changed, but the firmware, which also does not demonstrate radical improvements.
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Illumination ≈3200 lux. The camera is doing well. |
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Illumination ≈1400 lux. The situation is not changing. |
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Illumination ≈130 lux. Noises appear, and with them noise reduction, and details begin to blur. But the grain from the shumodav is still not visible. |
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Illumination ≈130 lux, flash. The flash improves the situation a little. |
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Lighting<1 люкс, вспышка. В темноте вспышка справляется хорошо. |
Cameras 6 and 6 Plus are almost on a par, although in low light the 6 Plus allows itself to set a longer shutter speed (possibly due to the presence of a stabilizer), and a lower light sensitivity, which, however, does not help him at all.
We will not go into detail about the advantages and disadvantages of the camera, since we have already done this in the previous article.
Well, we still have the same excellent camera in front of us, which can no longer be called outstanding. On the other hand, it is really good, and many do not need it better. It does a lot of things well, and it's a great option as a smartphone camera. Improvements, if any, are barely noticeable, and you need to look at the pictures for a very long time to understand what they are. Other manufacturers have been fighting for a long time to oust compact cameras from the market, and Apple has been quietly on the sidelines in this matter for the third year already. Does a smartphone need more? Everyone decides for himself.
It is worth noting one oddity of the camera, which may be interesting to some. The fact is that the camera, apparently, takes information about the orientation of the smartphone in space not from the accelerometer (which, in particular, rotates the on-screen interface), but from some other sensor, which only reports that the camera is in the wrong orientation. And the correct orientation, as it turns out, the camera has only one - the horizontal position of the smartphone with the button to the right. As a result, the camera sometimes writes strange information about the "correct" orientation of the image to EXIF, and viewers that take this into account will flip the image 90 or 180 degrees. Our readers encountered this when they tried to look at the pictures in the previous article. So if you're left-handed and like to have the shutter button under your left hand, keep that in mind, especially when shooting video.
By the way, about the video. Below are a few videos. We will not comment on them, since there are no differences from 6.
| Video | Sound | |
| Video 1 | 1920 × 1080, 30 fps, AVC MPEG-4 [email protected], 17.6 Mbps | AAC LC 64 kbps stereo |
| Roller 2 | 1280 × 720, 120 fps, AVC MPEG-4 [email protected], 31.1 Mbps | AAC LC 64 kbps stereo |
| Roller 3 | 1280 × 720, 240 fps, AVC MPEG-4 [email protected], 40.5 Mbps | AAC LC 64 kbps stereo |
| Roller 4 | 1280 × 720, 120 fps, AVC MPEG-4 [email protected], 30.5 Mbps | AAC LC 64 kbps stereo |
| Roller 5 | 1920 × 1080, 60 fps, AVC MPEG-4 [email protected], 26.4 Mbps | AAC LC 64 kbps stereo |
| Roller 6 | 1920 × 1080, 30 fps, AVC MPEG-4 [email protected], 17.3 Mbps | AAC LC 64 kbps stereo |
The easiest way to evaluate stabilization is from video recording, especially with 3x zoom. The zoom, by the way, works so-so for the camera, which is quite expected - of course, it is digital. And the video quality itself in cloudy weather leaves much to be desired. But let's get back to stabilization. In order to evaluate the work of the stabilizer, we shot a video on both smartphones, tightly attaching one to the other, so both were in equal conditions. And what did we see?
| Video | Sound | |
| 1920 × 1080, 60 fps, AVC MPEG-4 [email protected], 25.2 Mbps | AAC LC 64 kbps stereo | |
| 1920 × 1080, 60 fps, AVC MPEG-4 [email protected], 25.5 Mbps | AAC LC 64 kbps stereo |
After a couple of revisions of these videos, you completely cease to understand which smartphone was filmed with which one, because they are absolutely the same. Even if the 6 Plus has an "optical" stabilizer, its operation is not visible.
Anticipating the "holivar" in the comments, let us note that some other resources will certainly note an obvious improvement in the camera and will certainly bring blurry shots from 6 and clear ones from 6 Plus, as well as shots with good and bad noise reduction. But, unfortunately, we write only about what we see, and our imagination works very poorly during testing.
And for those who like to argue and throw links, we present the following entertaining picture. You can look at it for hours, looking for differences. We will not describe it, since the attentive reader will immediately understand where which model is. Then he decides that the middle model does better, because it does not "blush", but after thinking a little more, he will understand that all the differences in the photo are solely due to the design features of the devices, and not the cameras themselves.
And one more interesting one. She also does not need comments, and you can guess for a long time. However, all cameras in the picture do about the same.
conclusions
Well, the conclusion will be simple: Apple made its first tablet phone, and this is a product that is generally in line with Apple's principles and ideals. Actually, for the majority of potential buyers this information will be quite enough. Well, for those who want to understand the issue more deeply and understand how the iPhone 6 Plus compares with competing products, we have prepared a lot of interesting information that everyone will perceive according to their attitude towards Apple products.
On the one hand, the screen resolution and dot density are not record-breaking here - the flagships of Samsung and LG have higher parameters. On the other hand, the iPhone 6 Plus has the best screen in all of its specs. The design of the novelty is pleasant, but it has all the same pros and cons as other tablet phones. The dimensions of such devices are still not for everybody. The camera is good, but we cannot say that it is better than the competitors either. Battery life was great, but after the iPhone 6, we expected even more. You can go on and on. For every plus there will be a "but", but for every "but" there will be a counterargument. Fertile ground for forum discussions, which, however, like the scandals around the bending body, will only stir up interest in the new product.
We congratulate Apple on entering a new territory for tablet phones and look forward to the opportunity to study in more detail both the device itself and the software for it, after which we will definitely tell you about our impressions and experience of use.
| iPhone 6 16GB | iPhone 6 Plus 16GB |
| T-11031621 | T-11031637 |
| L-11031621-5 | L-11031637-5 |
| iPhone 6 64GB | iPhone 6 Plus 64GB |
| Average price according to Yandex.Market data | |
| T-11031663 | T-11031818 |
| Offers according to Yandex.Market data | |
| L-11031663-5 | L-11031818-5 |
| iPhone 6 128GB | iPhone 6 Plus 128GB |
| Average price according to Yandex.Market data | |
| T-11031665 | T-11031822 |
| Offers according to Yandex.Market data | |
| L-11031665-5 | L-11031822-5 |
“If I asked people what they want, they would ask for a faster horse,” Henry Ford once said, and Steve Jobs repeated this quote often, especially with regard to focus groups. And as we know, he really didn't like taking into account the opinion of buyers. But times are changing, today Apple is Tim Cook's company, who has his own vision of the future, and he is gradually abandoning the legacy left by Jobs. The release of the iPhone 6 Plus, a smartphone that is inconvenient to use with one hand, is a clear confirmation of this. After all, the hero of the review is indeed a very atypical smartphone for Apple, which not only ignored, but also ridiculed the phablet market. Now the company itself will have to take the rap in front of customers, explaining to them that a very large iPhone is good. But is it really good? I'll try to answer this question in the iPhone 6 Plus review.
The team at Johnny Ive, who is responsible for the design of all Apple products, did not single out the design of the 6 Plus as a separate task, but simply stretched it to fit a 5.5-inch display.
And if we abstract from the size of the smartphone, it looks good. Apple has managed to create a long-lasting design that will be relevant in a year, if the company decides to release the iPhone 6s Plus. At the same time, even the plastic stripes on the back cover, which I did not like so much in the iPhone 6, do not look so alien here. In this regard, the dimensions of the case still play a role, the plastic dissolves against the background of the metal.
The materials on the iPhone 6 Plus are excellent. The front panel of the smartphone is covered with protective glass, while the sides and back are made of a single piece of anodized aluminum. The only plastic parts here are the strips at the top and bottom of the back cover, which are necessary for the smartphone's antennas to function properly.
There are not the slightest complaints about the build quality, the iPhone 6 Plus was assembled very well, all the body elements fit tightly. As for the ability to bend the smartphone, it will be difficult to do it unintentionally. The case in the 6 Plus is sturdy and requires above average force to bend. And if the device is somehow bent in the pocket of jeans, it will rather be due to the fact that the owner could have made a mistake when choosing their size.
The convenience of use
Despite not having the largest diagonal for smartphones, the iPhone 6 Plus really seems huge. This is due to the bezels around the display. On the sides, they still have an acceptable size, but they increase significantly at the top and bottom. Apple's designers needed to fit a mechanical home button on the bezel, so they symmetrically enlarged the bezels around the screen.
This has led to the fact that using the smartphone with one hand is very inconvenient. On the one hand, the smoothed corners of the body allow the iPhone 6 Plus to fit better in the hand, but on the other hand, if you try to reach with your thumb, both right and left, to the top of the display, the smartphone can be easily dropped.
The Reachability function, which lowers the top of the screen to the middle, does not help, you just forget about it. However, iPhone 6 Plus owners are likely to use it very often.
To understand that not everything is in order with the ergonomics of the iPhone 6 Plus, just look at the mechanical screen power key and volume buttons. They are positioned very high and are difficult to reach when holding the 6 Plus with both right and left hand.
Apple doesn't seem to really think about how to make a large smartphone more comfortable in everyday use. But other manufacturers are constantly working on this. But Apple just decided that enlarging the iPhone 6 would be enough. And this is very disappointing, because before the company, entering new markets, always tried to show others how to do it right. With the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple's designers haven't even tried it.
As a result, we can state that in terms of ergonomics, the 6 Plus is more like an iPad mini than an iPhone. It is convenient to use a smartphone with two hands, as well as a tablet, but with one hand it is far from always. The cases can improve the situation a little, at least they will make the 6 Plus case not so slippery, but the large sizes will not go anywhere.
Display
As in the 6 Plus, an IPS matrix with dual-domain pixel technology is used, but with a diagonal of 5.5 inches and a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels.
This is the best screen Apple has ever used in a smartphone, and definitely one of the best on the market. The use of Full HD resolution at this diagonal allows the display to accommodate 401 dpi, which forms a very clear image. The iPhone 6 Plus screen has excellent colors and viewing angles. The latter are achieved through dual-domain pixel technology, which avoids changing the display colors at an angle.
Performance and autonomy
Despite the higher-resolution display in the iPhone 6 Plus, the smartphone's performance has not diminished when using the same platform as the smaller model. It is at the same level as in the iPhone 6. But the gain compared to the iPhone 5s is really significant, in synthetic tests it varies from 28% to 57%.
Let me remind you that in the new iPhones, Apple uses a system on the A8 chip with a 2-core 1.4 GHz processor, 4-core PowerVR GX6650 graphics and 1 GB of RAM. Visually, the iPhone 6 Plus is a very fast smartphone. The interface works without the slightest delay, and only in third-party applications do they sometimes show themselves. Affects not very large, as by modern standards, the amount of RAM. This is clearly seen in the Safari browser, which cannot keep several heavy tabs open at once, and has to reload them. This is not so critical if you do not need to constantly switch between programs and tabs in the browser. Indeed, in general, the system and programs work very quickly.
The internal storage in the iPhone 6 Plus can be 16 GB, 64 GB, or 128 GB. The situation is the same as with the iPhone 6, buying the 16 GB version is the least attractive and only suitable for unassuming users. Considering that about 11 GB of memory is available out of the box, and at the same time it cannot be expanded, then you can count on the installation and use of a limited number of applications. After all, they all need a place to install and store temporary files. A way out of the situation could be support for microSD memory cards, but then no one would buy the 64 GB and 128 GB versions.
The autonomy of the iPhone 6 Plus is one of the big advantages of a smartphone, since Apple has managed to achieve really impressive results in this regard. With a battery capacity of 2915 mAh, the smartphone can withstand a day and a half of very active use, and in a less loaded mode it can easily hold out for two days.
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Apple iPhone 6 Plus 16GB (Space Gray) 4 828 - 13 512 UAH Compare prices |
| Type of | Smartphone |
| SIM card type | Nano-SIM |
| Standard | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; UMTS 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz; LTE |
| High speed data transfer | GPRS / EDGE; HSPA + / DC-HSDPA; LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29) |
| Number of SIM-cards | 1 |
| Operating system | Apple iOS 8 |
| RAM, GB | 1 |
| Built-in memory, GB | 16 |
| Expansion slot | — |
| Dimensions, mm | 158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1 |
| Weight, g | 172 |
| Dust and moisture protection | — |
| Accumulator battery | Li-Po, 2915 mAh |
| Opening hours (manufacturer's data) | up to 24 hours of talk time (3G), up to 384 hours in standby mode, up to 12 hours of 3G / LTE / Wi-Fi internet, up to 14 hours of video playback, up to 80 hours of music playback |
| Diagonal, inches | 5,5 |
| Permission | 1920 × 1080 |
| Matrix type | IPS |
| PPI | 401 |
| Brightness adjustment sensor | + |
| Touch screen (type) | + (capacitive) |
| Other | Retina HD display, 1300: 1 contrast ratio, 500 cd / m2 maximum brightness, Full sRGB color gamut, oleophobic coating |
| CPU | Apple A8 + GPU PowerVR GX6650 |
| Kernel type | Cyclone gen. 2 |
| Number of Cores | 2 |
| Frequency, GHz | 1,4 |
| Main camera, MP | 8 |
| Autofocus | + |
| Filming | 1080p (30/60 fps), Slo-mo video (120/240 fps) |
| Flash | LED (True Tone) |
| Front camera, MP | 1,2 |
| Other | optical image stabilization, f / 2.2, Focus Pixels, 6-element lens, IR-filter, BSI sensor, module covered with sapphire crystal |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 |
| Gps | + (A-GPS, GLONASS) |
| IrDA | — |
| NFC | + |
| Interface connector | USB 2.0 (Lightning) |
| Audio jack | 3.5mm |
| MP3 player | + |
| FM radio | — |
| Type of shell | monoblock |
| Keyboard type | screen input |
| Yet | fingerprint scanner (Touch ID), digital compass, barometer, gyroscope, accelerometer, proximity sensor |
Interface
The iPhone 6 Plus has the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, dubbed iOS 8. It practically does not differ from what was described in the iPhone 6 review, but there are still some changes. Apple decided that the enlarged display should not be empty, so the additional space is now used in horizontal mode.
For example, the icons on the main screen rotate according to the position of the smartphone, which is not yet available even in the iPad, and an additional panel on the right appears in mail and messages in horizontal mode. A larger, higher-resolution display offers a ton of room to improve the iOS experience. Unfortunately, not all app developers have yet had time to adapt to this new Apple policy. But in general, the trend is positive, the company did the right thing, that it did not just enlarge the interface after the display, but thought about how the additional space could be used.
Cameras
The main camera in the iPhone 6 Plus is an 8-megapixel iSight with a six-element lens, an f / 2.2 aperture, an infrared filter, OIS, autofocus and dual True Tone flash.
As in the iPhone 6, here Apple has used a larger sensor instead of megapixel ramp up, and also phase detection autofocus. Thus, compared to the iPhone 5s, the camera does take better pictures, but this is not as much of a gain in quality as one might expect. The essence of the improvements is a little different. The camera now really focuses very quickly and is able to shoot slow-motion video at 240 frames per second. This provides users with additional options for creating interesting photos and videos that were not previously available on the iPhone.
Main camera:
Front-facing 1.2MP camera:
As such, it's worth noting that the camera in the iPhone 6 Plus is one of the best available today. It launches quickly, focuses quickly and takes not the best, but good pictures that will satisfy the needs of most iPhone users.
Eventually
The iPhone 6 Plus makes a strange impression, on the one hand, it's an iPhone, the display of which has grown significantly, which means it can fit more information on it, but on the other hand, Apple's detached attitude to the problem of ergonomics is frankly upsetting. All in all, when you play games or watch a movie on the 6 Plus, you rejoice at how good it is to have a smartphone with a large display, but when it comes to everyday tasks, it is very difficult to operate the device with one hand. I don’t know what audience the iPhone 6 Plus was intended for, but this is clearly not a smartphone for the average iPhone user. This does not mean that it is bad, on the contrary, Apple released a device with a good display, performance, camera and battery life. Only it is intended rather for those who would like an iPad, but there was no desire to buy a tablet in addition to a smartphone.
Liked:
Materials and build quality
+ Low thickness
+ Display
+ Performance
+ Camera
+ Autonomy
+ Volume and quality of external speaker
Did not like:
- Ergonomics
- Dimensions and weight
- No 32GB version
- No memory card slot
- Price in Ukraine
