The Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus Review
by Ryan Smith & Joshua Ho on November 2, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- SoCs
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
Video Performance
Now that we’ve discussed still image quality we can start to look at video quality. This is a major highlight for the iPhone 6s’ this year as the main reason for increasing the resolution of the sensor is primarily to enable 4K video recording. Interestingly enough, for the iPhone 6s Apple has also added 1080p120 slow motion video capture along with OIS in video recording for the iPhone 6s Plus. It’s interesting to see this change, as in the past it looked like Apple was solely relying on their EIS mechanisms to smooth out video instead of using OIS. In order to test these changes, we rely on relative testing between two phones to see how both perform in terms of video stability, resolution, and exposure/focus quality.
| Apple iPhone 6s Encoding | ||||
| Video | Audio | |||
| 1080p30 | 17 Mbps H.264 High Profile | 83 Kbps, 44.1 KHz AAC | ||
| 1080p60 | 26 Mbps H.264 High Profile | 83 Kbps, 44.1 KHz AAC | ||
| 4K30 | 50 Mbps H.264 High Profile | 83 Kbps, 44.1 KHz AAC | ||
| 1080p120 | 50 Mbps H.264 High Profile | 83 Kbps, 44.1 KHz AAC | ||
| 720p240 | 40 Mbps H.264 High Profile | 83 Kbps, 44.1 KHz AAC | ||
For 1080p30 video, Apple continues to use H.264 high profile encoding at around 17 Mbps bit rate, which is carried over from the iPhone 6. AAC at about 84 Kbps in a single channel is also carried over from the iPhone 6. It’s likely that mono audio is used because the microphone setup doesn’t really support stereo audio, but in future iterations it would definitely be interesting to see stereo audio recording. For all other modes, encoder settings appear to be constant with variations in bit rate based upon frame rate and resolution.
| OIS Testing |
When comparing the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 for general image stabilization quality it feels like they’re both pretty much identical. If you’re not careful about holding the phone relatively still EIS is going to feel a bit limiting. However, Apple’s EIS is quite good compared to something like the Galaxy Note 5’s video OIS due to its rather unnatural dampening effect, in which there are pockets of local stability punctuated by no stabilization at all. It’s also interesting to see how the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus appear to still have an edge over the Note 5 when it comes to continuous auto focus as in this scene the Note 5 takes some time to recognize that the subject of the video is out of focus and some contrast AF bracketing is used to verify the correct focus point. By comparison, the iPhone 6s appears to snap to the correct focus point almost instantly.
The iPhone 6s Plus is clearly the best out of these four phones though as it manages to combine the rather natural EIS of the iPhone 6s with properly implemented OIS. The algorithm for using OIS appears to be intelligent enough that overall image stability is prioritized over locally minimizing camera shake, which shows as footsteps in the video are properly dampened along with hand shake, but the major deviations are left alone. This looks much more stable when compared to the Note 5 because the Note 5 does appear to cancel out major movements in the video, but as soon as the OIS runs out of travel there is a strong correction that causes an unnatural jerking effect.
| 1080p30 & 1080p60 Video |
Here, the iPhone 6s compares pretty favorably with the best video cameras in the Android space. Relative to the Galaxy Note 5, the iPhone 6s has better color reproduction and dynamic range. This is especially evident when looking at shadows in the scene. Although this scene was shot towards the end of the day, the Note 5 makes the trees look much more yellow than they should be for accurate color. Due to the wider field of view, the Note 5 appears to have less detail as well, but zooming in should resolve the issue.
However, the iPhone 6s does end up worse than the Note 5 in some ways for this video. One obvious issue here is that the lack of OIS means that high frequency motion is especially hard to compensate for, which is more obvious in this test where I’m basically standing still instead of walking around trying to push the OIS beyond its travel limits. The Note 5 also has noticeably better audio quality due to the use of stereo recording.
The iPhone 6s Plus does go a long way to remedy these competitive deficits though, as the addition of OIS means that hand shake is pretty much eliminated in these relatively still videos. Apple’s use of a rather tight crop by default also means that the noticeable edge distortions induced by OIS are hard to notice, but given that a lot of people seem to prioritize field of view over general optical quality this may be considered a negative.
Weirdly enough, when comparing the iPhone 6s to the iPhone 6 there are some very real improvements to detail in 1080p video. It’s possible that we’re looking at the result of the 12MP sensor providing more pixels for oversampling here, as the field of view for both is pretty much identical. Overall image stability is basically the same here, which leads me to believe that cinematic video stabilization/EIS introduced with the iPhone 6 is basically unchanged when compared to the iPhone 6s. Color reproduction basically looks the same as well. Recorded audio is noticeably different in profile to make things less tinny, which is a nice improvement but not really enough to make audio recording in these situations better than the Note 5.
Meanwhile for 1080p60, it feels like the gap is even wider when it comes to detail as the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus has pretty much equivalent detail to the 1080p30 mode but with a higher frame rate. Color reproduction takes a noticeable dive as well towards overexposure and an even stronger yellow tint which is kind of surprising to see. The iPhone 6s continues to maintain a noticeable lead in quality over the iPhone 6 as well.
| 4Kp30 Video |
In 4K30, once again we see a surprising gap in fine detail and shadows. Color rendering of the trees also continues to be strongly saturated with yellow, which is a bit unrealistic for this scene. In stark contrast with most of the phones I’ve tested, 4K video on the iPhone 6s still has cinematic video stabilization active. There’s also no actual recording limit, which I tested by recording 4K video for roughly half an hour until it was evident that the phone wasn’t going to stop recording. When comparing to the iPhone 6’s 1080p30 output it’s evident that there isn’t really any compromise other than additional storage use.
| Slow Motion Video |
In 120 FPS slow motion the iPhone 6s’s are basically as good as it gets. Due to the resolution advantage no other OEM is really challenging Apple here. The 1080p120 video isn’t quite as high in detail as 1080p30 or 1080p60, but even a high quality 720p video isn’t really comparable.
Meanwhile in 240 FPS detail is comparable when comparing the iPhone 6s to the iPhone 6, but the iPhone 6s does appear to be slightly improved. I suspect we’re mostly looking at limits of the resolution here rather than encode or camera-level limitations.
Overall, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are both some of the best phones on the market for video capture. The iPhone 6s Plus manages to lead over the iPhone 6s by virtue of its OIS, but even without it the iPhone 6s is clearly pulling ahead of others when it comes to slow motion and 4K video capture. Looking at both video and still image performance together, the iPhone 6s Plus arguably has the best camera in an iOS or Android smartphone today. It isn’t necessarily the best at sheer detail for still images, but the camera doesn’t do anything wrong. The iPhone 6s Plus leads in overall low light photo quality, camera user experience, and overall video quality. The iPhone 6s is decidedly a few steps behind due to its lack of OIS, so as a result I would rank it around the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6.
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akdj - Tuesday, November 3, 2015 - link
Hi Josh and Ryan,Many, MANY thanks for the insight and in depth review. I've just finished my second read (it was late last night I noticed the review and read through) and your experiences mimic mine. With a single exception. I'm a business owner, have been over 26 years now and use phones for the business and personal. I also outfit employees so I have a chance to stay 'ambidextrous', keeping a foot in Android, rest of the body in iOS ... But some things I do enjoy on both my older Note 4, & newer S6. No intrigue with the Note 5 other than its SoC, speed of internal storage and design over my older N4. As an S6 Edge owner I'm well aware of the speeds uninstalling, installing apps, opening them, the 'feel" of the newer 2015 Sammy phones as well as the exceptional speed of the Exynos processor. That said, you made a remark I don't quite agree with
"The second generation of TouchID isn’t quite as life-changing, but it’s a welcome improvement nonetheless. Again, this is a case where there was friction in the user experience that wasn’t really noticeable until it was gone. Obviously, Apple is no longer the only one at this level of user experience with fingerprint scanners but they are keeping up."
I'm not sure which phone you've found that parities the iPhone 6s/6+s for FP register. As it's certainly not the S6/S6+/Note 5 or LG (I've got one of their freebie 8" LG tabs from AT&T runnin LP). I'm hoping anyway lol. My silly S6 is just finally starting to correctly register 50% of the time with the 5.1 update. The previous six months I was lucky to have my thumb recognized 1 of 5 times. And it's registered as FOUR different 'fingers'.
I'm also an owner of the 6+s and even checking the time or setting an Altman, turning the flashlight on, etc...it's so damn quick, I'm automatically on the home screen. It's ...pardon the pun, lightning fast and immediate. I guess I'm curious as to which OEM Apple is keeping up with as I had the 5s and 6+ standard as well. The Note 4 is a useless implementation and the S6, while better is a LONG way off from 'keeping up with...' Apple again IMHO. Genuinely curious as to the OEM making better or even similar performing and 'protective' measures than Apple.
Other than that silly nitpick, I agree completely and haven't enjoyed an iPhone as much since the iPhone 4 and its HiDPI display. If I recall, another 'first', wasn't it? (Like the 5s FP reader, actually able to 'read an FP ;)). Maybe it's my aging mid 40s eyes but the higher resolutions and larger displays have literally kept pace with my deteriorating vision!
Once again, many thanks for the perfectly balanced nerd/everyday 'Joe n Jane' subjective review of 'real world use'. Always refreshing to hear... I mean read your reviews, un-rushed to keep up with the herds the day after release or a week post NDA, minus the carrying around and using ...or simple resolution, 100% 'chart n number' reviews.
Loved it. And I'm loving the iPhone 6s+. It's truly a computer in my pocket. I know you briefly touched on the expanded radios both WiFi and LTE, another maybe at first unnoticeable unless ...again as you mention an iCloud restoration of significant size, but a HUGE end user boon. These are incredibly fast, seemingly more 'stable' in 5MHz mode. (Maybe a bad word, stable but hard to put my finger on it, as older modems on the iPhone with AC/5MHz or is it GHz? Now I'm lost. This one seems faster, more efficient and stable than earlier versions )
My wife has an identical iPhone 6+s. 128. Hers is Sammy mine TSMC. Neither has shown any significance in battery draw than the other. Mine measures 2238/4437 in GBench, hers 2242/4405 after six runs ...that's the mean. Power and efficiency are nearly identical after a weekend at our cabin we both had single digit %'s and used them nearly the same the entire weekend.
Very VERY great phone
J
MarcSP - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
Thanks for your explanation :-). Still, I think there must be something else. I mean, most Samsung phones also use amoled and did not get such a low score in browsing, and the Snapdragon 800 is not a very slow SoC. Even today there are many low and even middle-end phones sold with weaker SoC.zodiacfml - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
i dont like apple but their engineering and design is very impressive. i wonder how the new cpu compares to a Core M.tharun118 - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
The best phone? Seriously? I've seen a lot of people saying iPhone as THE BEST phone, but AnandTech? Come on.. I believe that there can never be a "THE BEST phone". Yes, iPhone 6+ has a very good SoC, reliable camera, 3D Touch, etc, but like every flagship phone, there are compromises and drawbacks. For me, I choose a smartphone based on 4 major aspects. First, the screen. I know Apple lovers always defend their 320+ PPI screen saying that's more than enough and they don't need anything more. But the truth is, they are far behind Samsung and that will likely change in 7 or 7s. Second, the camera, this is purely subjective, there are people who'd prefer photos from an iPhone and there are people who'd prefer photos from 2015 android flagships (S6, Note 5, G4, 6P, etc). Third, battery and performance: Apple is better here on a tiny margin due their vertical integration. I think Android phones will never reach the exact smoothness in performance and efficiency in power consumption of the latest iPhone, due to fragmentation. Fourth, customisation: No comments here, but I understand there are lots of people who'd happily use their phone the way their manufacture tells them to. I'm definitely not one among them. I try to balance all these 4 aspects and my choice this year was a Galaxy S6. Of course, there are bonus features such as, wireless charging, quick charge (very useful), IR port, etc. But still, I wouldn't call S6 as THE BEST. Neither is an iPhone 6+.Vincog - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
I got iphone 6S with samsung chip here, and my battery will decrease 1% every 5 minute in use or 1% every 15 minute standby... ( take a note all background refresh off, location off, only hey siri on ) ..Even my iphone 5s is more better than this one!! 😭😭😭😭Tigran - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
***Looking at GFXBench, which is an infinite loop of the T-Rex on-screen benchmark to approximate intensive video gaming we see that the iPhone 6s doesn’t last very long either, but the performance throughout the test is incredible. Due to 1334x750 display resolution and strong GPU, the iPhone 6s manages to last the entire test without any notable throttling, and effectively pegged at the refresh rate of the display.
***
Why V-Sync (which limits T-Rex on-screen by 60 fps) is ignored? And what about this throttling evidence (by 20-22% in GFXBench off-screen):
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=3772777...
blackcrayon - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
They mentioned that the 6s+ throttled slightly due to the higher resolution, so it stands to reason that the 6 would also throttle when rendering a higher resolution offscreen. But it's nowhere near the throttling of any of the competitors, games are still remaining playable throughout a reasonable gaming session.Tigran - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
You don't get it. It's not about resolution - it's about T-Rex on-screen which limits performance to 60 fps. Without this limit iPhone 6s performance would be much higher, so it is incorrect to mention T-Rex on-screen discussing iPhone 6s throttling. If there is throttling, it can decrease from 100 to 70 fps, but you will see only 60 fps during the whole test - because of V-Sync. And there is evidence off throttling in Manhattan (which doesn't reach 60 fps limit) actually - see my link above (20-22% throttling). I can add that popular Russian laboratory (overclockers.ru) tested throttling of iPhone 6s via Basemark Metal, and they found enormous throttling there - from 911 down to 525 (74%).zhiliangh - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
Thank you! I have been waiting for your review before upgrading any phone this year. This is a must-read iphone review.Spunjji - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
I have a bit of a gripe regarding the conclusions in the camera section. The LG G4 is clearly providing better images at night than the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus - granted there is "less motion blur" in the Apple images, but they're also quite clearly underexposed by at least a stop. It therefore seems odd to conclude that a product which produces grainier, less-detailed and murkier images than the competition is better. You could produce similarly non-blurry results on the G4 by adjusting exposure compensation and then have the best of both worlds!