The iPhone 6 Review
by Joshua Ho, Brandon Chester, Chris Heinonen & Ryan Smith on September 30, 2014 8:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- iPhone 6
Video Quality
At a high level, video recording seems to be mostly similar. Both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 continue to rely on EIS for video stabilization, both seem to use somewhat similar optics and sensors, and both can only shoot 1080p video. However, the details are really where we see improvements in the iPhone 6. For starters, the iPhone 6 now has 1080p60 video support, which is definitely helpful for improving spatial resolution and general performance. There's also 720p240 slow motion video, which is an addition to the 720p120 video that we saw in the iPhone 5s.
| Video Encode Settings (Approx.) | ||||||
| iPhone 5s | iPhone 6 | |||||
| 1080p30 | 17 Mbps High Profile H.264 | 17 Mbps High Profile H.264 | ||||
| 1080p60 | - | 27 Mbps High Profile H.264 | ||||
| 720p120 | 27 Mbps High Profile H.264 | 31 Mbps High Profile H.264 | ||||
| 720p240 | - | 42 Mbps High Profile H.264 | ||||
As you can see, there's really not a massive difference in encoding bitrate, at least for the standard video record settings. However, even casual examination shows just how big a difference there is when comparing video from the iPhone 5s to video from the iPhone 6.
While the YouTube compression is likely to make it hard to see whether the iPhone 6 really has better video quality, when viewed at full resolution with Quicktime it seems that there is some level of improvement, but this could be due to the smaller field of view that is used when compared to the iPhone 5s. This tighter FOV also seems to be part of the reason why the stabilization is more effective than before. At various points in the video, it's quite obvious that the iPhone 6 is also benefiting greatly from PDAF as we see seamless transitions throughout the video and consistently better focus while the iPhone 5s is locked from the start and would require multiple taps to refocus the video.
1080p60 brings significant improvements to temporal quality, as capturing fast motion is noticeably more fluid when compared to 1080p30. Video stabilization is also retained, which makes 1080p60 an easy choice when capturing fast-moving objects.
As with the iPhone 5s, the original video on NAND is saved to play back at either 120 or 240 fps, but on the phone and when uploaded to social media the slow motion versions play back certain parts at 30 fps. As far as I can tell, there's relatively little difference in the image quality between the two modes, but this advantage is unlikely to hold when in lower light situations as the frame rate inherently caps the exposure time.
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robbie rob - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Yeah it's a solid phone and Apple puts together the pieces to give a good all around experience. One of the fastest cpu's in any smartphone; one of the fastest to focus, best low light, color accurate cameras, a display that is very accurate and has great contrast. A phone that has more LTE bands then 99% of all phones. A phone that has battery life on par with most competitors - despite having a battery that's only 1/3 the size.LoveGettingRobbed - Thursday, October 2, 2014 - link
@AppleCrappleHater2 (nice handle!):Thank you! I had just read the AnandTech review and was under the impression this was a pretty swell device. You've set the record straight! It's obvious by your username that you are a well-informed, unbiased fountain of useful information.
/s
This has to be the most mentally disturbed case of trolling I've ever seen. Seek help dude, you're not well.
Brandon263 - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Great review guys. Wonder if Apple's consistent lead in CPU performance will prompt Arm/Android handset makers to focus on efficiency rather than cores or frequency in future SoCs. One can only hope...Toss3 - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
What CPU lead? I don't see Apple leading in the CPU department at this stage due to its low CPU frequency and low amount of cores (apps are multithreaded these days). Don't get blinded by single thread performance and browser benchmarks that don't reflect reality.bafa - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
I was hoping to hear about the h.265 capabilities in FaceTime.Squuiid - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
+1Joshua, Brandon, Chris and Ryan, could we have an addendum commenting on h.265 capabilities?
Brandon Chester - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
I can't make it decode HEVC video no matter what I attempt if that's what you're asking. If you check my Twitter you'll see I've been obsessing about this since they put the spec page up.solipsism - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Good point! MY guess is Apple is adding that capability this year on the sly so when they are ready to add H.265 encoded video to iTS the market will be prepared, even though they will seamlessly offer H.264 and H.265 alongside each other.Laxaa - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Finally, AT's iPhone 6 review!My girlfriend bought hers last friday(when it launched here in Norway), and so far it seems like a very good phone indeed. A lot faster than her aging 4S, which in it's own right feels decently fast. The 6 is a very impressive package, but having only 1GB of RAM is a dealbraker for me. Also, they still haven't fixed the awfull sound quality when you record videos. 64 kbps mono is not acceptable in 2014.
dmacfour - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Serious question: is there any way you personally use your phone that would be limited by the amount of RAM?