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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ryanbrancel - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Yes, you would think call quality would be a high consideration. Maybe it is too subjective, or hard to test. From what I've heard the voice call quality is not that good compared to the competition. For example, it trails behind GS5 in call quality from several comparison reviews I've seen. It appears BlackBerry Passport is the leader in this area now.beggerking@yahoo.com - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
720p screen... no qi charging, half working NFC... no removable battery, no micro sd card support, not waterproof... cost $850... reminds me of year 2012...reviewer must be a time traveler who still lives in 2012 to recommend such a phone at such price tag.
doobydoo - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Someone doesn't understand technology. I think you're on the wrong site.DorkMan - Thursday, October 2, 2014 - link
BUT the phone can flex better. Where's Anandtech's review of this feature?A design mistake. If the issue were with a new Samsung phone, you can believe Apple would be laughing its head off. But it's not. Jobs would NEVER have cleared the design. That's what's been lost.
throwaway234 - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Where is the comparison to any of the Intel Atom SOC's? Would be very interesting to compare these.shm224 - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
"For those that are unfamiliar with our test suite the CPU-based tests are mostly browser-based benchmarks. Once again, although I’m not quite happy with the state of benchmarking things we’re getting close to a more platform-agnostic solution."Can anyone please explain why "browser-based benchmarks" are better than CPU benchmarks and why they are listed under "CPU performance"?
There is plenty of evidence that web-browser benchmark figures varies as much as 88% from browser to browser on the same platform. And this makes it much worse than whatever CPU benchmarks out there -- GeekBench or Antutu for instance. Yet Anandtech keeps using this flawed metric, while complaining that they aren't happy. No kidding, right?
blackcrayon - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
They're still useful for comparing devices that are running the same OS and browser, such as an iPhone 6 vs an iPhone 5s. And probably somewhat useful for comparing what the benchmark is testing - javascript may just be faster on an iPhone 6 than on any other phone at the moment- whether that matters to your use case of course is another matter.shm224 - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Sure, yes I understand that it makes sense to compare one product/browser line, but there is no reason to list it under "CPU performance," with other smartphones as if they are comparing CPU performances. Anandtech can omit the CPU performance altogether if they feel that there is no benchmark good enough to meet their requirement. It's that simple.MykeM - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Great review. I read it last night and the display measurement alone was intriguing enough that I went to Apple.com and see if I could reserve one from my local Apple Store. Luckily there was one in Space Grey (my colour of choice) and 128GB (a bit more than I wanted to pay). But with Apple trade in program, I ended up paying much less than I was expecting (hint: less than I would if I were to buy a Nexus 5),Coming from the iPhone 5 which itself has a pretty good display (I remember reading Chris' write-up on the iP5 display), I'm more than pleased with the iPhone 6 display. The brightness distribution (on all white background) is simply astounding. I'm still playing with the phone but so far I'm quite impressed.
Ancillas - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Gotta love the extremists flocking to either love or hate Apple. It may as well be a religious war. Xbox or Playstation, Apple or Android, AMD or Intel. Buy the products that are right for you, and be happy about it. The end.