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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Jenius - Monday, October 20, 2014 - link
It's always difficult for me to understand such long hate comments.If you don't like it, just ignore it.
I admit I am a long time user of iPhones, because I think they are good for me. But I never really care if my friend would also use an iPhone or if he prefers Android.
As far as I can see, it is always non-iPhone users who are most vocal about features that they don't like, etc etc. If you are not going to use it anyway, why do you even care?
SJR - Thursday, November 6, 2014 - link
The Apple A8 and Sammy's Exynos 5433 are the two best SoC's out there. Moreover, the speed of the RAM of the latest iPhone's is almost double than their competitors. And although just like you said, the 16GB base-model is more of a joke nowadays, the capacity of their pricier siblings is unheard of. Can you point me to some other smartphone with 128GB's of embedded flash storage and, of course, a more competitive price? No.What's funny is the fact that you imply the smartphone with the most advanced 'intestines' of all is outdated.
Oh, I almost forgot: the AMOLED displays are crappier than a LED IPS-panel. They're simply more impressive due to their colors being over-saturated (and that means they display the colors WRONG.)
Iphneluver - Tuesday, January 27, 2015 - link
Are you through? You might as well get a rotary dial phone.. You'd be happier dumb assrupert3k - Sunday, February 1, 2015 - link
What a nutterCharlydance - Friday, March 6, 2015 - link
Right on mate.. These Ifool lovers hate when you talk and compare specs, so brainwashed they defend apple with words like "software optimisation" lol, and how Samsung copies apple., just really stupid arguments.Anyway I know what my next phone is:), my current phone(gs5) I have no complaints it's just a beast does everything I want eg. Download, stream content to any device including apple TV Hahaha play games without issue,
Apple Ifools can only dream of having a taste of what Samsung has given there followers.
w1p30ut3r - Saturday, October 3, 2015 - link
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph8554/67993...Caliko - Tuesday, October 6, 2015 - link
This obsessed iKnockoff fan doesn't understand HD.orangehead911 - Sunday, February 14, 2016 - link
Wow. You should get a lifexmen77 - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
yellowness camera (g3 much better).watch review
I can to give more proofs but links not allowed
sound worse than 5s, s5, htc one m8 and htc one mini2
calibration worse than note4
xmen77 - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
also sounds worse than g3