The iPhone 6 Plus Mini-Review: Apple's First Phablet
by Joshua Ho on September 30, 2014 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- iOS
- iPhone 6 Plus
Battery Life
One of the big draws of the larger form factor is battery life. Due to fundamental scaling issues, a bigger phone should be able to achieve greater battery life than a small one. This is because a smartphone's PCB generally remains constant in size, so it becomes an increasingly smaller proportion of the overall device size. This leaves increasingly large areas where batteries fill in the gap. In order to quantify just how big of a difference this makes when going from 4.7" to 5.5", we turn to our standardized battery life test suite. For those unfamiliar with our testing, the display is calibrated to 200 nits and all background tasks are disabled in order to ensure that only the foreground task is active in our tests.
As we previously discussed, the iPhone 6 Plus performs quite admirably in the WiFi web browsing test. As expected, there's a healthy bump over the iPhone 6, but it's not quite a massive leap as a larger battery size might suggest.
Once again, we see a similar pattern with the LTE web browsing test. Since both phones are based on the same platform, it makes sense that their results track quite closely together as we're only scaling display and battery size within the context of these tests.
However, the web browsing test is a mostly display-bound test, even if there is an SoC efficiency aspect that can make a significant difference. In order to better test SoC efficiency and get an idea of the dynamic range that a phone has in battery life, we turn to our compute-bound tests. Unfortunately, Basemark OS II stops the test too early due to low battery notifications in iOS, so we cannot use that test for a proper comparison to other phones.
As shown in these charts, the iPhone 6 Plus manages to sustain a significant boost in battery life when compared to the iPhone 6, and performance is almost identical as well. It seems that the iPhone 6 Plus begins to throttle towards the end of the test simply because it has more time to generate heat rather than any real difference in cooling, as skin temperatures were also around 43C on the iPhone 6 Plus in this test. It's also important to note that the iPhone 6 Plus is rendering at 2208x1242 internally in order to keep proper scaling with the 163 points per inch system that iOS has, which accounts for part of the performance delta.
Overall, battery life on the iPhone 6 Plus ranges between about 20% higher to 40% higher depending on the balance of display power and SoC/baseband power in any given situation. Heavily display-bound situations will be closer to the 20% higher figure while more SoC-bound tasks will tend toward 40% or even higher. Purely idle situations should see even greater improvements as any situation where the display is off will see linear scaling with battery size.
Charge Time
Charge time is one of the key metrics for getting a holistic picture of battery life, as it's impossible to really understand whether a phone will be able to stay mobile as needed without considering recharging. In some cases such as a trade show or travel, it doesn't matter if a phone lasts 20% longer than the competition if it loses all the time gained in time spent on a charger. In order to test this, power is tracked from when the phone is connected to the charger to when it reaches the lowest power draw state on the AC adapter.
Unfortunately, the included charger is the same 5W charger that we've seen for years now. As a result, the iPhone 6 Plus is constrained by the relatively low maximum power that it can put out. Those that wish for faster charging should look into getting an iPad A/C adapter as the iPhone 6 Plus will charge faster when connected to it.
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KuyaMarkEduard - Monday, October 13, 2014 - link
Hello Sir Golfmann. before you conclude that this site is, and will still offer the fairest, and the most unbiased review when it comes to Apple, you may want to take a look at this, and then, decide, if you can still, make this a trustworthy website, if it pertains to Apple's product:AnandTech founder Anand Shimpi joins Apple:
The founder of one of the most in-depth mobile and computer tech sites, Anand Shimpi, is hanging up the tech journalism gloves as he joins Apple.
Founded in 1997, AnandTech is widely renowned for its technical analysis of personal computers and, more recently, mobile phones.
Shimpi posted his retirement from tech writing on a post on his site over the weekend, but did not mention joining Apple at that time. Since then, the Cupertino company has confirmed that the he will be joining the Apple fold. Specifics as to what his actual position will be are still unclear, but it is known that he will be joining former AnandTech senior smartphone reviewer Brian Klug, who also left for Apple back in February.
Anand Shimpi has built gradually a reputation as one of mobile tech’s most authoritative figures, and has even consulted with manufacturers to improve hardware products like solid state drives. It’s expected that his extensive knowledge of device engineering and industry connections are what made him an attractive hire for Apple, where he will likely contribute to the improvement of iPhone and, potentially, wearables.
Now what do you think? Can you still, boldly say that this, is a "Great review, as always! Anand was telling the truth! This is still a trustworthy website."?
krbrownin - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
Geeze after an Apple review the haters sure come out in force. I have a iPhone 5s, and a Samsung Galaxy S4. I think the 6+ is gonna be awesome.Both my S4 and 5s are great phones- just different. The S4 is my work phone and was issued to me by my employer. It has higher resolution, and a faster proc. But you know what? You cant tell. Side by side screen comparisons of the same app or website or photo (and I've done it many times at work during just such arguments like all these posts here) you really cant tell a difference. OK maybe a slight difference sometimes, but not that much. In fact sometimes the 5s even looks crisper or sharper. Its hard to explain but it does. On a 24" IPS monitor, the difference in resolution would be much more noticeable, but on a device that you hold in the palm of your hand...not so much. Come on, the 5s's display is freaking awesome so the 6 and 6+ are going to look great. Don't focus so much on "oh the + is only 1920x1080" - who cares. Also I've never had any crashes or problems on my iPhone 5s. Ever. I carry it all the time everyday even if I probably use my S4 a little more for calls. The 5s is my personal phone so family/friends call me on it. The S4 however, has locked up on me, crashed, and I've had several other issues. But I still love it mind you, and it looks like I will be getting an S5 shortly here at work.
But everyone should stop being such a fanboy. Get the phone you want. Don't try and slam the iPhone as being buggy and not as good as Android based phones. It just simply isn't true. And you cant hardly call me an Apple fanboy either, I'm using my S4 right now.
KuyaMarkEduard - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
Yeah sure! @krbrownin: the real battle here is not between iPhone and Android, but for sure, it is only between the American Apple, and the South Korean Samsung! All others are excluded!KuyaMarkEduard - Monday, October 13, 2014 - link
want to see and read the fairest, and the most unbiased reviews? Click:http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_6_plus-review...
and
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_4-revi...
at least there, what you are getting is just the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the TRUTH!, whether it is gonna be Apple or Samsung!
Yaru - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
Just registered to say that I love Gundam Dynames too. I was surprised to see a Gunpla it in the review of the 6 Plus.JimmiG - Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - link
Bezel like it's 2007!I thought huge bezels were a sign of a cheap phone.
Seriously if it had the bezels from the G3 they could probably squeeze a 6.2" display in there, maybe larger.
mpfjelsted - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Em, check your math.kopuschen - Sunday, October 12, 2014 - link
It's amazing to see so many Apple vs Android again.I think one just need to be aware the business model of each and everything follows that.
Android profits from ads, that's it. Which means your personal information is collected by Google for its giant network of search and ads. Their CEO once publicly said when asked about concerns that Google gives away Android for free, he said "we swamped the market with so many devices and you think we can't think of a way make money out of it?"
If you are comfortable with that (Google scan every piece of your personal information), then Google platform is a great choice. It's nothing to do with security, your phone can be really secure for others but Google is still reading it.
In comparison, Apple has no motivation to read your email scan your typed keywords etc. because it's profit model is simply selling devices.
In this world business model follows where money follows. For Apple users are consumers, for Android users are products. Think about it, all we are debating to death are result of that root cause.
ccd1 - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Here is my take on it.1) Arguing over specs is a waste of time. In terms of performance, both get the job done for the vast majority of users.
2) The Plus is one of the best phablets out there. If we were talking about any company other than Apple, this would be considered a great achievement for a first try. However, the Plus is an Apple product where we expect Apple to come late into the game, but totally change the market. Thus viewed the Plus is a fail because it is a very good phone, but not a game changer as past Apple products have been.
3) The choice comes down to two things: the operating system and the stylus. IOW, do you prefer the integration and user friendly interface of iOS or the customization of android? Do you need the stylus or not. Answer these two questions and you probably know which device is best for you.
ccd1 - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Forgot to add that the fight between Android/Note 4 and the Plus overlooks the other announcement this week that Google will be introducing the Nexus 6 which will be a premium phone this time around. It could be a game changer, though I doubt it. More likely, it will be a platform to show off Android L and will be a good or very good phone. The smartphone market may now be so mature that there are no big surprises left.