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
Software: 3D Touch, TouchID, Always-On "Hey Siri", and iOS 9
In a lot of ways, evaluating iOS 9 from a broad platform-level standpoint is a bit pointless for a device-specific review, so for a high-level evaluation I would refer to our iOS 9 review. However, in order differentiate their devices every year it seems that Apple has a few special features within the OS added for their latest phone. Of course, this is at least partially hardware-related but given that these features are often enabling new user interfaces in iOS it seems more appropriate to look at these as software additions that are enabled by hardware rather than the other way around.
The first major change in the iPhone 6s is the addition of 3D Touch. This is basically just the addition of pressure sensitivity in addition to the capacitive touch display. This sounds pretty simple, but it really isn’t. For the most part, force sensors are normally relatively large. As a result, something like a trackpad usually only supports pressure sensitivity over the entire surface of the pad rather than at a specific point on the trackpad. Force Touch on the Macbook line and Apple Watch both operate in this way. Instead, the iPhone 6s manages to measure pressure on specific points of the display, which Apple claims is done by measuring capacitance changes between the cover glass and the backlight. There’s also some sensor fusion going on here by using the accelerometer and gyroscope to determine if there is an intentional press.
I don’t claim to know exactly how Apple has implemented this system, but the result is truly impressive. I’ve spent enough time with the phone to say that the pressure sensitivity of the system is incredibly precise, as is where it places the measured pressure. In a lot of ways, it almost feels like magic.
Of course, while it’s cool that this phone has pressure sensitivity, it’s necessary to have some true applications of this pressure sensitive display. To that end, Apple has added two features called peek and pop. Peek allows you to preview some content by pressing slightly on the content instead of tapping. You can peek at message threads without entering them, emails without opening them, and apps without launching them.
At a practical level, this is actually a great feature. I never really thought too hard about it, but it’s often annoying for me to open an email and then realize that I need to keep it marked unread so that I don’t forget to look at it again. It’s also often annoying to open a single image link in a messaging application only to immediately close the browser once I’ve opened it for about half a second. I can clearly see how this is superior to a long-press as there’s no need to press and wait for the system to respond. Combined with the Taptic Engine, which uses a z-axis linear resonant actuator which helps to increase the responsiveness of the haptic feedback. Due to this haptic feedback, it’s immediately obvious when you’ve reached a certain level of pressure for either a peek or pop. I can also immediately see applications in gaming with something as simple as pressure-sensitive throttle in racing games. The haptic feedback of the iPhone 6 by comparison was pretty much your standard vibration, with some noticeable vibration but nothing that really jumped out. The iPhone 6s feels much more defined, which is nice to have on a phone, especially with 3D Touch.
This seems like a relatively small change in the grand scheme of things, but I suspect as time goes on the applications will become much more central than they are now which are already appearing in cases like the keyboard's trackpad feature. Right away there are some obvious user experience improvements but I don’t know if I’d go as far as saying that it’s a revolution still, but I think this is going to be a critical part of the smartphone experience going forward at least for high-end smartphones.
The other major noticeable change is the second generation TouchID sensor. I’ve been noticing lately that the iPhone 6 was relatively slow on the fingerprint sensor when compared to things like the Galaxy Note 5. The iPhone 6s improves on this, and it’s to the extent where it’s basically immediately unlocking as soon as you click on the home button to wake the phone. This is fast enough that if you wanted to check the lockscreen for notifications it’s necessary to use the power button instead of the home button. The user experience is seriously improved here and over the half second or so saved over every unlock over a few years is going to be significant.
The other notable update here to the feature set of the iPhone 6s is the addition of always-on “Hey Siri”. Setting this up is pretty simple as all that needs to be done is that you have to say some key phrases a few times. Once this is done it works as well as it should. It always seems to work when I say the phrase, and in general other people trying to use the phrase to get it to activate as a prank or something similar are unable to make it work. It’s likely that we’re looking at a low power DSP like the TI C55x used in the Moto X, and Apple claims that this is enabled by the on-die M9 chipset in the A9 SoC. For those that are really use Siri all the time, this is definitely going to be a useful feature.
Outside of these highlights, iOS is noticeably faster on the iPhone 6s. I’m not sure what caused this, but the move from iOS 8 to iOS 9 caused the iPhone 6 to have noticeably more dropped frames in areas like the multitasking menu. I’m not sure why this is the case but at any rate the iPhone 6s is noticeably smoother when using iOS 9 than the iPhone 6. I suspect that the addition of even more Gaussian blur effects in iOS 9 is really what’s causing much of the frame drops occurring in the OS. The addition of new data sources to Spotlight causes noticeable lag to the iPhone 6 but the same isn’t as obvious as it is on the iPhone 6s. One might notice that there's no discussion of RAM here because I didn't notice any problems with memory running out in the course of my use.
Overall, I think the iPhone 6s’ user experience is a major step up from previous iPhones. The iPhone 6 was a bigger phone but in a lot of ways it felt very similar to the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 6s’ user experience by comparison feels like a pretty significant change just because of the addition of 3D Touch and the new TouchID sensor. The A9 SoC, combined with an enormously fast storage solution is also felt very strongly as everything in the phone is visibly faster than the iPhone 6.
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nerd1 - Saturday, November 7, 2015 - link
720p screen in 2015, worse battery life, no sd slot, no wiress charging, terrible camera and still THE BEST phone huh?It has best performing processor, no one argues that, but I still wont touch it with a stick.
JaytB1 - Sunday, November 8, 2015 - link
I use iPhone mainly because of the better security/privacy, no carrier/manufacturer delay/total dismissal of security/OS updates, earlier/exclusive/better releases of triple A games/apps and uncluttered interface. I agree with the gold award, the iPhone 6s (plus) is the first phone in a while that made me see that there are still possibilities to innovate in the smartphone space.I've seen Android users avidly defending their high PPI's, megapixels, core counts. Oh, but it's customizable and I can put a ton of widgets on my homescreens. There's only a small minority of tech obsessed people who care (proof is in the huge low/medium end market share, indicating the amount who don't care for specs but just want a working phone). For me, all I want is to launch an app, not stare at my home screen. In the past, Android users where more often than not boasting about benchmarks and how their hardware was superior. Now that the tables are turned, hardware all of a sudden doesn't matter as much anymore or the tests must be rigged by a biased Anandtech (who has nothing to gain and everything to loose if they were posting nonsense).
I've seen Samsung and other manufactures add so many gimmicks to their phones, many of which are plain impractical (try doing 'airview' while jogging and you'll get the picture).
I admit that fast charging would be nice but, for me, completely unnecessary (it's not like an iPhone charges slow in the first place).
Then there's wireless charging, you do realize that you still have to plug in the charge pad with a cable right? So the only difference is that you don't need to plug that cable into your phone, but you'll need more power to fill your device up as compared to using a cable (more waste power) and a permanent spot for your charging pad. Again, for me I don't really see the appeal for that either.
We could also talk about PPI but to keep it brief, I'd rather have a device perform well with individual pixels I can't distinguish, than a screen that would impact performance with pixels I still can't see... But more of them.
I could go on about how a blind photo evaluation test on a respected Android site had Android users voting the iPhone 6s as having the best overall picture quality, but now that the iPhone scored a tiny bit lower than some Android phones in one test, it suddenly has a 'far inferior' camera. Then there's the RAM, curved screens and so many other things I could mention, but my point is that I think Android users can't recognize a genuine game-changing feature-list because they're so used to getting bombarded by tons of arguably useless high spec lists and gimmicks that are marketed as 'the next big thing'.
It's almost as if Google took over the reality distortion field from Apple. Just wait a couple of years when all Android devices have 'Android sense' (or something) displays (3D touch), THEN it will be a game changing feature because they'll have 1000's of pressure levels they can sense as compared to the 'useless' iPhone's (hypothetical) 128 levels.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not trying to bash Android or people who choose to use it, I just don't like those who post nonsense without anything to back it up just so they can sleep at night having convinced themselves that they bought the right phone. I've been a reader of this site for years and believe their test results to be correct, as they've always been. People who claim otherwise should come with facts or stop sprouting nonsense.
I, for one, agree with the review and think it's the phone with the best all round feature set on the market today. Is it perfect? Of course not, but it's a genuinely forward thinking and exceptional smartphone in a stale smartphone market, and that deserves that gold award in my book.
Thanks for the review!
Aritra Ghatak - Sunday, November 8, 2015 - link
As the reviewers pointed various aberration and distortions associated with using a brighter lens and that it is wise Apple went with the F 1/2.2 aperture lens. Could you please explain how Samsung manages with an F 1/1.9 aperture lens in Galaxy S6? Or for that matter the F 1/1.8 lens in LG G4 or Nokia Lumia 720/730?patamat - Sunday, November 8, 2015 - link
Well, we all know who Anand went to work for after writing few "balanced" reviews like this one.(apple ...)
Psymac - Monday, November 9, 2015 - link
Where is the phone function analysis of this iPhone?zimmybz - Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - link
I guess I'll try to build the bridge for the Droid guys here that are having a hard time.I haven't had an iPhone since the Galaxy S came out. Been a droid user since.
I recently got a 6S Plus. I sold a Note 5 and cancelled a pre-order for a Nexus 6P.
I will say it since nobody else will. The Note 5 has a great camera, S-Pen is cool, and enough RAM to keep multi-tasking running, but otherwise it's a shitty phone. The battery life and Touchwiz still leave a LOT to be desired. Build quality is great, but it suffers from what every other Droid phone suffers from - fractured, fragmented hardware eco-system and specs driven production. (Hang on)
If you need to know why you should cancel a 6P pre-order, look at the subreddit (Holy crap, lol.)
Anyways, in my first week with the 6S Plus, I hit 22% battery with 88 hours standy and 13 hours usage. That is completely insane.
Back to the Note 5 - look at the graphs on the review here. This phone absolutely DOMINATES the Note 5 across the board, a fact which I can confirm first hand.
I can also tell you that holding the phones side by side looking at the same picture taken on the Note 5, the displays are functionally indistinguishable from the other. (So much for all that resolution, I guess)
This is a large reason why the Note stutters against the 6S Plus. It's pushing a LOT of pixels that aren't really evident in day to day use, especially sitting next to the iPhone.
I guess I finally reached the point, I just want the best phone every year regardless of manufacturer or software.
Until Google makes it's own hardware in house and breaks free of QualComm, Apple is going to beat them every year going forward. I'm not 20 anymore, I don't care about a home screen widget. I want the battery not to drain from some stupid Google Play Services memory drain while the phone is sitting on my desk.
I don't want Samsung Services blowing up the battery either. And - NO - I should not have to root kit, Package Disable, Power Saver, Turn off Location, etc, etc, etc. I paid $1000 for a premium handset with lots of features.
Oddly enough, the iPhone can leave all that crap on and STILL get good battery life. The arguments for Android are shrinking right now. I'll never buy another Samsung phone again. I will miss the S-Pen, but Touchwiz is heinous, even in it's current iteration.
I would really love to see Google put up a fight in the premium handset market, but I don't think their hearts are in the hardware QUITE yet.
Anyways, happy 6S Plus user here, 4+ year droid convert at the moment. We'll see what next year brings.
zeeBomb - Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - link
Ss or bs (sorry I just had to)JTRCK - Friday, November 13, 2015 - link
I actually returned a 6S Plus for the Nexus 6P and the main reason was PRICE. They are as equally performant in day to day tasks, but the Nexus 6P had better multitasking performance for me due to the buttons and added power of a side launcher which is not possible on iPhone. I basically never have to go to the home screen again when using Google docs, searching the web, etc... I tried both out for about a week. The only feature I liked on the iPhone 6S Plus better was the cooler white colors of the LCD; other than that the Nexus 6P was better "for me" in every aspect. The phone "flies" in every sense of the word. No stutters, no lag, no unresponsiveness (typical of Samsungs). I have been an iPhone user since the 3GS. I also used the iPhone 6 Plus this year for 5 months.And I truthfully don't understand all this commotion over the new iPhone 6S Plus being the best phone ever released. Outside of "3D touch," there is not much difference in day to day performance or general use between both this year's model and last year's model. That is generally a great testament to iOS stability and performance. So much so that my old iPhone 4s opened apps faster, surfed faster, multitasked faster, etc, than my now defunct Note 4. Apple has been on top of their game for years, IDK why android fans have only now noticed. But iOS is truly very limited. You will sooner or later find out the gates keep you truly locked in.
But the main factor for me, again, was price. I do not in any way find the iPhone to be a better phone than the Nexus 6P. In fact, I find its system to be inferior in a multitude of ways. Is the iPhone Better than the Note 5 and all its clumsy and useless features? Yes. But the Nexus 6P is in a category all its own. Especially for $650. That is exactly what I paid for the 128GB model compared to the $1,170 I paid for the iPhone 6S Plus.
astroboy888 - Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - link
"FinFET transistors are necessary because as transistors get smaller their leakage (wasted power) goes up, and without FinFETs leakage would spiral out of control. In fact that’s exactly what happened on the 20nm nodes from Samsung and TSMC; both companies thought the leakage of planar transistors could be adequately controlled at 20nm, only for leakage to be a bigger problem than they expected"It is not they "discovered" 20nm leakage was high; therefore they switched to 16nm FinFet. This is an incorrect comment.
FinFet transistors structure had been on the road map and in development at TSMC for more than 10 years. TSMC's first finfet transistor was demonstrated in 2002 when the inventor Professor Chen-Ming Hu of UC Berkeley was working at TSMC as CTO. Therefore Finfet process had always been on the roadmap for 16nm process. The 20nm planar process had always been on the road map as a planar process. Every process node takes about 3-5 years to develop, so the customers (semiconductor chip designers) signs up 3-5 years before hand to co-work with TSMC to design a chip for that process. These were communicated ahead of time and contracts where signed.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the semiconductor industry was pushing for SOI (Silicon On Insulator such as GaAs "Gallium Arsenide), which completely eliminates leakage current. But the transistor performance turned out to be too unpredictable and too expensive to manufacture. Therefor the industry stuck with silicon, until FinFet structure was invented in 2000 and manufacturing process perfected some 10 years later.
gonsolo - Thursday, November 12, 2015 - link
If I may suggest something: I'd like to see app startup times as a benchmark from iPhone 5 onwards. This is something I'm doing a lot; waiting for apps to start.