The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are Apple's latest and greatest smartphones that are about to hit the market. Apple recently held an event in which it showcased all the new features, and now the phones are in the hands of some lucky individuals who can share their experiences with it. Will the upgraded camera meet its expectations? Will 3D Touch be useful? Will the 7000 series aluminum be stronger in the pocket? Let's take a look at what people are saying.
1. The Verge
Nilay Patel, writing for The Verge:
So I'm just going to put this out there, and then we can all handle the emotional consequences together: if you are thinking of buying a new phone, and you have anything older than an iPhone 6, you should buy an iPhone 6S Plus. It is the best iPhone ever made, and it is right now the best phone on the market. If you're upgrading from an iPhone 5S or anything older, it will blow your mind. There just aren't other companies that can roll out a feature like 3D Touch and make it work in a way that suggests the creation of entirely new interface paradigms, and every other phone maker needs to figure out exactly why Apple's cameras are so consistent before they can really compete.
Walt Mossberg, writing for The Verge:
Most surprising to me was the greater speed of the iPhone's fingerprint sensor, called TouchID, which is built into the familiar round home button. It's now so fast that, if you use the button to wake up the phone and authenticate with your fingerprint, the process happens almost instantly. I often didn't even see the lock screen.
2. Wall Street Journal
Joanna Stern, writing for WSJ:
I had to remind myself to use 3D Touch at first, but after two weeks, it's becoming part of my iPhone muscle memory. In Mail, I now press hard on a message to preview it, then swipe left to delete. I love how you can hold down on a link to see a preview of the website, without leaving the app you're in. Press harder and you can "pop" into that app. Third-party app support could make it even more useful.
3. BuzzFeed
John Paczkowski, writing for BuzzFeed:
Last week I used the iPhone 6s Plus all day long doing all sorts of stuff with it, and forgot to charge it that night as I typically do. The following day, I again used it to do all manner of stuff; truthfully, I used the hell out of it. Then I plugged it into a car charger on my way home from work, because it occurred to me to do so — but I didn't urgently need to. Anyway, the phone didn't die.
MobileSyrup
Daniel Bader, writing for Mobile Syrup:
A 50 percent bump in pixels doesn't necessarily increase the quality of photos, and Apple hasn't messed with a good thing in that regard. Daytime photos are lush and beautifully captured, but are most importantly accurate, with near-perfect white balance and a tendency to capture the warmth of a scene, along with an appropriate depth of field. Many of the photos speak for themselves, finding the right balance in every metric: exposure, noise reduction, shutter speed, light sensitivity, and focus.
Stuart Miles, writing for Pocket Lint:
The move to put Hey Siri centre stage is welcomed, and we've already found we are using it to open apps a lot more frequently than when we did before. How long is it before we lose the homescreen altogether?
4. TechCrunch
Matthew Panzarino, writing for TechCrunch:
Do not be fooled into thinking that it's a toy. 3D Touch is a major innovation. The 96 embedded sensors underneath the screen measure the flexion of a new kind of glass at an incredibly small scale to determine pressure.
5. MKBHD
Marques Brownlee, on his YouTube channel:
My initial impressions of the camera are: wow this thing is fast, and the photos it takes look very natural, very true to life. Often with very warm tones.
6. Tech Radar
Gareth Beavis, writing for Tech Radar:
The iPhone 6S is a long way from a bad phone because, simply, it's an iPhone. That's not me saying that anything Apple does it going to be great, but the reason so many people fall over themselves to get the new iPhone is because they know it will be a solid experience with very intelligent interface touches and a great app store, coupled with a great camera. To many, that's all they need.
7. New York Times
Brian Chen, writing for New York Times:
After testing the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus for two weeks, I had mixed feelings on the usefulness of the new features. I found that Live Photos quickly became an enjoyable, integral part of shooting photos with an iPhone. But I couldn't get into the habit of using 3D Touch.
8. Bloomberg
Sam Grobart, writing for Bloomberg:
We're used to hearing that New Phone has a faster processor than Old Phone, but in this case, Apple's A9 processor just screams with speed. Moving between apps is lightning fast. Fast-moving games are as smooth as Billy Dee Williams on a silk surfboard. The Touch ID sensor is instantaneous: By the time you've pressed the home button to wake up the phone, you've already authenticated yourself and are on the home screen. The new iPhones can get on faster Wi-Fi and, where available, 4G networks.
9. USA Today
Ed Baig, writing for USA Today:
Trading up this soon is certainly by no means necessary, but those of you who do will be happy that you did. Apple's marketing spiel, heard in one of those chief design officer Jony Ive promotional videos, is that these are the most advanced iPhones ever created, but there is truth behind the hype.
10. The Telegraph
Rhiannon Williams, writing for The Telegraph:
But this time it's up to twice as fast as the 6's sensor which causes only only one problem - it's almost too fast. Merely pressing the home button to wake the phone now swiftly unlocks it, ploughing you straight into the home screen and most likely bypassing the message notification you were looking for. It takes some getting used to, and you may find it a bit frustrating initially.
Check out the reviews and then come back here and let us know, did any of them change your mind about which new iPhone you want to get?
Reader comments
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus review roundup
This is the first new iPhone I'll own so let's see how it goes. I'm using a 6+ at the moment that I got used but hopefully this one will be worth the upgrade.
Marques Brownlee video wasn't a full review, please check your facts before writing an article.
Little harsh eh?
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Probably but it was misleading.
Thanks! I knew that, but it was still worth noting his thoughts on the camera.
But it comes across in this article like that his video is the full review when it isn't. Fair enough if the camera is great fine but it could of been clearer in this article.
Understandable. We aren't adding comment to their thoughts. When he updates with his full review, we will swap it out. We've also added videos to the post now, so it should be a bit more clear for everyone to see the thoughts.
Shouldn't it be called a PREVIEW roundup?
Makes me want to buy the iPhone 6s Plus even more (Just for the sheer speed and 3D Touch!). Too bad I can't afford it though :(
That last review/comment on the fingerprint scanner is interesting. To not be able to hit the home button once to see the notification on your lockscreen because the FP scanner is so fast could be a tiny issue. But on the other hand I like that its fast (First world problems)
I must say that the "battery conserve" feature has been great for me and the actual battery life itself seems to be better with iOS9.
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I love these review round-ups. Having them all in the same place.