The GoodA bigger, crisp display, improved LTE and Wi-Fi speeds, better camera autofocus, bumped-up storage capacities to 128GB at the top end, and NFC Apple Pay mobile wallet features on the horizon.
The Bad In early tests, the iPhone 6's battery doesn't fare any better than last year's model. Some Android phones fit an even-larger 5-inch screen into the same size frame. It lacks the optical image stabilization of the bigger, more expensive 6 Plus.
The Bottom LineThe iPhone 6 delivers a bigger screen while remaining easy to handle, with plenty of features to satisfy everyone -- and the promise of Apple Pay on the horizon to potentially sweeten the deal even further.
I'm sitting on my sofa. I pull out my phone to check sports scores. Wait, which phone was it again? I'm starting to lose track. For a second, I think it's the 6 Plus. Wait, it's the 6.
I've been using the iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus side by side for a week, and I can tell you this: both of Apple's new iPhones have better, big displays. And both make the iPhone 5S' screen seem small. But I'm having a hard time picking which one I prefer. That's pretty frustrating. At least I know this: the iPhone 6 is a lot like the Plus...minus a few features.
For years, Android phones have shipped with displays in expansive, 5-inch-ish sizes, but Apple has stubbornly insisted on the necessity of a small screen for one-handed operation. The iPhone 5S, while powerful, hit a wall in viewing room: its 4-inch screen was among the smallest on the market, and, frankly, I found it limiting.
The iPhone 6 (left) and the 6 PlusCNET
No longer. Now, Apple has created two larger iPhones, one big, the other even bigger: the iPhone 6 sports a 4.7-inch screen, while the iPhone 6 Plus goes full "phablet" with a 5.5-inch display. Both of the new iPhones boast flatter designs, ship with somewhat faster A8 processors, slightly improved cameras, speedier Wi-Fi and LTE, better voice quality if you're using voice-over-LTE, and more onboard storage.
Both 2014 models also incorporate Apple Pay, the new and potentially revolutionary NFC-powered payment system that turns the phone into a credit card. Apple Pay could be the biggest feature on these new iPhones if it works as advertised; stay tuned for more on that when it launches in the US in October.
Between the two new iPhones, the iPhone 6 feels best in my hand. It's thin, elegant, performs really well, and has many of the features I need. But it lacks extra battery life and optical image stabilization, which I care about. So do you go with the more expensive, larger iPhone 6 Plus? I wish I didn't have to debate between two very similar premium phones. (Be sure to check out CNET's full review of the iPhone 6 Plus.)
The iPhone 5S, the 6, and the 6 Plus.CNET
6, or 6 Plus?
See, here's the problem: Apple has added two phones at once for the first time. And they're both pretty similar. So which one do you pick?
The good news is that the iPhone 6, which feels great to hold, has nearly all the same features as the 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus both have larger screens than previous iPhones. They both have new A8 processors. They both have 16, 64, or 128GB of storage. They both come in three colors: white/silver, white/gold, and space gray, which is black/darker silver.
Play
The differences between the two aren't that tremendous, but they're important. The 6 has a 4.7-inch, 1,344x750-pixel display. The 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch, 1,920x1,080-pixel display, plus optical image stabilization in the camera and the ability to run more apps in horizontal-landscape mode, with split-screen effects like an iPad. It's also significantly bigger, and weighs more -- but it does have a longer battery life.
You're not losing much with the 6. But it's not the absolute top of the line, and maybe that bugs you. If it does, get the 6 Plus.
For potential buyers of both phones, here's how it breaks down:
For owners of older iPhones looking to upgrade, these new iPhones are massive leaps in screen size. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will probably be more than enough, but the 6 Plus may be downright intimidating unless you're looking for a mini-tablet.
For Android owners who once jumped ship from iOS and want to come back, this is the iPhone generation you've been waiting for. It's the best iPhone since the iPhone 5. Back then, 4G LTE and an improved screen and camera made the difference. This time, a larger screen, a fast processor, NFC with Apple Pay (although likely only that), the additional customization features of iOS 8, and bumped-up storage tiers go a long way to close the feature gap with current top Android phones.
For iPhone 5S owners or habitual iPhone upgraders, think of the chief advantages as a bigger screen and the potential of Apple Pay. The improved processor, camera, 4G LTE and Wi-Fi speeds, and possible battery-life gains are steps up, but not massive leaps. In other words, if you don't have a strong desire for the larger screen, you could easily ride your iPhone 5S (running iOS 8) for 12 more months, and wait for the inevitable iPhone 6S and 6S Plus in 2015.
For hard-core Android fans, well, there are Android phones that cost less, have higher-resolution screens, boast better battery life, have removable SD card storage, and even removable batteries. You won't find all of these on an iPhone 6, but this is the most attractive iPhone yet. You can't have everything in Appleland.
Apple iPhone 6
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
Samsung Galaxy S5
Motorola Moto X (2014)
US base price (with two-year agreement)
$199
$299
$199
$99
UK base price (unlocked)
£539
£619
£350
£420
Australia base price (unlocked)
AU$869
AU$999
AU$900
N/A
Display size/resolution
4.7-inch 1,344x750 IPS (326 ppi)
5.5-inch 1,920x1,080 IPS (401 ppi)
5.1-inch 1,920x1,080 Super AMOLED (432 ppi)
5.5-inch 1,920x1,080 AMOLED (423 ppi)
Processor
1.39GHz Apple A8 (64-bit)
1.38GHz Apple A8 (64-bit)
2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon (Krait400)
2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon (Krait400)
RAM
1GB
1GB
2GB
2GB
Internal storage
16GB, 64GB or 128GB
16GB, 64GB or 128GB
16GB, 32GB
16GB, 32GB
Expandable storage
No
No
Yes (microSD)
No
Networking
802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
Operating system
iOS 8
iOS 8
Android 4.4.2
Android 4.4.4
US carriers
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon
AT&T, Verizon
CNET
Design
My favorite-feeling 4.7-inch phone, the one that proved larger screens could be made in compact sizes, was the 2013 Motorola Moto X. Does the iPhone 6 pull off the same feel? It's close, but different.
The new iPhone design may seem bold and different, or possibly a little like the HTC One M8's curved metal, but it's also still very Apple. In fact, it's kind of like the iPod Touch design, or how the iPads are made. This iPhone is slightly thinner than before, but it feels much thinner; part of that's the increased screen size, and partly it's the curved design. Glass from the front folds ever so slightly around the edges, and the sharp industrial hard edges of the iPhone 5 and 5S are completely gone.
It also feels a little like the original iPhone, which had a curved design, too.
CNET
The new iPhone feels good to hold and beautifully solid; the metal back and glass front are smoothed, and comfortable. But it also has a slight aura of fragility; maybe it's the extra-slim look, or the massive pane of curved glass on the front. I instantly wanted to slip it into a case just to be safe.
Also, the slightly protruding camera lens on the back of the iPhone 6, while similar to the one on the fifth-gen iPod Touch, made me worry about placing the phone down on rough surfaces, regardless of the sapphire lens.
Play
The volume buttons, which were round, raised buttons before, are now elongated like those on the iPod Touch and iPad. The top-right power/sleep button has shifted to the right, like you find on some Android phones. It takes some getting used to, but it's easier to press now that the phone is bigger.
CNET
A round Touch ID home button remains at the bottom, and works the same as on last year's iPhone 5S: a simple press unlocks your phone, and it works amazingly well most of the time. This year, iOS 8 and Apple Pay will allow you to do more with Touch ID, making it an even more essential feature. But reaching that home button isn't quite as easy with one hand as it was before.
The 2013 Moto X (left), iPhone 6 (center), Nexus 5 (right). See what I mean?CNET
If I have one problem with the new design, it's the bezel around the display. It's still big; bigger than most Android phones. It means that an iPhone 6 with its 4.7-inch screen is the same size as some 5-inch screen phones. For instance, the iPhone 6 is about the same height and width as a Nexus 5, which has a larger 5-inch screen, but larger than last year's Moto X, which fits the same 4.7-inch display into a more compact body.
Both the Moto X and Nexus 5 are thicker, but the iPhone 6's thin design also means a larger, flatter body. The iPhone 6 measures 5.4 by 2.6 inches, and 0.3 inch thick (138 by 67 by 69 mm). It weighs 4.5 ounces, or 128 grams.
CNET
Can that bezel be reduced next time, perhaps? Sure, the Touch ID home button needs to fit below the screen, but the extra space on top could have been been shaved down (assuming Jony Ive can live without a symmetrical design).
Yes, the new iPhone 6 is still one-hand friendly, and a whole bunch more so than the iPhone 6 Plus. There's even a sometimes useful but weird software feature called Reachability that pulls the top half of the display down to midscreen with a light double-tap of the Home button, for easy thumb access. It's helpful for one-handed use. I just wish the whole phone was a little less big...or that it could fit a slightly bigger screen in the same chassis.
CNET
Display: Improved, but good enough?
The iPhone 6 has an increased 4.7-inch display, a similar screen size as last year's Moto X. It's big for Apple phones, but still on the smaller side for Android phones, which have moved, lately, to the 5-inch territory.
iPhones have always had phenomenal displays, in terms of brightness and color quality both: David Katzmaier here at CNET has tested the last few, and they've been among the tops in smartphones.
We haven't done full display testing on these new iPhones yet -- stay tuned for that -- but the iPhone 6's 4.7-inch IPS display looks vivid, rich, and as good as that on the iPhone 5 or 5S, just bigger. But not that much bigger. The display's 1,344x750-pixel resolution is higher than the iPhone 5/5C/5S' 1,136x640, but it has the same 326ppi pixel density. It's a good step up, and a big help for nearly anything you'd use your phone's screen for.
A grid of six-by-four apps now fits on each page plus the four in the dock below, for 28 total: on the 5's 4-inch display, it's 24. There are more pixels horizontally and vertically, unlike the merely vertical lengthening of the iPhone 5. That also means the aspect ratio's the same, and videos and Web pages scale similarly.
A handy comparison of all iOS screen sizes: 4S, 5S, 6, 6 Plus, iPad Mini, iPad Air.CNET
There aren't any optimized apps that take advantage of the extra pixels, other than Apple's core preinstalled apps, but older apps still scale up and fill the space without black bars. The results are mixed: the Kindle app and Netflix actually looked great, and text and video were crisp.
Many games look great, too, even without updating: Badland, Riptide GP2, Unpossible, and text-based games like Device 6. Some apps, however, have icons, keyboards and buttons that end up looking too large in the magnified display size. App updates will likely take care of this for most situations in the weeks to come, but right now it's not a perfect transition.
CNET
The iPhone 6 Plus has an even more impressive 1,920x1,080 5.5-inch display and 406 pixels per inch, but it's also a much larger phone. For my tastes, I'd go with the 4.7-inch iPhone 6. My opinion might change as I slowly accept ever-larger phones. I still think many people will find this 4.7-inch screen to be perfectly good, and perfectly functional while still being portable. But in the world of modern smartphones, the 6's screen resolution is a step below ideal.
It's much better than older iPhones, though. After a week using the iPhone 6, my iPhone 5S screen looks like the one on a first-gen iPhone.
Performance: Faster still
How fast do we need our phones to be? The potential of last year's crazily-fast-on-paper A7 processor still hasn't been fully tapped. The new A8 processor on the iPhone 6 isn't quite the quantum leap the A7 was. It's a 64-bit dual-core processor just like the A7, but Apple claims a 25 percent boost in speed and 50 percent graphics boost over last year's iPhone 5S.
In our tests (see the benchmarks below), we found that the A8, while faster, is a decent bump rather than a giant vault. Depending on which benchmark test you look at, the new processor was either above other phones (SunSpider 1.0.2, Linpack) or more in the middle of the pack (Geekbench 3, 3DMark).
These don't necessarily tell the whole story, but the A8 isn't a leap over the competition; it's more of a step forward year-over-year from the A7, while mobile processors keep getting faster all around. But really, what you want to know is, how do apps feel? The UI and app-launching speed of the new iPhone is zippy as always.
What will really prove how things feel are apps optimized for the new display. Those aren't really here yet in time for this early review, but stay tuned for future impressions with iPhone 6-tweaked games and apps. Also, keep in mind that Apple's new Metal coding tool for gaming could help iOS games perform even better with the A8 than what these initial benchmarks suggest.
3DMARK ICE STORM -- UNLIMITED (IN FRAMES PER SECOND)
Apple iPhone 5S
13,858
Apple iPhone 6
17,374
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
17,565
Motorola Moto X (2014)
19,802
Samsung Galaxy S5
19,802
HTC One M8
20,669
NOTE:
Longer bars indicate better performance
GEEKBENCH 3 (IN FRAMES PER SECOND)
HTC One M8
869
2409
Apple iPhone 5S
1412.2
2,562
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
1619
2881
Apple iPhone 6
1627
2924
Samsung Galaxy S5
949
2934
Motorola Moto X (2014)
1001
3052
LEGEND:
Single-core (Blue)
Multi-core (Red)
NOTE:
Longer bars indicate better performance
LINPACK MULTITHREAD (IN MFLOPS)
Motorola Moto X (2014)
803.175
HTC One M8
814.815
Samsung Galaxy S5
869.416
Apple iPhone 5S
975.92
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
1358.2
Apple iPhone 6
1378.2
NOTE:
Longer bars indicate better performance
SUNSPIDER 1.0.2 (IN MILLISECONDS)
Motorola Moto X (2014)
776.6
Samsung Galaxy S5
769.2
HTC One M8
635.1
Apple iPhone 5S
416.6
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
381.9
Apple iPhone 6
345.2
NOTE:
Shorter bars indicate better performance
An equally welcome addition is 802.11ac Wi-Fi and improved LTE antennas, which allow for faster Web browsing on both Wi-Fi and LTE.
I tried LTE browsing on an AT&T iPhone 6 across several places, including San Francisco, New York City, Montclair, New Jersey, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Download speeds were generally somewhat better than over an LTE AT&T iPhone 5S. Upload speed was a little more impressive. In Green Bay, I averaged 5.09 Mbps download and 10.6 Mbps upload speeds in the Lambeau Field parking lot for a Jets-Packers game, while the iPhone 5S averaged 4.3 Mbps download and 6.2 Mbps upload speeds. From a restaurant in Clifton, New Jersey, I averaged 8.3 Mbps download and 4.6 Mbps upload on the iPhone 6, versus 8.4 Mbps download and 3.3 Mbps upload on an iPhone 5S. Stay tuned for more detailed testing of Wi-Fi and LTE network speeds from CNET in the days to come.
CNET
Call quality
The new iPhones have some audio-improvement tweaks for phone calls: the phones can make higher-quality audio calls via voice over LTE (VoLTE) and can make calls over Wi-Fi when your cell connection is weak. Stay tuned for more tests of this; deployment of both are happening over time and differ by carrier.
T-Mobile's voice over LTE and Wi-Fi calling features should be working now, while Verizon's nationwide VoLTE coverage should be ready by the iPhone's September 19 launch. AT&T's will take more time; a few test cities are getting VoLTE now, but your city might not get it until later this year.
Another benefit of voice over LTE is that Verizon customers will finally get simultaneous voice and data, which wasn't possible before on other iPhones. Note, however, that both parties need to be using VoLTE-compatible phones in VoLTE-compatible coverage areas to get that benefit.
I tried making a number of FaceTime and voice calls comparing the iPhone 6 with the 5S. FaceTime calls looked better to others because of the new iPhone's front-facing camera improvements. Voice calling sounded clear, with a somewhat softer, muted tone than calls on the iPhone 5S.
CNET
Camera
It's come to the point where we expect yearly camera upgrades of significance in our phones. The new iPhone's biggest improvements come in autofocus: the 8-megapixel rear iSight camera has the same megapixel count and flash as last year, but autofocus has been improved for both still photos and videos. Apple says its new sensor uses "focus pixels," but what that means is I've found the camera does a far better job at avoiding out-of-focus shots. Your days of tapping-to-focus are over. I found that the iPhone 5S, though it took great shots, often had to do an annoyingly long focus cycle before taking a clear shot. The iPhone 6 is faster at doing this, and more invisibly so.
Both front and rear cameras have the same megapixel count as before (8 on the back, 1.2 on the front), and for the most part, except for focus, still shots that I took around my home using both cameras didn't look that much different from each other. To my eyes, the iPhone 6 camera isn't the leap that the iPhone 5S' was from the 5's. The LED "true-tone" flash remains the same, as does the sapphire lens.
Sample chicken photo taken with rear iSight camera.CNET
But don't discount the importance of autofocus for quicker clear snaps, and especially for videos. In fact, this new iPhone's biggest camera improvements are probably in the video-recording department. Videos look good even if someone dives in and out of camera: my crazy kids, five and one and a half, running around in my living room managed to look clear when I reached my phone to record a clip.
The iPhone's video-recording speeds can be set at 60fps now, which gives a more immediate crispness for high-speed action. Slow-motion video recording can be set to 120 or 240 frames per second. File sizes get high at 240fps, but you end up with highlight clips that feel like "Matrix" outtakes. And the panorama mode takes much clearer 43-megapixel photos: you can zoom in and see more detail, if you're into large panoramas.
FaceTime front-facing photos get a subtle boost with a larger f2.2 aperture, improved HDR sensors, and a quick-burst mode like the rear camera added last year. It's better for selfies in low light, and seems better so far for FaceTime calls, too. It's not dramatic, but it's noticeable. Also, the FaceTime camera has shifted off-center this time, slightly to the left of the speaker. At first it seems odd, but it's clever: I used to keep staring at my own face in the corner when I made video calls in landscape mode, which caused my eyes to drift. Now, the lens and your face can line up, and it made me avoid the "zombie" look.
Note: iPhone 6 Plus owners also get optical image stabilization for photo and video recording. iPhone 6 owners, you do not: instead, there's inferior digital image stabilization. Optical image stabilization keeps shots steadier for night or low-light pictures, which is really cool. It's a shame the 6 doesn't include it, but better autofocus is a more useful feature on a daily basis, and thankfully both cameras are identical in every other way.
The camera quality is improved, and it's most noticeable when taking larger, far clearer panorama shots, quick on-the-fly selfies, or shooting video. And the autofocus technology this time around makes everyday photos more reliably clear. But the tweaks this time are much less dramatic than they were in the iPhone 5s or 5. iPhone 5s owners aren't missing very much in this new camera, but stay tuned for more detailed camera testing.
CNET
Storage boost: Onboard and on iCloud
Good news for storage hogs, myself included: Apple has finally bumped up this year's storage to a maximum 128GB, but you have to pay up. The $199 iPhone 6 still only has 16GB of space, which is only acceptable if you don't use your phone to take photos. The other options -- $299 gets you 64GB, $399 gets you 128GB -- are the ones I'd recommend. 64GB is plenty of space, but it's surprisingly easy to max it if you take a ton of home videos. Get 128GB if you're a serious iPhone movie maker, or an app hoarder.
Apple's iCloud storage plans, which allow for seamless online backup of mail, documents, and your entire photo library, have also fallen down to earth. You get 10GB of storage free and can pay all the way up to 1TB. And 200GB of storage now costs less per year than 50GB used to just a month ago. There are cheaper cloud storage services, but iCloud is actually competitive with places like Dropbox.
Health: a possible breakthrough iOS 8 app for medical records.CNET
iOS 8
The new iPhones have iOS 8 preinstalled, of course; Apple's latest OS will be available to other iPhone owners (4S and later, that is, or iPod Touch fifth-gen owners), too, as well as iPad 2 and later owners.
We'll post a full review of iOS 8, but in short, it's very like iOS 7, with a new deeper focus on extended functions: third-party keyboards, plug-ins, expanded notifications, seamless hand-off to OS X Yosemite-running Macs, and of course, a new Health app that aims to knit in measurements and medical reports from other apps and sources, as well as HomeKit for smart-home connectivity.
Apple Pay: Will it replace your wallet?CNET
Apple Pay: The killer app in waiting?
What could make even more of a difference is Apple Pay, an NFC-based mobile wallet technology that aims to legitimize what smartphones have been trying for years. Credit cards, banks, stores, stadiums, even Disney World will work with it. Alas, Apple Pay won't launch until October in the US, so stay tuned for a test of how it works. For now, it's a feature in waiting. While the new iPhones have NFC chips inside, it's seems like NFC will only work for Apple Pay, and not for other tap-to-pair NFC-based features that Android owners are used to.
But Apple Pay is a feature that could be epic for Apple's devices: my mom admitted it's an idea so attractive she might want to upgrade. It's a proposition people understand. And combined with Touch ID's fingerprint sensor, it could make the iPhone a portal to many ways to pay. If Apple Pay ends up being as revolutionary and influential as some are expecting, then the iPhone 6 will be even better. We'll have to see in October.
From left: iPhone 6, HTC One M8 for Windows, Samsung Galaxy S5, iPhone 6 PlusCNET
iPhone 6 versus the competition
The iPhone will never compete with the myriad unique and often deliberately boundary-pushing features on many Android phones. From Quad HD super-high-res screens on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to waterproofing on recent Sony phones (or the water-resistant Samsung Galaxy S5) to removable batteries or microSD cards, or smart styli, 40-megapixel cameras (on Nokia Lumia phones) and dual-level camera focus such as on the HTC One M8, the iPhone 6 lacks some bleeding-edge -- or even just merely useful -- features. I'd also count the battery-conservation modes on recent Samsung phones or the clever always-on-and-listening software on the Moto X as examples.
CNET
And comparing the iPhone 6 with the current crop of Android phones may well be fruitless, anyway. Google's next operating system, currently dubbed Android L, is expected to see the light of day before the end of 2014. It's that OS that these new iPhones will really be competing with.
But, this is still true: the construction quality, camera quality, overall system and graphics speed, and software-hardware integration on the iPhone is a formula that's still really hard to beat. The iPhone's surrounded by increasingly equal-footed alternatives, but it's as good a workhorse, easy-to-use, full-featured phone as any of them.
Except, maybe, for battery life.
CNET
Battery life
In the quest to create a super-thin iPhone, maybe Apple should have thought about a thicker iPhone with better battery life instead. Apple's claims are about an hour more Wi-Fi and LTE Web browsing, an hour more video playback, 4 hours more talk time, and 10 hours more audio playback than the iPhone 5S.
Our CNET video-loop battery test, which tests playback of a CNET video with Airplane mode on and screen set to half brightness, lasted 10 hours and 38 minutes, versus 11 hours on the iPhone 5S (running iOS 7). We'll be running that test a few more times, so stay tuned for a final battery score. My casual use, doing downloads, heavy Web browsing, endless social-media checks, photos, video streaming, and all the stuff I normally do on my iPhone, showed the same type of battery drain I've gotten used to on the iPhone 5S. It's enough to hang in for a chunk of the day, but it's not the all-day-plus battery life I wanted on a new iPhone.
For that, you'd need an iPhone 6 Plus, which has a significant battery boost. But, the 6 Plus is also much bigger, and its battery life isn't the sort of quantum leap that the MacBook Air achieved last year. It's a shame that the more pocket-friendly iPhone 6 couldn't have gotten a better battery, too. Do you dare get a Plus? I don't, because I value having a smaller phone. Many people might be tempted. But the real problem this year is that I really want an iPhone somewhere between the two. At least the new iPhone uses the same Lightning cables as before. A full charge from 0 percent took me around 2 hours.
CNET
Conclusion
The iPhone 6, if you think of it as the overdue screen upgrade and feature boost that last year's iPhone 5S wasn't, is an excellent upgrade for any iPhone 5 owner. And it's finally the sort of phone that an Android owner might once again leap over to buy. But, on the whole, the 6 is a product that feels like a collection of overdue Android features, given an excellent polish by Apple hardware and software design. It's a really, really good phone. It's not revolutionary. But stay tuned, because Apple Pay, which could be Apple's most important advancement in years, hasn't launched yet...and these phones are your first ticket into it.
A 4.7-inch screen isn't massive to most smartphone users, but iPhone owners may find that it takes getting used to. But the good news is, really, that the new phones are more like size alternatives than must-have upgrades. If you consider the 5S, the 6, and the 6 Plus as 4-, 4.7-, and 5.5-inch siblings, there's a size for everyone. Apple's clearly in the screen game now, making iOS devices at all sizes and comfort levels. The new iPhone 6 isn't a giant leap in speed or graphics, from what I've seen. But its screen size makes a difference, and it is the perfect current middle ground for performance, new features, and pocketability. And while it also seems a little more like an Android phone than ever before, that's a very good thing.
I can't go with a phone that's too big. I'm not the only one. Several people, like my mom, reminded me that mobile phones used to be tremendous. They shrank in size, but started growing again thanks to smartphone screens. To get too big still makes me feel like I'm holding one of those old car phones to my face. Others might love it, or never hold the phone to their face at all. Maybe that's why Apple has two phone sizes. For me, it's the iPhone 6 that wins.
Battery life, optical image stabilization, and bigger, higher-res screens are features that matter. But that 6 Plus is big. Really big. And more expensive.
Which phone did I grab more often and use more often? The iPhone 6.
If I want better battery life this year, I guess I'll just carry an extra battery pack.
Still to come: Now, we're not done with this review yet. Far from it. We've got more coming: a deep camera test, a display test, full call quality tests across carriers, a look at how the new iPhones compare with optimized apps for iOS 8 and the new phone resolution, plus a future analysis and report on Apple Pay, and how iOS 8's new features work with Macs running OS X Yosemite. Keep checking CNET in the coming few weeks.
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