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Apple iPhone 6 Plus (Verizon Wireless) Review

4.0
Excellent
By Sascha Segan
September 20, 2014

The Bottom Line

The iPhone 6 Plus is a extremely large iPhone, if you're into that sort of thing. It's an excellent device, but the right-sized iPhone 6 makes more sense for more people.

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Pros

  • Excellent camera, especially in low light.
  • Premium feel.
  • Easy-to-use OS.
  • Terrific third-party apps.

Cons

  • It's really big.
  • Phone calling performance is just okay.

Now that everyone from Alcatel to ZTE has discovered that people are trying to replace phones and tablets with single hybrid devices, Apple has grudgingly decided to step into the space with the $299-and-up iPhone 6 Plus. The result is a very big iPhone that will satisfy people who want a very big iPhone, but which doesn't necessarily add to the conversation.

Although this is primarily a review of the Verizon Wireless model, the iPhone 6 Plus is available from all the major carriers at a bewildering range of prices. For instance, Verizon's prices start at $299 with a two-year contract, while T-Mobile offers phones for free up front, but $31.24/month. The phone comes in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB sizes, and they're generally all $100 more than the standard iPhone 6 units.

Physical Features and Battery Life
The 6 Plus is bigger and heavier than some of its phablet competition. At 6.22 by 3.06 by 0.28 inches (HWD) and 6.07 ounces, it's longer and wider than the LG G3 , longer but narrower than the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 ($307.96 at Amazon) and Note 4, and heavier than all three of them. Focusing on narrowness rather than shortness was the right choice, though: What makes phablets unwieldy is not how long they are, but how wide.

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Like prominent Apple advocate John Gruber, I come to this review with a bias: I find these huge phones unwieldy and impractical. The iPhone 6 Plus is absolutely a two-handed device, if only that it might flip out of your hand and fall to the ground while you're fidgeting around on it with one hand, trying to reach the left edge of the keyboard or hit the camera shutter button.

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That's true for all of these giant phones, of course. Samsung has just been thinking more clearly, and longer, about why you might want a giant phone and how to mitigate its elephantiasis. Samsung's one-handed mode, for instance, moves the UI not just down but also to the side, putting the left edge within reach of your thumb.

iPhone 6 inline 7

Where LG and Samsung's phablets tend to revolve around multitasking and note-taking, Apple's phablet differentiator is dual-paned apps. Apple hints within your first few minutes of using the iPhone 6 Plus that you should try rotating it into landscape mode—for the first time, the home screen rearranges itself horizontally. That's a nudge to make you look at apps in that orientation as well. When you open the calendar, for instance, it blooms wider, giving you an overall month view on the left and an agenda on the right, just like you're on a grownup tablet. The messages and weather apps are also dual-paned. Very few third-party apps have a dual-pane mode yet, though: CNN and OpenTable were the only two Apple could cite.

The iPhone 6 Plus is made of beautiful matte metal, just like the iPhone 6 is. The faux-leather back on the Galaxy Note series is actually better at this size: It's really grippy, giving you confidence that the big phone isn't going to slip out of your hand. I had slightly less confidence with the iPhone 6 Plus. While the 6 Plus's all-metal body feels significantly more premium than the Galaxy Note does, it's a little slipperier, and I fear I'm going to break the screen when I drop it. Get a case.

iPhone 6 inline 9

The 2,915mAh battery in the iPhone 6 Plus is much bigger than the 1,810mAh battery in the 6, but it didn't make that much of a difference in our toughest battery test, which streams a video on LTE over YouTube. I got 4 hours, 43 minutes of solid streaming on the 6 Plus as compared with 4 hours, 33 minutes on the 6. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 got 5 hours, 46 minutes.

The culprit, of course, is the gigantic screen. If you don't turn on the screen a lot, I suspect you're going to get much longer battery life from the iPhone 6 Plus than from the 6 (although once again, the Samsung device may be yet longer than that). Background processes like checking the mail will take the same amount of power to run on both the 6 and the 6 Plus, so the 6 Plus's bigger battery will really win out.

Next Page: Display, Call Quality, and Performance

Display, Call Quality, and Performance

Zooming and "Reachability"
The iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch, 1,920-by-1,080 LCD screen. It's running at a higher density than previous iPhone screens, 401ppi, but it should still give you considerably more application real estate than the other iPhones do. It doesn't yet, because third-party apps have to be recoded to take advantage of the larger screen.

Instead, when you launch third-party apps, you get them in a zoomed mode where everything's bigger—text, graphics, buttons, everything. That could be a big plus for people with less-than-sharp eyes, and those folks can lock the zoom mode in and continue to use it, even when apps get recoded. I found the zoom mode nearly doubled the size of text in some apps I was using, as compared with an iPhone 5s ( at Amazon) .

iPhone 6 inline 3

You do get more real estate in other non dual-paned apps, but a little less than you'd expect. In a map of New York City, I saw an extra two blocks at the bottom compared with the iPhone 5s. In Safari, I got one more line of text at the bottom of a Web page. But once again, all of the fonts and objects were bigger and more readable than on the 5s. That's going to be the big draw here—not more information, but more readable information.

Since UI elements at the top of the screen are way out of anyone's reach, double-tapping on the Touch ID button brings them halfway down the screen. Yes, that makes them reachable. But it doesn't solve the basic ergonomic problem, which is that once you've positioned your hand at the bottom of the phone to hit the Touch ID button, the phone feels like it's about to flip out of your hand because it's so long.

Apple says the screen viewing angle is better on the new models, but in my experience that's mostly because the device is slimmer and more tapered. At extreme angles, you don't end up with the body of the phone in the way of your viewing. I did notice the icons seemed to leap out of the screen even at extreme viewing angles when compared with the iPhone 5s.

Call Quality and Networking
iPhones have always been good-enough voice phones rather than the absolute best, and that's the case here. The good news is that the iPhone 6 Plus has a very warm, round voice tone in its earpiece, and plenty of volume. Verizon's iPhone will also support its HD calling over LTE; T-Mobile's supports HD Voice, LTE, and Wi-Fi calling. The speakerphone is a bit louder than the iPhone 6's. Transmission quality through the microphone wasn't great, especially in our very noisy area test; I think the 6 Plus's noise cancellation just had to work very hard because of how far away the microphone ended up from my face.

Our iPhone 6 plus was a Verizon unit, but there are only two models sold in the US: One is shared by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, and the other is for Sprint and US Cellular. If you're looking to switch one between carriers, buy a Verizon model, as it's unlocked for AT&T and T-Mobile. Sprint's phones are actually the most flexible, but it doesn't sell its units unlocked, and it won't activate other carriers' iPhones. The AT&T/T-Mobile/Verizon units have 16 LTE bands, while the Sprint units have 20; the difference is Sprint's Spark bands, which are only on the Sprint units.

iPhone 6 inline 8

In terms of future-proofing, there's mixed news. The iPhones support carrier aggregation, which Sprint and AT&T, especially, will use to make their networks faster over the next year. But they don't support Band 12, which T-Mobile will use to expand its network reach. So far, only Samsung's Galaxy Avant supports Band 12.

Wi-Fi speeds have really been boosted here. Measured against our test Meraki MR16 802.11n router, I got considerably higher Wi-Fi speeds on the iPhone 6, the 6 Plus, and the Samsung Galaxy S5 than on the iPhone 5s. While the 6 plus supports the new 802.11ac standard, its newer chipset improves performance even on slower networks. LTE speeds were already great on the Verizon network with the iPhone 5s, thanks to the device's support of Verizon's so-called "XLTE" spectrum; nothing's changed here, Verizon-wise.

Performance and Apps
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus run on a 1.4GHz, 64-bit Apple A8 processor, as compared with the 1.3GHz A7 in the iPhone 5S. That translated to the best Geekbench and Sunspider benchmark scores we've seen yet. For some reason, I also found the 6 Plus to be slightly faster than the ordinary 6 in our benchmark tests, although not enough to matter. Geekbench scored about 16 percent better than the 5s. Raw CPU performance was on par with the 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 in the Samsung Galaxy S5 with all cores firing, but Apple's processor delivered much more power with just one core active.

What does this mean in practice (or in English?) As usual, apps that really take advantage of the A8 haven't been written yet, and real-life browser performance felt the same as on the 5s. But if you do something really CPU-crunching like video exporting, you'll see a distinct difference. Exporting a movie in iMovie, I found the iPhone 6 Plus to be about a third faster than the 5s was. That's a plus!

iPhone 6 inline 5

The iPhone 6, of course, runs iOS 8. Unlike many reviewers, I don't think iOS is inherently "better" or "worse" than Android, and iOS 8 doesn't materially change the balance between the two operating systems. The new version adds some Android-like features such as third-party keyboards and better sharing between apps, but it doesn't change the overall philosophy.

iOS still gives you fewer, more closely curated interface options. Android has much greater customizability, but at the cost of complexity and, at times, instability. iOS still integrates with Macs far better than Android does, especially with the new Handoff/Continuity feature (Windows users don't get that.) Android's Gmail app kills anything the iPhone has for that service.

If you think of your smartphone as a computer that you install things on, tinker with, and discover, you probably want Android. If you think of your smartphone as a gadget that does convenient things which are made clear and obvious to you, you're more of an iOS user.

One potential game changer, Apple Pay, is not yet available. Apple Pay lets you pay for things by tapping your phone on a credit-card reader—that's something Android devices have been able to do in theory for years, but Google never got the banks and retailers on the same page. Apple might just have the market clout to do it, but only time will tell. Look for an Apple Pay review in October.

You can read a lot more in our full review of iOS 8.

Next Page: Camera and Conclusions

Camera and Conclusions

Multimedia and Photography
The iPhone 6 Plus comes in 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB models. The 64GB model is obviously the sweet spot. Games and movies now regularly clock in above 1GB each, so 16GB just isn't going to cut it. Apple lent me the 128GB model, which reports itself as 114GB.

The 6 Plus has an 8-megapixel main camera and a 1-megapixel front camera. The main camera is enhanced with optical image stabilization (OIS), a shibboleth of a feature which is supposed to improve low-light still photo performance by reducing jitter (and thus blur) at low shutter speeds.

iPhone 6 inline 6

Both the iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus are the best low-light camera phones I've seen recently, and the 6 Plus's OIS didn't make a huge difference to me in tests. In an extremely low-light indoor test, the 6 Plus did turn out more details and truer whites than either the 6, the iPhone 5s, or the Samsung Galaxy S5.

But outdoors at night, the 6 Plus's better light collection actually led some city street scenes to look slightly washed out. The iPhone 6 performed better there.

And—here's the ergonomic thing again—the iPhone 6 is just more comfortable to hold as a camera. You want to whip out your camera phone, take a picture, and put it back; since you really need to hold the 6 Plus with two hands when you're using it, it becomes a lot less convenient.

Like the iPhone 6, the 6 Plus has an excellent video camera mode, capable of capturing 1080p video at 60 frames per second on the main camera, and 720p video at 30 frames per second on the front camera.

The Focus Pixels on the iPhone 6 plus also noticeably improved focus time, I'd estimate by about half over the iPhone 5s. You can still snap a shot before focus locks in, but it's really difficult. That's great.

The 6 Plus will play all your other media, of course, but it really stands out with movies. Apple sells a lot of iTunes movies in 1080p format, which gets cut down to 720p on the other iPhones, but plays in native resolution on the Plus. That means you get a bigger image with no loss of detail or clarity. The movie-watching experience on the 6 Plus is excellent, especially with a decent pair of wired headphones.

Conclusions
The iPhone 6 Plus is the iPhone as a phablet. But the iPhone 6 is better at being an iPhone, and if the past is any indication, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will be a better at being a phablet.

Perhaps a flood of dual-paned apps for the 6 Plus will change my mind, but for now, Samsung offers more ways to use your mini-tablet like a tablet: dual-window multitasking, a better one-handed mode, and the pen. While we haven't tested the Note 4 comprehensively yet, DisplayMate Labs says it'll be very hard to beat the Note 4's higher-resolution Super AMOLED screen, and Samsung's Ultra Power Saving Mode really helps you eke the last bits out of your battery. The Galaxy Note 4 also gives you 16GB more storage for the same price as the 6 Plus, along with a memory card slot that can greatly expand that storage inexpensively.

iPhone 6 inline

As with all things Apple, though, that won't matter for most people looking at the iPhone 6 Plus, because the 6 Plus is simpler. What many geeks don't get is that for many people, fewer choices is better. Fewer options is easier. A phablet that works just like the phone in all the commercials, without any hidden extras, tricks, or secrets, is reassuring. And that's the iPhone 6 Plus.

That raises the other question: Choosing between Apple devices, do you go for a 6 or a 6 Plus? You know my prejudice: Unless you have huge hands or poor vision, I think the 6 is massively more practical. Yes, the 6 Plus has better battery life, but that doesn't outweigh the lump in your pocket or the giant phone flipping out of your hand when you're also trying to hold onto a bag. OIS is a sexy camera buzzword that has little effect on many of the pictures you actually take.

There's one other exception: If you think of your 6 Plus as an iPad mini, mini. If you're looking for something to sit down with and do a lot of kinds of work, but that also slips into a purse, the 6 Plus is your bag.

The iPhone 6 Plus is a follower, not a leader. It's clear Apple is reacting to a trend of people demanding huge phones. That's fine: Apple has successfully extended its super-simple OS and huge software ecosystem into the 5.5-inch size. As someone who sees the whole industry, though, I wish Apple gave us a better argument for how 5.5-inch devices should be used differently than just being big, fat phones.

Apple iPhone 6 Plus (Verizon Wireless)
4.0
Pros
  • Excellent camera, especially in low light.
  • Premium feel.
  • Easy-to-use OS.
  • Terrific third-party apps.
View More
Cons
  • It's really big.
  • Phone calling performance is just okay.
The Bottom Line

The iPhone 6 Plus is a extremely large iPhone, if you're into that sort of thing. It's an excellent device, but the right-sized iPhone 6 makes more sense for more people.

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About Sascha Segan

Lead Analyst, Mobile

I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I've reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also write a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsess about phones and networks.

Read Sascha's full bio

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Apple iPhone 6 Plus (Verizon Wireless) $299.00 at Verizon
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