Apple iPhone 6s review

Introduction

The more it changes, the harder it becomes to see the difference. And you know, it's not about Apple and the iPhone at all. It's where the industry has been heading for a while now. In the race for screen size and processing power, the major makers' flagships are like pro athletes finishing within milliseconds of each other. To get an extra edge, manufacturers will go in lots of directions - such as water proofing, bigger and sharper selfies, wireless charging, curved or borderless screens, whatnot.
A certain type of players would rather lose than be in a crowd of winners. Others don't even play games they can't win. We guess we all know where Apple stands on this.
With a single iPhone a year - two as of late - Apple is the kid that skips classes but aces the tests. The wild card player that goes on to win the tournament. The team that doesn't play qualifiers but goes to the world cup.
Wouldn't we all do less and make more? There goes the iPhone 6S, off to a familiar start. The same on the outside but trying to pose as the most important iPhone since the first one ever released.
The new iPhone, being an S model, naturally comes with more power under the hood, but also brings the long awaited camera upgrade. The main camera now uses a 12MP sensor capable of 4K video recording as well as 1080p at 120fps, there is a brand new 5MP selfie camera too. And, it's the same screen size and resolution but we think it's exactly what Apple meant with "the only thing that's changed is everything".

Key features

• 4.7" 16M-color LED-backlit IPS LCD of 750 x 1334px resolution, 326ppi
• 3D Touch technology recognizes levels of pressure, brand new Taptic engine for better feedback
• Apple iOS 9
• Dual-core 1.8 GHz Twister 64-bit CPU,PowerVR GT7600 GPU, 2GB of RAM, Apple A9 SoC
• 12MP F/2.2 camera with True tone LED flash, phase detection auto focus, 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps, @60fps and @120fps video recording, 720p video recording @120fps and 240fps
• 5MP F/2.2 front-facing camera with BSI sensor and HDR mode, 1080p@30fps video
• Comes in 16, 64, and 128GB of built-in storage
• Second-gen Touch ID fingerprint sensor
• 4G LTE Cat.6 (300Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2; Lightning port; GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS; NFC (Apple Pay only)
• 1,715 mAh battery, new Power saving mode

Main disadvantages

• No microSD slot
• Pricey memory upgrades, 32GB version should be standard for such an expensive phone
• Protruding camera lens makes the phone wobble
• Lacks the optical image stabilization of the iPhone 6s Plus
• NFC functionality limited to Apple Pay
• No wireless charging, an infrared port, or FM radio
• No enhanced resistance to liquids or dust
• No user-replaceable battery

The first iPhone heralded the arrival of capacitive displays and multi-touch technology. The iPhone 6S is the first to have 3D touch - a screen technology that recognizes different levels of pressure for an extra dimension of interaction with a device.
A late tribute perhaps to resistive screens, which Apple itself sent to their doom. Not a particularly scientific statement although resistive technology did rely on actual pressure to work. Good enough for anyone with a penchant for the dramatic.
But if we are to stick to the facts, the iPhone 6s isn't the company's first device with a pressure-aware display, the Apple Watch is. Plus, phones like the Huawei Mate S and the ZTE Axon mini do deserve at least a mention as well. Anyway, this only highlights the difference between Apple and the rest. Cupertino has the habit - and in all fairness, the capability - to pick a niche technology and make it mainstream.
So, the pressure aware display and improved imaging are the big news about the iPhone 6S. We've pretty much come to take the next OS and chipset version for granted.
Sure, we all know better than to expect a memory card slot and access to the battery, but we just can't agree with Apple's decision to stick with the 16GB option as base instead of 32GB, which is actually not offered at all. 4K videos and the live photos (with sound) will clearly need more space than before. Not only that but Apple is actually charging slightly more in Europe for the base version of its latest iPhone.
And we can put it down as a typical Apple quirk that they snubbed things like water resistance and wireless charging but somehow couldn't resist the selfie thing. Oh well, there'll be more of those as we go. Our 64GB iPhone 6s is popping out of the box right after the jump.

Unboxing the iPhone 6s

The retail package of the iPhone 6s will hardly surprise anyone. The compact cardboard box contains the device itself, a well-packed pair of EarPods, an A/C adapter and a Lightning cable.

Apple iPhone 6s retail package

The 1A charger is very compact, but it's not going to win any speed competitions - in the day and age of Quick Charge, VOOC and other quick battery topping solutions, what Apple offers is rather disappointing. And if you live in the UK, Ireland, Malta, Hong Kong, or any other country that uses the British standard then you also lose the small size perk as the adapter there is huge.

Apple iPhone 6s 360-degree spin

The new iPhone 6S, as the 's' suggests, pretty much reuses the original design and only upgrades the internals. The additions of the 3D Touch technology and the bigger camera required some minor changes though.
For one, the iPhone 6s is a tad thicker and yet had to sacrifice some battery capacity to accommodate the layer of pressure sensors in the screen. Its dimensions are 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm, compared to the original 138.1 x 67 x 6.9mm. The difference is negligible but it's bad news if you had some tight-fitting cases for your iPhone 6 - they won't fit on the 6s.
What's more readily noticeable is that the iPhone 6s has gained some extra 14g of weight, again down to the pressure-sensitive layer. That's the kind of difference you can feel in your pocket and makes the phone heavier than the Galaxy S6 with its 5.1" screen.

Design and build quality

It may be an entirely different device within, but the exterior of the iPhone 6s is absolutely identical to last year's iPhone 6. Packing just 4.7 inches of screen estate it is still one of the most compact flagships on the market, but its screen-to-body ratio is rather unimpressive (read too much bezel). Apple has been reluctant to do something about that for years now and things are now getting embarrassing - there are phones with 5+" screens that have the same footprint, while phones with equally sized displays usually come in notably smaller packages.

Apple iPhone 6s

There are some good news though. The iPhone 6s unibody is cast out of 7000 series aluminum instead of last year's 6000 series and it's stronger. Latest tests revealed the iPhone 6S bends at much higher levels of pressure than the previous generation - almost triple actually. So, Apple has put bendgate firmly behind it and skinny jeans are no longer an iPhone's mortal enemy.
The front is covered by an ion-strengthened glass with oleophobic coating - those are pretty much the same specs as in the previous iPhone models and mean the glass is scratch and smudge resistant. The Ion-X glass creates the so-called 2.5D effect thanks to its rounded edge. By the way, Apple claims the new special ion-exchange process makes it the most durable screen glass among smartphones today, but early drop test didn't provide conclusive evidence for that.

Apple iPhone 6s

So, higher-grade durable glass and aluminum alloy should improve the overall resilience of the phone. It still lacks water and dust resistance, but seeing how Sony is changing its policy on those and Samsung gave up on it for the Galaxy S6 this is less of a disadvantage now than it was last year.
The back of the iPhone 6s is familiar - mostly aluminum, with two plastic bands covering the antennas and a slightly protruding camera ring. The new 12MP sensor is still protected by a small piece of sapphire glass, so you should worry more about scratching your wooden desk rather than damaging the camera piece.
Extra heft might have made carrying it a bit harder, but handling the iPhone 6s is pretty much the same pleasing experience. The phone feels great in hand thanks to the premium materials and finish but you still need to be extra careful as the thin and rounded edges don't have the best grip.

Handling the iPhone 6s

Controls

The iPhone 6S has the same control set as its predecessor. Above the display is where the earpiece, a couple of sensors and the new 5MP selfie camera are.
While the front facer doesn't come with a LED flash, Apple make up for it by letting you use the screen as one. If you turn on the so-called Retina flash the entire screen will light up in white and provide some extra light as long as you keep close to it. It's something we've seen other manufactufrers do for a few years now, but Apple went a step further and gave the backlighting a brightness boost of up to 300% compared to the usual maximum.

A peek above and below the display

Below the display is the Home button, which also hosts the refined Touch ID sensor. It's noticeably faster than before. About time too! Although Apple brought the technology back from the dead, it's among the last to improve the performance of the sensor. In an ideal world we would have also got an always on mode so you don't have to press the button and wake the phone, but even so the iPhone 6s still has one of the better working solutions on the market.
The volume keys and the silencer are on the left, while the power/lock key and the nano-SIM tray are on the right as usual.

The left and right sides of the iPhone 6s

There is nothing on top of the iPhone 6s, while the bottom has the audio jack, the primary mic, the Lightning port, and the loudspeaker grille.

The top and bottom of the iPhone 6s

The iPhone 6s rear side is as familiar as it can get - the camera is there, the second mic and the dual-LED dual-tone flash. The new 12MP sensor allows for wider panorama photos and 4K video recording, while the more powerful hardware enables 120fps capture at 1080p resolution.

Display

While the display may hide an entirely new touch technology, it's still the same display in terms of size and resolution: a 4.7" unit with a resolution of 750 x 1334 pixels (that's 326ppi). It's a LED-backlit IPS LCD screen with RGB matrix.
The Apple iPhone 6s display offers deeper blacks than the iPhone 6 but unfortunately, it's not as bright at its maximum setting. Nevertheless, the new generation of iPhone managed to output an overall better contrast ratio of 1481:1.
The color rendition of the screen is generally accurate with a pretty low average deltaE of 3.6 (for the primary colors plus black and white), and it's the white and reds that show a somewhat higher deviation. The white is slightly on the cooler bluish side, but nothing major and certainly not noticeable without a reference.
As usual, display colors are a matter of personal taste and perception so if you don't need calibrated color output, you will probably be quite happy with the Apple iPhone 6s screen as it is out-of-the-box.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Apple iPhone 6	0.17	207	1230	0.61	740	1213
Apple iPhone 6s	0.10	148	1542	0.36	536	1481
Apple iPhone 5s	0.14	163	1145	0.49	596	1219
Samsung Galaxy S6	0	208	∞	0	363	∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 max auto	-	-	∞	0	619	∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+	0.00	172	∞	-	410	∞
HTC One M9	0.15	175	1180	0.44	534	1221
LG G Flex2	0.00	152	∞	0.00	398	∞
LG G4	0.09	108	1240	0.43	532	1238
Huawei Honor 7	0.07	89	1372	0.32	450	1398

As far as sunlight legibility is concerned, the slightly lower brightness of the iPhone 6s outs a whisker lesser score than its predecessor, the 6, but it's still among the top 20 devices in our all-time chart. This means the contrast in direct sunlight remains excellent in all cases.

Sunlight contrast ratio

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• Nokia 808 PureView 4.698
• Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor 3.879
• Samsung Galaxy A8 3.859
• Apple iPhone 6 3.838
• Motorola Moto X (2014) 3.816
• Samsung Galaxy Note Edge 3.799
• Apple iPhone 6s 3.783
• Vivo X5Pro 3.706
• Samsung Galaxy A7 3.679
• Oppo R5 3.678
• Samsung Galaxy K zoom 3.675
• Nokia Lumia 930 3.567
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2 1.114

Battery life

The iPhone 6S is equipped with a non-removable Li-Po 1715 mAh battery, which is about 5% smaller than the one of the iPhone 6. iOS 9 introduced a Low-Power mode, which you can enable manually and should save your phone from dying faster once the charge drops below 20%.
We were eager to see how the new features will affect the battery life, especially when the battery unit got even smaller. The iPhone 6s posted very balanced score across all of our tests - it can do about 10 hours of 3G calls or video playback on a single charge, while you can browse on Wi-Fi for half a day.
So, the total ratting of the iPhone 6s is 62 hours - an hour better than the iPhone 6. This means 62 hours is how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the iPhone 6s for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. Such usage pattern is of course entirely artificial, but we've established it so our battery results are comparable across devices.
Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating. Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.

Connectivity

The Apple iPhone 6S comes with a bunch of wireless connectivity features. It supports faster LTE Cat. 6 (up to 300Mpbs down, 50Mbps up) and has even wider LTE coverage. Regular 2G and 3G connectivity is all safely covered as well with a multitude of supported network bands.
The iPhone 6S also supports the latest Voice over LTE (VoLTE), HD Voice and Wi-Fi calling protocols, but those are carrier dependent features so not everyone will enjoy them.
Compared to the iPhone 6, the 6S now upgraded Wi-Fi functionality too - it supports all the current Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac standards but doubles the theoretical speeds thanks to the use of a 2x2 MIMO antenna. AirPlay is the only way to wirelessly cast your screen's contents to an HDTV, but you'd need to have an Apple TV for that.
Additional local connectivity includes Bluetooth 4.0 LE. There is also support for NFC, but its functionality is only limited to Apple's region-restricted Apple Pay.
The iPhone 6s uses a proprietary Lightning connector for wired data transfers and charging.
There is no support for USB On-the-go or USB host but you can pair a Bluetooth keyboard to the phone should you need this sort of peripheral.