Gadgetory

it's 2014 seven years after the debut of Apple's first smartphone six years since Google launched its direct competitor and four years after Microsoft did the same and whether you're an Android or Windows user and Apple loyalists or a newcomer to smartphones altogether there's never been a better time to buy the iPhone I'm Michael Fisher with PocketNow and this is our video review of the iPhone 6 brought to you by Squarespace to say it's the best iPhone ever is accurate if unsurprising but that doesn't mean the iPhone 6 is flawless as subjective as aesthetics can be it's tough to find much to like about these clumsy antenna inlays they look like they're trying to delineate corners or edges that don't exist on the new iPhones rounded casing an effect that's off-putting combine that with the awkward protrusion of the camera lens from an otherwise flat back and you get a design that's frankly disappointing coming from a company of apples caliber as we said in our unboxing though this phone is all about the feels which is to say it feels much better than it looks you need to pick it up and hold it to appreciate just how good apples got in a Targa nominee handled plenty of metal phones the sculpted aluminum chassis of the iPhone 6 is more comfortable to hold it feels substantial a dense ingot of solid technology and despite its larger screen it fits quite nicely in the average palm that larger screen is a big part of the new iPhones story it's a retooled IPS LCD with 326 pixels every inch that's a little low for a modern flagship but we notice that about as much as we did on the original Moto X which is to say we don't the screen also features a 100% srgb gama which despite its cool temperature should please those who demand authentic color reproduction the panels real set off is it's 4.7 inch diagonal size which is larger than any iphone screen that's come before it's a big enough shift that during our 6 days with the iPhone 6 we've been asked constantly by passers-by whether it's the 6 plus fYI it's not at all if you're wondering how well Apple's software scales to that screen size the answer is wonderfully many of us on the PocketNow team still chafe at the locked-down home screen and the generally restrictive software but Apple gets so much else right that it's really hard to hate iOS 8 even if you're coming from Android or Windows Phone like this reviewer is your messages and alerts live alongside your daily agenda in the cleaned-up Notification Center above while media controls and system toggles sit down in the control center below the iPhones single button has more functions than ever and it all works very well pressing once and holding unlocks the phone with your fingerprint a double press summons the task switcher a long press calls up Siri and a gentle double tap activates reach ability for one-handed use amid all this awesome there is of course some lame sauce not all of us on the team agree that reach ability is the best interface idea and sometimes it just doesn't respond to a double tab Siri may be better than some voice assistants but she's not quite as sharp as some others the custom keyboard selection is still anemic and autocorrect and word prediction is way behind Android Windows Phone and even blackberry and in a smartphone landscape that's more customizable than ever it's just absurd to use a phone that doesn't let you decide for yourself we're empty spaces should go on your home screen for all that's improved here Apple remains the industry's most shameless control freak get past the minutia and the day to day experience is wonderful nearly every common task you associate with a smartphone the iPhone 6 handles with practiced competence third-party apps are of as high or higher quality than you can find elsewhere an Apple bundles many of its own excellent titles as well when you buy the iPhone 6 you buy a really nice software package some of that software bears the shadow of the company's skeuomorphic history the camera viewfinder is nice looking but its sliding mode adjuster is a frustratingly small touch target get past that and you'll have a good time shooting with the 8-megapixel iSight camera probably on the upside is a novel approach to compensating for the hand trembles with the software snapping four shots almost at once then combining them for a clearer photo on the downside are colors that seem a bit muted and optics that are very susceptible to lens flare also the photos are noisier than we like with digital fuzz sometimes evident on close inspection and HDR isn't as effective as it is on other phones at bringing out the highlights in dark areas shots taken entirely in low-light or nothing special really but they're certainly acceptable in camcorder mode we see the same stability enhancement we mentioned earlier while it's digital instead of optical the results are still very smooth and auto exposure and auto focus our two colors are still a little watery if you're used to the saturated output from other smartphones but audio capture is quite good for more samples including slow motion see our full written review and pocket now powering the entire iphone6 experience is Apple's new a8 system-on-a-chip now the phrase dual-core processor with one gig of ram is enough to put most spec nuts to sleep proving once and for all that you shouldn't listen to spec nerds at least not only spec nerds because the new iPhone is one of the smoothest smartphones we've tested our review notes say nothing else comes close but that's an exaggeration lots of other phones do come close to this level of responsiveness it's just that none of them deliver it so consistently from banal metrics like app launch speeds and gaming performance to tiny facets like spotlight search and the nice touch of the physical mute switch the iPhone 6 performs in a day to day sense like no other that carries over to the audio performance - you'd expect the company behind iTunes and now beats music to bring its a game in acoustics and you'd be right the bottom firing speakerphone is much louder and clearer than we expected from such a small component the loudspeaker is equally competent for voice calls but switch over to the earpiece and things get a little muddier sound is plenty loud and clear on our end with excellent side tone but callers said they heard lots of background noise from our side particularly an even mild breeze another spec that won't impress the gear heads is the battery capacity which is substantially smaller than every other flagship phone on the market and as on every iPhone it's also sealed within the casing so you can't replace it on the fly fortunately you don't really need to with moderate to heavy usage we always got at least 10 hours out of the iPhone 6 and sometimes made it past 16 hours still as with most smartphones you'll want to consider a third-party charging case or a battery pack if you're a real road warrior those for whom raw power and infinite customizability our top priority may never appreciate the iPhone because it's not made for them a popular conceit is that it's made for people who want their phone to just work which is true but more importantly the iPhone is for people who want comfort stability reliability it's not infallible in these respects no smart phone is we'd have liked a more attractive build and iOS 8 could definitely use a software update preferably one that doesn't brick the phone yet it's so easy to forgive these stumbles not because we're I she but because the iPhone as a whole really is as good as everyone says so when we say the iPhone 6 is better than any iPhone that came before it we're not just stating the obvious we're saying it's one of the best smartphones you can buy today once again this has been michael fisher with PocketNow and this review was brought to you by Squarespace the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create your own professional website portfolio and online store for a free trial and 10% off visit squarespace.com and enter offer code pocket now a check out a better web starts with your website while you're here be sure to check out our iPhone 6 vs galaxy s5 comparison and see our full written review at pocketnow.com coming soon till next time this has been michael fisher with pocket now captain two phones on Twitter reminding you that liking what's popular is not a crime we'll see you next time