OK before you get smart, I know it may or may not be exactly 8 months, but it is now roughly 8 months since the release of the iPhone 6 Plus and since it was the first time Apple have taken a stab at the phablet market, i thought it would be interesting to share my thoughts down the line, is it still worth a purchase? or actually, is it worth keeping or selling for rival phablet devices?
I have been using it interchangeably with the iPhone 6, a Blackberry Passport and recently the Galaxy S6 and LG G4, yes, welcome to the life of a tech reviewer. I have never met a tech journalist or review blogger who doesn’t have two or more phones on the go for comparisons and other things. Anyway, I digressed! …. The iPhone 6 Plus was actually well received when it was released and with a better camera than the iPhone 6, a larger display and a bigger battery, it was worth the bump up in price and the interest or buzz around it. Many people I know who purchased one, got rid of their iPad or iPad Mini as the 6 Plus seems to bridge the gap between having a tablet and a smartphone at the same time, especially for those who read books, watch movies and play games on the move.
During the first couple of months, I enjoyed all the media consumption and I have to say reading emails on it has been a pleasure, I like how the screen rotates to allow for better view of my emails and what I’m yet to read, unlike the iPhone 6 where I have to go in and out of my mailbox to read emails or slide across. I also started playing games and found that even as someone who didn’t play games much on the go, I found myself playing more games and currently addicted to Mortal Kombat X. The size of the 6 Plus makes it a lot better to grip and hold in hand when playing such games and with more screen real estate, I can see more on my screen when playing games that requires it. When using mapping applications, especially the Tube app in London, I don’t have to do much scrolling or zooming in/out to view my directions.
The battery life is not as bad as that of the iPhone 6, but only when I’m not gaming. Playing MK X for example drains my battery faster than I can kill Kano and that is frustrating as it meant I have to carry a battery pack to compensate for that. Apple talked a lot of tech when it came to the camera capabilities, and much to their defense, the camera is great even in low light and once I see a smartphone with a good camera, I am sold, well half way there. One thing I always liked about a good camera, is the ability to be able to fire the camera app open and the phone does the job of adjusting to the situation as fast as possible without me having to tweak everything under the sun. Don’t get me wrong, having a manual option is great as I loved that on the Lumia 1020 and on the new LG G4, but what I love is when a camera can handle the automatic mode very well.
So after 8 months, what do I expect from Apple on the next one? Besides the bend-gate issue which didn’t affect me, Apple needs to re-think the battery on their devices, whether it’s they find a way to push developers into making their apps more power efficient, better efficiency at the processor/hardware level, bigger battery or even fast charging, Apple really need to sort that out. There is no point giving me a device that can do all I love but not with a battery life that will let me enjoy it long enough. The icons are great but, I would love to see a customization option to adjust the icon size; that is something I did religiously when I was into jail-breaking my iPhone.
I still like my 6 Plus, although my jeans pockets are getting smaller and I now find myself holding it in my hand most of the time even when I don’t need to. The other question that also comes to mind is whether Apple could have capitalized on making the 6 Plus a device for professionals, the way Samsung makes their Note series a versatile device for those who wants to do more, perhaps support for more things like dual-screen, more options when editing documents, i’m trying to find a way to say add a stylus, without saying add a stylus. The S-Pen is definitely one of the USP of the Note series and those who truly utilize it will never leave that platform. I now patiently await the next iteration of the 6 Plus to see what Apple have in store, I hope it won’t be a tiny incremental upgrade like just a slightly better camera. Until then, I will be holding on to my iPhone 6 Plus.
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