Being a technology journalist, you have to remain unbiased when reviewing the latest gadgets. This can be tricky at times, especially if you're already very used to one product - perhaps because you own it yourself, like I do with the iPhone 5 and now the iPhone 6. There's nothing more polarizing than the iOS vs Android battle too, but having used a plethora of devices from both camps in the last few weeks, including the
Battery life and charging
I've had my fair share of concerns over the iPhone 6 in particular since the rumor mill kicked in to 5th gear a few months ago. My initial worry was battery life. The iPhone 5 and 5S's small designs meant that Apple simply couldn't fit large batteries inside. At least, not as large as those in their larger rivals; the iPhone 5S has a capacity of 1,560mAh compared to 2,880mAh for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and 2,300mAh for the Nexus 5.
The iPhone 6 battery (left) vs the iPhone 5 (right) not a vast amount bigger and only around 300mAh... [+]
While the iPhone 6 Plus does offer fairly competitive battery life, the iPhone 6 still doesn't add significant headway here; the capacity of its battery stands at 1,800mAh - the handset is gloriously thin but personally I'd gladly give up 2-3mm here in return for a higher capacity battery. Although the new phone features many refinements to make it more power efficient, the fact remains it still has a much larger screen to power too.
As such, in my own tests over the last few days, it only just lasts longer than my older iPhone 5, although unlike the latter, I can easily make it through 24 hours of medium use on the new iPhone 6, which includes an hour of calls, an hour of 3G web browsing, an hour of WiFi browsing, 30 minutes of
Charge times aren't improved either - the iPhone 6 took around 2 hours and 15 minutes to charge from flat to 100% using the included charger (like many other smartphones, this can be reduced using higher output chargers), this is around 25 minutes less than the Nexus 5 but then the latter has a a larger battery, which will take longer to charge. Sadly, 2015 looks set to have new technology introduced via Qualcom's charging circuitry that can drastically reduce charge times as I reported here. This is unlikely to be retrofitted by Apple but some kind of advantage in the battery department is desperately needed and could really have helped the company's stance here, when the competition is so fierce across the board.
Screen size
Apple can finally lay this issue to rest and iPhone haters no longer have much to gloat over. It now offers screen sizes that are in line with the competition and to be honest, there's not much to be improved upon here. The 4.7in iPhone 6 and 5.5in iPhone 6 Plus cater for the pocket brigade and those that need something in excess of 5inches, maybe don't have a tablet and use their smartphones for everything from movies to photography now have an Apple device that fits the bill. Unless 3D makes a comeback or Samsung introduces expanding curved screens, Apple has finally left Steve Jobs' legacy behind and bolstered screen size.
The iPhone 6 (right) can at last compete with the likes of Google's Nexus 5 (left) in terms of... [+]
That said, there is the issue of iPhone owners that actually prefer the smaller screen sizes of the iPhone 5 and 5S. They're easy to use in one hand (Apple's Reachability doesn't quite make the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as user-friendly here), take up far less space in your pocket and are generally more portable. However, I've known for a while that advantages of bigger screens outweigh the disadvantages so again, Apple has made the right decision here. It could maybe introduce a smaller iPhone 5S-sized iPhone 6 in the future, but I doubt it would spread its load of over three devices, plus I don't hear many complaints on the screen size front.
NFC
Near Field Communication is another feature that has existed on Android devices for some time but Apple's inclusion is perhaps a well-timed one. NFC has largely been a tick-box feature for many smartphone owners for the simple reason virtually no one uses it. There has been a lack of take-up despite the fact that contactless card payments are actually proving quite popular. However, Apple has a plan. As Tim Cool stated in the iPhone 6's keynote launch earlier this month '...we've created an entirely new payment process'.
NFC has largely fallen flat on other smartphones, but Apple's influence could kickstart the technology to be made more widely available - something that Paypal, Google Wallet and the collaboration of network providers behind SoftCard (formerly Isis) have largely failed. Apple has already been working behind the scenes and struck up partnerships with Duane Reade, McDonald’s, Macy’s and Whole Foods amongst others so it's already in a good position to make this happen. Of course, it's likely it will want to make this an exclusive iPhone-only feature, which could mean that while other handset makers beat Apple to including NFC, Apple could be the one to actually make it a useful rather than dormant feature.
What does the iPhone 6 lack?
Of course, there are features that are missing from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that we wanted to see. However, just how many of these would we actually have used - are they just like NFC when it comes to the Android device vs Apple argument; we've got it and Apple hasn't, although we can't actually use it yet? First here is wireless charging. Many of the iPhone's competitors have included it in the last year; Google for instance offered it with both the current Nexus 5 and the Nexus 4. However, I've never seen anyone actually charge their phone wirelessly.
Equally, you can add wireless charging to pretty much any phone using a third party case, including to iPhones, but again I've never seen anyone do this, as useful as it sounds. This, too is perhaps something Apple could invigorate if it included it with its phones. Imagine wireless charging on table and desk tops in air ports and restaurants;
Google's Nexus 5 charging wirelessly
Waterproofing is something I really thought would make an appearance with the iPhone 6 but sadly, you'll still want to keep your new Apple gadget well away from the pool or bath tub. Unless of course you eventually opt for a water-proof case for it and I'm sure companies such as Snow Lizard will be hard at work creating an iPhone 6-compatible version of its SLXtreme case that I looked at here. This is certainly something that not everyone has in the smartphone market but I can't see it being too difficult to achieve and could give Apple a small edge.
There are a couple of features that Apple lacks of course. There's no storage expansion and with the 32GB capacity annoyingly missing from is line-up, most of us will have to opt for 64GB anyway if 16GB is too restrictive. This means it's unlikely we'd use all that extra space and with so many cloud applications out there now, the need to dump photos onto a micro SD card to transfer to a PC is a moot point these days too. the down side is that all the extra storage space means an inflated price tag.
Finally there's the sapphire screen. It's something that so many people were looking forward to - yet it was eventually absent from both models. Looking into the science behind the technology, there was one key issue with sapphire-coated screens that Apple was unable to overcome- they're incredibly brittle. They might stop the scratches but in those all-important drop tests, it couldn't stand up to much punishment.This is a shame, too, as we've all seen shattered smartphone screens and if Apple had finally found a way to beat scratches and cracks, it would definitely have won some extra points with consumers.
So has Apple done enough? In many ways, especially for those tied into the iOS ecosystem, the answer is yes. There's little reason to go through the hassle of switching to Android, even for Samsung's much acclaimed Galaxy S5. It has better battery life for sure but if you're content with iOS 8 then the iPhone 6 doesn't lag behind significantly in any other area. What about tempting those Android users? Well, here I think Apple falls short. Many of the rumors didn't make it into the final handset, namely the sapphire screen and 2,000mAh+ battery. These features alone could have seen many defectors. However, Apple still has a few tricks up its sleeve. iOS 8 is still new and there are a plethora of apps, namely on the fitness front waiting to take advantage. Apple Pay could see contactless payments become much more popular too, so there's more to the iPhone 6 besides the raw launch specifications.
What do you make of the iPhone 6. Has it done enough to keep you as an iPhone owner or perhaps tempt you away from Android? Let me know in the comments.
