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Apple iPhone 6s Plus (Verizon Wireless) Review

editors choice horizontal
4.5
Outstanding
By Sascha Segan
October 2, 2015

The Bottom Line

Thanks to its big, beautiful screen, fast performance, and excellent optical image stabilization for video capture, the Apple iPhone 6s Plus is the ultimate phablet on Verizon.

PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Pros

  • Excellent optical video stabilization.
  • Big screen is ideal for gaming and video playback.
  • Improved network performance over iPhone 6 Plus.

Cons

  • Expensive.
  • Average battery life.

Verizon's iPhone 6s Plus ($749; 16GB) is mostly just a larger iPhone 6s (599.99 with code VZWDEAL at Verizon) , which some people want so they have more room to watch videos and play games. But it also has noticeably better video recording than the Phone 6s, and it's a bigger panel to write and draw on as well. That's enough to make it our Editors' Choice for large smartphones on Verizon.

I wrote a comprehensive review of the AT&T iPhone 6s Plus ($351.99 at AT&T Wireless) , head over there for a broader overview of the phone's new features, including 3D Touch, the faster processor, and the improved cameras.

Verizon Considerations
There are actually two models of the iPhone 6s Plus ($749.00 at Verizon) : the A1634 model for AT&T, and the A1688 model for Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Don't worry about that. The only difference between the two models is an obscure frequency band, Band 30 that only AT&T uses.

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Apple is using a Qualcomm X7 modem in the 6s Plus, which offers better Wi-Fi speeds and better transitions out of cellular dead zones than we saw on the iPhone 6 Plus. There's no improvement in battery life over the iPhone 6 Plus ($299.00 at Verizon) , however. We saw less video streaming time on the 6s Plus (4 hours and 11 minutes of full-screen video over LTE) than we did on the iPhone 6s (4 hours and 21 minutes), the iPhone 6 Plus (4 hours and 43 minutes), or for that matter the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 ($696.00 at Verizon) (7 hours and 35 minutes). But the 6s Plus will show an advantage over the smaller 6s in regular use, since most of the time it's just sitting in your pocket with the screen off, in which case its larger battery will last longer.

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The 6s Plus supports Verizon's voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) system, but not Verizon's video calling feature—that's still Android-only. Testing VoLTE calling landlines and non-Verizon lines, we found it to have the same voice quality as the older 2G calling system. VoLTE supports HD calling, which dramatically improves call quality, but only when you're calling other Verizon phones with VoLTE activated; it isn't on by default.

iPhone 6s Plus Size Comparison

From left: Galaxy Note 5, iPhone 6s Plus, Moto X Pure.

Comparisons and Conclusions
In terms of which iPhone you should choose, I think the size differences between the 6s and the 6s Plus outweighs the minor feature differences. Buy the size that feels most comfortable. The 6s Plus's better modem and camera, however, mean that it's definitely worth the extra $100 over the original iPhone 6 Plus.

If you are flexible in terms of operating system, large Android smartphones can offer much more value for your money. The Moto X Pure , for instance, works on Verizon, and is a fast, powerful smartphone without too much software cruft that costs nearly half the price of the 6s Plus. The forthcoming Nexus 6P costs a little more than the Moto X Pure, but the base model is still $250 less than the iPhone 6s Plus, and it comes with more storage and the latest Google software updates at all times.

But I understand that many iPhone buyers aren't flexible in terms of operating systemthat iOS is what brings them to the room. Whether you're iMessaging with friends, running iOS-exclusive games or creativity apps (both extra-relevant in this large form factor), or you want to take advantage of Apple's superior service and support system, you're willing to pay a premium to get into Apple's ecosystem. And for those reasons, the iPhone 6s Plus is easy to call our Editors' Choice.

Apple iPhone 6s Plus (Verizon Wireless)
4.5
Editors' Choice
Pros
  • Excellent optical video stabilization.
  • Big screen is ideal for gaming and video playback.
  • Improved network performance over iPhone 6 Plus.
Cons
  • Expensive.
  • Average battery life.
The Bottom Line

Thanks to its big, beautiful screen, fast performance, and excellent optical image stabilization for video capture, the Apple iPhone 6s Plus is the ultimate phablet on Verizon.

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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 6s Plus (Verizon Wireless) $749.00 at Verizon
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