iPhone 6

[backstreetboy]

How come?

Main disadvantages:
Has unimpressive screen to body ratio (the Nexus 5 fits a 5-inch screen in this size of a body)
No microSD slot
Pricey memory upgrades, 32GB version should be standard for such an expensive phone
No user-replaceable battery
Protruding camera lens makes the phone wobble if you don't have a case on
Camera is still merely 8MP four years in a row (granted, it's getting better every with every new generation)
No 4K video and video sound is still mono
Lacks the optical image stabilization of the iPhone 6 Plus
No enhanced resistance to liquids or dust
NFC functionality limited to Apple Pay
Rather pricey for a flagship (without carrier subsidies) that misses some of the extras of the competition, such as stereo speakers, wireless charging, an infrared port, or FM radio

As you can see, the iPhone 6 is hardly our sweetheart. It may not be the iPhone we dreamt of, but it's the best iPhone to date and the iOS app ecosystem is just begging for a screen that's bigger than a mere 4 inches. So more than likely, it will be on many people's Christmas wish lists. But if you are looking for the most feature rich hardware package or for the best deal around regardless of OS, then quite possibly, you might just end up spending your money elsewhere. And we wouldn't blame you.

Basically it's a POS phone.

 

[cerebus]

Basically the GSMArena reviewer doesn't like it.

ftfy.

 

[AstroTurf]

What stood out for me is the battery life of the phones - S5 goes from 75% to 60% while the iPhone goes from 50% to 20% in the same time.

Apple was at 51% at start and 19% at the end. (32% battery drain).
Samsung was at 75% at start and 60% at the end. (15% battery drain).

That is a pretty big difference in battery drain...

 

[Maverick Jester]

Apple was at 51% at start and 19% at the end.
Samsung was at 75% at start and 60% at the end.

That is a pretty big difference in battery drain...

Hmmm, interesting point. I've not seen the video, which benchmarks were being run? Could it be that Apple are employing a sort of benchmark cheating algorithm already seen in Android devices?

 

[Chevron]

ftfy.

He says in his review that it is the best iPhone to date. I agree with him. Then I look at the list of disadvantages and I see where he is coming from. The 6s will probably be fantastic.

 

[Maverick Jester]

He says in his review that it is the best iPhone to date. I agree with him. Then I look at the list of disadvantages and I see where he is coming from. The 6s will probably be fantastic.

But couldn't you apply the same logic to the 6S when it comes out? The fundamental disadvantages inherent to the iPhone range does not generally change.

 

[AstroTurf]

Hmmm, interesting point. I've not seen the video, which benchmarks were being run? Could it be that Apple are employing a sort of benchmark cheating algorithm already seen in Android devices?

They just timed starting the phone up and then timed the same or similar apps being opened (time to open, time to reopen).

 

[Maverick Jester]

They just timed starting the phone up and then timed the same or similar apps being opened (time to open, time to reopen).

Oh, OK. Odd that the battery life would be that noticeably different when performing the same sort of activities. But, thinking a bit about it, iOS 8 was always expected to use more battery life than previous renditions.

I'd actually like to read an iPhone 6 review done a year from now, once people actually use iPhones in the same way as they would use an Android device: by exploring more of the functionality that iOS 8 now provides. The battery life may be a bit worse off than what is reported now.

 

[AstroTurf]

Oh, OK. Odd that the battery life would be that noticeably different when performing the same sort of activities. But, thinking a bit about it, iOS 8 was always expected to use more battery life than previous renditions.

I'd actually like to read an iPhone 6 review done a year from now, once people actually use iPhones in the same way as they would use an Android device: by exploring more of the functionality that iOS 8 now provides. The battery life may be a bit worse off than what is reported now.

Yea, I think the display also plays a huge role in this.
S5 has the best display of this size on the market and that also has a lot to do with how little battery it drains.

 

[Maverick Jester]

Yea, I think the display also plays a huge role in this.
S5 has the best display of this size on the market and that also has a lot to do with how little battery it drains.

Yep. More pixels, larger size screen, more involved OS = pain for the battery. Not to mention that 20nm is still a very new, and thus not completely mature manufacturing process.

They should have made the device 2mm thicker and filled it out with a bigger battery (while adding structural support around the volume rocker).

 

[cerebus]

Hmmm, interesting point. I've not seen the video, which benchmarks were being run? Could it be that Apple are employing a sort of benchmark cheating algorithm already seen in Android devices?

It's fairly clear I think from the benchmarks that not only are they not employing funky cheating algorithms, the A8 practically never throttles the speed on full load in real use. I'm clueless how they're performing battery-wise against each other; quite disappointed if the iPhone's battery is taking such a hammering after a short test like that. Actually phone speed these days only really matters to me in web browsing, which can chunk down even a very fast processor. The Snapdragon 800 is plenty fast enough for most of what I do, but I can see times when it bogs down on webpages.

 

[icyrus]

Main disadvantages:
No user-replaceable battery
FM radio

What year is this person living in?

 

[cerebus]

Yep. More pixels, larger size screen, more involved OS = pain for the battery. Not to mention that 20nm is still a very new, and thus not completely mature manufacturing process.

They should have made the device 2mm thicker and filled it out with a bigger battery (while adding structural support around the volume rocker).

The battery life seems fine over here.

Normally, I would expect a 4.7” class smartphone to need a battery around the size of the HTC One (M7) or Motorola Moto X (2013) to keep pace with phones like the One (M8) and Galaxy S5, but Apple has pulled it off with a battery that is much smaller. There are two key factors that we can point to in this case. The first is the display, which can avoid pushing the LED backlight towards the higher current region that is much less efficient. This is because the amount of light-blocking circuitry is reduced and the active area of the display can be higher. The second aspect is the SoC, which is on a lower power 20nm process node. While TSMC’s 20nm process doesn’t have FinFET, improved silicon straining and high K metal gate make it possible to drive down active power and leakage when compared to 28nm processes. It’s also likely that the A8’s architecture is more efficient than other SoCs we’ve seen this year. However, it's important to note that without a capacitance and voltage table or something similarly concrete we can't really prove this statement.

So the screen is more efficient than the iPhone5 screen, and the 20nm process is also proving to be more efficient.

(I agree that the battery vs size trade-off should have gone the other way. I don't mind the camera jutting out really, but imagine how much more battery life they could have gotten.)

 

[AstroTurf]

From what everyone is saying IOS is a cleaner OS compared to Android, should it not be better on the battery?
Sorry, I do not know nearly as much about IOS as I wish I did.

Apparently it's the only thing that sucks but yet again (on the display side of things) another incorrect review from someone that does not know or bother to test display modes and when that happens I wonder if they do any of the tests right.

Indeed, while the battery capacity of the new iPhone has gone up slightly (to 1810 mAh), and the unit provides a better longevity overall compared with the iPhone 5s, this is still very much an uphill battle for it when faced with as tough an opponent as the Galaxy S5. In our own battery test, the iPhone 6 held fast for no more than 5 hours and 22 minutes, a notch better than the iPhone 5s' 5 hours and 2 minutes. In comparison, the GS5 is quite the marathoner, and its 2800 mAh cell managed 7 hours and 38 minutes in the same test – a significant premium. As for official stats, the iPhone 6 is rated good for 14 hours of talk time on a 3G network, and a little under 10 days and a half of stand-by time on a 2G one. The respective numbers for the Galaxy S5 read the far more impressive 21 hours of talk time and over 16 days of stand-by.

http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Apple-iPhone-6-vs-Samsung-Galaxy-S5_id3798/page/4

 

[cerebus]

What year is this person living in?

Yeah it seems like he really just objected to it not having the features that Android phones have. There won't ever be an iPhone with a user-replaceable battery, an FM radio, or an SD card slot. My G2 only has 1 of those features and I don't even use that.

 

[Maverick Jester]

It's fairly clear I think from the benchmarks that not only are they not employing funky cheating algorithms, the A8 practically never throttles the speed on full load in real use. I'm clueless how they're performing battery-wise against each other; quite disappointed if the iPhone's battery is taking such a hammering after a short test like that. Actually phone speed these days only really matters to me in web browsing, which can chunk down even a very fast processor. The Snapdragon 800 is plenty fast enough for most of what I do, but I can see times when it bogs down on webpages.

Yeah, wasn't sure what the video was about

The cheating algorithms would prevent throttling for the duration of the test, like a number of Android devices do, while running the cores at max frequency. Was just wondering if the iPhone did something similar.

 

[cerebus]

From what everyone is saying IOS is a cleaner OS compared to Android, should it not be better on the battery?
Sorry, I do not know nearly as much about IOS as I wish I did.

I think so, but also they take an approach of leaving out hardware as much as possible to conserve battery life. It's the main reason they still only have 1gb ram, and a dual core low-mhz processor. Rather than just adding a huge battery in and adding bulk. It's just the trade-off they chose.

Apparently it's the only thing that sucks but yet again (on the display side of things) another incorrect review from someone that does not know or bother to test display modes and when that happens I wonder if they do any of the tests right.

The thing about displays is that while a large display sucks more juice, it's more than compensated for because you can add a much larger battery in as well.

 

[AstroTurf]

Yeah it seems like he really just objected to it not having the features that Android phones have. There won't ever be an iPhone with a user-replaceable battery, an FM radio, or an SD card slot. My G2 only has 1 of those features and I don't even use that.

My Xperia S had a permanent battery and no SD slot. it also had an fm radio (I used that once to test it).
it was fine for me but that was because when I got it around 2.5 years back it already came with 32GB of Storage.

I would personally say what year are Apple living in bringing out phones with only 16GB storage.

 

[AstroTurf]

I think so, but also they take an approach of leaving out hardware as much as possible to conserve battery life. It's the main reason they still only have 1gb ram, and a dual core low-mhz processor. Rather than just adding a huge battery in and adding bulk. It's just the trade-off they chose.


The thing about displays is that while a large display sucks more juice, it's more than compensated for because you can add a much larger battery in as well.

Yea, makes sense, just a pity the battery life on the device is so sucky, back to my xperia s. My sister is getting that kind of battery use out of it now and the battery is 2.5 years old.

 

[cerebus]

My Xperia S had a permanent battery and no SD slot. it also had an fm radio (I used that once to test it).
it was fine for me but that was because when I got it around 2.5 years back it already came with 32GB of Storage.

I would personally say what year are Apple living in bringing out phones with only 16GB storage.

The G3 and S5 both have 16gb entry levels. What year are they living in?