It’s iPhone season, which means it is time for a new phone from Apple, with the iPhone 6s being this year’s offering.
Although this isn’t a complete redesign of last year’s iPhone 6, there are some improvements. It is the first model to debut running iOS 9, but the two most important new features are 3D Touch and Live Photos, which Apple hopes will help convince millions of people to upgrade to this new version. A faster processor and more RAM will help as well.
The iPhone 6s is available now, starting at $649 for a version with 16GB of storage.
The iPhone 6s is close to the same size as its predecessor, but not exactly.
Build & Design
The iPhone 6s is close to the same size as its predecessor, but not exactly. It’s 5.44 x 2.64 x 0.28 (138 x 67 x 7 mm) and 5 ounces (143 g), which makes it 0.01 inch thicker and half an ounce heavier. Those really looking for it will be able to tell that the new device weighs a smidgen more, but it certainly won’t affect day to day use.
After the release of last year’s iPhone models, there were scattered complaints from users that these devices were too flimsy and easy to bend. Apple used a stronger type of aluminum for the iPhone 6s and tweaked the design to make the casing sturdier. The unit we’re testing isn’t easily flexed, and comes across as sturdy as such a slim product can be.
The edges are all very curved, and the all-metal casing is quite slick, which makes the iPhone 6s comfortable to hold, but raises the possibility that it might be too easy to drop. A case that adds a rubberized texture might be appropriate.
Display
The standout feature of the iPhone 6s’ screen is 3D Touch, which is Apple’s way of indicating that it is pressure sensitive, with it able to detect if it is being touched, pushed on lightly, or pushed with more force. This feature is integrated into the iOS in a way that’s reminiscent of right clicking on something with a mouse — it can bring up a convenient menu of options.
The best example of how this works is in Mail: pressing lightly on a message brings up a preview of it, then pressing harder opens the message. In addition, icons for a number of apps on the homescreen can be pressed on to bring up an option menu. Pressing on the Camera icon gives the user the option to quickly take a selfie, take a regular photo, record a regular video, or record a video in Slo-mo.
Although 3D Touch could come across as a gimmick, there are places where it feels genuinely useful.
Although 3D Touch could come across as a gimmick, there are places where it feels genuinely useful. Our favorite is tapping and holding on a link to a website to get a peek at the page that would open, with a harder press going ahead and opening the page. Drawing software will be able to take advantage of it too, but with just three levels of sensitivity its usefulness to real artists will be limited.
3D Touch is an definite improvement, if not a radical one, and it can make using this phone quicker and easier. But it’s not required, and can even be turned off.
Aside from this new feature, the screen on the iPhone 6s is identical it its predecessor: it is 4.7 inches and has a 1334 by 750 resolution, with a pixel density of 326 ppi. Each pixel is so small that text and images look clear and smooth. Some rival devices have gone for even higher pixel densities though, like the Samsung Galaxy S6 which is at 576 ppi. There’s reason to doubt whether having that many pixels per inch is actually an improvement, however.
A 4.7-inch display is a good compromise: it’s large enough that’s it’s not impractical for ebooks, casual games, and even video, but a screen this size isn’t so big that it makes the whole phone unwieldy. And using the on-screen keyboard is easier than on Apple’s old 4-inch displays, and it’s dramatically better than a 3.5-inch one. Those who want a somewhat larger iOS model can opt for the new 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus.
Buttons, Ports, and Speakers
In our tests, the iPhone 6S scanner worked 100% of the time, always recognizing fingerprints.
Apple has stuck with the same design standard since the first iPhone, so the Home button remains, and it continues to play a major role in controlling this latest device.
Like the last few Apple models, this button does double duty as a fingerprint scanner for the Touch ID security system. This gives users the benefits of secure access to their phone without the hassle of typing in a password every time they want to use it. In our tests, the scanner worked 100% of the time, always recognizing the fingerprints it was trained for and never giving false positives.
Some things never change, so the iPhone 6s has Apple’s proprietary Lightning charging/data port, and it doesn’t have a microSD memory card slot. That said, there are a number of flash drives that can be plugged into this device’s Lightning port, like the SanDisk iXpand and the Leef iBridge, to add additional storage capacity.
The volume up and down buttons are on the left side of this model, along with a mute switch.
There’s a single speaker on the bottom edge. This is capable of putting out a considerable amount of sound, loud enough for the device to be used in moderately noisy environments. But much of the volume is wasted because the speaker doesn’t point toward the user.
Performance
The iPhone 6s has a 64-bit, 1.84 GHz, dual-core Apple A9 processor. This chip is capable of giving the device world class performance, even though many of its rivals have far more cores; Samsung uses an octa-core processor in its flagship models, for example.
According to the developer of Geekbench 3 benchmarking app, the iPhone 6s scored a 4330. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S6 pulled in a 4145, theHTC One (M9) had a 2926, and last year’s iPhone 6 had a 2878 score. The only model that outscored Apple’s was the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with a 4406.
This is the first phone from Apple with 2GB of RAM; last year’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus had half that much.
Apple sells a version with 16GB of built in storage, one with 64GB, and one with 128GB.
iOS 9 Siri Suggestions
Software
This model debuted running iOS 9, which we covered in-depth in a separate review. Naturally, the iPhone 6s can take full advantage of all the new features designed for phones, like Siri Suggestions and the News app.
Unlike makers of other phones, Apple doesn’t allow its devices to be filled up with bloatware, like links to games and carrier-specific software that can’t be uninstalled. Which isn’t to say that this company isn’t a bit over enthusiastic about the number applications it thinks are necessary, with the app for communicating with an Apple Watch at the top of the list of items that should be optional rather than required on every device.
Camera
The hot new camera feature, available only with the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, is Live Photos, in which images act like short videos. When snapping a picture, the camera records a second of video with sound before and after the still image. This makes pictures feel a bit Harry Potter, and can be a fun feature, and useful for photographing children and animals that won’t stand still. Taking real advantage of this feature requires practice, however.
The downside of Live Photos is that they require large amounts of storage capacity. A test image we took takes up 4.6 MB, while a regular picture taken with the iPhone 6s’ camera needs 2.2 MB. Also, the front facing camera can’t take Live Photos, so no moving selfies.
In addition to this new feature, Apple significantly increased the resolution of the iPhone 6s’ rear-facing camera, going from 8 megapixels to 12 MP. It’s doubtful anyone will be able to see any differences between pictures made with a new iPhone 6s and last year’s iPhone 6, but the increase in resolution does allow this device to record 4K video. Again, this takes up large amounts of storage, so anyone planning on on recording lots of high-resolution video should invest in the 64GB version of this phone.
The front camera also moved from 1.2 MP to 5 MP, so selfies look even better than they did before. Just as importantly, Apple has included a trick to turn the display on when taking pictures with this camera so selfies can be taken in low light conditions. In our tests, this feature works surprisingly well, able to light up a dimly lit area just enough that faces can be seen.
The iPhone 6s does not have a large battery.
Battery Life
Apple has never made battery life a priority and the iPhone 6s is no exception. On the Geekbench 3 battery benchmark, a demanding test that shows how long the device will last with heavy use, the iPhone 6s pulled in 5:16. On the same test, the Samsung Galaxy S6 lasted 6:49, but the HTC One (M8) lasted 4:59.
Apple favors slim devices over long battery lives. The company’s attitude seems to be “If the device will last a day of moderate use, that’s good enough.”