Two Weeks with the iPhone 6s: An Android user's perspective - Part 2

[Scorpus]

It’s now been two weeks since I started using the iPhone 6s as my daily driver, and so far the device has been reasonably impressive. Having primarily used Android throughout my time as a smartphone reviewer, iOS 9 hasn’t been as annoying to use as I thought it would be, and although there are some flaws to the operating system, it’s held up well under scrutiny throughout these past two weeks.

The first part of this series focused on software. This second part will focus mostly on the iPhone 6s’ hardware, and how it compares to some of the best Android devices I’ve used this year. Apple is widely respected for their hardware design, both on the inside and outside of their phones, but just how good is it in 2015?

Read the complete article.

 

[Radical]

Although I've never owned an iPhone, the lack of a back button is something I am continually infuriated by whenever I use a friend's iPhone. I also think the design language of the 6/6s is, well... ugly. I currently own an LG Nexus 5 (first gen) running Marshmallow, and aside from the battery, it's probably the best piece of technology I've ever owned. Sleek, well-built, good specs (even today), great ergonomics, and cheap. Plus I've dropped it sooo many times, and it still hasn't cracked (looking at you, every single iPhone ever made).

 

[Mister_K]

Although I've never owned an iPhone, the lack of a back button is something I am continually infuriated by whenever I use a friend's iPhone.

This. If they ever put Expendable Storage and a Back button like on the S4, I am moving in a heartbeat (rip my Android apps).

 

[Comeau]

Bear in mind you can swipe from the left to the right of the screen to navigate back to the previous page. There's no need for a dedicated button

 

[OcelotRex]

Bear in mind you can swipe from the left to the right of the screen to navigate back to the previous page. There's no need for a dedicated button

So when you "swipe form the left to the right" when playing Fruit Ninja you go back to the menu each time?

 

[3volv3d]

I see the iPhone adverts. For something running tech that seems behind to Android phones, it seems the things its capable of doing are done very well. Optimization. A thing that some game companies could think about before releasing their non optimized ports. (Poor CoD:BLOPS fanboiz)

It is this squeezing every drop of juice out of the tech that does me think wow, but then I think but the price tag is also insanely wow. Firstly you should give me £100 back for the fact that tech is not as up to date as Jon E BoiZ Samsung Edge +. And then another £100 back for having to suck it up and be one of them goddamn Apple users - compensation for every time I look in a mirror I will forever now feel queasy.
And another £100 back for being stuck with your iOS. Now that should just about put it back to the price of top android phones.

No back button... ah forget it

 

[Mister_K]

Bear in mind you can swipe from the left to the right of the screen to navigate back to the previous page. There's no need for a dedicated button

To save what, the small whitespace real estate? What about the list button for options and as previously stated, in a application which disables those for other functions, its, well, problematic.

This is why I love Samsungs phones, the LED buttons are extremely handy oh and guess what, I can swipe left and right as well, not by stock but it's doable.

 

[Mister_K]

I see the iPhone adverts. For something running tech that seems behind to Android phones, it seems the things its capable of doing are done very well. Optimization. A thing that some game companies could think about before releasing their non optimized ports. (Poor CoD:BLOPS fanboiz)

It is this squeezing every drop of juice out of the tech that does me think wow, but then I think but the price tag is also insanely wow. Firstly you should give me £100 back for the fact that tech is not as up to date as Jon E BoiZ Samsung Edge +. And then another £100 back for having to suck it up and be one of them goddamn Apple users - compensation for every time I look in a mirror I will forever now feel queasy.
And another £100 back for being stuck with your iOS. Now that should just about put it back to the price of top android phones.

No back button... ah forget it

I think that's surely harsh. Whether you get a Samsung or Apple you are opting into a "eco system". iOS is a brilliant OS, catered to non tech savvy users (with locked down system). However, the phone and OS are great. The problem is, missing features and the mindset of Apple users at times is painful.

Apple needs to take a note from Android OEMs, Apple needs to become the Blizzard of phones. Take what works, leave what doesn't. It needs to offer options.

 

[Badvok]

I smell a rat in those performance test results, how can the 6S Plus score better than the 6S when they have the same hardware?

And how exactly can you directly compare graphics on phones rocking QHD screens with a phone (6S) that isn't even FHD? Do the tests at the same resolution! (QHD is definitely worth it for the clarity, crispness and realism of the display when gaming, even more so for VR where even QHD doesn't quite make it.)

And why is there not a single LG phone in the colour accuracy comparison? I know Apple used LG for the 6, not sure what they are using in the 6S.

 

[3volv3d]

I think that's surely harsh. Whether you get a Samsung or Apple you are opting into a "eco system". iOS is a brilliant OS, catered to non tech savvy users (with locked down system). However, the phone and OS are great. The problem is, missing features and the mindset of Apple users at times is painful.

Apple needs to take a note from Android OEMs, Apple needs to become the Blizzard of phones. Take what works, leave what doesn't. It needs to offer options.

I did call the owner of said Samsung Jon E Boiz, he is fanboiz too. It was a tad too subtle.
Yes sadly you do pick one side of the fence or you sit on it.

Back in the day it was, apple can't do flash omahgahd! Now a techspot article says lose the flash... The reasons not to have either phone are usually petty and small.
And I did say that the iPhone was great with what it had running it. If you gave Apple an Edge tho, I just wonder what they could squeeze out of that , and in a year or two we will see ... when said tech is in the iPhone.

I hate the price, I hate the idea that everyone should conform to them, like the bank Santander, saying, don't change your bank, change your phone... join Apple just to use ApplePay ... or w/e it is. Oh fkoff. But then you read about Googles Pay app. Yes its going to have security flaws. It was invented by criminals in the 90's. It is now just shrunk down using nfc, rather than using big laptop bags and magnets.

But I look at this way these days, if you wan't the latest fastest chips ram and latest camera parts, then look towards android phones. They will basically use anything and everything in their phones, which is why they can be hit and miss, glitchy etc.
Or get an iPhone, which is like Ol' Trusty. They make the 1 phone really, and it has been tried and tested thoroughly over many a version. Just its very boring. And the only reason everyone has one is because they are tech-blonde, it's easy, and because of its price, you clearly get a badge that says "look at me! I know nuffin but I gots monies?!"

Damnit I tried... to be non bias, did you see, right up to the end, then I just had to take a pop at them fkn apple users!

 

[Panda218]

My biggest complaint with the apple devices is the lack of sharing data between Apps. If I want to share an attachment on my android device I get a giant list of apps to push the data to, but if I want to share data on the iphone I'm out of luck unless its via email, flicker or text...

I also have tons of problems adding pictures to emails, but this is because I can barely press the little button they have to bring up more options after pressing and holding the body of the email. Why would inserting attachments have to be hidden down a layer in the GUI?

Really enjoyed the article and look forward to reading more comments

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Although I've never owned an iPhone, the lack of a back button is something I am continually infuriated by whenever I use a friend's iPhone.

This. If they ever put Expendable Storage and a Back button like on the S4, I am moving in a heartbeat (rip my Android apps).

You can forget about ever seeing expandable storage or a back button on an Apple phone, they've never done it and they never will, in fact you can almost forget about seeing expandable storage on high end Android devices from now on with the exception of maybe one or two manufacturers but they all offer a back button and if you think that feature is critical to you then I guess you're going be stuck on Android for a long time to come.
You're not missing out on anything using Android and their devices as opposed to Apple iOS and their idevices.
Remember that selling devices with varying built in storage is far too lucrative for any manufacturer to simply ignore, that's the reason most are doing it now.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I see the iPhone adverts. For something running tech that seems behind to Android phones, it seems the things its capable of doing are done very well. Optimization. A thing that some game companies could think about before releasing their non optimized ports. (Poor CoD:BLOPS fanboiz)

It is this squeezing every drop of juice out of the tech that does me think wow, but then I think but the price tag is also insanely wow. Firstly you should give me £100 back for the fact that tech is not as up to date as Jon E BoiZ Samsung Edge +. And then another £100 back for having to suck it up and be one of them goddamn Apple users - compensation for every time I look in a mirror I will forever now feel queasy.
And another £100 back for being stuck with your iOS. Now that should just about put it back to the price of top android phones.

No back button... ah forget it

I think that's surely harsh. Whether you get a Samsung or Apple you are opting into a "eco system". iOS is a brilliant OS, catered to non tech savvy users (with locked down system). However, the phone and OS are great. The problem is, missing features and the mindset of Apple users at times is painful.

Apple needs to take a note from Android OEMs, Apple needs to become the Blizzard of phones. Take what works, leave what doesn't. It needs to offer options.

That's your perception of things and thats absolutely fine but remember what Apple does, works for Apple and while that attitude rakes it in, they'll never change.

 

[MonsterZero]

I actually prefer the color saturation from the Samsung Galaxy Camera over the iPhone camera. iPhone's photos seem dull and lack vibrant color.

 

[Radical]

Bear in mind you can swipe from the left to the right of the screen to navigate back to the previous page. There's no need for a dedicated button

Heaps of Android apps use swipe from left to bring across a menu drawer. Pretty handy if you know it's there.

 

[trparky]

One of the biggest compelling reasons to go to the iPhone from Android is... drum roll please.

Guaranteed software updates.

This may anger some people here but this was the most compelling reason that I had when I was considering the leap from Android to the iPhone. I'm 100% guaranteed to get software updates regardless of the carrier that I'm on. I get iOS updates the same day that everyone else in the world gets iOS updates, I don't have to wait for my carrier (AT&T in the US) to think about releasing software updates for my device; I simply go to Settings, General, Software Updates, and away I go.

One of the best decisions that Apple made back when they debuted the iPhone was that they told the carriers to go hit the pavement. Whereas on Android you have to not only deal with your OEM but your carrier as well so that adds not just one but two layers of bureaucracy for Android software updates to get through to get to your device. That has resulted in devices that are less than two years old being left behind even though the devices have more than enough processing power, RAM, and storage capacity to run the latest versions of Android.

If you ask me, the only reason to hold back Android software updates is because they don't want to release software updates. They would much rather you buy a new device instead. There's no profit in making software updates whereas there's tons of profit in selling you a new device. How is that fair to people who have bought one of these devices that cost upwards of $800 or more? I'll tell you... it's not.

So yes, for me the most compelling reason to switch to the iPhone is and always will be guaranteed software updates.

 

[gregzeng]

On the color accuracy of the screens, my Galaxy s6 is running Android 5.1.1, with four (4) display settings.
Your test results did not mention which setting was chosen:
1) BASIC,
2) AMOLED PHOTO,
3) AMOLED CINEMA, or
4) ADAPTIVE DISPLAY.

It is interesting comparing this review with the very many other similar comparisons. The results are so variable, it is hard to know if who is telling the truth. Perhaps the samples in each test are so variable, that generalizations depend on "luck", rather than brand or model of smartphone.

 

[DaveBG]

Even though this is the best iphone so far just because it uses faster NVMe controller I still prefer the open nature of Android. I can root my phone and use things which will never be available on the iPhone. Never ever.

 

[Madmaxneo]

My biggest gripe for the iphone is the lack of an SD card slot, which is also becoming a gripe for Android. I am currently using a S5 because the S6 doesn't have the SD card slot. I may have to switch to the LG series of phones because they seem to still be adding SD card slots to their phones....
My biggest gripe for Apple is that I am a music lover, read on. I prefer to listen to the songs I want to listen to when I want to listen to them. I have loads of my own playlists that I use depending on my mood or what kind of inspiration or motivation I need. I like being able to take any of my music and listen to it on any of my devices be it through windows media player or some other MP3 player. I have close to 100gb in music on my PC and a 64gb SD card that is filled with some of that music on my phone. I tried iTunes for s short while and didn't care that I had to convert all of my music over to their format. But one can not convert their playlists over to the itunes format so I basically had to recreate my playlists, which would take way to much time to do. The itunes software also messed with some of my ID3 tags which caused windows media player to report bad info and even not play some songs. I had to go through and change it all back using third party software, after that they all worked fine in my media player.

I also do not think the iphone is worth the price that Apple charges.

Personally I can't wait for the day that they create a windows phone that is just as good if not better than the others. I have an Android tablet and though it was fun for what it was it was missing some functionality. I now have a Windows tablet and that out performs my Android by far because everything is directly compatible with my PC. I can run some of the software on my tablet that I run on my PC and I can connect via remote desktop for the apps that my tablet can't run.

 

[dhinged]

A Back button is the most-requested thing I hear of the iPhone, but even Android stopped doing it right; now when I tap a button or link in one app that opens in another app, it opens the view in that app, but then the Back button instead of closing that app and going back to the previous app, it goes back to the last view in the opened app and you have to use the multitask button to get back to the previous app or keep backtracking through the opened apps views and completely close that app.

Before it used to just open the view, then when you back out, take you back to the previous app, and then if you opened that other app up again, you'd still have your history to backtrack through. I don't know which interns Google hired to replace their UI people, but they're as nonsensical as the new completely-transparent status bar in Marshmallow, which now makes the icon almost unseeable with a bright background at the top.

 

[AdamBoltGC]

Ahh... That's a NO!... In some cases maybe but it is not the norm.

Bear in mind you can swipe from the left to the right of the screen to navigate back to the previous page. There's no need for a dedicated button

 

[AdamBoltGC]

Windows 10 Mobile OS is coming along nicely and will be getting similar features like Apple's "Hand Off" sometime next year. At this point I can at least now receive a notification on my Win 10 PC that I have missed a phone call and I can send a text message back directly from the missed call notification.

My biggest gripe for the iphone is the lack of an SD card slot, which is also becoming a gripe for Android. I am currently using a S5 because the S6 doesn't have the SD card slot. I may have to switch to the LG series of phones because they seem to still be adding SD card slots to their phones....
My biggest gripe for Apple is that I am a music lover, read on. I prefer to listen to the songs I want to listen to when I want to listen to them. I have loads of my own playlists that I use depending on my mood or what kind of inspiration or motivation I need. I like being able to take any of my music and listen to it on any of my devices be it through windows media player or some other MP3 player. I have close to 100gb in music on my PC and a 64gb SD card that is filled with some of that music on my phone. I tried iTunes for s short while and didn't care that I had to convert all of my music over to their format. But one can not convert their playlists over to the itunes format so I basically had to recreate my playlists, which would take way to much time to do. The itunes software also messed with some of my ID3 tags which caused windows media player to report bad info and even not play some songs. I had to go through and change it all back using third party software, after that they all worked fine in my media player.

I also do not think the iphone is worth the price that Apple charges.

Personally I can't wait for the day that they create a windows phone that is just as good if not better than the others. I have an Android tablet and though it was fun for what it was it was missing some functionality. I now have a Windows tablet and that out performs my Android by far because everything is directly compatible with my PC. I can run some of the software on my tablet that I run on my PC and I can connect via remote desktop for the apps that my tablet can't run.

 

[AdamBoltGC]

This is why I would always recommend a Google Nexus phone over any other Android device. Way more likely to get a timely update on your phone. Still for me, I'm happy with my Windows phone that allows me to bypass carriers if I want to upgrade to the latest OS update.

One of the biggest compelling reasons to go to the iPhone from Android is... drum roll please.

Guaranteed software updates..

 

[AdamBoltGC]

This is going to be a bit of a rant on Apple... For you Apple fans this will be TL;DR but for anyone else running another OS I think you will understand my frustration with iOS and why you would question why you would ever want to pay a premium price for an iPhone????
I just received an iPhone 5 supplied by my work running iOS 9.1. This is the 2nd time I have used an iPhone for work and I jut realised once again why I shake my head in disbelief that someone would want an iPhone of any sort... iOS feels so prehistoric even coming from my preferred Windows mobile OS. Apple throw in force touch but don't allow people to use a proper back button, they don't allow anyone to set their preferred short cut keys (Eg No Mobile Data Toggle), nor can you set your own default app!!!????? (Why Apple)??? Speaking of apps, Apple don't allow any of their own apps to be deleted from the home screen... I've kind of fixed that by chucking them in a folder called APPLE CRAP... And don't get me started on their core apps like email or maps... I use this phone for work and want to be productive... Apples own apps are so weak in this regard. Example, with Outlook on Windows 10 I can easily switch between mail and calendar... AND HOW BAD IS SIRI... This is the conversation I had with Siri the other day.. Me:- Take me to Brisbane Airport - Siri I will navigate you to Gold Coast airport. Funnily enough when I asked Siri to take me to Brisbane she understood that perfectly fine. Me - What's the traffic like on the way home? - Siri - I can't do that for you, I will navigate you home... I mean WTF... Apple, you have years in front of Windows in this regard and Cortana is spanking Siri's butt so hard I'm sure it must be bleeding.
Apple's catch phrase is "It just works"... So far I haven't seen any of this END OF RANT

 

[stevae]

I DO NOT believe for one minute that you are an android user, at all. no android user would say the things you say. I have several friends, and a few family members with the iphone 6s, and I have used it extensively. IT IS NOWHERE NEAR AS FAST, SMOOTH OR VERSATILE AS MY ANDROID PHONE. I use a s5 lte-a g906s. my phone can do tons of things, that the iphone just can't. period! my screen is soooooo much brighter and crisper. my camera is ten times better, and I can customize my phone to use different launchers which specialize in different functions, I can place my icons in any design which makes my life more efficient. I have widgets, no such luck on the iphone. the iphone runs out of battery way too fast, and you can't change the battery. but I can on my phone. and the funny thing is, my battery lasts so much longer than my sister's iphone, even when I use mine more than she uses hers. the iphone looks like something for a simpleton. the icons look cartoonish, and can only be placed in the normal configuration. how limiting is that. games run much better on my device, and I have more of them. also, I can change my 128gb sd card, from my work card, to my personal card if I'm traveling for personal time. and I don't believe any of those benchmarks above. apple can't launch anything without a "gate" attached to it. keep your iphone crap. but try to get back to the facts.