.jpg)
Over past three months, I've used Apple latest phablet, iPhone 6 Plus. It's dimensions are 158.1 * 77.8 * 7.1 mm weighing 172g. That's one massive phone from the Apple. But as time flies by, dimensions matter less and user experience matter more. So how does it feel to use iPhone 6 plus, let's check it out.
FEEL IN THE HAND
Unlike the guy in the bendgate viral youtube video, 6 plus does feel sturdy with ample grip. You can supplement it with a case. Either way, it looks beautiful, sleek and just the right size. Apple brought in the REACHABILITY feature with the new iPhones. Yes, it's not a gimmick. It's quite handy when you want to use things at the top of the screen. It drops everything to the middle and you can conveniently do what you intend to. There's been criticism on apple that it's a half baked feature, leaving a dark space on the top and apple should've tweaked it with more options. Multi screens for instance. Frankly with 1 GB of RAM, I believe apple did the right thing, making REACHABILITY a nice new feature that adds to the user experience.
The power button is now on the right side of the device, like most phones of the same size.
It's an 8 mp iSight camera with optical image stabilization technology. On paper it looks blatantly stupid move from apple to continue with same 8 mp camera when 16 mp is considered a minimum from other flagship phones. Again, what matters here is not the amount of megapixels your smartphone camera is packing but how good pictures it take, right? So, answer is gorgeous-photo-every-single-time. Every picture looks stunning, crisp with superb color authenticity.
The camera user interface is simple yet it allows you to take professional level photos which is nice as you can't travel around with your DSLR gear 24/7. iOS 8 and iPhone 6 plus partners perfectly using camera app. Slo Mo are 240 fps slow. Time lapse summarizes your long videos to short brisk ones using apple made algorithm which is always reliable. Panorama can take about 41 mp photos. Shooting photos at night have less noise now thanks to OIS. On keynote, Phil Schiller wanted us to forget our camcorders as iPhone makes that good videos. Well it does. Videos are shot in 1080p quality, although we'd love to have 4K capabilities, nevertheless videos are nice and a lot stable. The only other smartphone camera when tested came close to iPhone 6 plus is Sony Xperia z2 which is 21 mp shooter so Apple has done something great on iOS and optics end that make iPhone such a great camera.
 |
| Real Time Filters |
 |
| Outdoor |
 |
| Outdoor |
 |
| Indoor |
 |
| Night |
 |
| Outdoor Macro-photography |
iOS 8
I still miss Forstall's work but we have to admit things change with time. With iOS 7 apple came with a completely new clean design and iOS 8 tries to strengthen it. There are some really refreshing tweaks in iOS 8, which may be copied from other platforms but they look nice on your iPhone 6 plus screen. You can now add third party keyboards, keyboard has predictive text, helps you type faster. You can add widgets in the notification center. Safari looks faster and improved on iOS 8. Reader view and desktop site; are my favorite new options. Siri grows a lot each year. Siri can now find you songs with Shazam integration. It can now learn your relations, who is who in your family!
iMessage and FaceTime are Apple exclusive services with millions of active users. iMessages can now share your audio, photos and videos with ease. You can now have groups in iMessages with some cool features, allowing you to leave and mute- you get no notification from that group.
Health app helps you collect information about your body stats from third party apps as well as sensors installed right on your iPhone device.
Reminders list can now be shared with your friends and family, helps in making to do lists and executing them together.
iOS is undoubtedly one of the best mobile platforms which is intuitive, clutter free and always a pleasure to use.
TOUCH ID and APPLE PAY
Apple introduced Touch ID with iPhone 5s which was probably the safest password on earth. It worked most of the time. After an year, it's like 100 times more reliable, faster and it secretly keeps your money! iPhone 6 and 6 plus comes with NFC technology which now gives you an alternate to your wallet. The growth of Apple Pay can be seen by the fact that more than 100 American banks offering it, to date and Apple Pay is all set to launch in Canada in March, Europe likely to follow soon. Google Wallet has been around since 2012 but indeed it's the Apple and iPhone 6 launch that has brought mobile payments to mainstream. It's convenient, safe and omnipresent in America. Win Win situation for banks, merchants and consumers.
 |
| Touch ID |
APPS, APPSTORE & ECOSYSTEM
Many people believe that iOS apps are better than android and windows. They're written exclusively for each model of the iPhone which in turns creates beautiful user experience. Apple has already told the app developers to utilize A8 64 bit architecture and larger screen by the February. Which will make the apps experience more fluent and smooth. But they're not free!
Most of the apps are not free. You've to purchase them with iTunes credit if you want to use all the features that app is offering. But the apps that you'd use most of the time are absolutely free! Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Snapchat, Instagram, Flipboard. They're all free and they're amazing on iPhone 6 plus. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, Numbers and Garage Band to come absolutely free with every iDevice purchased. They're written for iOS exclusively and take the productivity of your device to next level. There are apps from third parties which are launched exclusively for iOS. eg PAGES from Facebook which is a beautiful way to keep up with your friends. Microsoft office is now available for iPhone with all the features.
Another feature that would want you to stay with apple is it's ecosystem. You can work across your iPhone iPad, iPod Touch and Mac. With Handoff feature introduced with iOS 8 and Yosemite (for Mac) you can even receive and make calls from devices other than iPhone.
iTunes
Those who usually purchase android phones, would tell you iTunes is one of the reason. Yes, iTunes means a couple of more clicks while transferring your data (photos, songs, videos, books) from iPhone to computer.
Having said that, it's a blessing that we don't acknowledge. It backs up everything. In an era of computer viruses, hacks and cyber attack you'd definitely need a secure back up which iTunes rightly provide. iTunes a secure digital hub of your stuff.
Apple itself admits that most of its songs and apps download are made over wifi bypassing iTunes ( nearly 70%). It means next time you have second thoughts while purchasing iPhone and not actually buying it, off iTunes. Don't listen to them thoughts. You can live without iTunes. iTunes is only there to have a complete backup of your device. You don't lose your data, even if you do, you can restore it from iTunes within minutes.
Lastly, you can download latest iOS updates using iTunes. Other platforms simply don't offer all that luxury, ease and security.
CONCLUSION
If you're an average person, who wants to enjoy all the latest smartphone offerings and yet don't feel like a Star Trek geek, iPhone 6 plus is the phone you should be purchasing. You can keep up with almost everything that's been offered across all the major platforms yet don't feel like you're trying hard to understand the technology. It's in Apple's DNA using technology to simplify things and iPhone 6 plus is an excellent example of that philosophy. It's as much iPad as iPhone, with a few more software tweaks and some love from the developer, it could really be the main computer. With the beautiful display, terrific camera , great battery life and storage capacity. I'm sure you're gonna love iPhone 6 plus.
0 comments:
Post a Comment