Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
The iPhone hexad is still a decent budget ( for an iPhone ) pick in 2018 . bouncy Photos , 3D Touch , headphone jack and a substantial camera make for a fine option that pass iOS 11 . Though the iPhone 7 , 8 and 10 are all also on cut-rate sale and are technically more impressive , the 6s is still being betray by Apple for in force reason . If you want in to the Io ecosystem but are on a budget then it ’s the obvious , cheapest choice . It ’ll get updates for a year or more at least , and the headphone tar is a bonus for many still .
The iPhone sixer is two years erstwhile now , but there are still many reasons to consider buying it . A decent camera , headphone old salt and plan essentially the same as the iPhone 8 all for £ 449 ? Do n’t dismiss the 6s quite yet .
Price and availability
The iPhone 6s is uncommitted to corrupt from the Apple Store and via most manipulator in the UK , and was welcomed by typical Apple Store launching Clarence Shepard Day Jr. queues .
Now , it retails from£449 for the 32 GB model . or128 GB for £ 549direct from Apple .
This represents a becoming price reduction – the iPhone 7 starts at £ 549 , while the iPhone 8 starts at £ 699 . And then there ’s the iPhone X from £ 999 . So for less than half the price of the iPhone X , you may get a 6 . Not regretful economic value at all if you merely want an iPhone that Apple still supports with iOS update .
iPhone history
This iPhone has been interchange with a newer manikin . incur links below to our revaluation of all iPhone role model , including the latest generation.iPhone 16is expected to launch in September 2024 ( seewhen is the best time to buy a new iPhone ) , whileiPhone SE ( 4th generation)andiPhone 17are likely to appear in 2025 . Find out aboutApple ’s September consequence detailsandhow to watch the Apple September event live stream ; or for other Apple intersection , take more about all thenew Apple products come this yearandwhen is the next Apple case . You might also like ouriPhone purchasing guide , good iPhone dealsandcomparison of every iPhone that is usable to buy today .
Design and build
The design of the iPhone 6s is essentially the same as the older iPhone 6 , but there are a few slim change . It offers a 4.7 in display and is made with a sleek , rounded atomic number 13 casing just like its herald .
The difference is that the iPhone 6s is made with a more durable Series 7000 Aluminium , just like the alloy used for the Apple Watch , in a bid to prevent a repeat of the Bendgate debacle . We ’re hope this also translates into a more dent - resistant iPhone as our iPhone 6 Plus would indent from comparatively minuscule drops , though we ’ve yet to ( volitionally ) drop our iPhone 6s to put this to the test .
What ’s more , the iPhone sestet is also available in Rose Gold , adding to the Gold , Silver and Slate Grey previously seen . pic do n’t do the roseate Au iPhone any judge , as it look ten times better in the flesh ( in our vox populi anyway ) . There ’s a Rose Gold Apple Watch Sport available to equal , too .
As expected , the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are slightly boneheaded than their predecessors , but by such a teeny tiny amount ( two tenths of a millimetre to be precise ) you ’ll never point out . This is respectable newsworthiness , as it think you do n’t have to vest in a cache of young iPhone cases if you ’ve already drive an iPhone 6 . Although with this said , we have noticed that the iPhone 6s is marginally heavy than the 6 – but with the added protection of Series 7000 aluminum and the launching of 3D Touch technology , we think it ’s a worthy trade wind - off .
Display
We ’re a bit disappointed to see that Apple did n’t up the result of the iPhone 6s ’s screen . It ’s the same Retina display as on its precursor , but this time it has the 3D Touch technical school beneath it to introduce a huge chain of new possibilities that we ’re excited about , as we ’ll excuse later .
The iPhone 6s has a 1334×750 picture element display with a pixel density of 326ppi . And while we ’ve found that the covert on the iPhone 6 is perfectly satisfactory for browse and play , there ’s no dubiousness that QHD expose from the likes of Samsung and LG take thing to a whole young level that Apple had n’t quite reached yet but can now take to with the iPhone X.
Read next : iPhone sise vs Samsung Galaxy S7
3D Touch
Really , 3D Touch is a miscellany of display tech , hardware and software , but it ’s one of the most exciting fresh features of the new iPhone 6s so we ’re dedicate a whole section of this review to it .
It works a lot like Force Touch on the Apple Watch and the unexampled MacBook trackpad , discover force to enable new ways to interact with the smartphone . In addition to tapping , you may ‘ glance ’ and ‘ Pop ’ by pressing thinly or pressing harder . You ’re able to interact with apps made by Apple as well as apps made by third - party developer in unexampled style thanks to the technology .
On the home screen , you ’re able to press out on icons to go directly to a special part of that app . For example , conjure the Instagram icon will bring up alternative to post a photo or video , view your natural process , access your direct messages or initiate a search , and the Camera ikon will present selection that let you take a selfie or start shooting a television .
But what about apps that do n’t offer any sort of shortcuts ? It ’ll slur everything around the icon , thrill quickly then revert back to its original state to show you that it recognise the press , but nothing else is go bad to happen .
( If you want to edit the prompt - actions that come up in the miniskirt - menu when you do a harder mechanical press on the ikon for Phone , Messages or FaceTime , apropos , take a expression at our quick tutorial : How to edit the 3D Touch shortcut menus for Phone , Messages & FaceTime . )
It ’s pretty unmanageable to really understand how great this is until you ’ve tried it , as it ’s all about how it palpate to apply , but we can try our best to excuse it , because things get really interesting when you ’re using it from within an app . It can be a bite fiddly but we cerebrate we ’ll get used to it in fourth dimension .
For one , you’re able to use it to preview a message in Mail . From your inbox , simply force pressure on an electronic mail to ‘ peek ’ into it and get a preview of the content . It ’s a much easier elbow room of browsing your inbox , but it ’ll take some getting used to – we ’ve found ourselves lifting our ovolo when peek into an e-mail to see what is indite beneath our pollex , which understate the trailer .
Although as our US confrere Susie mark in her hands - on review of the iPhone 6s , it ’s not really used for reading , which is why Apple calls it ‘ peep ’ . It ’s meant for pocket-sized interactions that ’ll make your life history a little easy . From the Peek prevue in Mail , you may abstract right to cross out the email as read / unread , swipe left to archive it or swipe up to unveil extra options include Reply All , Forward , Mark , Notify Me and Move Message .
The good news is that when you swipe up to unveil extra choice , the preview window becomes fasten in place , allowing you to take your digit off the blind to pick out the option you need . It ’d be pretty ungainly to do otherwise !
If you require to go right into the e-mail , you ’ll want to compress that piece hard to ‘ bug out ’ into the subject matter and answer or read more .
In Messages , you may use 3D Touch to attain lots of unlike tasks . Hard press on a name to call them , FaceTime them , add them to contacts and more . If you press on URLs you could glance at them to see a preview of what they ’d search like in Safari , or press harder to bug out into the app itself . Street addresses can be preview in Maps , dates can be added to the Calendar and more . Essentially , it should make everything much quicker and forbid you from needing to shift apps regularly .
And thanks to Apple ’s much more open approach shot , third - party developers are able to habituate the engineering in the apps and games . Instagram was one of the first to implement 3D Touch compatibility , enable users of the popular societal connection to ‘ peek ’ at other profiles from their feed , as well as ‘ peek ’ at pictures and video when browse a particular visibility . It ’s a adept manner of interact and is gustatory modality at what is to make out with the future tense of 3D Touch in third - party apps . Since launching , the like ofTweetbot 4,TumblrandWhatsApphave all added 3D touch control to their apps , and it hugely meliorate the overall experience .
Another exciting example of third party developers using 3D Touch is in AG Drive , a futuristic racing secret plan useable on theApp Store . When racing , you may use a change level of force to dictate your level of quickening , and pushing hard will trigger off a speeding boost ( when ready ) . This is compare to only having a undivided option for speedup and have to move your finger to hit the boost button on other devices , which after using the Captain Hicks for a few day seems like an clumsy way of play !
Read next : How to use 3D Touch|11 bang-up 3D Touch tips & tricks
We ’ve made a video illustrating our seven preferred unexampled feature of speech made possible thanks to 3D Touch :
Specs & hardware
Inside the iPhone 6s is a A9 central processor paired with an M9 movement co - processor to improve efficiency . Traditionally iPhones pack a lowly 1 GB of RAM , though the company has decided to upgrade to 2 GB of RAM with the iPhone 6s .
Apple says that the iPhone 6s ’s processor is 70 percent faster and has 90 per centum good graphics performance . The iPhone 6s tally 2511 in unmarried - pith mode and 4404 in multi - core mode in Geekbench , putting it just behind the processing power of the Galaxy S6 , which scored 4438 point . It beat the HTC One M9 by a whopping 626 points , score 3778 points , which is an acceptable score for a speech sound from 2015 .
However , it ’s in the graphics section that the iPhone 6s really flexes its muscularity . We ran two GFXBench tests – T - Rex and Manhattan , the same tests that our colleagues utilize when testing Android devices , and compared the results . Samsung ’s Galaxy S6 managed a respectable 30fps in T - Rex and 14fps in Manhattan , while the iPhone 6s score a whopping 59fps in T - Rex and 56fps in Manhattan .
Annoyingly , though , Apple stuck with the same 16 GB , 64 GB and 128 GB models , and with no microSD bill of fare slot there ’s no option for expansion ( although there are a number of mathematical product you’re able to buy toexpand the storage of your iPhone ) . Now in 2018 though , Apple sells a 32 GB and 128 GB model – the former being a much more acceptable entry level store capacity .
There are iCloud options available to aid store Photos , Music and more in the swarm , but you ’ll only get 5 GB of iCloud space for free so you ’ll find that you ’re paying for the privilege . We ’d commend opting for the 128 GB iPhone 6s if your budget can stretch to £ 549 .
Apple has improved the Touch ID fingerprint sensor beneath the menage button too , and is design to be speedier and more authentic . We ’ve found this to be the font – in fact , it ’s a littletoofast now .
We ’ve make into the wont of using the home clitoris to wake up the showing of our iPhones to check the time on the curl screen , as the power button is awkward to attain when using a 6(s)/6(s ) Plus . However , thanks to the update Touch ID , your phone is unlatched almost right away after pressing the release , which is n’t what we want to happen when we only require to control the time . It ’s a true first world problem to have , and we ’re really not kvetch , but it requires a bit of a workaround ( using fingernails , hook when clicking ) to avoid .
Curious about how the iPhone 6 compares to the quietus of the iPhone family ? We ’ve benchmarked every iPhone available to bribe from Apple at the time of dismissal to see just how unlike each multiplication is , and present it in the shape of an interactive graphical record below :
Audio
While the iPhone 6s is celebrated for its innovative display and powerful internals , the audio output signal is also fairly telling . It ’s meretricious enough for most users , with a tightly command mid - bass that provides the right-hand amount of impingement , although the sub - bass voice did n’t extend too well . The mids , however , were more telling ; the mids were well presented , and tout an precise tonality , providing audio that ’s almost true - to - life .
The highs are where the iPhone sise perform well , though . The timbre of the mellow whole tone are utterly salient , beating its rival flagship smartphones when compared . It extend well , and bluster the right amount of scintillation . We ’ve compared the iPhone 6s audio to a miscellanea of flagship smartphones , and we found it to be amongst the good , although we have to admit that the Galaxy S6 does a better overall task with better soundstage reproduction and less hinderance than the iPhone 6s . For general use , though ? The iPhone 6 will fit most the great unwashed down to the ground , with only rightful audiophiles being able-bodied to find a difference .
Camera
Apple has made some melioration to the iPhone ’s camera , introducing a 12Mp photographic camera to the rear and a 5Mp camera to the front . That ’s a significant betterment over the 1.2Mp camera on the front of the iPhone 6 , and the 8Mp camera on the hind end . Panoramas are now up to 63Mp , too .
The photographic camera is impressive , and rather than focalise on packing in loads of new picture element , Apple has instead sharpen on improving the technology behind it to produce top - quality images . We ’re amazed at just how good the quality is , and especially how honest it is at livid balancing – even when compared to the iPhone 6 . The iPhone camera really performs good in well - lit conditions , as photos are n’t as bright and vivid when there ’s less light source available . Although there is huge improvement in photographs take in low - light conditions when liken to its herald , we feel that it does n’t quite compete with the camera of the Samsung Galaxy S6 .
Interestingly , the company has also turned the display into a truthful - tone flash for the front camera , and we reckon we should see a huge melioration when it comes to selfies .
Then there ’s video , which has been improve to a fantastic 4 K ( at 30fps ) while the front - face photographic camera can record up to 1080p HD . While we were initially let down that the iPhone sestet features digital paradigm stabilisation compared to the iPhone 6s ’ optic picture stabilisation , we discover that the digital double stabilization on the iPhone 6s is phenomenal . We ’ve recorded videos walking down stair , panning around ( like true holidaymaker at Hoover Dam should ) and the ruined telecasting looked almost professionally recorded . Of course , there were a few jitter here and there , but it was a huge betterment over how unchanging our hand were when recording .
The 6s was also the first iPhone with Live Photos . alive Photos is flex on by nonremittal in the Camera app , and if you allow for it on it ’ll mechanically enchant 1.5 seconds before and after the consequence you exhort the shutter button . It ’s essentially a really short video recording or an animated GIF , but it really uses 12Mp photos catch by the iSight tv camera .
When you ’re flipping through your pic in the Camera Roll on the iPhone 6s , you ’ll see a little glimpse of the liveliness to indicate the fact that it is indeed a bouncy Photo and not a still . If you require to watch it , adjure harder using 3D Touch and you ’ll see the full three seconds , all over with an audio shot . It ’s a slap-up idea , and really work on nostalgia . think being capable to bet back at a moving snapshot of yourself / your friends – it ’ll be a much happy experience than a look back on a photo alone , and no redundant effort is required on your behalf .
Apple is open up Live Photos up to developer , too , so apps like Tumblr are able to support the feature in - app , allow users to ‘ play ’ exposure posted on the social web . But even if the unrecorded Photos never leave your iPhone they ’re still tiptop - nerveless , and are a bit like something you ’d expect to get hold in Hogwarts .
Our only concern is the space they take up – Apple says they “ wo n’t take up much more space , ” but that ’s not very specific . It ’s claimed that they ’ll take up around two time more blank space than standard photograph , but we ’ve found them to be 5 - 6 Mbit on average .
We ’ve been out to put the iPhone 6s camera to the trial , and we even take picture from the iPhone 5s , 6 and 6 Plus to see how they compare . While these equipment have cameras that are far from terrible , there are insidious differences between them . The survey images have been in no way edit out or compressed , we took them direct from the iPhone and put them online . The results are below :
iPhone 6s , St. Pancras Hotel :
iPhone 6 , St Pancras Hotel :
Here , you may see that the iPhone 6s plunk up on modest details than the iPhone 6 , which is particuarly noticable when look at the detailing of the St. Pancras hotel . You may also comment that the image taken by the iPhone 6s is more vivacious , clearly visible when compare the brickwork of the two photos .
iPhone 6s , Tree :
iPhone 6 Plus , tree :
It ’s the same account when comparing images taken from the iPhone 6 Plus with images from the iPhone 6s . you could see more detail and even single leaves when looking at the photo taken on the iPhone 6s – the iPhone 6 Plus still captures a great image , but the contingent is n’t quite there .
iPhone 6s , macro shot :
iPhone 5s , macro snapshot :
We ’ve uploaded the full collection of pic on ourFacebook varlet – the album can be viewed by clickinghere .
Software
The iPhone 6s shipped with iOS 9 , which introduce lots of new feature for all iPhone owners , but thanks to the 3D Touch exhibit there will be lot of extra features for users of the unexampled iPhone based on the new Peek and pappa interaction .
As of 2017 , it now ships with iOS 11 , a more advanced variation that the 6s can still run well despite the ageing computer hardware .
