After a week's use of the shiny new iPhone 6s here are two things that that jump out at me:
- Ah, the iPhone paradox - a phone you want to use a lot but your quality of life may depend on how less you use it.
- And then the Apple paradox - how come a company that has such a deep empathy for how users interact with their devices have none for their users' data?
Having said that, iPhone 6s is the best iPhone yet. It continues the progressive evolution of the iPhone from when it first came out in 2007. It is amazing that a new version is out every year and every new version is just a little bit better than the last year. Not too many things in life you can say that about.
Here are some quick notes on the iPhone 6s...
Buying
I went with the Apple upgrade program which is only available in-store. This was my first in-store purchase of an iPhone. Even though I bought it on day 1 (Friday) in the first slot (8:00-8:30am) in a busy NYC store - it was an exceptionally simple and pleasant experience.
Feel
The phone is a bit heavier (about 10%) but that makes it feel great. Typing, tapping, pressing, everything feels just a little bit better because of the slight heft. I got an Apple Silicone Case. It is excellent. Feels great to the touch. My first Apple iPhone case and not going back.
Battery Life
No one seems to be noticing this but in my experience - battery life is significantly improved. I can go most of the day on an overnight charge. This is the first phone I've been able to do that with. I know the Internet is very angry about a marginally smaller capacity battery. However, there must be some gains in efficiency or software but my battery is lasting almost a full day with typically a 40+ minute workout thrown in with a GPS-based tracking app and the Apple Watch both sipping some juice. So, I'm pretty happy with that.
3D-Touch
I love it. It is one of those features that once you get used to it - you wonder why it wasn't always there. The photo top-right is one implementation of it. But there are several others. Some more useful than others. I do wonder though if this really required 3D-touch. Could this have been done using a long-press?
Live Photos
Great feature. It can be used to capture some really amazing moments or to make something creative. Unfortunately, you can only see live photos either on the phone or on Apple's terrible Photos app update in El Capitan.
And yet it can be magical. A simple photo on the right can turn into a lovely moment shown in the video below.
Camera
Pretty good. A decent size bump from the last model. Though the quality seems about the same. Pixel peeping easily shows artifacts, color issues and noise in even marginally low-light situations like in the two shots shown below. Not replacing the SLR anytime soon but it is a gradual march and the writing is on the wall.
Improved Touch ID
Works more or less the same as before. Internet is claiming that it is much much faster but I don't feel it. To me - it just seems incrementally better. Better, but not by that much.
General Speed
I know, everyone says the phone is significantly faster. I don't feel it much. Yes, it seems a bit snappier but not a lot. It is not slow but neither was iPhone 6 so not sure how one can say this is almost 'twice' as fast. It may be so on benchmarks, but I certainly don't feel it in real life.
Conclusion
Like all iPhones, this is a better product than the version it replaced. And I like it a lot.