Introduction
The more it changes, the harder it becomes to see the difference. And you know, it's not about Apple and the iPhone at all. It's where the industry has been heading for a while now. In the race for screen size and processing power, the major makers' flagships are like pro athletes finishing within milliseconds of each other. To get an extra edge, manufacturers will go in lots of directions - such as water proofing, bigger and sharper selfies, wireless charging, curved or borderless screens, whatnot.
A certain type of players would rather lose than be in a crowd of winners. Others don't even play games they can't win. We guess we all know where Apple stands on this.
With a single iPhone a year - two as of late - Apple is the kid that skips classes but aces the tests. The wild card player that goes on to win the tournament. The team that doesn't play qualifiers but goes to the world cup.
Wouldn't we all do less and make more? There goes the iPhone 6S, off to a familiar start. The same on the outside but trying to pose as the most important iPhone since the first one ever released.
The new iPhone, being an S model, naturally comes with more power under the hood, but also brings the long awaited camera upgrade. The main camera now uses a 12MP sensor capable of 4K video recording as well as 1080p at 120fps, there is a brand new 5MP selfie camera too. And, it's the same screen size and resolution but we think it's exactly what Apple meant with "the only thing that's changed is everything".
Key features
- 4.7" 16M-color LED-backlit IPS LCD of 750 x 1334px resolution, 326ppi
- 3D Touch technology recognizes levels of pressure, brand new Taptic engine for better feedback
- Apple iOS 9
- Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cyclone 64-bit CPU, 2GB of RAM, Apple A9 SoC
- 12MP F/2.2 camera with True tone LED flash, phase detection auto focus, 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps, @60fps and @120fps video recording, 720p video recording @120fps and 240fps
- 5MP F/2.2 front-facing camera with BSI sensor and HDR mode, 1080p@30fps video
- Comes in 16, 64, and 128GB of built-in storage
- Second-gen Touch ID fingerprint sensor
- 4G LTE Cat.6 (300Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2; Lightning port; GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS; NFC (Apple Pay only)
- 1,715 mAh battery, new Power saving mode
Main disadvantages
- No microSD slot
- Pricey memory upgrades, 32GB version should be standard for such an expensive phone
- Protruding camera lens makes the phone wobble
- Lacks the optical image stabilization of the iPhone 6s Plus
- NFC functionality limited to Apple Pay
- No wireless charging, an infrared port, or FM radio
- No enhanced resistance to liquids or dust
- No user-replaceable battery
The first iPhone heralded the arrival of capacitive displays and multi-touch technology. The iPhone 6S is the first to have 3D touch - a screen technology that recognizes different levels of pressure for an extra dimension of interaction with a device.
A late tribute perhaps to resistive screens, which Apple itself sent to their doom. Not a particularly scientific statement although resistive technology did rely on actual pressure to work. Good enough for anyone with a penchant for the dramatic.
But if we are to stick to the facts, the iPhone 6s isn't the company's first device with a pressure-aware display, the Apple Watch is. Plus, phones like the Huawei Mate S and the ZTE Axon mini do deserve at least a mention as well. Anyway, this only highlights the difference between Apple and the rest. Cupertino has the habit - and in all fairness, the capability - to pick a niche technology and make it mainstream.
So, the pressure aware display and improved imaging are the big news about the iPhone 6S. We've pretty much come to take the next OS and chipset version for granted.
Sure, we all know better than to expect a memory card slot and access to the battery, but we just can't agree with Apple's decision to stick with the 16GB option as base instead of 32GB, which is actually not offered at all. 4K videos and the live photos (with sound) will clearly need more space than before. Not only that but Apple is actually charging slightly more in Europe for the base version of its latest iPhone.
And we can put it down as a typical Apple quirk that they snubbed things like water resistance and wireless charging but somehow couldn't resist the selfie thing. Oh well, there'll be more of those as we go. Our 64GB iPhone 6s is popping out of the box right after the jump.
Unboxing the iPhone 6s
The retail package of the iPhone 6s will hardly surprise anyone. The compact cardboard box contains the device itself, a well-packed pair of EarPods, an A/C adapter and a Lightning cable.
Apple iPhone 6s retail package
The 1A charger is very compact, but it's not going to win any speed competitions - in the day and age of Quick Charge, VOOC and other quick battery topping solutions, what Apple offers is rather disappointing. And if you live in the UK, Ireland, Malta, Hong Kong, or any other country that uses the British standard then you also lose the small size perk as the adapter there is huge.
Apple iPhone 6s 360-degree spin
The new iPhone 6S, as the 's' suggests, pretty much reuses the original design and only upgrades the internals. The additions of the 3D Touch technology and the bigger camera required some minor changes though.
For one, the iPhone 6s is a tad thicker and yet had to sacrifice some battery capacity to accommodate the layer of pressure sensors in the screen. Its dimensions are 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm, compared to the original 138.1 x 67 x 6.9mm. The difference is negligible but it's bad news if you had some tight-fitting cases for your iPhone 6 - they won't fit on the 6s.
What's more readily noticeable is that the iPhone 6s has gained some extra 14g of weight, again down to the pressure-sensitive layer. That's the kind of difference you can feel in your pocket and makes the phone heavier than the Galaxy S6 with its 5.1" screen.
Design and build quality
It may be an entirely different device within, but the exterior of the iPhone 6s is absolutely identical to last year's iPhone 6. Packing just 4.7 inches of screen estate it is still one of the most compact flagships on the market, but its screen-to-body ratio is rather unimpressive (read too much bezel). Apple has been reluctant to do something about that for years now and things are now getting embarrassing - there are phones with 5+" screens that have the same footprint, while phones with equally sized displays usually come in notably smaller packages.
Apple iPhone 6s
There are some good news though. The iPhone 6s unibody is cast out of 7000 series aluminum instead of last year's 6000 series and it's stronger. Latest tests revealed the iPhone 6S bends at much higher levels of pressure than the previous generation - almost triple actually. So, Apple has put bendgate firmly behind it and skinny jeans are no longer an iPhone's mortal enemy.
The front is covered by an ion-strengthened glass with oleophobic coating - those are pretty much the same specs as in the previous iPhone models and mean the glass is scratch and smudge resistant. The Ion-X glass creates the so-called 2.5D effect thanks to its rounded edge. By the way, Apple claims the new special ion-exchange process makes it the most durable screen glass among smartphones today, but early drop test didn't provide conclusive evidence for that.
Apple iPhone 6s
So, higher-grade durable glass and aluminum alloy should improve the overall resilience of the phone. It still lacks water and dust resistance, but seeing how Sony is changing its policy on those and Samsung gave up on it for the Galaxy S6 this is less of a disadvantage now than it was last year.
The back of the iPhone 6s is familiar - mostly aluminum, with two plastic bands covering the antennas and a slightly protruding camera ring. The new 12MP sensor is still protected by a small piece of sapphire glass, so you should worry more about scratching your wooden desk rather than damaging the camera piece.
Extra heft might have made carrying it a bit harder, but handling the iPhone 6s is pretty much the same pleasing experience. The phone feels great in hand thanks to the premium materials and finish but you still need to be extra careful as the thin and rounded edges don't have the best grip.
Handling the iPhone 6s
Controls
The iPhone 6S has the same control set as its predecessor. Above the display is where the earpiece, a couple of sensors and the new 5MP selfie camera are.
While the front facer doesn't come with a LED flash, Apple make up for it by letting you use the screen as one. If you turn on the so-called Retina flash the entire screen will light up in white and provide some extra light as long as you keep close to it. It's something we've seen other manufactufrers do for a few years now, but Apple went a step further and gave the backlighting a brightness boost of up to 300% compared to the usual maximum.
A peek above and below the display
Below the display is the Home button, which also hosts the refined Touch ID sensor. It's noticeably faster than before. About time too! Although Apple brought the technology back from the dead, it's among the last to improve the performance of the sensor. In an ideal world we would have also got an always on mode so you don't have to press the button and wake the phone, but even so the iPhone 6s still has one of the better working solutions on the market.
The volume keys and the silencer are on the left, while the power/lock key and the nano-SIM tray are on the right as usual.
The left and right sides of the iPhone 6s
There is nothing on top of the iPhone 6s, while the bottom has the audio jack, the primary mic, the Lightning port, and the loudspeaker grille.
The top and bottom of the iPhone 6s
The iPhone 6s rear side is as familiar as it can get - the camera is there, the second mic and the dual-LED dual-tone flash. The new 12MP sensor allows for wider panorama photos and 4K video recording, while the more powerful hardware enables 120fps capture at 1080p resolution.
What's on the back
Display
While the display may hide an entirely new touch technology, it's still the same display in terms of size and resolution: a 4.7" unit with a resolution of 750 x 1334 pixels (that's 326ppi). It's a LED-backlit IPS LCD screen with RGB matrix.
The Apple iPhone 6s display offers deeper blacks than the iPhone 6 but unfortunately, it's not as bright at its maximum setting. Nevertheless, the new generation of iPhone managed to output an overall better contrast ratio of 1481:1.
The color rendition of the screen is generally accurate with a pretty low average deltaE of 3.6 (for the primary colors plus black and white), and it's the white and reds that show a somewhat higher deviation. The white is slightly on the cooler bluish side, but nothing major and certainly not noticeable without a reference.
As usual, display colors are a matter of personal taste and perception so if you don't need calibrated color output, you will probably be quite happy with the Apple iPhone 6s screen as it is out-of-the-box.
| Display test | 50% brightness | 100% brightness | ||||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | |||
| 0.17 | 207 | 1230 | 0.61 | 740 | 1213 | |
| 0.10 | 148 | 1542 | 0.36 | 536 | 1481 | |
| 0.14 | 163 | 1145 | 0.49 | 596 | 1219 | |
| 0.00 | 208 | ∞ | 0.00 | 473 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 172 | ∞ | - | 410 | ∞ | |
| 0.15 | 175 | 1180 | 0.44 | 534 | 1221 | |
| 0.00 | 152 | ∞ | 0.00 | 398 | ∞ | |
| 0.09 | 108 | 1240 | 0.43 | 532 | 1238 | |
| 0.07 | 89 | 1372 | 0.32 | 450 | 1398 | |
As far as sunlight legibility is concerned, the slightly lower brightness of the iPhone 6s outs a whisker lesser score than its predecessor, the 6, but it's still among the top 20 devices in our all-time chart. This means the contrast in direct sunlight remains excellent in all cases.
Sunlight contrast ratio
Battery life
The iPhone 6S is equipped with a non-removable Li-Po 1715 mAh battery, which is about 5% smaller than the one of the iPhone 6. iOS 9 introduced a Low-Power mode, which you can enable manually and should save your phone from dying faster once the charge drops below 20%.
We were eager to see how the new features will affect the battery life, especially when the battery unit got even smaller. The iPhone 6s posted very balanced score across all of our tests - it can do about 10 hours of 3G calls or video playback on a single charge, while you can browse on Wi-Fi for half a day.
So, the total ratting of the iPhone 6s is 62 hours - an hour better than the iPhone 6. This means 62 hours is how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the iPhone 6s for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. Such usage pattern is of course entirely artificial, but we've established it so our battery results are comparable across devices.
Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating. Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.
Connectivity
The Apple iPhone 6S comes with a bunch of wireless connectivity features. It supports faster LTE Cat. 6 (up to 3000Mpbs down, 50Mbps up) and has even wider LTE coverage. Regular 2G and 3G connectivity is all safely covered as well with a multitude of supported network bands.
The iPhone 6S also supports the latest Voice over LTE (VoLTE), HD Voice and Wi-Fi calling protocols, but those are carrier dependent features so not everyone will enjoy them.
Compared to the iPhone 6, the 6S now upgraded Wi-Fi functionality too - it supports all the current Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac standards but doubles the theoretical speeds thanks to the use of a 2x2 MIMO antenna. AirPlay is the only way to wirelessly cast your screen's contents to an HDTV, but you'd need to have an Apple TV for that.
Additional local connectivity includes Bluetooth 4.0 LE. There is also support for NFC, but its functionality is only limited to Apple's region-restricted Apple Pay.
The iPhone 6s uses a proprietary Lightning connector for wired data transfers and charging.
There is no support for USB On-the-go or USB host but you can pair a Bluetooth keyboard to the phone should you need this sort of peripheral.
Apple iOS 9 - some new features, lots of potential
Sticking to its usual practices, Apple unveiled the new iOS 9 in June, but at that point it didn't cause too much excitement. Looking much like iOS 8 and bringing only a handful of new features, it didn't stay in the spotlight for long.
Now, a few months later things are different - the iOS 9 biggest update wasn't mentioned at the announcement for understandable reasons - it's the support of the new 3D Touch display and the API that will be available to game and app developers. Depending on how it goes with the early adopters, this feature alone has the potential to alter the way we interact with our phones the same way the first capacitive display and the multi-touch gestures did.
The support for 3D Touch allows for another level of interaction, press the screen for a bit longer (and harder). This gets you access to extra actions and contextual options and we can't wait to see how say, game developers put that to use in the months to come. We'll get back to examining Touch ID and its impact on iOS 9 in a short while, but first let's cover the basics of the new Apple platform.
iOS 9 brings a couple of new apps - News and Notes, while also enhancing Maps with public transit support. Mail and Messages got refreshed and there's a new system font. Meanwhile Siri got smarter, while Spotlight Search expanded its reach.
Visually iOS 9 looks the same as its predecessor. All of your apps are on the homescreen, you can group them in folders and there is the familiar dock that can take up to four shortcuts. System icons, color themes and transparency - everything is like we left it in iOS 8.
The lockscreen hasn't changed much either, but it now supports Live Photo wallpapers - they are either short animations or you can use one of thoseLive Photos that the iPhone 6s duo is capable of capturing. For the animation to activate, you need to press firmly on the screen, which is somewhat counterintuitive and we doubt it will be an oft used feature as nobody would really want to hard press the screen for 3 seconds just to see their lockscreen wallpaper move a bit.
The lockscreen • The homescreen • Control Center • Notification Center
The Control Center that's pulled up from the bottom of the screen keeps the same layout of toggles, shortcuts and media controls. The Notification Center drops from the top and features the same Today and Notification tabs. There are no new widgets or notification options.
The task-switcher interface loses its webOS flat cards look and opts for a cooler 3D carousel. Unfortunately, you are still able to only see just three apps, and it takes even more scrolling so we're not quite happy with this change.
The new task manager
The iPhone 6s supports quick app switching between opened apps via a Force Touch gestures. Just swipe from the far left side of the screen with a firm touch and you'll get to the app switcher. Upon choosing the app you want to go to, this gesture starts alternating your current app and the one you've selected. Say you are browsing and Facebook chatting simultaneously, you can switch between the two apps with just a firm swipe from the left. It sounds a bit complicated but it's actually quite intuitive once you try it.
The Spotlight search has been improved. You can invoke it by a downwards swipe from anywhere on the homescreen, or go to the leftmost pane. It has been updated and can now do simple calculations and conversions. It also supports finding sport scores and weather forecast information. And finally, you get shortcuts for making a call or sending a message to any of the contact results in the Spotlight searches.
The new Spotlight Search
Siri got smarter, too. In addition to all the cool stuff the intelligent assistant could do before, it can now search through your photos and videos based on dates, locations and the album names. It supports custom reminders from things you've been searching for in Safari, Mail, Notes and Messages and it got support for public transit navigation too.
Siri can be summoned anytime by saying 'Hey, Siri'
Next, there is the new pro-active assistance available system-wide, which is more or less Apple's take on Google Now - it provides relevant information to you in advance - before you start typing something or before you leave for some place (work, home).
Finally, iOS 9 extends the overall language support for Siri, Spotlight, the predictive input, dictation support, dictionaries and spell check. Siri is now available in Austrian German, Belgian French and Norwegian, while Mexico gets its proper Spotlight support.
Predictive input is now available in Belgian French, Austrian German, Gujarati, Hindi, Hinglish, Punjabi, Mexican Spanish and Telugu. Finland and Korea get spell check. Last, but not least, dictation is now available for Belgium (Dutch and French), English for Ireland, Philippines, and South Africa, Austria (German) and Spanish for Chile and Colombia.
When it comes to predictive input, iOS 9 would gradually learn the way you type and search and would eventually become a passive yet very useful assistant. This will take off some pressure of Siri and yet make your interactions with the iPhone much easier and pleasant.
3D Touch aims to be the next big thing
Currently 3D Touch gestures are available only on selected system app. You can use it on the lockscreen, the homescreen and within apps. We already talked about the lockscreen gimmick, let's see what it does on the homescreen.
Force pressing on the Message icon pops up a balloon with a New Message shortcut and a short list of your most recent messaging contacts. Force clicking on the Phone app gives you a - Create New Contact key and a short list of recently contacted people.
Force Touch on Messages and Phone apps
Applying force on the Calendar pops up New Event option; on the Clock - New Alarm/Start Timer/Stopwatch; on Maps - Directions to Home, Share location, drop pin and search nearby; on the Stores - Redeem and Search; on the Camera - Take Photo, Take Selfie, Record Video and Record Slow-mo.
Force Touch on Calendar, Clock, Maps, App Store and Camera apps
Continuing on Safari - you get Show Reading List, Bookmark list, New Private tab and New tab; Mail offers shortcuts to Inbox, VIP, New message and Search; Music has Play Beats; and Notes - New Note, New Sketch and New Photo note.
Force Touch on Safari and Mail
As you can see those force taps on the homescreen are indeed useful sometimes, but are hardly something you can't live without. What really matters is what you can do within the apps with 3D Touch.
3D Touch is meant to allow you to get more content than you normally get on a screen, so that you can give it a quick glance and let it go - all of this with just one firm long press.
If you press hard on an email within the Mail app, first it will be selected by blurring all the others. Applying slightly more force will pop its contents into a balloon for you to see it. Here you can either apply more force to open the whole email, or release your finger thus you'll be back on the email list.
Force Touch within Mail app
While you are holding the Mail balloon open, you can swipe it up and you'll get advanced options such as Reply, Forward, Mark, Notify Me and Move.
You can do the same on Messages - a firm press opens a preview of your most recent messages with this contact and if you keep pressing you'll eventually open the full thread.
3D Touch within Messages app
Tapping with force on a contact in the Phone app pops up Mail, Message and Call shortcuts. Tapping on a day in the Calendar pops up a preview of the day's events and will eventually open the full day view. The Notes app has the same logic.
3D Touch within Phone, Calendar and Notes
Force touch on a photo in the gallery will pop up a photo preview. If you move your finger towards the top you'll reveal a menu with copy, share and delete settings. If you swipe down or just release, you'll put this photo back on the pile.
Force Touch within Photos
And if you opened the photo already, a strong Touch will invoke its Live Photo, if available.
Safari also takes advantage of Force Touch - hit a link firmly and you get a pop up with the linked page and if you like what you see you can press harder to open it, or just release it for discarding.
Selecting text with 3D Touch in Safari • Force Touch on links in Safari
Finally, one of the most meaningful uses of the Force Touch is selecting text. If you do a standard tap and hold on text you'll begin scrolling through the words. And when you apply force to activate the Force Touch, you begin text selection from this very moment. This eases the entire text selection process tremendously - just scroll to your desired place and force touch from there and continue scrolling until you're done.
That's basically all of it at the moment - it's not much and certainly most of the functionality feels, if you pardon the pun, forced rather than intuitive and helpful. However, we get the feeling that Apple is simply trying to give hints to developers with those. Those are just ideas with the hope that developers will actually put the feature to great use in their apps.
Given the chance, 3D Touch may turn to be a breakthrough that will shape smartphone usage for years to come. Similar to what Apple did with multi-touch or the fingerprint sensor.
What does add more fuel to the 3D Touch fire is that other manufacturers began announcing phones with similar tech shortly before Apple's event, so there will be more companies that want to see it succeed and in turn more developers willing to give it a proper consideration.
Apple A9 chip performance
The new generation of iPhones is powered by a brand new Apple A9 chipset, which packs a dual-core 1.85 GHz Typhoon processor, PowerVR GT7600 six-core graphics and 2GB RAM. The chips are made either by Samsung on 14nm process, or TSMC on 16nm process. All of these mean the A9 has more processing power, a stronger GPU punch, double the RAM and better thermal properties.
Apple has always focused on the single-core performance since it is the most important one when it comes to interacting with the iOS user interface and early tests showed that the 64-bit Typhoon core is the best and fastest CPU core currently on the market. On the other hand you are only getting two of those, so we'll see how it goes. In come the benchmarks.
The multi-core score of GeekBench 3 shows how powerful the new dual-core Typhoon processor is. It beats the Snapdragon 810 chips with their quad-Cortex-A57 CPU, but trails behind the Exynos 7420, which uses a similar architecture but a higher clock speed.
Both iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 used for the tests below are running on iOS 9.0.1.
GeekBench 3
Higher is better
The single-core results show you the difference. A single Typhoon does insanely better than any other CPU core on the market today. In fact, a single Typhoon core is equal to the 8-core Cortex-A53 performance on the Meizu m2 note.
GeekBench 3 single core
Higher is better
The compound BaseMark OS II 2.0 test gauges CPU, GPU, Memory, Web and System performance. In this test there is no one to come even close to the iPhone 6s thanks to Apple's optimized OS. The fact that it has the latest A9 chipset doesn't hurt either.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
Next - graphics performance. The new iPhone generation utilizes the six-core PowerVR GT7600 GPU, which is quite the beast. The 1080p off-screen benchmarks speak for themselves.
GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
The iPhone 6s has a sub-1080p display resolution, which gives it an edge over the 1080p and Quad HD phones in the performance chart.
GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)
Higher is better
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
Finally, Android has OpenGL ES 3.1 as latest generation graphics, while iOS 9 has Metal. Both allow games to make full use of the built-in GPUs and BaseMark has launched the BaseMark ES3.1 / Metal apps so we can compare the performance cross-platform. Combined with the lower resolution of the iPhone 6s, the Metal test really produces outstanding results.
Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal
Higher is better
Unfortunately,the BrowserMark 2.1 web test wasn't compatible with the new version of Safari and we couldn't perform the benchmark. We were able to test the pure JavaScript performance via the Kraken benchmark though, and it came out class-leading.
Kraken 1.1
Lower is better
Apple A9 is a beast - there's no other way to put it. The iPhone 'S' series typically stand for Speed and the iPhone 6s is not only the fastest iPhone to date, it's probably the best performing smartphone too. Apple's choice of designing its own processor pays out every year and makes sure iOS users never have to worry about lackluster performance.
Apple A9 has the power to handle everything you can get on your phone today and is future-proof for the years to come with some huge power reserves under the hood.
Telephony and messaging
The iOS 9 Phone app hasn't changed a bit, but it supports 3D Touch, as we already discussed. A force touch over a contact does the same as Quick Contacts on Android - pops up a small balloon with quick shortcuts for call, message and email.
The phonebook does not support smart dial, but offers social integration. Blacklist is available for those needing this feature.
The phonebook
FaceTime is naturally available for all compatible iOS and Mac devices and allows you to make free voice and video calls to any other FaceTime-enabled device.
The same goes for iMessage - once enabled you can send free text and multimedia content, including voice-recorded messages, to any other iMessage-enabled Apple gadget.
FaceTime • iMessages
Apple is also offering a new feature called Wi-Fi calling. If both parties support this service and it is on, the call won't be placed through the cellular network but the internet. This improves the audio quality and won't use your allotted monthly minutes.
As usual we've tested the loudspeaker performance of the new iPhone 6s. It is worse than the speaker of its iPhone 6 predecessor and scored a Below Average mark. The sound quality is very good though.
This means you should keep a close eye on your phone in noisy environments, or missing calls is a real possibility.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing | Overall score | |
| 66.5 | 64.6 | 65.8 | Below Average | |
| 66.7 | 66.6 | 67.7 | Average | |
| 66.5 | 65.8 | 70.5 | Average | |
| 68.7 | 66.3 | 69.2 | Average | |
| 66.6 | 65.7 | 72.8 | Average | |
| 65.2 | 64.6 | 76.1 | Average | |
| 69.7 | 66.5 | 73.5 | Good | |
| 66.9 | 71.8 | 74.7 | Good | |
| 75.7 | 69.6 | 75.9 | Very Good | |
| 75.7 | 73.5 | 80.7 | Excellent |
The messaging interface is kept the same since the iOS 8. It's 3D Touch-enhanced and you can get quick preview of your threads upon a firm press. The Mail app hasn't changed much, too, aside from the added force touch support and the new contextual menu with quick shortcuts for reply, forward, delete.
The Messaging app
Finally, the iOS 9 keyboard looks the same though its QuickType predictive input has got a refined algorithm. Over time, the iOS will learn from your typing patterns, vocabulary, people you write often to and topics. It will eventually understand the subject of each thread and base suggestions on whether the communication is formal or casual.
Apple iOS keyboard
Photos offers better search, 3D Touch support, Live Photos
The Photos app offers the same layout and interface we met for the first time in the iOS 8. Your pictures are organized by date and location, if available. The views you can switch between are Moments, Collections and Year - just like before.
Photos app
Recently Deleted album is available in case you change your mind in the next 30 days.
The Search options in the Photos app has been improved with the option to search by location and date. And this applies not only for the Photos app itself, but Siri as well. That's really useful for those with lots and lots of photos on their devices.
What's a Live Photo? This is an option enabled by default in the camera app and shoots a small video clip (3 seconds) a 1.5s before and a 1.5s after you hit the shutter. We've already seen this on the HTC One and the Zoe feature and they are pretty neat, allowing you keep more lively memories.
We already mentioned the 3D Touch support. It allows you to preview both standard photos and Live Photos in the gallery. It's a pop-up with the picture and you can swipe it up for additional settings (Copy, Share, Delete).
3D Touch • Image editing
The integrated image editor is really powerful and could improve your photos a lot. You should try and play a bit with it, it's among the best we've seen on a mobile device and while it may offer lots of manual tweaks, its automatic enhancement options are rather good, too.
Limited video player
Unfortunately iOS9 still hasn't done anything about the video player. You can upload only supported formats via iTunes or purchase videos from the iTunes store. This is an extremely disappointing showing by a platform that is supposed to excel at multimedia consumption.
The lack of extra functionality is bad enough, but having to use just an extremely limited number of media format or resorting to converting files, which is both slow and inconvenient, is a real deal-breaker.
The video player
Luckily there are many powerful video apps in the App Store, so you shouldn't worry that your iPhone can't be a powerful video player. With the right app, it does everything you'd expect a normal device would do - play any kind of videos, with subtitles, and you can even cast it on an external display.
Music with Apple Music support
The iOS 9 music player looks a lot like the one from iOS 8 - it supports (ad-supported or ad-free) iTunes Radio and iTunes Match, as well as iCloud Music library. It syncs with your computer's iTunes library, streams from your Match and/or iCloud songs, as well.
The Music app with Apple Music
But in case that is not enough, there's also Apple Music now. The service can replace everything music-related feature Apple has launched to date and offer you pretty much the entire music world at the tip of your fingers.
Basically Apple Music does what Google Music or any other similar service does - allows you to stream songs, add them to playlists, and build an entire music library in the cloud. You can also download those songs for offline usage and unlike Google Music, Apple Music allows you to download single songs from albums.
Beats 1 Radio • Connect with artists • My library
The search option is useful and there is a good chance you can find all of your favorite songs on Apple Music.
Apple knew it can't compete with Google Music, Spotify or Microsoft's Groove by just adding the same features, so it tries to bring you closer to your favorite artists. In addition to smart suggestions, you can follow your favorite musician and make sure you don't miss any important updates from them. Apple made it easier for both the stars and the users to share social content and that's probably the biggest advantage over the competition.
Finally, the Beats 1 radio is available 24/7 and the tracks there are chosen by real DJs, not machine algorithms. Lots of people have been hooked on this idea already.
Apple Music is priced differently in different regions and is accessible from more than 100 countries across the globe. It offers a three month long free trial, after which you have to pay between $2.99 (some Asian markets) and £9.99 (UK) depending on where you live. A $14.99/€14.99/€7.99 per month family plan is also available, and this works for up to 6 persons.
Very good audio quality, not quite the best
The Apple iPhone 6s audio output is identical to that of its predecessor. Sadly that's not very good news as last year Apple took a step back in that regard, and unfortunately it failed to patch things up now.
When plugged into an active external amplifier, the Apple iPhone 6s posted excellent scores with the rather mediocre stereo crosstalk reading being the solitary exception.
Rather impressively, there's virtually no degradation when you plug in a pair of headphones. The spike in stereo crosstalk is so limited that in comparison, the iPhone 6s fares way better here than in the first test. Granted, there are phones out there that do even better, but that will only matter to the most extreme audiophiles.
In both cases, volume levels were above average although Apple used to be class leading here too and now it's just matching most competitors and falling behind the elite. Still, the overall output is very good and would please the majority of users.
Anyway, here go the results so you can do your comparisons.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.03, -0.04 | -93.5 | 93.5 | 0.0016 | 0.0075 | -73.2 | |
| +0.10, -0.06 | -93.8 | 93.9 | 0.0030 | 0.101 | -68.2 | |
| +0.06, -0.02 | -94.0 | 93.9 | 0.0012 | 0.0065 | -73.4 | |
| +0.11, -0.06 | -93.8 | 93.8 | 0.0022 | 0.099 | -65.1 | |
| LG G4 | +0.04, -0.07 | -93.4 | 93.3 | 0.0021 | 0.050 | -92.6 |
| LG G4 (headphones) | +0.93, -0.13 | -91.4 | 91.9 | 0.013 | 0.244 | -50.4 |
| +0.02, -0.09 | -93.7 | 93.3 | 0.0060 | 0.032 | -78.5 | |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 edge | +0.03, -0.01 | -95.6 | 92.8 | 0.0023 | 0.0078 | -95.7 |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 edge (headphones) | +0.05, -0.02 | -92.6 | 92.5 | 0.0028 | 0.044 | -76.9 |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 | +0.01, -0.04 | -95.6 | 92.8 | 0.0024 | 0.0094 | -94.5 |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 (headphones) | +0.02, -0.05 | -92.6 | 91.9 | 0.0025 | 0.042 | -83.4 |
| HTC One M9 | +0.02, -0.06 | -94.8 | 93.0 | 0.0049 | 0.026 | -93.7 |
| HTC One M9 (headphones attached) | +0.03, -0.05 | -93.7 | 92.7 | 0.0082 | 0.030 | -91.6 |
| +0.02, -0.08 | -86.4 | 86.4 | 0.014 | 0.021 | -86.6 | |
| +0.29, -0.10 | -85.7 | 85.7 | 0.035 | 0.064 | -50.8 |
Apple iPhone 6s frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
The camera gets an overdue upgrade to 12MP
The iPhone 6s brings the long overdue camera resolution upgrade. After sticking to an 8MP sensor for four generations, Apple finally upgraded the iPhone's main camera to a 12MP imager. The front camera has received an upgrade to to 5MP as well. Both sensors retain the same F/2.2 aperture.
The more powerful chipset and the new 12MP sensor also allows the iPhone 6s to capture 4K video recording among other new modes, plus it enables the so-called Live Photos. This is a familiar feature from the first HTC One - the camera captures 1.5s video either side of the moment you hit the shutter and saves it as an animated photos.
There is no magic here, this is actually a 3s 1440x1080px video with sound, captured at 14fps. We are clarifying this in case you've expected gifs or similar formats. Those small files are usually 3 to 4MB of size and if you own a 16GB iPhone 6s, this may turn a problem for you rather quickly. The good news is this new format is compatible with the Mac OS X El Capitan and all Force-enabled Apple devices will support the Live Photos (for now those are the MacBook Pro 2015 models, the new MacBook 12" and the iPhone 6s duo).
The front camera, as we said, is now 5MP, supports Auto HDR, and 1080p video capture. It can also use the screen as 'Retina' flash - the screen goes all white the moment you hit the Camera shutter, with brightness 300% higher than the usual maximum. This helps if you are shooting indoors and up close.
The front camera is fixed-focus, but you can control and lock the exposure setting with tap and hold.
The camera interface is the same as before. If you tap to focus the phone will give you control over exposure through a slider. This way you can conviniently adjust exposure compensation depending on the scene. You can lock the focus and exposure as well.
Along the left side of the camera viewfinder you'll find controls for switching to the front-facing camera, setting up a timer (either 3s or 10s), choosing the HDR mode (Auto, off and on), turning Live Photo on/off and a settings for the flash (Auto, on or off).
On the right side on each side of the virtual shutter button you get swipe controls that will take you into the photo, square and pano mode on one side and video, slow-mo and time-lapse. To activate the Burst mode you just need to press the camera shutter longer.
The camera UI
Despite taking four years to add a 12MP sensor, the shots snapped with the iPhone 6s aren't quite as impressive as we hoped. The resolved detail is good, but it's not dramatically better than what the iPhone 6 offered and post-processing is rather heavy-handed - as noticeable in the sharpening halos and the prominent noise. Automatic exposure is a bit too overeager, which at times results in overexposed shots.
Now the good news - the colors and contrast are great, while the dynamic range is simply great. We've turned the Auto HDR off and yet the images came out great, which is really something given the tough weather conditions.
If it were 2014 we might have considered the samples among the best in the market, but today with great Galaxy S6 generation cameras and the impressive Xperia Z5 sensors, we just can't rate the iPhone 6s camera so high. It's good, but not quite the best.
Apple iPhone 6s camera samples
We shot with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and the Galaxy S6 edge+ side by side, so you can compare the samples. Despite having a narrower field of view, the two iPhones can't quite match the Galaxy S6 edge+ resolved detail. And we are not even shooting in conditions where the Galaxy's bright F/1.9 aperture would make a difference.
Apple iPhone 6 • Apple iPhone 6s • Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
And some more comparison between the Apple iPhone 6s and Galaxy S6 edge+.
Apple iPhone 6s • Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
We tried a few HDR samples as well and they turned fine - they bring more detail in the shadows, without overexposing the highlights or sacrificing fine detail.
HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on
Finally, the iPhone 6s, thanks to the bigger sensor, offers even bigger panoramic images. Those still cover about 180-degrees, but now they can go up to 15,000 x 4,000 pixels or 60MP. The stitching is great, there are no artefacts, the dynamic range is amazing, and the color rendering is good, too. Those didn't turn out over exposed as the still images and generally are among the best panoramas we've seen.
Apple iPhone 6s panoramic sample
We snapped a 5MP picture with the front selfie camera, in case you are interested in its quality. The resolved detail isn't that high, but it's certainly an improvement over previous gen iPhones and will do just fine for the social networks.
A 5MP selfie image
You can use our picture compare tool to put the iPhone 6s camera head to head with other phones.
Apple iPhone 6s camera in our Picture Compare Tool
4K video recording, finally!
Thanks to the higher-resolution sensor the new iPhone 6s is now capable of recording 2160p videos at 30 frames in addition to 1080p capturing at 30 and 60 fps. There is a new mode as well - 1080p at 120 fps for slow motion purposes, in addition to the 720p at 240 fps low-mo videos.
Naturally, there is a time-lapse option as well.
The camcorder UI is as simple as it can get, offering nothing but the flash setting. You can find the resolution switch in the Settings menu instead of having a shortcut in the viewfinder, which is somewhat annoying.
Camcorder UI • advanced settings
The 4K videos carry a bitrate of around 51Mbps, but audio is subpar recorded in mono at 81Kbps in AAC format. The 1080p videos at 30 fps have a bitrate of 17.6 Mbps, keeping the same audio, while the 60fps ones came out with 26Mbps bitrate.
The 4K videos are slightly less processed than still images - there is some noise, but less over-sharpening while the detail is decent if not quite class leading. Dynamic range is once again impressive and the frame rate is pretty steady, but the mono audio is disappointing.
The 1080p videos at 30 and 60 fps are great, well stabilized thanks to the software stabilization, with great amount of detail, fine colors, steady frame rate and superb dynamic range. Once again - the audio is just mono, which is rather hard to swallow at this price point.
The Apple iPhone 6s is ready to meet the competition in our Video Compare Tool.
Apple iPhone 6s 2160p video camera in our Video Compare Tool
Safari web browser
Safari got quite the update the last time around - it opened itself for third-party extensions, brought better Private browsing, improved iCloud keychain and iCloud tab sync over different Apple devices.
Safari is indeed fast and responsive and now with iOS 9 it also got some 3D Touch extras. Thanks to the force touch selecting text has never been easier, and you can preview web pages by force tapping on a link.
Safari
Safari has a neat new feature - it often recognizes when you want to paste something for a Google/Bing search and offers you Paste and Go option right away.
Other apps
With every newly activated iPhone 6s you also get the complete iWorks suite including Pages (viewing, editing docs), Numbers (viewing, editing excel files), and Keynote (viewing, editing presentations). One small detail is that they are not preinstalled and you would have to download them for free off the Apple AppStore.
Pages • Numbers • Keynote
Apps such as Calendar, Notes, Weather, Calculator and Alarm are available, but they received very few upgrades, if any. The only thing worth mentioning is the new Notes app. It now supports sketching, checklists, different formatting with bullets and lists, inserting multimedia, among others. Indeed it has become much more powerful tool than before and we are glad Apple still cares for this app.
Calendar • Weather • Calculator
The iBooks is part of the iOS package - its interface mimics that of the App Store, but the first tab is still your virtual bookshelf.
iBooks
The Wallet is an e-ticket app that handles all kinds of electronic tickets and reservations (including boarding passes), loyalty cards, coupons, etc.
The location-aware app makes the right coupon available in the right place and at the right time. The Wallet will report the balance on coupons and cards, let you check your ticket seats and can even show you relevant notifications (e.g. gate or terminal change for a flight).
Apple Pay and the Wallet app
Apple's Maps application got updated with public transport support. It offers by default voice-guided navigation courtesy of Siri and you can ask for transit directions right from the Siri's interface. Note than only few cities are supported right now, but more will be added later on.
Real-time traffic reports are available and Apple is also crowdsourcing the live traffic info anonymously from iOS users on the road. Turn-by-turn walking directions are available as well.
Nearby options has been added as well - you can now see what's nearby you, read reviews, get directions, among other things.
Maps
Naturally, the Health suite which gathers all data collected from the device's tracking apps and various third-party accessories, is available as well. Apple has teamed up with a number of partners on the health suite including Nike and the Mayo clinic.
The app offers a Medical ID card that lists all of your health-related data, emergency contacts, medication, intolerances and doctors' contacts.
The Health app stores and tracks stuff like calorie burnout, periods of sleep and activity, among others. Its dashboard is where you are supposed to find all important data at a glance. It is tightly connected with the Apple Watch.
Apple is furtherly developing compatible kits for researches as well as adding more complex algorithms that convert all gathered data into meaningful answers and conclusions.
The Health app
Finally, the new News app is currently in a very regionally limited run, but it will eventually make it to most markets. It's a news aggregator developed by Apple that will search for stories you may like and offer them for you at a glance. It supports various topics and comes with clean interface. Save for Later is available as well.
The News app
Final words
Apple promised three major updates with the iPhone 6s: 3D touch, camera and performance. Let's go through the checklist.
The A9 chip easily delivers. Already outstanding responsiveness and fluid handling are taken to the next level. No issues there. The 12MP stills and 4K videos may be late but they're executed in the typical Apple fashion. A long-awaited camera upgrade finally delivered. Not quite picture-perfect, without OIS and considering owners of 16GB iPhones may be running out of storage pretty soon. 3D Touch? Well, the new touchscreen is the beginning of the journey to a richer user experience but not quite the destination yet. We'll have to wait and to see the really clever implementations that developers are going to come up with.
We'd call that 2 and a half out of three - not a bad score card. The big stuff still missing: some sort of water resistance, wireless charging, higher screen resolution. Now, none of these could've been delivered in a phone that's re-using last season's design. The iPhone 7 perhaps? If ever.
Here's the deal. The regular iPhone models update the design, and once in a while, screen size. The S models focus on the insides. The iPhone 4S introduced Siri and the first big camera upgrade. The iPhone 5S brought about 64-bit processing and a fingerprint sensor. Alongside another camera upgrade, the big thing to look at in the iPhone 6S - and look forward to in Apple in general - is the pressure-aware screen that does add an extra dimension to how you interact with a device.
This is yet to reveal its full potential but looks like something developers will be keen to play with. It can be the new pinch zoom (something we do take for granted but which was a huge breakthrough back in its time). That said, Android makers are experimenting as well. ZTE and Huawei in particular - not the names you'd expect in the same review as an iPhone but it goes to show how the market has evolved.
We cannot help the thought either that someone at Apple was looking at the Samsung Note, the hovering S-pen and Air Command thinking, "We need to be able to do the same. With a tip of a finger. "
Anyway, we'll have a good look at the potential rivals in due time.
Apple iPhone 6s key test findings:
- The iPhone 6s is of excellent build, made out of a much sturdier aluminum alloy. The extra weight can be felt, but it's certainly not a deal breaker.
- The display on the iPhone 6s is pretty much the same affair we got in the original 6th model. It offers slightly lower brightness, but deeper blacks and the same great contrast. The sunlight legibility is great as well.
- Battery life is above average at 62 hours and matches that of the iPhone 6. The iPhone 6S posted well balanced scores across all tests, including standby. Good software optimization allows the dual-core A9 chip to beat competing multi-core chips in benchmarks.
- The connectivity is improved with Cat.6 LTE support, but the NFC is still limited to Apple Pay. Wireless charging could have been useful, but is still not an option and would likely never be.
- The 3D Touch technology is potentially the new big thing on the market, but it's far from complete experience. It has a long way before it becomes a mainstream thing. Still, it's a feature we quickly got used to.
- Performance-wise, the A9-powered iPhone 6s is a real beast. Its single-core CPU and GPU performance, as well as the overall experience currently have no match on the market.
- The speaker is quiet with only a Below Average mark in out tests.
- The audio quality is good, but not quite the best in the class.
- The 12MP camera produces good photos, but it's not the major update we hoped it would be.
- The panoramic samples are nothing short of amazing.
- The 4K videos offer enough detail and came out with very good dynamic range.
- The front 5MP selfie camera does the job right producing nice pictures, even in low-light conditions.
- The iOS 9 is an incremental upgrade and brings just few novelties, but improves the overall experience by smart suggestions and more intelligent behavior of the most used apps and Siri.
Looking at the big picture, the iPhone 6S might be the most exciting product to come out of Cupertino in a few years. 3D Touch may become a big deal but it is not there yet. Regardless, it's the first time since the iPhone 4 that Apple tried to do what it does best - change the smartphone game for good. The company has been reduced to following market trends for the past few years and it was about time it rediscovered its passion for innovation. It may flop or win big time, but credit is certainly due for trying.
Meanwhile, the last-gen iPhone 6 got a price cut. If you aren't too keen on beta-testing 3D Touch or wouldn't want to go for a pricey 64GB model to have enough storage for 4K videos and Live photos, there is a good chance you may prefer that one instead.
Apple iPhone 6
The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge is the most likely toughest competition. While it can't give you force touch, it sure impresses with a 5.1" QHD Super AMOLED screen, a fast chipset and one of the best camera departments in the market. Samsung also wins the design battle in this round, although it had to give up on its expandable storage and removable battery advantages to achieve it.
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
The latest Nexus also brings an alternative. The LG Nexus 5X runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow on capable hardware and matches the iPhone 6s' camera resolution, while also packing a larger sensor. It is guaranteed to receive the latest Android updates as soon as they come for at least two-years ahead - just like the iPhone 6s is.
LG Nexus 5X
The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact has water protection and an amazing camera on paper, which we've yet to properly test. It's powered by a Snapdragon 810 chip that can't quite match the A9, but still delivers heaps of performance on a 720p screen. The Sony compact flagship can't quite match the aesthetics of the iPhone 6s, but it does offer a significantly larger battery.
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
The major manufacturers are in frantic pursuit of higher screen resolution and size, and monstrous chipsets. This is in big part driven by Apple - the iPhone's is still the user experience to best, most Android flagships needing 3 or 4GB of RAM to match what Apple is doing with 2GB. And note that the iPhone 6s is only the second Apple device to have 2 gigs of RAM after the iPad Air 2.
Maybe it's the 4K videos or the live photos, or Apple may have finally tried to sort the reloading of the background tabs in Safari. Either way, with everyone sprinting around them, Apple thinks it can afford to take it slow. So far, it's been working out just fine.
With 3D touch, Cupertino hopes it puts the pressure back on the competition and doesn't have to rush with higher screen resolution, stereo speakers, 32GB of storage as the starter option, water protection or wireless charging. Useful stuff, at least some of it. Apple just hasn't re-invented it yet.
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