The Apple iPhone 4S was actually my first review in the technology review section. It’s not surprising – I have had that phone forever. I was very impressed with the longevity of the 4S. It lasted me slightly over 3 years without feeling old for a second. As long as my core Apps like maps, text, facebook, and chrome open up in a pinch the phone will continue to feel responsive to me. Recently Sprint teased me into their store with a cheaper plan, and cheap payments on the 6. I caved finally upgraded.

Screen Size

When my friend got the iPhone 5, I did have a little screen size envy, as the 5 had a bigger screen than my 4S – but I could live without. Now that I upgraded to the 6, the screen size on the 4S is pretty laughable. My entire 4S can fit on the screen of the 6 – and I didn’t even get the 6+. Since I got the regular 6, my sreen is 4.7 inches. I was tempted by the 6+ but the screen is just too damn big.

Performance

I do notice that the UI is snappier and that apps do load quicker on the 6. Other than that, I don’t really game with my phone so I don’t notice a huge improvement.

Build Size

My iPhone 6 WITH CASE is as thick as the 4S without a case. I like that a lot, since I tended to use my 4S naked. Now I can safely have a case, and it’s no thicker than my old 4S was. The case I picked was an aluminium Moshi case – so the phone feels like it’s without a case to the touch. Really nice.

Camera

I haven’t done too many urban-explorations with the new phone yet, so I have limited experience with the camera so far. My initial impression is that it’s harder to set the exposure with the 6. Before I had no problem tapping light/dark areas and getting the exposure I wanted. Now it seems like it alternates between too overexposed or too underexposed. I learned that you can use an on screen slider to adjust the exposure level, but I don’t like this much. It means you have to move the phone to change the exposure – its hard to keep it steady. The downside to this, is that it makes it hard to keep it focused. The quality does seem to be very good – if you can get the exposure right.

One feature I sort-of like, is the slow-motion videos. Recording video at 240 frames-per-second is sweet! The only problem? When you import them to your computer, they don’t play back slowly. They kinda chop and skip through, but still play at “real life” speed. I haven’t tried importing them into Adobe premiere yet, but it’s unfortunate you have to re-encode them to see the slow-motion on a PC. Especially since they play back in slow-motion on the phone.

Finger Print Scanner

While the iPhone 5 also had this, it’s new to me. It is pretty addicting to be able to unlock the phone with the push of a button. I made my 4S my cars official MP3 player, so now when I go to change songs in my car, I still have to unlock the screen with my 4-digit code like a caveman. It’s weird how subtle the fingerprint scanner is, and how annoying it is when it’s missing. One thing I dislike about the scanner, though, is it makes it easy to miss notifications. Sometimes I might have an entire screenfull of text messages, Facebook and Instagram updates, etc. When I push the home button, the screen will immediately unlock and the notifications will disappear. Sure, I could check the notifications screen by swiping down, but for some reason not all apps appear there. Also, sometimes I just want to see the notifications, not not necessarily unlock the phone. Either way I’ve gotten used to it and just use a different finger or tap it super quickly.

Final Thoughts

For now, I’m still new to the device and I don’t have much more to say. But I do love it and I hope it lasts me another 3 years like my previous phone. If you’re an Apple fan, there’s really only one choice anyway. I’ll save Android for the Tablets.

March 30, 2015 at 4:20 am | Technology Reviews