Apple iPhone 6 Plus review: Discontinued and replaced by the iPhone 6S Plus

The iPhone 6 Plus was released in September 2014. The phone was then superseded by the iPhone 6S in September 2015 with the 128GB model of the iPhone 6 being removed from shelves, and then later completely discontinued in September 2016 with the launch of the iPhone 7 and the refreshed 32GB iPhone 6 Plus.

This means the phone is now very hard to find brand-new. You’ll be able to find a few refurbished phones on eBay. At around £250 refurbished, it’s an excellent price for a competent iPhone, however, if you’re really keen on getting an iPhone, we’d suggest getting a brand-new 32GB iPhone 6S instead; this will set you back around £549, but can still be found on contract.

Continue reading for David’s original review that was written in September 2014 and based on the 16GB model running iOS 8. If you buy an iPhone 6 used, refurbished or miraculously new, then it can be upgraded to Apple’s latest software, iOS 12.

READ NEXT: Apple iPhone 6S Plus review: The last large-sized iPhone of its kind

Apple iPhone 6 Plus review

It’s been a long time coming, but Apple has finally made a big-screen phone – and we have to say that the results are well worth waiting for. It may be too big for some, but we found it easy to get used to the iPhone 6 Plus’ 5.5in screen and now prefer this to the smaller iPhone 6. As well as being bigger, Apple has massively improved battery life, with the phone lasting for ages, particularly in normal use when the screen’s not on all of the time.

Although Apple has stuck with an 8-megapixel sensor, in terms of noise, exposure and quality, the iPhone 6 Plus’ camera is one of the best in the business, helped by its optical image stabilisation. With its fast processor and incredibly slick operating system, iOS 8.3, this is the best iPhone that you can buy, and one of the best smartphones. For people that can’t make up their mind between iOS and Android, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge gives this phone a run for its money, while our best smartphone guide will list something suitable if neither of these phones really takes your fancy.

READ NEXT: The best smartphones – our pick of the best

iPhone 6 Plus review: Design

All of Apple’s advertising may say that the new model’s ‘Bigger than bigger’, but you don’t truly appreciate the size of the iPhone 6 Plus until you pick it up for the first time. It’s then that you realise that it’s an absolute beast of a phone, with its big 5.5in screen dominating the front.

This is the same size screen as on the LG G3, but the iPhone 6 Plus is considerably taller and the much bigger phone. Measuring 158x77x7.1mm, it’s almost the same height as the Google Nexus 6, which measures 159mm high and has a massive 6in screen. Admittedly, the Nexus 6 has a much wider girth at 83mm to accommodate its larger display, but the iPhone 6 Plus certainly has a lot of excess bezel compared to your other 5.5in handsets we’ve tested in the past year.

This is largely due to the need to fit the TouchID fingerprint sensor underneath the screen, and we suspect that the larger bezel at the top is to keep the phone symmetrical. This time around Apple has gone for a smooth curved design, with the glass curving down to meet the aluminium body. As well as giving it nicer feel, compared to the iPhone 5S‘ sharper, squared-off edges, it makes the iPhone 6 Plus that bit grippier in the hand. It helps that it weighs just 172g (it’s heavier than plastic-made phones, but we’d take a bit more weight and metal any day) and is only 7.1mm thick, as these factors stop the phone from feeling too bulky in your hand.

Since we first reviewed the handset we’ve had time to carry it around and use it as our primary phone for a good few months. As a result, we’ve updated our review and have an entire section on whether the handset is too big or not.

Of course, the iPhone 6 Plus looks every bit as gorgeous as previous models. Absolute precision engineering and the full aluminium body give this phone that reassuringly-premium feel that we’ve come to expect from Apple. Metal panels are joined with plastic inserts, which are most likely there to improve mobile reception, with metal notoriously bad at blocking signals. While this could look a little cheap, Apple’s joined to the two together well and the handset looks fantastic. As with the 5S, the handset is available in Space Grey, Silver and Gold. All colours are neatly done, so it’s really a matter of personal preference as to which one you want.

Some people have complained that the iPhone 6 Plus bends. Apparently, the issue comes from the handset being kept in tight back pockets, bending out of shape when people sit down. We’ve not run into this problem ourselves, Apple has put the handset through strenuous tests, and most the videos showing the handset bending have used excessive force. In any case, the tough sturdy frame of the iPhone 6 Plus feels rigid enough. It goes without saying that, as with any expensive piece of electronics, it’s worth treating the phone with care.

As the phone is so much larger than previous models, Apple has had to change the design slightly. Most noticeable is that the power button has moved from the top to the right-hand side of the phone, where it’s easier to reach with a finger or thumb, depending on which hand you’re holding it in. It can still be a little bit of a reach, particularly for people with small hands – it’s another good reason to try the phone in store before you buy to make sure that you’re comfortable with the size.

On the other side of the handset, it’s business as normal, with the volume buttons and the silent mode rocker switch still there. We’re pleased to see that this physical switch still exists (it looks set to be taken off the iPad Air 2), as it’s still the most convenient and easiest way of turning on a silent mode, on any current phone.

Is it too big?

One of the main questions that people have about this handset is, is it too big? After carrying this handset around since launch, we think that we’re fairly qualified to answer that question. Size is largely relative and getting used to the iPhone 6 Plus takes a bit of time, particularly if you had an iPhone 5S. That smartphone was, by modern standards, quite small, so there’s a bit of ‘screen shock’ when you first pick up the iPhone 6 Plus.

Hold it and use it for a while and you soon start to appreciate that it’s exceptionally well designed and comfortable to hold. After a bit you start to forget that the phone is so big and it just starts to feel natural – you certainly don’t feel like a fool making a phone call on one. We much prefer it to the Nexus 6, which most of the team struggled to use single-handedly. Realistically, you’re going to be using the phone with two hands, but at least Apple’s new Reachability feature (more on this on the next page), which moves the whole screen down within reach of your thumb, gives some provision for one-handed use, which is more than we can say for the Nexus 6.

Once you’ve been using the iPhone 6 Plus for a while, the opposite starts to happen and other phones start to feel too small: our iPhone 5S now feels a bit like a child’s toy. With all of that said, there’s no getting away from the fact that for some people this phone is just going to be too big. At its size, it doesn’t fit comfortably into a coat’s inside pocket and you certainly know it’s there when you put it in a trouser pocket. Depending on the size of your hands, you may find that this handset just is too big.

While that may sound like we’re not really answering the question, the simple answer is: the iPhone 6 Plus is extremely well designed for a large phone, but it’s all down to personal choice. Fortunately, you can try this handset out in an Apple store to get a feel for it in person while the regular iPhone 6 has pretty much all of the same features in a slightly smaller size. Really, that’s what the iPhone 6 range is about for Apple: giving people real choice, so that they can get the phones that suit them. To get a better idea of size, you can check out our article comparing the relative sizes of Apple’s phones and tablets.

iPhone 6 Plus review: Display

Of course, it’s the display that’s going to get all of the attention, as the 5.5in display takes up the bulk of the front of the handset. It doesn’t have the much-rumoured sapphire glass that everyone was hoping for, but has ion-strengthened glass instead. This is scratch and shatter resistant, but it still pays to be careful with the handset and a case or screen protector is a must.

In order to keep to its policy of shipping Retina devices, where you can’t see individual pixels at normal viewing distances, Apple has had to increase the pixel count from the iPhone 5S’ display, giving the iPhone 6 Plus a Full HD (1,920×1,080) display.

The LG G3 has a higher 2,560×1,440 resolution. In fairness side-by-side, its screen is slightly sharper, particularly when viewing high-resolution photos. However, it’s not streets ahead in terms of sharpness and in day-to-day use, particularly with text, you’re not likely to really see many differences. At 401 pixels per inch (ppi) it’s fair to say that the iPhone 6 has enough resolution and its screen is more than sharp enough. Besides, adding more pixels would most likely increase drain on the battery and put more strain on the CPU, too. If you care about having the highest-resolution phone, then this isn’t the model for you; if you want a sharp clear display as part of a bigger package, then the iPhone 6 Plus is a great choice. Besides, the LG G3 has a rather dim screen in comparison.

As usual, Apple has stuck with LCD technology for the display, fitting an LED-backlit IPS panel. The display has dual-domain pixels, which help improve viewing angles. There have been some complaints about screens that use this technology before saying that black can look a bit purple; we didn’t get this on the iPhone 6 at all. Viewing angles are superb. Compared side-by-side with the iPhone 5S, at extreme angles the older phone takes a slight purple-tinge to the screen, but the iPhone 6 maintains its pure colours.

Black levels and contrast are said to have been improved for the iPhone 6 Plus, and the readings from our colour calibrator seemed to confirm this with a low black level of 0.4cm/m2 and a contrast ratio of 1,403:1. That’s one of the best results we’ve seen from an LCD display, managing deep blacks and great contrast. Screen brightness is also very good at 572.13cm/m2. There are few screens brighter than this, and it tells, as we found the phone incredibly easy to view outside. Even better, a new polarised filter on top means that colours stay accurate when you wear sunglasses. Wearing sunglasses we found that our iPhone 5S had a slight purple tinge to it, where as the iPhone 6 Plus did not.

Colour accuracy is something that’s hard to measure. DisplayMate tested the iPhone 6 Plus and measured colour reproduction at more than 100 per cent of the sRGB colour gamut; sister-site PC Pro registered coverage at 95.5 per cent of sRGB; our own calibrator said that it was producing 90.5 per cent of the sRGB colour gamut. Given that ourselves and PC Pro use the same software and the same colour calibrator, it would appear as though Apple uses two different panels. From the graph below, measured from our iPhone 6 Plus, most of the slightly-reduced coverage appears to be in the red portion of the spectrum, with the phone displaying a little more blue and green than the gamut defines. Still, that kind of score is still pretty good and puts the iPhone 6 Plus on a level with the LG G3 and HTC One (m8). Using our test photographs it’s hard to see any issues with the screen, and fine detail and vibrant colours were all displayed well.

iPhone 6 Plus review: iOS

Note: The original review was based on iOS 8.3. At the time of updating this article, the iPhone 6 Plus runs on Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 12.

Apple installed iOS 8 on the iPhone 6 Plus, although this has been updated recently updated to iOS 8.3. This follows on from iOS 8.2, which didn’t make big changes, but adds support for the Apple Watch (via an app that you can’t remove), improves overall stability and fixes the old Freak security bug, which made SSL connections insecure.

The one big new feature of iOS 8.3 is Wi-Fi calling. In the UK only EE supports Wi-Fi calling and, then, only on pay-monthly contracts. Even so, it is a big deal. Simply described, Wi-Fi calling lets you make and receive calls and SMS messages using a wireless network and the internet, rather than using the cellular network. Once enabled, your iPhone switches automatically to use Wi-Fi calling when it’s connected to a wireless network, making the technology completely seamless.

It also means that you don’t have to make any changes to your settings, get people to call you in a different way or fire up a separate app. Fortunately, Wi-Fi calling is as good as it sounds. In our testing, we found that calls made over a wireless network sounded at least as good as regular calls. You can hear our test calls in the SoundCloud below.

However, while it helps eliminate dead spots, Wi-Fi calling also disables Continuity phone calls. This is the part of iOS that lets you answer and make calls from your other Apple devices, such as your tablet (more on this below), so you have to choose whether you want Wi-Fi calls or Continuity. To find out how to switch, read our guide on how to use Continuity and Wi-Fi calling. While having to switch is a little annoying, Wi-Fi calling is still an impressive technology, particularly when you end up in a place with no reception, but decent internet speeds.

Our iOS 8.3 review goes into more detail on all of the other features, but, in short, this is the best mobile OS that Apple has ever released. It looks great, is more open (you can install your own keyboards, for example), and works brilliantly across all of your Apple devices. For example, you can answer a phone call on your iPad, or start writing an email on your iPhone and finish on your iPad. With the iPhone 6 Plus and its higher-resolution screen, iOS 8 adds in a new landscape mode. On the home screen, this puts the Dock vertically down the right-hand side of the screen and rearranges everything else to fit. Given the size of the phone, this mode may be more comfortable for a lot of people to use.

Apple has also added in a landscape mode for emails, putting the current mailbox down the left-hand side of the screen, with a preview window appearing on the right. It’s similar to the way that the iPad Mail client works. It’s a nice little touch that makes the most of the extra resolution and screen size, and we hope that other developers also adjust their apps to work, in the same way.

You don’t always want to use your iPhone in landscape mode, so Apple has added in a new mode called Reachability. Double-tap the home button (don’t click, just tap) and the whole screen slides down so that you can reach the top of it with a thumb. It’s useful, but a little basic in operation and you kind of think that Apple could have done a bit more with the feature, particular as there’s an ugly block of blank screen at the top.

Reachability is also a little inconsistent. For example, if you use it on the Spotlight search screen, only the search results move down not the search box, so you can’t tap the Cancel button or hit ‘X’ to delete what you’ve entered. Use Reachability on any other app, such as Mail, and the search box does move down. Admittedly with Spotlight, you can use the delete key on the keyboard to erase what you’ve typed and you can hit the Home button to cancel a search, but we’d like to see Reachability act the same way everywhere.

One neat thing about Reachability is that it makes it easier to access the Today screen. On any app or on the home screen (this tip only doesn’t work on Spotlight), you can activate Reachability and then swipe down on the blank part of the display to bring out the Today menu. This is a lot easier than trying to get your thumb to the top of the display.

Don’t forget, there are still the normal gestures, so you can swipe on the left-hand side of the screen to go back in Safari. Admittedly, the iPhone 6 Plus is still very large and there will be times you need to grasp it two-handed, but we found that we could generally get away with using it one-handed.

One area that some developers need to work on is upgrading their apps for the high-resolution display. Existing iPhone 5S apps are scaled to fit the screen, but if they don’t include iPhone 6 Plus-sized icons and text, they look a little blurry and lose the sharpness they once had. This has dramatically improved since launch and there are very few apps that don’t have high-resolution graphics and text in them.

iPhone 6 Plus review: Keyboard

With the extra space available on the phone, Apple hasn’t simply stretched its old keyboard to fit. Instead, you now get a couple of extra keys in landscape mode, including a button to delete all text (great for filling in forms when you make a mistake) and arrow keys for more finely moving the cursor.

Apple’s new QuickType keyboard has been installed, which gives you three word or phrase suggestions as you start to type. It bases the choice both on the application (messages use more slang than email), and the person you’re talking to (a friend has looser language than colleague), learning as it goes based on how you’ve previously entered text. We’re big fans of it, with the new system causing fewer errors than the old autocorrect system that only gave you a single choice and often ‘corrected’ automatically, whether you wanted it to or not. Of course, if you don’t like what you get then you can simply replace the keyboard with a third-party one of your choice.

iPhone 6 Plus review: TouchID

TouchID makes a welcome return in the iPhone 6 Plus. Other handsets may have a fingerprint reader for security, but none works as well as TouchID, where you only have to touch, not swipe, to activate it. This lets you click TouchID to turn on the phone, then hold to unlock it all in one easy motion. On top of that Apple has now opened up the system, so app developers can use it for authentication and to protect private details. It’s early days yet, and Amazon only supports the tech for its US app.

iPhone 6 Plus review: NFC and Apple Pay

Along with the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus is the first Apple handset to have NFC built in. This is designed to be used with the Apple Pay system, which will let you pay for goods using contactless payments in store (it can also be used for online transactions, and NFC is not required for this). However, the system is only available in the US for now, so we haven’t been able to test it. As soon as it rolls out in the UK we’ll update this review to explain how well it works.

iPhone 6 Plus review: Performance – Apple A8

Inside is a brand-new Apple A8 SoC. This has a dual-core, 64-bit processor running at 1.4GHz. Now, it may sound a little slow in comparison to the 2GHz+ quad-core CPUs installed in Android phones, but performance is about more than specifications. In this case, the A8 is highly optimised for Apple’s hardware and operating system, so it doesn’t need a ridiculous clock speed or more cores in order to be fast. Running the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, the iPhone 6 Plus completed the test in 365.8ms, which makes it the fastest phone we’ve seen to run this test.

We also ran BrowserMark 2.1, with the iPhone 6 Plus scoring 3,129 overall. This is faster than the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, and is partly down to the well-optimised Safari browser, which seems to do well in tests against Chrome. Switching to more general 2D benchmarks and running BaseMark OS II, we saw the iPhone 6 Plus score 32,741. Only the S6 Edge managed to do better with its score of 37,885. Still, that’s pretty close and it’s worth pointing out that the iPhone 6 Plus has only a dual-core processor; the S6 has a quad-core model. We also have to point out that in real use the iPhone certainly doesn’t feel any slower.

Apple has also boosted the performance of the graphics chip. Running the 3D Mark Ice Storm test returned a score of 17,509 on the Unlimited test, which puts the iPhone 6 Plus up there with the flagship Android phones. We also ran BaseMark X 1.1, which returned a score of 32,741. That compares favourably with the S6, which scored about the same, and is only slightly behind the S6 Edge. In short, the iPhone 6 Plus is perfect for gaming and we’ve not found a single title that runs slowly on it. Apple has also created the Metal API, which will let games developers squeeze more performance out of games and make the look more detailed. Given the clout Apple has, lots of developers will start using it, so expect to see more and more enabled games. For a look at the technology in action,

Apple has also created the Metal API, which will let games developers squeeze more performance out of games and make the look more detailed. Given the clout Apple has, lots of developers will start using it, so expect to see more and more enabled games. For a look at the technology in action, Pocket Gamer has side-by-side comparisons of games running with and without metal.

It goes without saying that iOS 8 is beautifully optimised for the A8, producing super smooth transitions and no slow-down wherever. We keep saying it, but Android isn’t quite there yet and iOS on Apple hardware has the distinct edge.

iPhone 6 Plus review: Battery life

Battery life is one of those things that Apple has mostly been content to leave the same with each new model. While the iPhone used to be known for its incredible battery life, the fact is that the competition has caught up and, in many cases, overtaken Apple – see our 2014 battery test of the top 60 phones for more information.

The good news here is that a larger phone has meant a larger battery. In fact, the iPhone 6 Plus has the biggest battery it has ever put in a smartphone: a 2,915mAh model. Combined with the A8 chip, which uses a 20nm manufacturing process that requires less power and runs cooler, it means that this handset has the best battery life we’ve seen from an Apple phone lasting 14h 48m in our video playback test. That’s an improvement over the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 6, so you’ll easily be able to get through a day’s worth of heavy usage with this handset.

The battery tests only tell part of the story, as they use the phone with the screen on the whole time. With such a big LCD display, the iPhone 6 Plus draws a lot of power when it’s on like this. However, in day-to-day use things are different. With normal use the phone has the screen off a lot while it sits synchronising emails and other online services for long periods of time, intermixed with longer periods of using the handset for web browsing, social media, games and the like.

It’s here that you really notice the battery. With the screen off, the phone sips power, barely draining the battery. As such, we found that we could last way more than a day of fairly heavy usage, including syncing email accounts constantly, browsing the web and using maps, and still have enough charge left to not panic that the phone’s about to die. That’s a massive improvement over the iPhone 5S and means that we spend far less time charging the 6 Plus.

It’s charged via the Lightning port on the bottom of the phone. Apple still ships the same 1A USB charger as with previous iPhones; however, using the iPad’s 2.1A charger or similar high-power third-party adaptor will charge your phone much more quickly.

iPhone 6 Plus review: M8 co-processor, fitness and Health

Sitting alongside the A8 is the M8 co-processor, which is a low-power part that can constantly monitor the phone’s sensors. This means that fitness apps can use the built-in accelerometer, gyroscope and, new to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, barometer, without draining the battery too much. With the iPhone 5S, the M7 felt rather under-utilised, but the iPhone 6 Plus already has a use for it via the Health app. This can use the M8 and phone’s sensors to track how many steps you take a day and, based on the barometer information, how many flights of stairs you’ve climbed.

Health doesn’t present this figure to you automatically, and you have to add Flights Climbed and Steps to the Dashboard manually to start collecting the data. Accuracy isn’t perfect and it would occasionally miss the odd stair climb or two, but having this facility built straight into the phone is at least useful for giving a general overview of how fit you are.

Health can also pull in more data from other apps, so you should be able to get more accurate tracking using third-party fitness devices and apps. There are few that support Health at the moment, so we couldn’t test this feature out, although we expect this to change in the coming months.

iPhone 6 Plus review: Camera

The camera is one of the most important aspects of a smartphone, so it’s no surprise to see that Apple has upgraded the model here. The physical sensor is still the same size 1/3″ model with large 1.5µm pixels as in the iPhone 5S. While more resolution was expected, this is another case of Apple simply not playing the resolution game: more pixels on a sensor this size, would mean that each pixel would get less light and there would be more noise. Apple has also stuck with the same f/2.2 aperture lens.

While these features haven’t changed, the new sensor has some improvements. These include Focus Pixels, which are used for phase detect autofocus. With phase detect, the camera can accurately measure the distance to the object it’s supposed to be focussing on, and then snap the lens into the right position. With contrast detect, which the iPhone 5S and a lot of other smartphones use, the lens has to be moved in and out of focus, measuring the contrast in the scene to find the correct focus. The latter system is a lot slower, and you’ll see the on-screen image changing as the camera looks to focus. With the iPhone 6 Plus, focussing is much quicker and there’s none of the hunting to get there. This makes it faster to snap off a shot and not to miss a shot.

The iPhone 6 Plus is also the only model to get optical image stabilisation (OIS), which helps reduce blur through camera shake. In low light, the iPhone monitors its sensors to detect movement and then adjusts the lens to compensate. This lets the camera pick a slower shutter speed without introducing blur. OIS only works with still shots, as video is still stabilised digitally. There’s still the same dual-LED true tone flash, which uses a coloured LED in conjunction with a white LED to balance the flash colour with the ambient light. The result is that photos look natural even when you use the flash, removing the tell-tale shininess that a regular flash causes.

In addition, there’s a new image processor. This retains the incredible burst mode from the iPhone 5S: just hold down the shutter button and you can capture shots at full pelt while there’s still storage space left. The iPhone will then pick out the shots it thinks are the best, so that you can save them although you can override its choice and pick the photos that you want to keep instead. Using burst mode can be a really useful way of capturing a perfect shot, particularly of a fast moving object, as you can capture as many frames as you see fit and then go back and pick out that one gem. You can see this in action with the shot of the meowing kitten below – this was grabbed from the in middle of a set of burst photographs. As you can see (click the image for the full resolution shot), the picture is perfectly in focus, the exposure is spot on and there’s tons of detail in the image. Without the fast burst mode, it would have been a lot harder to get this shot.

Using the timer mode (3s or 10s), the camera will fire off 10 burst shots quickly and will automatically select the best one for you, although you can save any of the others. It’s a great way for capturing group shots and making sure that you’ve got a decent photo at the end.

Image quality is excellent. Shots outside were well exposed with plenty of detail and little noise in the image. We were impressed with the colours and the level of detail captured in the sky, too. An HDR mode, which can be set to automatic or toggled manually, helps capture more detail when you’ve got bright and dark parts in the same image by capturing multiple exposures and blending them together, and does a decent job, too. In terms of sheer colours and quality, the iPhone 6 Plus’ camera is excellent. The resolution does mean that images aren’t quite as sharp as those captured on higher-resolution smartphones, but these handsets tend to be noisier, so it feels like a fair trade off. You can click the images below to view the full-resolution photos.

Inside in low light, image quality is still very good and we managed to capture some decent, low-noise shots handheld thanks to the OIS. Compared to the iPhone 5S (bottom image), the iPhone 6 Plus’s (top image) shots are more detailed, with better colours, more detail and less noise. Overall, the iPhone 6 Plus delivers the best low-light shots bar the Nokia Lumia 1020.

It’s good to see that iOS 8 finally gives proper exposure controls. Just tap on the screen where you want to focus, then slide your finger up or down to adjust the exposure, until you have it at the point you’re happiest with. It’s a small upgrade, but a neat one that lets you capture the photo you want, rather than letting the camera handle everything automatically.

The new ISP also gives a new 240fps Slo-mo video mode, shot at 720p. This is double the frame rate of the iPhone 5S’ Slo-mo mode and it really makes a difference. As you can see from the video below of the tube train pulling into a station, you can pick out every single detail on the passenger’s faces; a similar shot taken on the iPhone 5S was still impressive, but lacked the same fine detail.

We also had great fun with the Time-Lapse mode, which is part of iOS 8 and available on the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, too. You can shoot some impressive vistas, speeding up slow action into one rapid blur, or you can create some cool effects, such as a journey sped up to epic proportions – check out the video below of a journey through London.

Of course, you can just shoot regular 1080p video at 30fps or 60fps. Video quality is pretty good, particularly in brightly lit areas. Unfortunately, the OIS doesn’t work in this mode, with Apple using digital stabilisation instead. It’s a minor shame that there’s no 4K mode, although given that most people won’t have a 4K display to show the footage on it’s perhaps understandable why Apple didn’t add shooting at this resolution.

iPhone 6 Plus review: Wireless

Of course, 4G is supported across all of the UK’s networks. The UK model supports pretty much all of the LTE bands, so, depending on your roaming deals, you’ll be able to use 4G in practically any country. Call quality is still excellent, with clear transmitted speech and a loud, clear speaker.

Apple has also upgraded the Wi-Fi to 802.11ac, providing up to 150Mbit/s download speeds. For large apps and iCloud backups, the new wireless technology is great to see, although you’ll need to have equally-as-fast broadband in order to see the difference.

iPhone 6 Plus review: Storage options

As with all previous models, there’s no microSD card slot, so you have to make do with the built-in storage. This starts at 16GB (£619), which is a little too small, skips 32GB (this feels as though it should have been entry level) and then gives you the option of 64GB (£699) or a massive iPad-equalling 128GB (£789). Given the options available, the 64GB version feels like the model that most people should buy – we had a 64GB iPhone 5S and struggled to fill it up.

iPhone 6 Plus review: Verdict

It’s fair to say that the iPhone 6 Plus is something completely different from Apple, and something that the company wouldn’t even have attempted a year ago. The real question comes down to whether or not you think that the company has gone too far and the handset is too large. That’s something that we can’t answer for you: you’ll need to go into an Apple store and pick up the phone for yourself to see if you’re happy with the size. As far as we’re concerned, the phone is big, but it’s definitely not too big and we didn’t have a problem carrying it around. If you think it’s too large, then there’s always the iPhone 6 for you.

The question isn’t really, is the iPhone 6 Plus a big phone, but more is a good big phone? We’d have to say that it is. The screen’s great and Apple makes the most of the extra resolution and size that you get. Performance from the 64-bit A8 chip is also top-notch, with the highly-optimised iOS 8 still outperforming Android systems. Battery life is also much improved to the point where you don’t have to get charge anxiety during a normal day, either. Price is something that’s harder to mitigate, as the iPhone 6 Plus costs a fair whack, particularly if you buy the 128GB version.

Of course, there’s a lot of good competition out there, particularly with the flagship Android phones out for the year. This time around, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the one that will give people some difficult decisions. It has a higher-resolution AMOLED screen, excellent build quality and a processor that’s just as fast as the iPhone’s. It’s very expensive, though, and we think that as an overall package (hardware and software), the iPhone 6 Plus just nips it.

It’s fair to say that the iPhone 6 Plus is still the best phablet overall thanks to everything you get. For starters, you’re guaranteed to get the next version of iOS on its day of release – how many Android phones can say the same thing? Then, there’s Apple’s entire ecosystem, which is getting better and better. With OS X Yosemite and iOS 8, you can share tasks and features across all of your devices seamlessly. On top of all that, the Apple App Store still has the best selection of quality apps in it. Put all of that together and there aren’t a lot of good reasons not to buy the iPhone 6 Plus.