Is the iPhone 6 Plus too big? We find out with kittens

Ever since Apple released the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the question has been, are the handsets too big? Part of the issue is that the old iPhone 5S was so small in comparison, that the new handsets immediately looked bigger. To help you find the right iPhone, based on size, we’ve sat down and worked out the most scientific way of getting a proper size comparison. The answer, obviously, was to use kittens. We’ve even got the iPad Air and iPad Mini 3 on show, so you can work out which tablet is best for you.

Step forwards our budding four-week-old volunteers. All are under our foster care, as they were abandoned with their mother and rescued by a local charity. Of course, all were treated with the utmost care while we took our photos. If you want to do something nice, why not donate to your local cat charity, such as the Cats Protection.

iPhone 5S

The iPhone 5S is still available and is now one of the smallest handsets that you can still buy, from any manufacturer. It has a 4in screen and measures just 123.8×58.6×7.6mm, weighing 112g. As you can see, the handset is rather dwarfed by the kitten, with our little helper clearly able to cover the entire handset with its body.

Shot from a distance, the iPhone 5S is clearly one very tiny little handset. What this says to us, is that if you want something extremely small and tiny size is the most important thing to you, then this handset is going to be perfect: even a kitten can reach all corners of the screen with its tiny paws.

iPhone 6

For most people, the iPhone 6 is the natural successor to the iPhone 5S. Its 4.7in screen gives you a decent boost from the iPhone 5S’ display and, at 138.1x67x6.9mm and 129g, it’s not too much bigger. Put this handset next to our kitten, and you can see that it’s a much closer fit. Our kitten’s body can just about cover the phone, but it’s definitely not an over-sized handset.

When you see them side-by-side, the iPhone 6 is a much neater fit and our kitten could definitely spend its time comfortably watching online nature videos, imagining what all of the lovely creatures would taste like. Screen size doesn’t look like it would be a problem, and our kitten’s tiny paws can easily reach all around the screen.

iPhone 6 Plus

When it comes to the iPhone 6 Plus, there’s no getting away from the fact that it is a very big handset. With its 5.5in screen and case that measures 158.1×77.8×7.1mm and weighs 172g, it’s one of the biggest handsets that you can buy. Is it too big, though? Put the kitten next to it, and it’s clear that the handset has the same footprint: our kitten could definitely comfortably sit on the handset.

Put the two side-by-side and you can see how physically big the handset is. Yes, the kitten might enjoy the larger Full HD display, but it’s going to have a bit more trouble using the handset.

Shot from this angle, our kitten tries to give Reachability a go in order to pull the top half of the screen downwards so that the phone can be used one-handed. It’s fair to say that this isn’t going to work here, and the iPhone 6 Plus is going to be a two-handed device for a lot of people.

iPad Mini 3

The iPad Mini 3 is the baby tablet from Apple. It has a 7.9in display, measures 200x135x7.5mm and weighs 331g. For a lot of people, it’s a one-handed tablet, with many people able to hold it like a paperback book. Indeed, place the kitten on the tablet and you can see that there’s just enough room to curl up and sleep. As far as tablets go, though, this model is fairly dinky.

Go side-by-side with the kitten and iPad Mini 3 and you see that the tablet is a chunk larger than our kitten, but you’re getting a good balance between screen size and physical size. This is definitely one tablet that’s easy to carry around.

iPad Air 2

With the iPad Air 2, Apple has managed to shrink down the size of its high-end tablet while keeping that 9.7in screen. Measuring 240×169.5×6.1mm and weighing 437g, the iPad Air 2 is small for a tablet this size, although it’s still considerably bigger than the iPad Mini 3. With our kitten helping out, you can see that it fits on the iPad Air 2’s screen with plenty of room.

In fact, there’s plenty of room for a friend to join in the action, too. Note, how the iPad Air 2’s screen is surrounded by a very thin bezel, so this is about as small as you can make a tablet with such a large screen.

Side-by-side, you can see how much bigger than the kitten the iPad Air 2 really is. From this, we can conclude that if you want the best display, most power and are prepared that you may have to hold it with two hands, the iPad Air 2 is the best tablet for you.

Conclusion

It would be impossible to say that we haven’t single-handly (OK, well single-handly and four-pawsly) shown exactly which Apple device is for you, based on size. In summary: the iPhone 5S is tiny; the iPhone 6 is about the perfect size; and the iPhone 6 Plus is huge and not for everyone. When it comes to iPads, the iPad Mini 3 is a great size if portability is all-important; the iPad Air 2 is larger but as small as it can be for tablet with a 9.7in screen, and the best choice where size isn’t the most important thing.