The iPhone 6 flaunts a 4.7-inch screen, but for the Android community, this size is now just among the minis of the latest Android flagship devices. Putting this phone into a screen size competition against Android flagship devices is basically a non-issue, though. One of the things that Apple has proven with the release of the iPhone 6 is that they don’t really have to do better in order to win the market.

The screen size is nothing to really write about. Its bezel isn’t too thin but it isn’t thin enough to deserve a praise either. However, it’s relatively unobtrusive and contributes to a perfect overall finish of the iPhone 6. Generally, there’s really nothing much to complain about its screen-to-body ratio. However, many famed flagship devices were able to fit in a bigger screen into a body similar to the iPhone 6. One good example of that is the LG Nexus 6. It was able to fit a good 5-inch screen into a body size similar to the iPhone 6. On the other hand, Samsung’s Galaxy Alpha carries the screen size as the iPhone 6, but with a smaller and thinner profile.

Scratch Resistant Glass

On the surface of the phone is the strongest scratch-resistant glass in the smartphone industry today. Its screen is protected by an ion-strengthened glass with oleophobic coating. This is Apple’s answer to Samsung’s (and all other Android phones) - Gorilla glass protection.

Camera

Apple’s iPhone has never really attempted to jump into the pixel competition when it comes to their camera. In iPhone 6, we won’t be seeing any major upgrade into the sensor’s pixel count. However, whatever they lack in terms of resolution, they pretty much more than make up for it with the quality of their still camera. The iPhone 6 despite carrying only an 8MP sensor is no pushover just like the camera of the iPhones before it. The same 8MP resolution may have premiered long ago during the debut of the iPhone 4S, but the hardware of its camera has undergone a lot of impressive upgrades since, along with Apple’s constant iOS upgrade which adds up to generating top-notch results. There are not many smartphones that can fare better than the iPhone’s and that’s a fact.

The denominator among all the iPhones that makes them such a great photography buddy is its ability to adapt to lighting conditions. Since the iPhone 4s, the camera of the succeeding iPhones really stands out against the competing smartphones during their time. And, iPhone 6 is no exception to that trend that Apple has led all these years. With a camera that managed to stand out without any sweat since the release of the iPhone 4S, coupled with a handful of camera hardware upgrade, the iPhone 6 manages to shoot its way to the top of the competition.

Phase Detection

One of the noticeable improvement of the iPhone 6 camera is the snappy auto-focus, which is called the focus pixel. This takes a few milliseconds for the camera of the phone to fully focus on an object and produce a clear and detail-rich photo of it. The iPhone 5S camera is, to say the least snappy, but the iPhone 6 takes auto-focusing into the iPhone series to a whole new level. Also when recording a video, the focus pixel works wonders. It can easily shift focus from one nearby object to another

The pixel focus is what we’ve already seen in many high-calibre Androids in the market today, and this feature is called phase detection technology on those devices. The Pixel focus feature of the iPhone 6 camera is among the best in the competition without a doubt.

Face Detection Improvement

With the iPhone 6 carrying a lightning-fast processor plus the pixel focus technology, face detection of its camera sensor has improved, making it faster and more accurate.

HDR

Taking photos in the Dynamic range also proves to be snappier than ever. With the fast processor and snappy camera hardware, it now takes just 1 second to process and HDR photo. Even without the HDR, darker parts of a scene already have great exposures. With the HDR feature of the iPhone 6, these darker parts of a scene will look naturally lit. However, the iPhone 6 just tends to oversaturate the colours at times with the HD. Then again, the majority of cameras tend to do that a little bit.

Image Stabilization

Apple has finally added an image stabilization technology into this flagship device, but it kind of falls short because it’s not really rooted from the hardware. Rather, it only carries a digital image stabilization technology instead of an optical one. But, you don’t really need to fuss over this because it is sufficient enough to eliminate the blurring in still photos.

The real deal where image stabilization comes into play is in the video recording function. Optical image stabilization is far superior to the digital because it uses a gyro-technology inside the camera sensor that allows pieces of the lens glass to shift pieces in order to off-set any motion. Shakiness which is caused by little yet persistent movement causes the camera to shake. But with optical image stabilization, it will allow the sensors of the camera to adjust to those movements that cause the photos or videos to become shaky or blurry. On the other hand, digital image stabilization only uses a software that adjusts and does no physical adaptation to movements. Instead, the software’s effect mostly is applied in the post-processing of a video or a picture. 
If you’re into a full-fledged iPhone photography experience and does not mind if it's bigger and pricier, you can go for the iPhone 6 Plus. However, this is not to say that the iPhone 6 is poor in terms of camera. To say the least, the iPhone 6 camera is among the best in the market and proves to be future proof. But, the digital image stabilization fares poorly in recording videos while in motion.

Video Recording and 240fps slow-mo

The iPhone 6 brings forth a highly improved video camera. It can capture videos in FullHD (1080p) at 30fps and a fast motion 1080p video at 60fps – only a limited few smartphones can do that. Alongside its 120fps 720p slow-mo video is a 240fps 720p option (twice as high as the already dated 120fps). The best thing about it is that they didn’t have to cut down the resolution of the phone to make the 240fps possible.

The iPhone 6 camera is not capable of shooting 4K videos, but it does the day-to-day video recording job smoothly and perfectly. There’s really nothing to complain about its video recording capability. However, if for some reason you feel like a 4K video and an optical image stabilization are significant to your smartphone needs, there are better options in the market today. Phones like Xperia X5 premium, Galaxy S6, and Galaxy S7 to name a few are some of the tight competitors of the iPhone 6.

Phone Performance

The iPhone 6 carries a next-generation chipset which is the Apple A8 Chipset. While this chipset boasts a fast processing speed, it does not heat up easily and it consumes less power than the average chipset.

The A8 Chipset that runs the iPhone 6 is equipped with a 64-bit Cyclone processor which is clocked at 1.4GHz. It is 100 MHz faster than its predecessor’s A7 chipset, but it is battery-friendly because it does not require a lot of power in order to perform at its best. On the other hand, its Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is a quad-core PowerVT which offers an outstanding performance. Games that are graphics-intensive are easily rendered with minimal to zero hiccups, thanks to its GPU. Apple has really nailed it when it comes to their GPU. iPhones, especially the iPhone 6, is really good at running Full HD games, and the improvements that they implement are very consistent in every new iPhone that they release.

Touch ID settings

The Touch ID feature is more than just an unlocking feature of the iPhone. Apparently, it has now been integrated into a fairly good number of apps and into the iPhone’s security feature beyond the lock screen. For one, it can be used to authorize app store, iTunes, and iBook store purchases. The fingerprint security can easily be applied through the settings menu.

Audio Quality

The iPhone 6 is definitely a bang for the buck. It’s a big leap towards innovation from its 4-inch screen predecessor. Many of its new features are nothing that we’ve never seen before, however, that’s never been an issue for most iPhone users. The iPhone 6 does not actually offer something that’s really new and groundbreaking in the smartphone market. However, it really does well in polishing these features completely that when they’re officially launched, there’s not a speck of imperfection that will ruin the experience. And, that is what the iPhone 6 has really brought to the table.

A bigger screen is indeed a major upgrade for an Apple device, but it’s simply an aesthetic overhaul for a smartphone if you really think about it. Given that the bigger screen provides a whole new experience to iPhone users, the real deal with the iPhone 6 is how it delivers all the features smoothly into a much bigger screen. Realistically speaking, the iPhone 6 does nothing new, but the well-loved user experience that most iPhone users sought after is perfectly transposed into a bigger screen. This is what mostly draws users into using the iPhone 6. Obviously, there are far better high-end flagship devices in the market today that are offered at a fraction of the cost than for an iPhone 6. However, the iPhone 6 triumphs in the area where most of these leading flagship devices are inconsistent with – the user experience. The user experience is simply well polished. It is not feature-centric but rather it offers a rich and friendly user experience. Having that work on a bigger screen is definitely what matters for most iPhone users. This explains why the iPhone 6 and even the iPhones before it continues to have a strong following of users despite placing excessive premium to its price tag.

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